(mods pls remove post if it violates rules)
TL;DR:
My 19 yo little brother who had a rough childhood (which I unfortunately contributed to) is convinced that Israel’s actions and impunity is because “modern jews run the Western world”. I’ve tried countering this with a materialist explanation of Israel’s role in US imperialism to no avail. I suspect my treatment of him in the past may be an obstacle here, and that the key to changing his mind might require an emotional rather than logical approach. Please advise.
Pre-October 7th:
We live in the West and grew up in a conservative Muslim family, both male, I’m 24 and he’s 19. We have been pro-palestine since birth. Some channels he watches are Gattsu, Geopold, GDF and Badempanada, doesn’t like Hasan much. He’s not really into socialist politics/history like me but I think he sympathizes, although he has edgy humor which is sometimes borderline centrist/center-right.
He’s a lot better now but as a kid he was really difficult, and my dad and I handled this extremely poorly. I was never physical (unlike sometimes my dad), but I said some putrid shit to him throughout my teens. Regretful shit that makes me stay up at night and breakdown from guilt if I think about too much.
5-6 years ago I mellowed out and thought “man, what the fuck am I doing” and asked him if he wanted to be normal brothers again, to which he enthusiastically agreed. Since then we’ve had a decent relationship and talk about shows, politics, history, movies, uni stuff, etc. We seldom talk about our feelings, and we never processed that traumatic 10 year period when I was a shitty older brother. Despite going through all this he turned out relatively fine, mostly well-adjusted all things considered.
Post October 7th
At some point in the past 2 years of genocide, he started believing in ZOG (zionist occupied government), which quickly morphed into “jews run the world”. According to him, “90% of Israeli and US Jews are pedophile rapist murderers”
- He thinks that in modern times, Jews control western nations including US through the media, banks, legal institutions etc.
- He knows that Zionists != Jews, but says it doesn’t matter to him at this point
- Despite my best efforts to explain Israel’s role in US imperialism, he still thinks “the middle east wouldnt be as bad” if not for Israel
- I’ve tried explaining that its a symbiosis for US and Israel, and that Israel can’t do anything without green light from US, but he thinks Israel can do whatever they want because they’re blackmailing US politicians with Epstein
- He sends me reels of Israeli rabbis saying crazy shit with Havah Nagilah playing in the background
- sent me an Amin al-Husseini x Hitler edit (he joked saying how husseini saw the future and wanted to save his people, and that maybe Hitler was right)
- His “evidence” includes verses from the talmud condoning pedophilia and other insane things that many religions also say
- He thinks Nick Fuentes is funny, and likes that he is “one of the only far-right people who doesn’t utterly despise Muslims/Arabs”
Potential solutions
Basically I’ve tried explaining with logic why he’s wrong but he won’t budge. I suspect part of it is because I was shitty to him during his formative years so maybe that’s causing some friction. I think the solution will hinge on an emotional approach rather than logical, but I’m not sure what to do.
Emphasize the role of kkkristian zionism, an actual real life apocalypse cult
Unfortunately you can’t change most peoples minds with facts and logic when they are emotionally involved. Using a bunch of facts is sometimes OK when the person doesn’t have a particular stance, but once they believe what they believe it does take nurturing to change.
It sounds like he knows where you stand on the subject, and it sounds like he is struggling to find male role models in his life. If it were me, I would spend time with him and show him I care about him. Also be your best self, show him that the things you believe create a strong, loving, independent person. And the other people he seems to be looking to for guidance only lead to a hateful, sad life. Not that this is something within most peoples means, but therapy was a huge factor in my own political journey. You should also let him know straight up you feel a great deal of regret about how you treated him in the past, be as honest as possible.
You’re right, I do believe the answer to this is an emotional response. And unfortunately you won’t get an amazing answer to that on the internet.
Maybe have him meet some antizionist Jews? If he’s not that rabid that is.
I’m pretty much in a similar situation with a few changes to details here and there, would definitely love to learn how to help my sibling too. Sadly I learned that you can’t just throw facts at them in the hopes that it would neutralize their reactionary fervor…
Is he a reader by any chance?
Explain that the one thing right-wing conspiracy theories lack is class analysis.
“How is this one ethnic/political/sexuality group actually controlling everything because rich people clearly aren’t the only problem.”
Probably the most common right-wing tactic is to divide the lower classes against each other. Usually with sexism, nationalism, or ideology.