Breathe
By Adina Chelminsky
For those who do not know me, I want to make two things clear by way of disclaimer:
One, I am Jewish. I live my secular Judaism actively and with conviction.
Two, I will not vote for Claudia Sheinbaum. My list of reasons is long and I will do everything in my minuscule power to contribute to the work of the Frente Amplio (who are not saints of my devotion either but that is the subject of another text).
And yet, with all the efforts I know are necessary to defeat Morena, the phenomenon of Judaizing Claudia as a reason NOT to vote for her sickens me to the core.
Not like this.
Lately, in this media and social network fight to start winning electoral preferences, the arguments of:
Do NOT vote for Claudia because she is Jewish....
...And the Jews are __________ (fill in the denigrating adjective of your choice)...
...And Claudia responds to the interests of world Jewry... And she will not be loyal to the country...
Claudia, the Jewess. Claudia, therefore, the non-Mexican, the thief, the double-faced, the Machiavellian.
These arguments and texts have become increasingly common and viral in social networks and, above all, in Whatsapp groups or chains. Where the anonymity of "I didn't write it, they just sent it to me" become gasoline to spread and replicate them without responsibility or the slightest attachment to the truth.
Not like this.
I have no idea if Claudia practices her Judaism or not. She is the daughter of Jewish parents but from there to being Jewish (believing, educating, participating in community life) there is a long way to go. From what she has said, she doesn't consider herself to be anything more than a child of Jews and that's fine, it's her business. Only hers.
If Claudia is X, Y, or Z it is not because she is Jewish it is because she is X Y or Z (like the actions of all human beings that have to do with who you are as a person, not your religion).
What is of public interest is how anti-Semitism, falsely disguised as "concern for Mexico," is once again getting its claws out.
I am not concerned about anti-Semitism just because I am Jewish, but because it is the canary in the mine of the kind of society we are or want to aspire to be.
Whoever is anti-Semitic is homophobic is xenophobic is racist..... Either you accept everyone, or you accept no one. Either you buy into the cheap, generalizing cliches or you live with attachment to the truth.
Who is behind this campaign?
Uneducated unorganized citizens or interest groups are actively promoting these messages thinking that this is how to win votes and help Mexico's cause.
I don't know and that worries me.
Digging into the oldest and most puerile fears and lies of modern society contributes nothing to win an election or to build the Mexico we want and need: A fairer Mexico for all, where discrimination has no place for anyone, where democracy is a struggle of ideas and not of lies.
The end does not justify the means. "Let's do everything so he doesn't win" should not include behaving like disgusting human beings.
So, to all those who write these messages, to all those who believe they are helping Mexico's cause by sharing them to "sink Claudia" and to all those who receive them and say nothing: Your contribution to democracy and to Mexico is null, this is not the way to win elections, you are directly attacking against the Mexico we all want to build...
...And they are looking stupid.
The opinions expressed are the responsibility of the authors and are absolutely independent of the position and editorial line of Opinion 51.
Comments ()