We are pleased to republish the following article by Alex Lo, which addresses one of the latest anti-China smears emanating from US political circles.
Democrat Congressman Jared Moskowitz says that China is following the ‘Nazi playbook’ by using TikTok to ‘brainwash’ American youth. Alex Lo writes:
“China has been accused of doing many nefarious things in the United States, but deliberately spreading anti-semitism?
“That’s the claim made by Democrat Congressman Jared Moskowitz in an official hearing. You have to admit facts-free China criticism in the US gets more inventive by the day.”
Moskowitz said: “This is not going well for Jews right now, and it isn’t getting better. We have not yet peaked… We are losing the youth of this country. We are losing them on TikTok, which is owned by a foreign country… The Chinese plan is to get us angry and divisive. And the Chinese plan is to start with the easiest plan possible, and that is us.”
Alex’s retort is clear and to the point: “There is a simple reason why many American youth are becoming critical of Israel – they read the news.”
Writing on July 6, he cites a number of reports published since the start of June including:
- “Israeli air strike kills Gaza hospital director along with his family – Israeli attacks have killed 70 healthcare workers over the past 50 days.”
- “Israeli forces kill 112 Palestinians in Gaza over 24 hours – At least 16 were reported killed while seeking aid.”
- “Israel has demolished 1,000 Palestinian homes in West Bank camps since January”.
Others he cites were reported by Associated Press, the Financial Times and the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. He concludes:
“Anti-semitism has been a scourge responsible for some of the worst horrors in history and remains a problem today. But by committing genocide, Israel is making itself a pariah state.”
Alex Lo is a regular columnist for Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post since 2012. A journalist for 25 years, he has worked for various publications in Hong Kong and Toronto, Canada, as a news reporter and editor. He has also lectured in journalism at the University of Hong Kong.
The article was originally published in the South China Morning Post and is reproduced with the kind permission of the author.
China has been accused of doing many nefarious things in the United States, but deliberately spreading antisemitism?
That’s the claim made by Democrat Congressman Jared Moskowitz in an official hearing. You have to admit facts-free China criticism in the US gets more inventive by the day.
Beijing has been criticised for allowing antisemitic content without online censorship within China, and TikTok has been accused – the big reason it faces being banned – of platforming antisemitic criticism of Israel in the US. But equating the two explicitly is pretty new.
“This is not going well for Jews right now, and it isn’t getting better. We have not yet peaked,” Moskowitz said.
“We are losing the youth of this country. We are losing them on TikTok, which is owned by a foreign country that the president has now extended beyond what the law has allowed.”
He was referring to Donald Trump’s repeated extension of the deadline for a total ban or a forced sale of TikTok required by US law.
Moskowitz continues: “I don’t want TikTok to go away but I want it to get out of the hands of the Chinese. They are doing the Nazi playbook. They are dividing us. They are funding. They don’t need to do it with B2 bombers.
“That’s not what the Chinese plan is. The Chinese plan is to get us fighting among ourselves. The Chinese plan is to get us angry and divisive. And the Chinese plan is to start with the easiest plan possible, and that is us. Until we stop this ‘who did what to who’ stuff, we are not going to solve this.
“Jews are losing their usual allies. Those allies that we’ve had for decades and decades, groups that Jews have stood up for, we are losing them by the moment, especially among young people.
“This [congressional] hearing ain’t gonna fix s***. This is a virus that is spreading; until we are serious about what’s going on online and the brainwashing of our kids, this is going to get worse and more people are going to die in this country.”
There is a simple reason why many American youth are becoming critical of Israel – they read the news. Here are some reports since the start of June:
“Israeli air strike kills Gaza hospital director along with his family – Israeli attacks have killed 70 healthcare workers over the past 50 days.”
“Israeli forces kill 112 Palestinians in Gaza over 24 hours – At least 16 were reported killed while seeking aid.”
“Israel has demolished 1,000 Palestinian homes in West Bank camps since January”.
“UN report accuses global corporations of profiting from Gaza genocide.”
“Gazans survive among unexploded bombs – ‘Uninhabitable’ according to the US government, the Gaza Strip is strewn with undetonated explosives.”
“Hundreds of Palestinian families flee West Bank camp ahead of Israeli demolition orders.”
“West Bank town becomes ‘big prison’ as Israel fences it in”.
This one is from Haaretz, a leading liberal Israeli newspaper, so it’s not fake news: “‘It’s a killing field’: IDF aoldiers ordered to shoot deliberately at unarmed Gazans waiting for humanitarian aid.”
This one is from the Associated Press, so it’s not fake news either: “US contractors say their colleagues are firing live ammo as Palestinians seek food in Gaza”.
This news summary is from +972, an Israeli online news magazine: “Near-daily Israeli massacres at food distribution sites have killed over 400 Palestinians in the past month alone. Survivors describe stepping over corpses to get their hands on a bag of flour: ‘What choice do we have?’”
This is an investigative report by the Financial Times about a leading global firm, Boston Consulting Group: “BCG modelled plan to ‘relocate’ Palestinians from Gaza – Consulting firm had multimillion-dollar role in contentious new aid scheme for shattered enclave”.
Antisemitism has been a scourge responsible for some of the worst horrors in history and remains a problem today. But by committing genocide, Israel is making itself a pariah state.