Title: There’s a Word for Blaming Jews for Anti-Semitism [Analysis, Opinion]
Source: The Atlantic
Link: theatlantic DOT com/ideas/archive/2023/09/musk-antisemitism-anti-defamation-league-twitter/675235/
The Money-Quotes:
Elon Musk’s conceit that Jews cause themselves to be persecuted is as old as anti-Jewish bigotry itself.
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Like any organization, the ADL is not above reproach. I’ve written critically about some of its well-meaning but misguided social-media-moderation efforts, and am to the group’s left on questions of anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism. On the right, politically conservative Jews have long taken issue with the ADL’s more progressive stances. But none of this is what is driving the current consternation on Twitter.
This is readily apparent from Musk’s own tweets on the matter, which have amplified the anti-ADL attacks to millions of readers. Far from offering a considered critique of the organization, the bombastic billionaire has instead circulated cartoonish conspiracy theories about it. “The ADL, because they are so aggressive in their demands to ban social media accounts for even minor infractions, are ironically the biggest generators of anti-Semitism on this platform,” Musk wrote yesterday. Abuse of Jews on his site, he argued, is the consequence of Jews complaining about the abuse. (Chronology does not appear to be his strong suit.) Musk later insinuated that organizations like the ADL may be “complicit” in covertly creating the bigoted accounts they criticize. This is not a rational critique of the ADL’s advocacy; it is an irrational attempt to blame the Jewish group for Twitter’s failings. Musk is not shy about this motive behind his missives: The ADL “would potentially be on the hook for destroying half the value of the company, so roughly $22 billion.”
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But though the ADL is not the cause of Twitter’s continuing unprofitability, it is a convenient culprit on which to pin the platform’s many failures. Anti-Semites love to blame Jews for whatever problems they personally perceive in the world. What is being done to the ADL on Twitter right now has little to do with the group’s conduct and everything to do with the symbolic role Jews play in the conspiratorial imagination. Rather than face up to the hate that has enveloped his platform, and the errors that led to the site’s degradation, Musk is claiming that the victims have had it coming. But no matter how many Jewish scapegoats he slaughters, he will not be able to revive his platform’s flagging fortunes, which stem from his own inadequacies, not Jewish mendacity.
