really potentially dumb question that may have been asked before; are Arabic people not also semitic?

like one of the only (bullshit) arguments the Zionists have is that opposition to Israel equates to antisemitism (not true), but from what i understand, the "Semitic family" includes both Jews and Arabs, but i am potentially very wrong about this.

also i guess even if it is true, it's not a very good "gotcha" since it misses the point and truth doesn't matter to genocidal swine

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words mean what people use them as. antisemitic is used primarily to describe antijudaism
- prescriptivists in shambles
  
  When have prescriptivists ever not been in shambles? Language is basically an exercise in bullying prescriptivists.
  
  I am shambling, yes.
Technically true, but it’s not in any way a convincing argument
This is literally the type of argument I'd see in a boomer comic shared by a 60 year old deeply religious liberal gay Black man with bipolar disorder living in Tennessee. "Antisemitic" means "anti-Jewish". That is how the word is used by most people, so that is what the word means.
That aside, the Semitic languages also include several other languages, including a number of languages of Ethiopia and Eritrea.
- What does being gay black or bipolar have to with that
  
  Because I'm describing a specific person I know
What's the origin of the word "antisemitism" anyway? Did the word always mean "bigotry against Jews"?
I ask because this reminds me of the way that white people are sometimes called "Caucasian" even when they're not from the Caucasus mountains. Turns out that originated from a German eugenicist so I'm wondering if this word has a similarly sus history.
Yes but also no. Arabs are also Semitic peoples, but the word "antisemitic" was created specifically to refer to hatred of Jews (I think by a 19th century white nationalist). So racism against Arabs is anti-Semitic, but isn't antisemitism.
This is literally the type of argument I'd see in a boomer comic shared by a 60 year old deeply Christian liberal gay Black man with bipolar disorder living in Tennessee. "Antisemitic" means "anti-Jewish". That is how the word is used by most people, so that is what the word means.
That aside, the Semitic languages also include several other languages, including a number of languages of Ethiopia and Eritrea.

14 comments