Merz is using an anti semitic phrase here to the rapturous applause of his listeners - one of whom, Berlin’s culture minister, cut a ton of funding to a leading arts venue he accused of suspected antisemitism. Am pretty sure this minister won’t call Merz out, though. - ThreadSky

okwonga.bsky.social • 1 day ago

Merz is using an anti semitic phrase here to the rapturous applause of his listeners - one of whom, Berlin’s culture minister, cut a ton of funding to a leading arts venue he accused of suspected antisemitism. Am pretty sure this minister won’t call Merz out, though.

Reposted from Robin Detje

Merz spricht von "Judenfahnen". Der Begriff findet sich im Sprachgebrauch der rechtsterroristischen "Vereinten Patrioten", Reichsbürger- und Querdenkermilleu. de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vereint...

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bungdan.bsky.social•1 day ago

"Jewishflags?"

farbijan.bsky.social•12 hours ago

No, that would be “jüdische Flaggen” in German. A more appropriate translation for “Judenflaggen” is “Jewflags”.

Both are antisemitic, but the latter is, apparently, more of an an established term in Nazi circles.

farbijan.bsky.social•12 hours ago

German mainstream society also has some hang-ups about using the noun “Jew”.

It’s often avoided by non-Jewish Germans.

To many, it feels like a slur, because they mostly encounter it in history class and in relation to Nazi crimes or propaganda.

farbijan.bsky.social•12 hours ago

Instead of saying “deutsche Juden” (‘German Jews’), people often default to “jüdische Mitbürger” (‘Jewish fellow citizens’) or “Menschen jüdischen Glaubens” (‘people of Jewish faith’).

farbijan.bsky.social•12 hours ago

Which might superficially seem like a gesture intended to emphasize the fact that they do belong to German society, but is actually classic othering.

You’ll never see someone say “christliche Mitbürger” (‘Christian fellow citizens’) – that’s only really done for Jews (and Muslims).

farbijan.bsky.social•12 hours ago

There even used to be a usage note in the largest German dictionary that cautioned against using the word “Jews”, which caused outrage among German Jews and led to a change, because they rightly insisted that it’s not a slur per se, but only if you use it as one.

bungdan.bsky.social•7 hours ago

You might enjoy...

My young dog Townes was struggling to learn his "down" command. Finally realized "Townes" sounds like "down." A friend suggested I use "platz." Well, this jew wasn't going to speak German and raise my right hand in the air (traditional "down" signal). So...

bungdan.bsky.social•7 hours ago

@farbijan.bsky.social ... I decided it would be the yiddish "plotz" (from, I believe, "platsn") which in the American Jewish idiom typically means to explode or collapse with emotion. So I now have a dog who explodes on command.

bungdan.bsky.social•7 hours ago

Thank you. This was a more thorough answer than I probably deserved. Really appreciate it. In English, there can be similar problems. I usually explain it like this.
"He is a devout Jew." Ok!
"That Jew lawyer cheated me." Antisemitic.

okwonga.bsky.social•1 day ago

A lot of German discourse about anti semitism has been like this, to be honest - deeply unserious and self-involved.

lgambrose.bsky.social•1 day ago

The German fetishisation of Jewishness. Germans 'protecting' Judaism/Israel isn't about Israel or Judaism at all, or what Jewish people might actually want or need (which is largely for Germans to just shut up and leave them alone) it's about German guilt and making themselves feel better.

lgambrose.bsky.social•1 day ago

And then sometimes, like here, the mask (that it is for some, not all) just slips entirely. Jewish-ness is still other to German-ness, and we all know how the likes of the CDU feel about anything 'other' because they tell us every single day.

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