An Open Letter to Noonymoon
@noonymoon
I am shocked and saddened.
I recently became aware of your posts and recent shift of content, and having followed your account for a good while I was excited to see what was going to happen. Even if our religious views no longer line up like they used to, I’m still genuinely happy to see people find a faith that really works for them and fulfills them. I wanted to start this by making it clear that nothing I’m about to say is meant as an attack on your personal religious beliefs. It’s honestly none of my business until you start proselytizing about them, which doesn’t seem to be your intent so much as what you just realized is right and wrong for you. We can disagree about the idea of absolute truths and all that, but that’s the beauty of religion. My main concern is with everything else.
Just so the context is explicit in this post, I am a Jew. Even if my personal connection to the religion part has waxed and waned, I have never not been Jewish, and I have always been a proud of my culture. I understand it may be hard for you to see me as anything more than just another “brainwashed” Jew, or to see any dissent I offer as valid and not playing into the narrative, but I have to try anyway. That’s my family you’re talking about, you know? Seeing this kind of content come from a blog that I really respected cut so deeply.
In this post, you discuss many different conspiracy theories and the idea of some truth being behind them. You say that it is ultimately not a Jewish issue and the people in question just happen to be Jewish. Okay, I guess. You say you don’t want to delegitimize real Jewish pain. Some of the statements in your post, however, simply can not be redeemed by this.
The main aspect of this argument seems to hinge on the idea that people use cries of antisemitism to distract from real critique. While this is definitely a thing that can happen, that doesn’t mean something can’t still be antisemitic. At one point, you say that the Holocaust and the Israel-Palestine conflict are both carefully constructed, strategic moves to create a narrative of Jewish sympathy. That this pain was planned and weaponized to keep people from criticizing Jewish people with money. This is where you completely lost me. The Holocaust was a deeply tragic moment in history for us. It affects all of us to this day. Entire families were killed, entire subcultures decimated. It wiped out nearly TWO THIRDS of all Jewish people alive at the time and we lost countless books, stories, heirlooms, and LIVES that we can never get back. My own great uncle avoided Auschwitz by the skin of his teeth. The story of the Holocaust isn’t this hypothetical tragic story to us. It’s very very real. Yet you say it was done (or eventually used) create a (presumably false or exaggerated) narrative of Jewish sympathy, to distract from the power we have in the banks.
Well, let’s look at that.
Historically, Jewish people were legally barred from having lots of regular jobs, but many observant Christians at the time had a rule against charging interest on loans that Jewish people didn’t have, so Jews became bankers because it was one of the few industries we could actually thrive in. (Same and similar goes for Hollywood, actually.) This stereotype of Jews being greedy and good with money has consisted to this day, but let’s look at modern CEOs of some of our biggest banks:
JP Morgan’s - Jamie Dimon - NOT JEWISH Wells Fargo- Charles “Charlie” W. Scharf - NOT JEWISH Citigroup- Michael Louis Corbat - NOT JEWISH Bank of America- Brian Thomas Moynihan - NOT JEWISH Federal Reserve Head - Jerome Powell- NOT JEWISH Fifth Third Bank- Greg D. Carmichael- NOT JEWISH Bank of China- Gao Yingxin - NOT JEWISH
So…. where?
The idea of Jewish people being conspiratorial and subjugating others (or that we’re using some kind of clout to gain sympathy and take resources) was used to justify the Holocaust and it’s used as a tool for white supremacy today. We are told that discussing antisemitism takes away from “real” issues (because antisemitism isn’t a “real” issue I guess, and also that justice for Jewish people MUST conflict with other forms of social justice.) Yet we are ALSO apparently “behind” the Black Lives Matter movement, controlling both the left and right-wing media, actively conspiring to disrupt/deplatform white people while also subjugating everyone through conspiracy. Both narratives ultimately create a scapegoat benefit white supremacy.
The harm of this is not abstract. In 2019 violent crimes against Jewish people shot up nearly 12%, the highest it’s been since the ADL started recording in 1979. Nearly 60% of all religious hate crimes were directed at Jewish people in 2018. And it’s because of shit like this.
A theory and statement you make does not become antisemitic just because you say it isn’t. Your statements aren’t harmless just because you say you don’t want to cause harm. It is absolutely possible to critique the predatory aspects of our modern banking system without calling a cultural tragedy a “strategic move” to make Jews more sympathetic, or say that accusations of antisemitism are only being used to distract from the issue (because even if you say it’s “not a jewish issue,” saying Jewish pain is only being used as a tool MAKES it one.)
Let’s talk about big banks and how to make the economy more inclusive to everybody, WITHOUT shitting on a marginalzied group. With a great follower count comes great responsibility. I could talk about the New World Order and all of the other nuggets in that post, but it’s honestly going to sound like a broken record for me.
The harm needs to stop. Saying that anybody who disagrees is just “totally brainwashed” is just gaslighting. Saying that your posts aren’t meant to be offensive does not erase the very real DANGEROUS potential they have. You can’t just say it isn’t antisemitic when it IS. But what do I know, I guess. I’m just one of the Jews. Please listen to us. Listen to marginalized voices. We do not exist to be weaponized against one another. The truth isn’t found in places where you’re just another person to divide and conquer, another person to perpetuate a narrative, another person to make “think right.” I hope you can understand that I’m writing this in good faith from a place of pain and sadness. I’m not angry or resentful or trying to pick a fight. I’m just tired, Noony. Your Tumblr account has more followers than there are Jewish people in my State. (We have about 16.8k here in South Carolina. And that’s on the bigger side.) You say you want to use your platform to help enlighten people and help them “wake up,” that if you convince even 100 out of thousands you can rest easy. My hope is the same. If a handful of people see this letter, they might second guess this toxic, manipulative, antisemitic, harmful, dangerous narrative. I hope, some day, you can too.
Note: To all my followers, don’t send this person hate. I’m not trying to start a war or send an army after anybody. I just really needed to speak publicly about this, change some people’s perspective at best and just warn people at worst. It’s ok to reblog this.
I agree wholeheartedly with this post. It makes me feel really.. sad. I respected the blog so much, but there’s just.. so many problematic things said, and those things are DANGEROUS. That’s not okay. I don’t condone hate, period. I think this post is super informative and a great way to get a warning out. I know I’m not great with words, but this reblog is the only thing I’m going to mention about this. I don’t condone anyone being sent hate over this, I just hope some perspectives change, because again.. this is dangerous, it is harmful, and that’s not okay.
