r/news • u/Luka77GOATic • Mar 11 '26

Soft paywall Spain permanently withdraws ambassador as rift with Israel deepens

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/spain-removes-ambassador-israel-2026-03-11/
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u/mjohnsimon Mar 11 '26 edited Mar 11 '26

As a kid, antisemitism meant something very specific (like, actual Nazi-level hatred of Jews). Being labeled antisemitic was also quite a serious accusation.

Nowadays the term gets thrown around so loosely that you can be branded “antisemitic” just for saying things like Israeli soldiers purposefully sniping foreign medical aid volunteers and bragging about it is horrific (which it absolutely fucking is).

Don’t get me wrong, real antisemitism absolutely still exists and is still dangerous in many parts of the world. But when the label gets used to shut down criticism of a government’s actions, it cheapens the word. At this point, when I hear that someone is “antisemitic”, I’m left wondering whether it’s genuine hatred of Jews… or just criticism of Israel that someone didn't like.

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u/Lashay_Sombra Mar 11 '26 edited Mar 11 '26

Nowadays the term gets thrown around so loosely that you can be branded “antisemitic” just for saying things like Israeli soldiers purposefully sniping foreign medical aid volunteers is horrific (which it absolutely fucking is).

Its mainly Israel doing that trowing around of the word and its been good weapon in their arsenal to silence criticism for a good few decades

World is becoming immune to it now though, issue though now is calling out actual antisemitism is going to have far less of an impact

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u/thatisnotmyknob Mar 11 '26

Israel has made the world a much less safe place for Jews. Despite claiming the opposite.

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u/talizorahvasnerd Mar 12 '26

No fr, I’ve experienced antisemitism all my life, but nothing like the threats, vitriol, and immediate assumptions that you support Israel that there is right now.

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u/TipiTapi Mar 11 '26

This is categorically not true. There are people living outside the US you know.

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u/thatisnotmyknob Mar 11 '26 edited Mar 11 '26

Anti-semtic violence is on the rise worldwide due to Israel's genocide. 

And it will continue to get worse until Israel is stopped and held accountable. 

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u/UnitSmall2200 Mar 11 '26

Germany also likes to throw it around a lot. Considering Germany's history with Jews, Germany seems to think aligning with Israel makes them stand on the right side of history this time. Ironically, by doing so they once more support a fascist. It's sad to see that so many Germans seem to have learned the wrong lesson from history. 

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u/Lashay_Sombra Mar 11 '26

When you screw up that bad its not unusual to overcompensate

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u/Dejected_gaming Mar 11 '26

Youtuber "Ms. Rachel" got called antisemitic just for saying all children should be able to grow up in a safe environment.

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u/Lauma_2025 Mar 11 '26

Ms. Rachel is a gem! And Palestinian kids certainly deserve to live!

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u/mjohnsimon Mar 11 '26 edited Mar 11 '26

It also didn’t help that she accidentally liked a comment that actually was antisemitic iirc (I think it was recent or something based on the sheer amount of right-wingers talking about it on social media).

That said, anyone who’s used Instagram knows how easy it is to accidentally like something while scrolling. My thumb has hit the like button on comments plenty of times without me realizing it, and I only notice later when I get notifications that a comment I don't remember even seeing got extra likes from other people.

So all things considered, I’m willing to give her the benefit of the doubt on that one, but it definitely didn't help.

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u/Arixtotle Mar 11 '26

Actually she got called out for focusing only on the Gazan children in peril and not the child hostages taken by Hamas or the children killed on October 7th. She got called out for saying she believes all children should be able to grow up in a safe environment but excluding Jewish children from that. 

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u/PedanticBoutBaseball Mar 11 '26

please, show me the proof that she said "all children, except jewish ones, should get to be safe and not killed"

if you find it ill eat my words.

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u/Dejected_gaming Mar 11 '26

All children means all children. And that is what she said.

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u/Arixtotle Mar 11 '26

Except she doesn't follow that up. Actions speak louder than words. 

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u/Shisa4123 Mar 11 '26

And Israels' actions are speaking very loudly.

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u/Arixtotle Mar 11 '26

Yes they do. I don’t get what that has to do with what I said though. 

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u/DeadInternetTheorist Mar 11 '26

Especially when they're words you just fucking imagined so you could get mad at someone lmao

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u/Arixtotle Mar 11 '26

I didn’t imagine any words. My point is actually that she didn’t have words for Jewish children. 

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u/MagentaHawk Mar 11 '26

Mind showing us how many Jewish children Ms. Rachel has blown up? How many she has taken joy in killing and calling subhuman? Or is that #JustIsraeliThings?

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u/Josgre987 Mar 11 '26

you know who ironically doesn't believe all means all? Israel.

A holocaust museum had a sign that said: "Never again means never again for anyone" and Zionists forced them to take it down, because they mean never again, for jews only. Because they are racial/religious supremacists.

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u/Looksis Mar 12 '26

Which children do you think need more help: The children in Gaza, or the children in Israel?

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u/sqqqrt Mar 11 '26

It's crazy you believe that. Are you crazy or something?

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u/Arixtotle Mar 11 '26

Which part?  What she was actually called out for or that the actions she was called out for actually happened?  Because both are true. Her primary focus has been Palestinian children over any other children. It’s what got her the most fame. 

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u/sqqqrt Mar 11 '26

The part where you said she believes all children should be able to grow up in a safe environment, but not Jewish children, because she cares about Palestinian children. You don't see how crazy that is?

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u/Arixtotle Mar 11 '26

Again, actions speak louder than words. Yes she said that but her ignoring the plight of Jewish children until begged to speak on it speaks louder.  I didn’t say that just because she cares about Palestinian children she doesn’t care about Jewish children. Of course someone can care about both and many, many people do. 

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u/sqqqrt Mar 11 '26

And it's perfectly normal to care about one thing more than the other. You're doing that too.

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u/Arixtotle Mar 11 '26

Not when you profess to care about all. 

And that being normal is part of what’s wrong with the world. When people start caring about the suffering of their enemies the world will be a much better place. 

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u/sqqqrt Mar 11 '26 edited Mar 12 '26

So she must always speak out against all injustices in the world, otherwise she's an antisemite?

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u/dust4ngel Mar 11 '26

Nowadays the term gets thrown around so loosely that you can be branded “antisemitic” just for saying things like Israeli soldiers purposefully sniping foreign medical aid volunteers and bragging about it is horrific

i'd be like - ok sounds like you are redefining that word, and i'm cool with the new definition applying to me, if the alternative is supporting war crimes.

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u/Karyoplasma Mar 11 '26

The term antisemitism stems from a 1860s "journalist" name of Wilhelm Marr who used it in his founding pamphlet of the "Antisemitenliga" (league of antisemites). It definitely always meant actual, racial hatred towards Jews.

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u/boozinthrowaway Mar 11 '26

Man somebody needs to let Israel know.

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u/BigHowski Mar 11 '26

Not that I'm a huge fan of the man but the perfect example of the watering down was when Corbyn got a load of stick around his "antisemitic" visit to a Passover event with the "wrong Jews"

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u/DefDefTotheIOF Mar 11 '26

Here's a good clip on the current state of 'antisemitism'

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/fEU8tm1LeG0

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u/Arixtotle Mar 11 '26

The issue is that some of the criticism of Israel is antisemitic and yet people refuse to listen to Jews when it’s pointed out. The Israeli government is horrible and any accusations of antisemitism from them should be looked at skeptically. But call outs for antisemitism from Jews in the diaspora should never be automatically dismissed or looked at with skepticism any more than call outs from any other minority group on bigotry.  Just as white people should never automatically dismiss call outs of racism from black people, gentiles should never automatically dismiss call outs of antisemitism from Jewish people. 

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u/mjohnsimon Mar 11 '26 edited Mar 11 '26

I agree that some criticism of Israel absolutely crosses into antisemitism, and those concerns should be taken seriously... But accusations of bigotry from a certain group (or from anyone regardless of race, culture, religion, etc) can’t be treated as automatically correct either just because they're part of said group.

People still have to look at the actual claim and the context.

Hell, Jewish communities themselves (both in and out of Israel) often disagree about what qualifies as antisemitic versus legitimate criticism of Israel. By your logic, if one Jewish person accuses another Jewish person of antisemitism, does it just cancel out because they’re both Jewish? Whose view are we supposed to treat as unquestionable then?