ANTISEMITISM PROVOKED BY EUROVISION SONG CONTEST

Sometimes online hate speech hits the comment sections rather unexpectedly, but most of the time it follows an established pattern. One example is news articles about the Arab-Israeli conflict that usually lead to a wave of antisemitism. It does not even need to be coverage of the actual military conflict. Even Israeli culture and music can serve as a canvas for bigotry, as an example from May revealed yet again.

The mere fact that Israeli singer Netta won the Eurovision song contest was reason enough for antisemitic comments. Israel and Israelis serve as a new projection screen for well-established antisemitic narratives and ideology, including ideas about a world conspiracy. It is these double standards that turn the Jewish state Israel into the Jew amongst the states, as historian Léon Poliakov once put it.

The article on “Belltower News” by Stefan Lauer explains how the Jewish state is used as a scapegoat and how Israel-related anti-Semitism reveals itself – not only in the comment section, but also in the news coverage itself.

Read the whole article in German: https://bit.ly/2mCpGVj