The shouting began minutes into a Wednesday news conference that Mayor Daniel Lurie and other San Francisco leaders hosted to discuss a new tax proposal.
“Tax the rich! Tax the rich!” chanted a small group of protesters opposed to the mayor’s proposal, which would cut the city’s real estate transfer tax in half in a bid to jumpstart housing construction.
Then a woman — who protesters say was a passerby they did not know — began yelling antisemitic remarks, including “tax the Jews,” videos from the event show.
Lurie, who is Jewish, later issued a statement on social media condemning the “tax the Jews” comment and linking it to the group of [DSA] protesters opposing his policy proposal.
“At an event this afternoon, a group of individuals that were chanting ‘tax the rich’ began to shout ‘tax the Jews,’ Lurie wrote. “Suggesting that Jews are wealthy is a tired trope, and targeting our community at an event focused on creating economic opportunity for San Franciscans is decidedly antisemitic.”
I want to look at this quote.
This part is true, of course.
This I think is antisemitic, right? The combination of saying "creating economic opportunity for San Franciscans" as a positive thing, which everyone (including, I'm sure, the person saying it) knows really means "giving away money stolen from the masses to rich people", and the specific emphasis on that in relation to the Jewish community.
Yelling "tax the Jews" is antisemitic regardless of context, yet this quote is choosing to make a specific association between the Jewish community and right-wing economic policy meant to benefit the wealthy. Am I completely misunderstanding this?