In the viral video, Avia and Yael, as they identified themselves when asked by lead singer Chris Martin, said they were from Israel, prompting both applause and boos from the crowd.“I’m very grateful that you’re here, as a human, and I’m treating you as an equal human on earth, regardless of where you come from or don’t come from,” said Martin with the fans still on the stage.“Although it’s controversial, maybe, I also want to welcome people in the audience from Palestine. Because we have a belief that we’re all equal humans,” he added.
Coldplay has played in Israel and I don't think Martin is an antisemite in any way. What the incident shows is how the very mention of Israel is now automatically something to be singled out or apologetic about.
In other words, the antisemites have successfully managed to associate Israel with evil as a default position, forcing everyone else to address it when the topic comes up. Even people who have no problem with Israel feel compelled to point out that they are not either haters or lovers of Israel because the haters have made Israel a litmus test - even those who want to opt out of that framing are caught in it. This results in the successful "othering" of Israel by everyone, no matter what one's feeling are.
Martin should have handled it better, ignoring the boos and simply saying that it was great that the girls were from Israel - like he would have for any other country. He could have subtly addressed the boos by saying something like "we love all our fans so much!" But it is difficult to do that in the moment.
Instead, Martin acted the way Jerry and George did in the Seinfeld episode where people assumed that they were gay, and they denied it but quickly added "not that there's anything wrong with that" - thereby highlighting the very othering that they don't want to be accused of.
This is quickly becoming a default in every medium.
Gizmodo has an article on an Israeli networking company acquiring another Israeli AI company. And it cannot resist highlighting the Israeli aspect even while protesting that there is nothing wrong with it:
A tricky political backdrop
The fact that everyone involved in the deal is Israeli might not mean much to Wall Street, but it could give the deal a higher profile given the ongoing war in Gaza.Israeli security firms, or tech of any kind from the country, have received heightened scrutiny by anti-war activists or institutions looking to divest from investments in Israeli communities.Aim was founded 2022 by Matan Getz (CEO) and Adir Gruss (CTO), both alumni of the IDF’s elite Unit 8200.Their backgrounds in and of themselves are not remarkable, because all Israelis are required to join the military at the age of 18. But the skills that many Israelis learn in the IDF, which has some of the most advanced technology in warfare and security in the world, have made them a popular draw for investors in technology firms.
If an American or European company was involved, then indeed it might attract the attention of anti-Israel protesters. But an Israeli company buying another? No one would protest that because neither company has any worries about optics of dealing with another Israeli company.
Gizmodo is emphasizing it because it feels compelled to add a disclaimer to any mention of Israel.
It reminds me of how British newspapers would emphasize when anyone arrested was Jewish.
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Only Jews were singled out as criminals, even if their Jewishness was irrelevant to the sory.
But this is where we are at - the very mention of Israel is now forcing everyone to take a public position, even if that position is not to take a position. It is a brilliantly successful campaign of modern antisemitism, where any mention of Israel assumed to be controversial, and even those who don't want to play that game feel like they have to.
Once, “the Jew” was automatically tagged in police blotters. Now, “the Israeli” is automatically tagged in business and culture. What’s changed is only the excuse. In both cases, Jews are marked as the exception: not as normal, but as a category apart.
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"He's an Anti-Zionist Too!" cartoon book (December 2024) PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022) |
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