Thread by @nataliesedacca

1. Following the latest horror headline, I think it’s important to say / reiterate that being Jewish and the daughter / granddaughter of refugees makes me doubly, or maybe triply or quadruply, terrified of the proliferation and normalisation of #Islamophobia

2. That’s not to say that I’m not also very scared of the rise in anti Semitism - that would be impossible given what’s happening in say Hungary, Austria and Poland, and the acceptance of eg Soros conspiracy tropes here.

3. But the reach and respectability of #Islamophobia is really on another level. The lazy dismissals of its very existence because ‘Muslims aren’t into a race’ reach right into parts of the supposedly progressive left, although obviously spearheaded by the right.

4. And what’s infuriating about it is that many of the same people demonising Muslims profess concern about the feelings of Jews, without bothering to think that many of us might not exactly be delighted by seeing another group be treated increasingly as outcasts.

5. Exhibit A in the replies : refusal to recognise that it’s not about mocking an ideology but about normalising hatred against those who are visibly part of it, or assumed to be

6. Why focus on correcting people’s language when this is the accepted term which Muslims and those in solidarity are using? Similar to terms homophobia/ transphobia, Islamophobia denotes combination of hatred and prejudice.

7. For everyone repeating the mantra that it’s just criticism of a religion and not about attacking people, you are closing your eyes and ears to this reality

https://twitter.com/owenjones84/status/1028605444359680000?s=21

8. Last time I checked the governments of Hungary, Austria and Poland were not run by Muslims

9. This is the fundamental question that those denying Islamophobia as racism will never be able to answer. And equally, anti-Semitism is not and never was confined to visibly observant or practising Jews.

https://twitter.com/ayocaesar/status/1028908822356742144?s=21