OK, listen.
I've been called a Nazi more times than I can count in the last 472 days.
My crime -- being Jewish and Israeli.
In a truly strange twist, outspoken Jews (like myself) are in fact pretty regularly called Nazis, by actual modern-day Nazis (it is a truly strange dystopian gaslighting ritual). With extended family that died in Auschwitz and as a Holocaust educator, I've been to the concentration camps twice and taught Holocaust education in US public schools for many years. Every time you call someone a Nazi-- who doesn't actually espouse Nazi ideology -- is like spitting in the face of the tens of millions of people who died at the hands of the evil Nazi regime, or in the war they started.
So before you get all up in arms about Elon, and get all huffy about his suspected hand/arm gesture. I'd like to ask the following:
Did you stand in solidarity with the hostages? Did you post about them even once? They are real human beings, ripped from their homes, tortured and abused for more than a year, kept in tunnels underground, denied access to medical care (not even a single Red Cross visit!). One of them, still a hostage 472 days later was only 9 months old when he was kidnapped. But putting aside the hostages, have you marched to stop anti-Semitism on a college campus where Jewish and Pro-Israel students have been blocked from attending classes, physically assaulted, and attacked? Have you told anyone calling to "Globalize the Intifada" or screaming "resistance is justified" that they are glorifying terrorism, and reported them to the authorities? Have you lent a hand to a Jewish organization targeted with hate crimes in the past year and offered to paint over graffiti, or organize community support? Have you reached out to a Jewish friend and asked them how they are, if they need anything, or told them you don't hate them for existing?
No?
Well guess what -- Elon has personally done all of those anti-Nazi things that you probably have not done.
Again, I'm kinda guessing here, but your failure to do an anti-Nazi thing, as nice as it would be for Jews and Israelis not to feel so alone -- still does not make you a Nazi. But, Elon's weird behavior in front of a huge crowd where he couldn't contain his emotions doesn't make him one either.
These are the early days of a Presidency many people are uncertain or fearful about. I understand. But the best thing to do is usually to wait and see how things look in the morning. More than half of the country voted for change. So personally, I'm going to give Elon the benefit of the doubt and trust in his actions over the past 471 days, rather than the weird hand movement during 30 seconds of a victory speech.
His speech reminded me of the weird nerd antics of Bill Gates dancing with Steve B on stage when they introduced Windows 95 (yes, I'm that old) -- it really did not look like a speech by Hitler, the Ayatollah, Osama Bin Laden or Nasrallah. (Be honest with yourself, it didn't)
You are welcome to disagree with me, but please keep it civil, and whatever you do, don't you dare call me a Na*i. Let's reserve that for people who are intent on wiping out an entire race...like Hamas and Fatah are desperate to do to all Jews and regularly scream from the rooftops about. Oh, and US college students do when they scream for intifada revolution -- that is an actual call to MURDER all JEWS.
There is a lot to do and many people around the world who could use help love, compassion and our attention. Let's put our collective energies to work for good things instead of arguing about a guy who has no intention to murder, maim, destroy, or incite to violence.
Written by a Pro-Israel Activist and a tech specialist in Israel, and republished here with permission.
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