Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk is “absolutely entitled” to censure left-wing billionaire George Soros “without being labeled an antisemite,” according to former New York state assemblyman Dov Hikind, who accused Soros himself of “legitimiz[ing] antisemites.”
In a post from Wednesday, Hikind, who serves as chairman of Americans Against Antisemitism (AAA), highlighted the error of automatically attributing any criticism of the Democrat megadonor to antisemitism.
Hungarian-born U.S. investor and philanthropist George Soros (R) listens to Human Rights Watch director Kenneth Roth after delivering a speech on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting, on January 23, 2020, in Davos. (FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images)
His remarks followed Musk’s comparison of Soros to the notorious X-Men villain Magneto who draws on his experiences as a Holocaust survivor to motivate his hatred for humanity.
“[Elon Musk] is absolutely entitled to criticize Soros without being labeled an antisemite!” Hiking argued.
“Soros is not beyond critique by dint of his being Jewish and Elon didn’t mention anything about Soros’s religion,” he added. “Using ‘antisemitism’ to insulate Soros is sick!”
.@elonmusk is absolutely entitled to criticize Soros without being labeled an antisemite!
Soros is not beyond critique by dint of his being Jewish and Elon didn’t mention anything about Soros’s religion.
Using “antisemitism” to insulate Soros is sick!pic.twitter.com/urUSnQnl5d
— Dov Hikind (@HikindDov) May 17, 2023
On Monday, the Twitter CEO had been involved in a Twitter feud over Soros’ role in funding radical prosecutors.
At one point, he tweeted that Soros “hates humanity” and compared him to the fictional Marvel Comics character from the X-Men comic book series.
Soros reminds me of Magneto
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 16, 2023
On Wednesday, trolling his critics, Musk “apologized” for his tweet, claiming it was “unfair” to Magneto.
It was really unfair to Magneto
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 17, 2023
Hikind went on to explain that criticism for Soros did not warrant a label of “antisemitism,” though Nazi or Holocaust imagery, references to the Jewish religion, and the use of Jewish symbols should be avoided.
“Don’t tie individuals to global conspiracies unless you can prove the conspiracy,” he said, calling to discuss policy and disagreements instead.
“You can do that. That is legitimate. Explain why you disagree with the person who’s advocating a particular policy or supporting particular candidates or whatever it may be,” Hikind said. “Stick to policy.”
The former state assemblyman then explained that he too sees “serious problems” with Soros, citing the latter’s “audacity to compare Israel, when it defends itself against those who want to destroy her, […] to the Nazis.”
WATCH: Dr. James Lindsay: Bill Gates, Soros Using CRT Advocates as “Useful Idiots” to Co-opt America for Their Own Purposes:
Matt Perdie / Breitbart News“He supports the BDS movement to boycott, divest and sanction the Jewish state — the only BDS movement in the entire world only directed against the Jewish people,” he said.
He also accused Soros of “legitimiz[ing] antisemites.”
“I’ve got a problem with him: he legitimizes the [Ilhan] Omars and the [Rashida] Tlaibs and others. He supports them. This is my problem,” he said. “It has nothing to do with the fact that he is Jewish; that is totally irrelevant.”
Hikind concluded by claiming we have an “obligation to speak out whether it is George Soros or anyone else that you believe [to be wrong] based on policy only.”
On Thursday, conservative American-Israeli columnist Caroline Glick claimed that the “progressive pile-on” against Musk over Soros, alleging that Musk is antisemitic, “is part of a larger progressive hijacking of language to advance progressive bigotry.”
The progressive pile-on against @elonmusk over #Soros, alleging that Musknis anti-Semitic, is part of a larger progressive hijacking of language to advance progressive bigotry.
For details, read my latest at @JNS_org.https://t.co/ZbVCYcbIys— Caroline Glick (@CarolineGlick) May 18, 2023
Though Soros, one of the most important political donors on the left, is technically Jewish, he is not active in Jewish organizations — aside from radical groups like J Street, which opposes Israeli policies.
He has been accused of funding dozens of radical prosecutors nationwide, some who have pursued policies of “criminal justice reform” that have coincided with a shocking rise in violent crime in many American cities.
As noted by Breitbart News, while attacks on Soros can be antisemitic in nature, they may also be legitimate — in which case bogus accusations of antisemitism are merely used in an attempt to silence such criticism.
Follow Joshua Klein on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.
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