#JewishPrivilege trends as Jews use hashtag to fight back against antisemites

The hashtag #JewishPrivilege was trending on Twitter in the UK and North America overnight, as Jews shared stories of antisemitism.

The hashtag, which trended on British Twitter, peaked on Monday morning in the UK at third place on Twitter’s ‘trending’ page with over 104,000 Tweets containing the hashtag sent.

While many using the hashtag were antisemites and conspiracy theorists, many Jews also shared stories of antisemitism and the Holocaust – with the hashtag used ironically.

Other Jews, especially in the United States, used the hashtag to discuss the place of the struggle against antisemitism within the broader antiracism movement globally.

#JewishPrivilege had previously existed as a fringe antisemitic hashtag used primarily by conspiracy theorists online.

The hashtag’s sudden trend originated in the United States, but also trended on Sunday and Monday in Israel and Canada.

One tweet that was typical of those sharing stories of antisemitism and the Holocaust was posted by Dov Hikind, the founder of the campaigning organisation Americans Against Antisemitism.

Mr Hikind tweeted: “I had the #JewishPrivilege of growing up without grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins because my parents’ friends were nearly entirely wiped out by Hitler.”

I had the #JewishPrivilege of growing up without grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins because my parents’ family were nearly entirely wiped out by Hitler.
— Dov Hikind (@HikindDov) July 12, 2020

Another viral tweet that incorporated the hashtag by American stand-up comedian Sarah Silverman cited experiences such as children “throwing pennies at me on the bus” and “pastors in Florida calling for my death and telling their congregation that knocking my teeth out and killing me would be God’s work”.

A number of Jewish organisations, however, expressed misgivings about the hashtag and the number of antisemitic trolls using it.

The Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAAS) wrote: “The idea that Jews are a ‘privileged’ group is a slur designed to deny that antisemitism exists and to imply that Jews are a cause of racism towards other minorities.”

A short thread on the #JewishPrivilege hashtag that has been trending: the idea that Jews are a ‘privileged’ group is a slur designed to deny that antisemitism exists and to imply that Jews are a cause of racism towards other minorities.
— Campaign Against Antisemitism (@antisemitism) July 13, 2020

CAAS criticised Twitter for taking “scarcely any action” to curb antisemitism on its platform and claimed that the social media platform had a “long record of enabling racism against Jews”.

Danny Stone, the CEO of the Antisemitism Policy Trust, wrote on Sunday evening: “That #JewishPrivilege is trending makes me feel sick. It may not be a hate term but Twitter should know what this does to communities. Will be raising with the platform.”