Jewish exceptionalism: Difference between revisions

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Jewish exceptionalism is the belief that Jews are historically, culturally, or racially "exceptional" in some way, and thus are exempt from the standards that would normally be applied to any other ethnic or religious group. It exists in two forms: Zionism and anti-Semitism. Zionists assert that specific "white" Jewish ethnicities are not only distinct from but superior to other groups and thus have a right to colonise Palestine. Core to this belief is the idea that Jews are God's Chosen People, that the Holocaust was some special crime incomparable to any other which must be viewed in isolation rather than as part of a broader phenomenon of European colonialism and genocide, and that "Israel" acts as an outpost for "superior" Western civilisation in the Middle East. Anti-Semites by contrast hold to the view that Jews are uniquely evil and greedy, spinning tall tales about how Jews secretly control governments and finance and are responsible for society's problems.

The notion that Jews are "exceptional" has been used to justify horrific atrocities such as the final solution to the Jewish question or the ongoing Palestinian genocide, which together have rendered millions of people dead and millions more displaced. Within the Israeli project it is the case that non-Zionist Jews are cast aside due to them not being needed for the broader colonial project. Despite this, popular analysis conflates Judaism and Jews with Zionism and "Israel" leading to anti-Semitism perpetrated against non-Zionist Jews. This idea stems from the monolithisation of Judaism and lends anti-Semitic conspiracy theories credit where there is none.

Examples

Some examples of Jewish exceptionalism include but are not limited to:

the claim that Jews were the only victims of Nazi genocide
the justification of Israel on the basis that Jews claim to be God's Chosen People, with a divine mission to "return" to the "Holy Land" and serve as a "light unto the nations"
the justification of Israel on the basis of the existence of ancient Israel proving the existence of a Jewish nation
the justification of Israel on the basis of historical anti-Semitism
the proclamation of Jews to be a superior people, such as what Victor Serge claimed in his works on Jewish people

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 '''Jewish exceptionalism''' is the belief that [[Judaism|Jews]] are [[Human history|historically]], [[Culture|culturally]], or [[Race|racially]] "exceptional" in some way, and thus are exempt from the standards that would normally be applied to any other [[Ethnicity|ethnic]] or [[Religion|religious]] group. It exists in two forms: [[Zionism]] and [[Antisemitism|anti-Semitism]]. Zionists assert that specific "white" Jewish ethnicities are not only distinct from but superior to other groups and thus have a right to colonise [[Palestine]]. Core to this belief is the idea that Jews are [[God (Judaism)|God]]'s [[Chosen People]], that the [[Holocaust]] was some special [[crime]] incomparable to any other which must be viewed in isolation rather than as part of a broader phenomenon of [[Europe|European]] [[colonialism]] and [[genocide]], and that [[State of Israel|"Israel"]] acts as an outpost for "superior" [[Western civilization|Western civilisation]] in the [[West Asia|Middle East]]. Anti-Semites by contrast hold to the view that Jews are uniquely evil and greedy, spinning [[International Jewish conspiracy|tall tales about how Jews secretly control governments and finance]] and are responsible for society's problems.
-The belief that Jews are "exceptional" has been used to justify horrific atrocities such as the Holocaust or the ongoing [[Palestinian genocide]], which together have rendered millions of people dead and millions more displaced. It has been argued by some that although the principal victims of Zionism are Palestinians, Jews themselves also suffer as a result of Zionism as the crimes of Zionists (which are perpetrated in their name) negatively affect their perception globally, lending legitimacy to anti-Semitic [[Conspiracy theory|conspiracy theories]] and thereby leading to anti-Jewish violence. Opponents of this belief point out that Zionism benefits reactionary white Jews far more than it costs them and that it would be ridiculous to assert (for example) that [[White South Africans]] were "victims" of [[Republic of South Africa#History|''their'' colonial endeavour]]. Furthermore, they maintain that to emphasise the suffering of the group which "Israel" claims to represent rather than the far greater suffering of the group being murdered and displaced in their name serves as a "slap in the face" to the Palestinians.
+The notion that Jews are "exceptional" has been used to justify horrific atrocities such as the [[final solution to the Jewish question]] or the ongoing [[Palestinian genocide]], which together have rendered millions of people dead and millions more displaced. Within the Israeli project it is the case that non-Zionist Jews are cast aside due to them not being needed for the broader colonial project. Despite this, popular analysis conflates Judaism and Jews with Zionism and "Israel" leading to anti-Semitism perpetrated against non-Zionist Jews. This idea stems from the [[monolithisation]] of Judaism and lends anti-Semitic conspiracy theories credit where there is none.
 == Examples ==