So, growing up in Poland, I encountered a ton of low-key antisemitism, with roots going back to before WWII. It was all about casual stereotypes, jokes, figures of speech. Not violent but fucked up; similar to what the perception of the Roma people across the continent.

Of course, we had more virulent flavors too, but this existed on the fringes of the society, outside political discourse. Neo-Nazis seemed *weird* in Poland of all places, but they were a major youth subculture across the entire EU. Post-1980s skinheads and the like.

When I came to the US in the early 2000s, I was surprised that the "true" neo-Nazi movement seemed more visible but also far less formidable. A scattered bunch of aging trailer park weirdos who were free to publish their drivel, but not a lifestyle that young kids aspire to.

At the same time, I was off-put by the fact that anti-Jewish and anti-Israel sentiments had a far more prominent place in politics - and that this came from the left more than from the right. It was always dressed as "anti-imperialism" or the concern for the people of Palestine, but it copied the rhetoric of the European fringes, underpinned with the same palatable stereotypes about Jews and the legitimacy of the Jewish state.

Yep, the history of the region is profoundly messed up. But there was a debt to repay far greater than the debt the Western world owed to any other ethnic group. And if your thought process has you siding with Iran-backed fundamentalists and real neo-Nazis, I don't know what to say.

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@lcamtuf
My wife grew up in Communist Romania and escaped to Hungary when she was 8-mos pregnant. She eventually made her way to Germany as a refugee and spent three years getting the US Embassy wonks to verify her story and confer political refugee status that allowed her to come to the States. Once here--in NY--she was amazed to hear the same rhetoric coming out of the mouths of the Democrats as she'd heard from the Communists back home. Like you, she saw anti-semitism back home at about the same level and also noticed some of the same things you have once she came to the US.

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