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This guest op/ed was written by Ileana Drobkin.
I wish there was a photo capturing my face at the very moment a parent called to tell me his kid along with others were hurling antisemitic tropes at my son; my 12-year-old son. I can just imagine how my jaw would be hanging open, eyes enlarged and left hand reaching for some imaginary answer. I’m known for my loquaciousness but this…this brought out that proverbial cat and she held my tongue. My first words after one of the longest pauses in recent years was “How did they even know he was Jewish?” How sad; my first thought and words was essentially blaming the “victim” for others’ ignorance.
My son is a quarter Jewish and very proud of his Jewish heritage. His interests and intellect is beyond the normal 12 year old so we have a list of topics he’s to stay away from with friends or other kids around his age. Up until now he’s only read and heard of antisemitism. I knew eventually he’d come across an unkind word, an ugly Antisemitic slur but I didn’t think it would be at 12. The horrific attack on Israel on October 7th moved that timeline. I always like to caveat this is my experience and I fully acknowledge and condemn any anti-Muslim rhetoric, hate speech or sentiments for that matter.
According to TheConversation.com, Scholars found the following regarding the social media platform, TikTok “kids and young adults are especially in danger of being exposed, often unwittingly, to antisemitism on the very popular and fast-growing platform, which already counts over 1 billion users worldwide. Some of the content that is posted combines clips of footage from Nazi Germany with new text belittling or making fun of the victims of the Holocaust.”
Let me say I don’t believe for a minute all these kids knew what they were saying or even about that period and time in history. Where involuntary thought might immediately shift blame to the parents and how they must be running around spouting antisemitic rants or arguing Hitler wasn’t such a bad dude; I don’t for one minute believe that this was the case either. We don’t give social media enough credit for not only misinformation but the slow and steadfast maniacal manipulation of facts and truths.
I can vividly recall exactly where I stood on my elementary school playground, the utter confusion that ensued following a girl my age, who I was always friendly with, spitting on my shoes and calling me “a dirty Jew.” I was in third grade and I remember like it was yesterday…I remember standing there alone as the other kids moved on. I remember going home that night and asking my dad and grandfather what I did wrong. My son, though, he’s the better version of me and his response was simply, “Mommy, they are so ignorant and stupid they aren’t worth my time.” Bravo!
I’m not convinced everything is Antisemitic or anti-Muslim or anti…this community or that community; I’m thinking the biggest culprit rests with ignorance. Hate is taught, hate is conditioned and in these times of the pervasive spread of disinformation at record speeds we are told to hate and it’s the cancer killing us all.
Ignorance masked as racism or religious intolerance doesn’t care about age, sex, wealth, status or whether the recipients are good or bad or on the verge of discovering cures to epidemics. It doesn’t care because the ignorance fosters and feeds the hate it needs; the hate it thrives on. There are so many documented stories where a white supremacist realizes the hate and violences they’ve been a part of is misguided after a black co-worker or Hispanic coworker befriends them. In one case a former neo-Nazi removed swastika tattoos because he forged a friendship with his black parole officer and considers her part of his family. Ignorance is intolerant…
To say the state of the world is complicated is a gross understatement. The current situation with Israel’s quest to root out a terrorist organization using its civilians as cover is nothing short of horrific and to all those who boast a solution do so without any real world understanding of the situation or human behavior. The fallout from this hatred across our globe is rampant hate and manipulating next generations into dangerous falsehoods. These beliefs expressed by these lines from Pastor Martin Niemoller’s famous writing are just as relevant today:
“Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me And there was no one left
To speak out for me.”
Let that sink in…
Ileana Drobkin is an author based in Las Vegas, NV who began her writing career during the COVID-19 lockdowns and has worked with charities and local governments before that.
