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Opening the door to antisemitism
The fact that Elon Musk allows antisemitic content on X must be taken into account in interpreting the gesture, stresses Mediapart:
“Musk is clearly obsessed with the Nazi regime and seems to be consumed by antisemitism. His takeover of X in 2022 coincided with an explosion of antisemitic statements on the network and the spread of conspiracy theories against Jews, without him lifting a finger to curb this outburst of hatred. Quite the contrary, in fact. Musk takes full responsibility for bringing back to his network figures who were banned for their racist views, including Youtuber Nick Fuentes, who openly describes himself as an antisemite and supremacist.”
Profit hunters and right-wing extremists united
Musk’s gesture is disturbing but it’s not the real problem, says Freitag:
“But what then? The richest man in the world has identified right-wing extremists as ideal allies. Corporate bosses and heirs of huge fortunes are queuing up to finally expand their economic and political power regardless of the consequences. Anything that stands in the way of profit is wiped out by the willing helpers who suddenly believe they are on the winning side. Perhaps something new really is dawning for the Elon Ultras and MAGA clowns, the evangelical misogynists and trigger-happy racists. A golden age in which they can humiliate, hurt and kill all weaker people with impunity. However, it is those who profit directly from the situation now that the labour and environmental protection regulations have been removed that are making the money.”
Once a common gesture in the US
Fact-checking journalist Ilya Ber offers an explanation on Facebook:
“This gesture is confusingly similar to the so-called ‘Roman salute’ (which has nothing to do with ancient Rome), which was adopted in a somewhat simplified version (without the obligatory hand-on-heart gesture) first in fascist Italy and then in Nazi Germany as an official salute. In addition, it is almost identical to an American flag salute, the ‘Bellamy Salute’, which appeared in the US in 1892, so even earlier than in Italy, and was particularly popular among scout organisations until 1942. It was abolished by the US Congress because it was indistinguishable from the Nazi salute. … Anything else is a question of interpretation and judgement.”
Take off the kid gloves
The media are being very careful about how they discuss Elon Musk’s gesture, criticises media professor Jonathan Hendrickx in De Morgen:
“Ever since he took over Twitter in 2022 and turned it into X he has been spreading antisemitic, Nazi and racist conspiracy theories, which he deliberately gives free rein to. … It’s important to bear this in mind to understand why Musk made the Nazi salute and, above all, to justify identifying him as a Nazi sympathiser without inverted commas or other signs of cowardly restraint. … The time of treating right-wing populists in our own countries and abroad with kid gloves must end in our news media in 2025.”