A few weeks ago I exposed an “anti-Israel” influencer called Rathbone, who was making fun of Israeli Jews running to shelters while rockets rain down on Israel. As part of that expose, I pointed out his antisemitism in referring to us as the “Chosen People”, a clear reference to Jews.
Rathbone took exception to my post, siccing his fellow Jew-haters on to me. But what he didn’t seem to do is dial down the vile posts, including making fun of us when are our lives are in potential danger, not to mention blatant antisemitism.
This is a photo of Jewish Israelis moving away from the recent fires, one which has been shared by gleeful haters these last days.
And here we have this “anti-Zionist-not-antisemite” Rathbone, not only joining in on the mocking of people whose lives and homes were in potential danger, but also using the Jewish name “Shlomo” and the Yiddish “oy vey”, which is an exclamation of pain or grief.
It is a clear mocking of Jews. But it is actually even worse than that.
You see, the particular name “Shlomo” is a favorite slur used by Jew-haters on the internet. It is a Hebrew name (שלמה), commonly associated with Jews. Because it’s recognizably Jewish, it’s been co-opted by antisemites as a caricature, much like “Hymie” or “Goldstein” in past generations. There is also now a connotation of “Shlomo” being an European Jew, so it is commonly used to emphasize how we do not belong in the land of Israel since we are somehow “White” or “European.”
It is particularly popular on forums like 4chan, but has even made its way to more common social media networks. Here are just a few examples (some of which I have posted before):
SICKENING: @TikTok user ‘MikeMaali’ dresses up as a religious Jew, calls himself Shlomo and jokingly states he's a MOTT (member of the tribe) in order to sell Hondas in Long Beach, CA
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) February 7, 2022
Link (public as of this tweet): https://t.co/FWX6cFsQBG pic.twitter.com/LagkIJKcQo
Did I mention Rathbone’s follow-up tweet?
“Tiny hat” is another word the Jew-haters use to refer to Jews, based on the “yarmulke” that practicing Jewish men wear.
It has nothing to do with “Zionists”:
In fact, Rathbone uses it a lot.
So clearly Rathbone is learning from the “best” antisemites.
And his rhetoric is sounding eerily like those behind one of the darkest chapters of modern history:
Remember, the Jew-hatred of “anti-Zionists” like Rathbone are features, not bugs.
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