In light of recent events, it's clear that Israel will be a topic of some discussion here.

[EarlG]

30. Criticism of the political state of Israel and its leaders is not antisemitic

But the manner in which that criticism is carried out often is antisemitic, most of the time because (IMO) people haven't done a great job educating themselves on what is antisemitic and what is not. I've seen plenty of antisemitic tropes posted on DU, but only rarely is it easy to tell that someone is made such a statement deliberately -- more often than not, it appears that cluelessness is the culprit.

That's why I think it's worth revisiting the "No bigotry" rule, because as well as banning outright antisemitism, it also talks about how to discuss sensitive subjects. People often forget the second part of the rule: "No insensitivity." Here are some relevant sections from the rule:

"Members are expected to respect diversity and demonstrate an appropriate level of sensitivity when discussing related topics."

"Democratic Underground is a diverse community ... we want to promote a welcoming atmosphere for all of our members."

Its common sense that DUers who forget that part of the rule while criticizing the political state of Israel and its leaders will find themselves more likely to have posts removed than people who do their best to avoid inflammatory language.