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And then, inexplicably, the WikiLeaks official Twitter account also dove straight for naked anti-Semitism. The author, Emma Ellis, has no comprehension of the
by keane 10y ago
And then, inexplicably, the WikiLeaks official Twitter account also dove straight for naked anti-Semitism.
The author, Emma Ellis, has no comprehension of the tweet in question. Understanding the background could have prevented this:
1. Neo-Nazis begin to point out to their supporters that the people they are discussing are Jews (or "Jew aiders and abettors" [sic]) by placing three brackets around their name. The subjects are often unaware and their account usernames (obviously) do not display brackets.
2. In reaction to this, numerous camps (social justice activists, evangelical Christians, civil society workers, journalists, etc.) both Jewish and non-Jewish alike begin to place three brackets around their display name to draw attention to the practice and to express solidarity with those who are being discussed in brackets, a practice sometimes revered in Western culture [1][2][3][4].
3. A subset of these self-labelled, self-bracketed individuals criticize WikiLeaks.
4. The WikiLeaks account notices that many of their critics are self-bracketed individuals expressing solidarity and wonders what type of people do this, as one might question the individuals who change their profile pictures to have a flag overlay for the tragedy du jour, and if said people are doing so for their own interest.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amen https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amen.
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Deputy#Historical_models https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Deputy#Historical_models
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spartacus_(film)#.22I.27m_Spartacus.21.22 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spartacus_(film)#.22I.27m_Spar...
[4] http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/IAmSpartacus http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/IAmSpartacus
- jganetsk 10y agoThen why did the tweet start with the word "Tribalist"? Which alleged tribalism did they happen to be referring to there? The myriad tribalisms of social justice activists, evangelical Christians, civil society workers, journalists, etc. Or that of the Jews?
- krapp 10y agoMaybe it's an anarchist thing? "Tribalists" being anyone who believes in the estabishment hierarchies Wikileaks wants to undermine? I searched Reddit and found it used as a perjorative for capitalists/statists a few times.
- keane 10y agoWikiLeaks writes: "Most of our critics have 3 (((brackets))) around their names... Tribalist symbol for establishment climbers?" Tribalist here in the sense of those who are complicit with In-Group/Out-Group dynamics [1]. Knowing that Assange is some sort of anarchist helps [2]. Such language is common within a certain political perspective that includes anarchism; these 'horizontalist' 'global citizens' envision a utopia and as they work towards it, in addition to opposing establishment climbers especially, they often look down on and view 'identity politics' or 'lifestyle politics' (and the use of ideological labels and in-group signaling all together) as base and beneath them [3]. And yes, they often practice the same things they critique and theoretically oppose. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ingroups_and_outgroups https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ingroups_and_outgroups [2] http://web.archive.org/web/20060712184552/http://iq.org/index.html http://web.archive.org/web/20060712184552/http://iq.org/inde... [3] http://new-compass.net/articles/beyond-ideology http://new-compass.net/articles/beyond-ideology
- mywittyname 10y agoThat's so much of a stretch though. If they really meant "people who self-identify with persecuted jews," they should have said as much. Then again, when you say it like that, it looks just as bad.
- yongjik 10y agoA cute theory. Now please explain "have black-rim glasses" part. WikiLeaks account looks up the profile pictures of many of its critics and notices that they all wear black-rim glasses, which strikes WikiLeaks admin as bizarre?
- keane 10y ago"Black-rim glasses" is short hand for "hipsters", presumably meaning here well-educated liberal arts majors and aspirational future intelligentsia members.