I am a Jewish-American woman. I’ve encountered antisemitism many times growing up, ranging from hurtful speech to acts of violence. As the world progresses, we’ve seen a rise in attempts to put antisemitism to rest. However, social media creates a perfect platform for folks to spew antisemitic rhetoric that invalidates an entire religion. When celebrities and politicians participate in this behavior, it fuels others to follow in their directions, worsening the situation.

Something I’ve noticed in recent years with the popularity of online DNA tests such as 23andMe is people identifying as Jewish because they’ve received results with Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry. Although this testing is important due to the serious health issues related to Ashkenazi DNA, a person’s religion is not identifiable through DNA testing. Judaism is a closed practice, meaning that not anyone can go to temple or participate in holidays and claim to be Jewish. Although there are different opinions on defining what makes a person Jewish, claiming to be genetically Jewish while actively participating in another religion invalidates the Jewish people.

However, the idea of identifying as Jewish is not just pinpointed to DNA tests; rapper Kanye West claims that his identity as a black man constitutes him as being Jewish. He uses these claims to justify his antisemitic remarks that perpetuate stereotypes, endorse conspiracy theories, and call for violence against Jews. Kanye has a large number of supporters who read and believe what he says online, which fuels antisemitism. If a non-Jewish person believes that Kanye is justified in his remarks, they may feel justified in other antisemitic actions or speech.

Judaism is practiced worldwide, and it doesn’t discriminate against a person’s skin color. However, this claim, along with his hate speech, invalidates those of us who actively practice the religion. As a white woman, I don’t want to invalidate Kanye’s identity as a black man. However, I can’t excuse him using his identity to invalidate my own as a Jewish woman.

Invalidating a religion doesn’t stop with false self-identification. There has been a theme with people who disagree with government policies and relate them to the Holocaust. Although these people may feel unjustly treated for not agreeing or abiding by these policies, they do not compare to the mass extermination of a group of people.

The topic of abortions has always been, and will always be, controversial; however, with the overturn of Roe v. Wade, people took to social media to defend their stance at any opportunity they could, including relating abortion to the Holocaust. Politicians such as Rep. Mike Johnson, Sen. Darren Bailey, Sen. Ben Albritton, and Rep. Terri Collins have all publicly made this comparison. Pro-life groups online share instigating posts of the same nature; Live Action shared a photo comparing Hitler to Margaret Sanger (founder of Planned Parenthood), comparing the deaths of the Holocaust with abortions. These kinds of posts spread like wildfire on social media; they not only dismiss the tragedies that occurred during the Holocaust but any other act of genocide in history.

The difficulty with this is that people who identify as pro-life believe that abortion is equivalent to murder. This is why many laws were placed in effect to convict people associating, performing, and receiving abortions. Although I disagree, I understand why they believe what they do. Despite using the tragedies of the Holocaust to fuel their narrative, there is also an issue of the pro-life stance along with Judaism. Jewish law believes that life begins at first breath, and with this, abortion is considered health care and is encouraged if it endangers the mother’s health physically or mentally. Therefore, the comparison between the Holocaust and abortions not only bastardizes the genocide of Jewish people but uses it to push Catholic beliefs on Jewish people.