Antisemitism in Vietnam? Viral video doesn’t show whole story

The sign outside Mr. Tuan's Hanoi café. | Amiad Horowitz / People's World

HANOI—Last week, I was startled by a number of messages sent to me about a “viral antisemitic incident” in Vietnam. People shared the link to a video that claimed to show a Jewish family being chased out of a Hanoi café by a supposedly Jew-hating shop owner motivated by his solidarity with the Palestinian people. One person even shared an article from Israeli news on the incident.

I was quite shaken by the idea. As a Jewish person living in Vietnam for over a decade, I have never experienced even a whiff of antisemitism from any Vietnamese person. In fact, I never received anything but positive comments or friendly questions of curiosity because there is little to no history of Jews in Vietnam.

In fact, after the Holocaust, in 1946, Ho Chi Minh once offered to create a Jewish safe haven in Vietnam. The offer was made by Vietnam’s first president to David Ben-Gurion, who would later become the first prime minister of Israel. The two met in a hotel in Paris. Ho Chi Minh was sympathetic to the suffering of the Jewish people, but Ben-Gurion turned down his offer of assistance.

Given this lack of history of antisemitism in Vietnam, the prospect of it being imported to my adopted home was quite scary. I decided to go to the café and see if I could find out more about the incident and clarify what was really going on in the viral video.

Arriving at the café, I spoke with the owner, Mr. Tuan, and introduced myself. I told him I was Jewish and explained that I was curious about what happened in the infamous video. Mr. Tuan was very welcoming. He served me wonderful Vietnamese coffee, which he spoke about like a proud father.

He explained that due to all the attention he was receiving, he did not want to be interviewed. I later learned that he even received death threats against himself and his family from Zionists around the world.

People familiar with the incident were able to confirm that the family who filmed the video were not customers of Mr. Tuan’s café. After seeing a “Free Palestine” sticker on his café, they stood outside, blocking the path, and tried to incite a reaction on camera. They were rude and intrusive, sticking their phones in Mr. Tuan’s face until he reacted with anger.

Mr. Tuan’s café has been around for more than ten years, and he welcomes guests from all over the world, including Israel, without prejudice. The only people not welcome in his café are those who break the law or behave badly. There is even a tongue-in-cheek sign that reads “no stupid people beyond this point” because Mr. Tuan is not afraid to ask disrespectful customers to leave, no matter where they are from or what their background is. He judges people on their behavior, not their country of origin.

In fact, in the days following the incident, a number of Israeli tourists visited the famous café without any problems. All remain welcome.

Daniel and Raizel Namdar, the creators of the video, are digital nomads who travel the world making videos on their Instagram account (ThatJewishFamily) about traveling as orthodox Jews and the unique issues that arise due to their religious lifestyle. While most of their content is simply about living their lives according to orthodox Jewish laws, they also use their platform and its nearly 210,000 followers to spread Zionist talking points and apologetics about Israel’s war crimes.

In the caption for the post showing the incident at the café, they wrote, “Anti-Zionism is antisemitism, period.” This often-repeated Zionist talking point is both false and dangerous.

The fact is, not all Jews are Zionists, and many Jews remain ardent anti-Zionists. There are large organizations in the United States, such as Jewish Voice for Peace and Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, that actively work in solidarity with the Palestinian people and against Zionism. Strands of Hassidic Judaism, such as the Satmar and Neturai Karta sect, believe that Zionism is strictly against Jewish law and actively fight against it.

These Zionists making false claims about anti-Zionism being antisemitism are the real danger for the Jews of the world—not the people working for Palestinian freedom. The constant crying wolf has made it nearly impossible to talk about the very real problem of actual antisemitism.

In fact, Zionists have a long history of working with antisemites. Theodor Herzl, the founder of political Zionism, once wrote, “anti-Semites will become our most dependable friends, the anti-Semitic countries our allies” because the core of the Zionist message is that the whole world hates Jews. Therefore, a Jewish ethno-state is needed for protection. To this end, Zionists and antisemites work hand in hand, trying to empty the countries of the world of Jews.

Continuing this tradition, the fascistic Zionist government of Israel has developed good relations with Jew-hating political parties across Europe. In recent years, Israel has established friendly relations with antisemitic parties all around the continent. These include the Sweden Democrats, a party with neo-Nazi roots, the fascistic and xenophobic Fidesz Party from Hungary, and the Brothers of Italy Party, whose regional leader Marcello De Angelis once wrote a song that declared “Jews are a race of merchants,” among many others.

Most recently, Israel’s Diaspora Minister, Amichai Chikli, praised the extreme-right French candidate for prime minister, Jordan Bardella of the National Rally Party. As the world stood in fear at the prospect of the fascistic party of Le Pen—which was founded by a Holocaust denier—coming to power in Paris, the Zionists welcomed it.

It’s truly astonishing that the Namdars seem to have no problem with the Israeli government openly embracing neo-Nazis and fascists across Europe. Instead, they choose to stir up an incident in Vietnam, a country that has historically been, and remains, friendly and welcoming to Jews and all people.

The incident at the café in Hanoi serves as a reminder of the dangers of the Zionist attempt to equate anti-Zionism with antisemitism. As a Jew living in Hanoi, I am happy to learn that Jew hatred remains foreign to this wonderful country. However, I remain terrified for the future of the Jewish people around the world, as this Zionist strategy waters down the actual threat of real antisemitism.

As with all news analytical and op-ed articles published by People’s World, this article reflects the views of its author.

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CONTRIBUTOR

J.E. Rosenberg

J.E. Rosenberg grew up in an extremist, religious Zionist household in the U.S. After moving to Israel as a young adult, he changed his world views. He left Israel and is now a member of the Communist Party.