Is an insulting J14 hashtag really anti-Semitic?

Last week I posted this item, in which I referred to the #ThawretWeladElKalb (“Revolution of the sons of dogs”) hashtag used by some Arab twitterers to discuss J14 as an anti-Semitic term. Jalal Abukhater, who occasionally contributes to +972, has sent me the following rebuttal:

I disagree that anything that criticizes something related to the Israeli society should be considered pure Antisemitism. Labeling this hashtag as anti-Semitic is wrong.

Of course, I do not justify the use of #ThawretWeladElKalb. I have declared my opposition to this hashtag because it held unnecessary prejudice and insult. There are many good Israelis and Arabs at j14 who don’t deserve this name calling.

When something is described as anti-Semitic, it is supposed to be an extreme act of hate against a Semite. Today the term (anti-Semitism) is losing its meaning due to a lot of Zionists using this term to repel any attack or criticism of Israel by anyone even Jews who oppose Israeli actions in the Palestinian territories. Hardcore Zionists think that anyone who criticizes Israel is to be labeled an anti-Semite.

Guess what, most of those who were described as (anti-Semitic) by Noam in his piece are Semites themselves! In general, attacking an Arab because of his/her ethnic origin by anyone is an anti-Semitic action in itself. Did you know that Arabs are Semites too? Actually they’re one of the largest most prominent Semite groups out there.

Now we should come to reality and understand the background of this hashtag. Why did a lot of people use this hashtag to describe the Israeli protestors?

Almost every day I pass an Israeli checkpoint, or be stopped by Israeli police for being a Palestinian, I hear people around me calling the Israeli border police or soldiers (Welad Kalb) which translates to Sons of dogs. This is justified in my opinion as those soldiers have never shown that they are better than that. They humiliate us, literally humiliate us every day. I am a firsthand witness to that humiliation; sometimes I myself get enraged watching how they treat old women and ordinary people at checkpoints for example.

#j14 can change the way the Arab community views it if they start addressing real core issues and fight the real injustice in Israel, as I have said in this article on EI. Or else, do not complain.

In Arabic, “Welad Kalb” (son of a dog) is nothing but a common insult everyone uses; it shouldn’t be taken as an anti-Semitic slur.

One note on Semites and ant-Semites: Yes, Arabs are Semites, and yes, I believe that Israeli propaganda renders ill service to the battle against anti-Semitism by labeling ever criticism of Israel and Israeli policy as such. But this doesn’t mean that Arabs can be cleared of any charges of anti-Semitism just by reminding that they are also Semites. If you follow this logic, it means that Arab anti-Semitism couldn’t exist at all – so you better come up with another term for racial hate talk directed at Jews…

UPDATE: This post is closed to comments due to personal attacks between users.