this post was submitted on 26 Jan 2024
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Their flag literally says "curse the Jews" in Arabic. They aren't just anti-Zionist, they're anti-Semitic.
Finkelstein literally addresses this in the video. Maybe watch it before commenting?
I did watch it (though not in its entirety before commenting, I did get to that point before commenting). I found his response pretty lackluster. Just because they are (perhaps incorrectly) conflating Israel and Jews doesn't absolve them of antisemitism, nor any other unchecked prejudice merely on the basis of isolated experience.
It's one thing if a random member in an interview says "curse the Jews" because every Jew they've met has been mean to them (if they've met any at all). It's a whole other thing when what is essentially a (albeit contested) national government does it.
I'm Canadian, and Canada effectively did the same thing with our indigenous population. A few high ranking individuals (with support from religious institutions) decided that official documentation would explicitly state the inferiority of indigenous culture. The result is that regardless of whether the Canadian government was correct or underinformed, they propagated a prejudice that was not based in fact.
Similarly, by merely normalizing such a message on a flag, the Houthi's can't get my support as an entity of true international import simply because it almost certainly will lead to at least one person who was not anti-Semitic beforehand becoming anti-Semitic unnecessarily.
Note that is necessary due to current circumstances I will include some context about myself that normally would be irrelevant (ad hominem being fallacious as it is). I transitioned from an ardent pro-israeli to a "get your act together for the sake of your people and others" over the course of the last couple of decades; in no small part due to Netanyahu. I do believe that one can not stand with the Houthi's and also not stand with the government of Israel in the current situation.
I will admit my initial comment was a tad knee-jerky, but believe me when I say there are many people who would not watch the video, then spread misinformation that the Houthi's don't have a problem with the Jews.
This reply is as much a response to you as a bookmark to my future self about the arguments on my mind when I posted the comment.
You don't have to justify antisemitism to support a blockade that is currently getting in the way of a genocide being conducted by Israel. It is perfectly possible to have critical support for actions of a particular group without having to support other actions of the group or to justify their views that you disagree with.
Furthermore, the reason that Ansar Allah have a problem with the Jews is because of the atrocities that the state of Israel commits, and the fact that vast majority of Jews support it. Perhaps if more Jews spoke out against these atrocities, the way Dr. Finkelstein is doing then it would help people to draw the distinction between the zionist entity and the Jewish people.