Bad road
First, the statement from NYU:
“We’re aware of the photos from the demonstration in Washington Square Park. These signs are antisemitic, repugnant, and a disgrace. We don’t know the identity of the people pictured, or if they are members of the NYU community, but we take this seriously and will be looking into it. To be clear, antisemitism violates the University’s rules and violators are subject to university conduct proceedings.”
—NYU Spokesperson John Beckman
Now the photos:
This trope that a certain set of people=dirt seems to be a human universal, and a step far down the road that leads to genocide. Dirt, rats, vermin, fleas, maggots – we’ve seen it all before. Turn at a right angle and get off that road.
Like the Rwanda genocide also, where they regularly deployed the use of “cockroach”. This is scary stuff.
Exactly.
Can’t say I’m thrilled with universities policing speech (even in this case)… That’s been one of the bad backlashy things to come out of this mess.
…and not saying that in this instance that it isn’t antisemitic but is very clearly and specifically anti-Israeli (while also perhaps intentionally echoing Nazi shit). Blue star with blue lines is one specific flag. Israel isn’t the world’s Jews, it’s mostly just the world’s Arab Jews.
Considering that most of the world’s “Arab Jews” were already chased out of Muslim countries into Israel, an image showing their refuge being tossed into a garbage can can be counted as a call for genocide.
Oh sure, but if I put a Saudi Arabian flag in a trash can saying it’d clean up the world I’m not doing something much different… Call it Islamophobic if you like, but whatever…
The remaining liberal democrats in Israel are the only reason it’s higher in my esteem than Saudi Arabia… Those guys who throw a tantrum if a woman sits next to them, not so much.