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Wednesday, 8 August 2007

Taking back 'Jew'


There's a forum at Jewcy called "Jew" as an insult
After reading some of the comments and seeing the antisemitism that can be associated with the term "Jew' I left a comment.

I'd like to know what others think?


Comment left at Jewcy Forum

I think this discussion raises some very important issues, in my opinion one of the most important is taking back the word Jew.

That racists use this as a derogative slur, must be seen in the context it is.
If an American was called an American, a Brit a Britain, an Australian an 'Aussie' would they be offended?

We should see it as a compliment, we must not allow racists, and bigots to claim this word as an insult. It's use as a slur is empowered by our avoidance of the term. It reaches to the very core of what antisemitism is about, if we can't use the word Jew in a positive way to describe ourselves then it has to be addressed.

Language is organic, it changes and grows and mutates, its time the original meaning of Jew returned!

We should claim it back and instead of reacting to it, due to the historic Antisemitic overtones, each of us take it as a challenge to reinforce that the term Jew simply signifies we are Jewish, and react in ways, that reinforce the positive meanings of the word.

To me Jew carries connotations of excellence, strength and resilience.
Acting at the individual level I always try to tag each of my posts 'Jew' so as to stop those hate sites from monopolizing its use.

What do you think?..



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