As Israel presses forward with its highly controversial offensive in Rafah, a city where more than a million displaced Palestinians are currently sheltering, the U.S. government continues to work overtime to keep criticism of Israel at bay. This time, they’ve hosted an event that united an assortment of Big Tech firms with government officials to figure out how they can stop people from speaking out against the genocide in Gaza.
We’ve seen it time and time again lately: anyone who dares to say anything against Israel’s actions in Gaza is automatically slapped with an “antisemitic” label and their words suddenly become “hate speech” – all so they have an excuse to suppress criticism.
The Symposium to Combat Online Antisemitism, which was held on May 23, was hosted by U.S. Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt. Her Canadian and Israeli counterparts also participated, along with the Deputy Chief of Mission for Germany.
The forum, which the State Department described as “an enriching and productive exchange of ideas,” was attended by representatives from X, TikTok, Meta, Google and Microsoft.
A press release by the State Department said that the tech firms will be considering “independent actions to address antisemitism on their respective platforms.” Although they were cryptic about what that would entail precisely, they did mention that there would be “dedicated expert positions on policy teams,” along with training on antisemitism for some employees and public reports on antisemitic content trends. Of course, the subtext here is that there will probably be plenty of censorship as well.
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Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said: "The Symposium was a critical effort to make some headway in a space that desperately needs attention. Online antisemitism cannot go unchecked. Governments around the world are rightfully focusing their attention on this issue and we are hopeful that Ambassador Lipstadt's initiatives in this space will have lasting impact."
It is interesting to note that unlike many occasions in the past, they did not try to make this seem like it was aimed at all types of “hate speech.” They are no longer trying to hide the fact that they are more concerned about people talking badly about one ethnic group in particular: Jewish people. They held an entire meeting with representatives from the White House, Big Tech and diplomats from other nations with one purpose: protecting Israel from criticism.
Officials are bracing for rising criticism as Israel presses forward in Rafah
Is it really any surprise that they would go to such lengths? After all, Congress recently passed legislation that effectively bans criticism of Israel and Jews. Under the Antisemitism Awareness Act, simply accusing Jewish citizens of being more loyal to Israel than their own nations or claiming that the existence of the state of Israel is a racist endeavor is considered criminal. Some argue that it could even be interpreted as criminalizing the Gospel because part of its definition of antisemitic speech is “claims of Jews killing Jesus,” which is something that is directly stated in the Bible.
We’ve also seen how quick law enforcement was to step in and crack down on pro-Palestine protests at college campuses throughout the nation, many times at the behest of prominent Jewish billionaires and donors.
It’s no wonder they’re working so hard at this; with the death toll in Gaza at the hands of Israeli soldiers quickly approaching 36,000, most of whom are said to be women and children, even Americans who started out supporting Israel’s right to defend itself are becoming increasingly horrified by the needless loss of life.
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