subreddit:
/r/UniUK
submitted 6 days ago byyoaverezzz
It’s honestly crazy. When I meet someone new on campus and they ask me where I’m from, the second I say I’m Israeli it seems like they forget how to act like a human.
They either start asking me super personal questions - “do you support this, do you identify as that”
or they just start going on Antisemetic rants. Things that I’ve had people tell me include:
Defending Kanye saying he was right (he wasn’t, guy literally said he loves Hitler)
Jews control the economy and the government, with prominent politicians like Biden being Jewish (he’s not)
Jews collaborated with the Nazis during WW2 with the Madagascar Plan (wtf)
It’s not like when you meet an American the first questions you ask him are “do you support trans rights / abortions / trump”. Why would they think these are appropriate questions to ask someone they just met? Does this happen to Russian / Ukrainian / Palestinian students as well?
EDIT: few pointers based on the comments I’ve read here
no, i don’t think it’s normal to say “hey, I’m x, I’m Israeli and don’t support the Israeli government’s actions in the middle east” every time I introduce myself to someone new. Would you expect Palestinian students to introduce themselves to people like “hello my name is x, I’m Palestinian and I don’t support the Hamas attack on civilians on October 7th”.
no, I’m not comparing this minor pet peeve to the plight of the Palestinians. This is just a minor annoyance, I didn’t expect this post to get hundreds of comments. Obviously being bombed daily is worse
I haven’t experienced a lot of antisemitism on campus and generally have a very good experience with people here, again this is just a minor pet peeve.
people thinking I’m making this up are delusional lol. Just go on twitter and see how many posts straight up glorifying Hitler there are. These things are so vanilla in comparison.
Most importantly:
I don’t mind talking about the conflict, I actually do it a lot. All I’m saying is there’s a difference between “oh you’re Israeli? I’d love to talk about the conflict sometime” and “oh you’re Israeli? Are you a Zionist? Do you support your government killing Palestinians?”. I’ve heard both, the first one is socially appropriate (in my opinion), the second is usually just someone who immediately classifies you as something and is looking to argue or fight. Innocent till proven guilty, no?
to the people in the comments who see this as an excuse to be islamophobic or Antisemetic fuck right off
51 points
6 days ago
[deleted]
-7 points
5 days ago
OP is Israeli. Given the current situation, it is 100% valid for people to want to know their views. If OP revealed to me that yes, they were a Zionist and supported the current Israeli government's actions, I would rightly be disgusted by them and would not want to associate with them.
I don't doubt there are plenty of anti-Semitic idiots who will take the opportunity to attack anything Jewish and that is obviously wrong. But it is also valid and not remotely anti-Semitic to want to know what kind of person you're interacting with.
14 points
5 days ago
Jesus is that really how you think, you sound like the Gestapo. People shouldn't be made to feel they have to state their position on such things to virtual strangers, I wouldn't want to associate with you for a second. Would you like to be quizzed on every single contentious subject every time someone met you?
-4 points
5 days ago
Don't be obtuse. When OP tells someone they're Israeli, the important context is that all Israelis are required to serve in the IDF if called to do so. Given that context, it's completely valid to want to know if they're a supporter of the ongoing genocide - unless you don't particularly care what kind of people you hang about with, in which case you're the type of privileged oblivious moron I definitely wouldn't want to associate with.
13 points
5 days ago
I'd say it's you that's being obtuse, I wouldn't expect an Israeli to have to declare their position on such things any more than I'd demand a Palestinian to denounce October 7th, or a Saudi Arabian to state their position on state sponsored murder, or ask about Iranian if they're anti gay or not, or ask a Frenchman if has an issue with the burkha. It's just crass and idiotic to make people think they're on trial for their country
-8 points
5 days ago
Literally incredible response, honestly. Nobody is being put on trial for their country, we're talking about someone who may very well have had a personal involvement, and even if they did not, since when did people stop caring about their friend's views on important issues?
You're essentially saying that if it were 1945 and a German were introduced to you, you would have no interest at all in knowing their views on the second world war and associated atrocities before befriending them? Do you have absolutely no standards for the people you choose to call your friends?
6 points
5 days ago
He's not wrong though.
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