Is Urban Dictionary’s New Entry ‘To Get Israeled’ An Antisemitic Trope? ADL Weighs In

For the past three months and continuing, the phrase “getting Israeled” has been gaining traction on Urban Dictionary, a widely used platform for evolving language and slang, shaped by its user community, Times of Israel reports.

As per one of the numerous users defining the term, “Israeling” is described as a “feeling of ownership over another population’s land, resource access, and lives by way of having a god complex and religious scripture as testament to the right to commit criminal practices without accountability.”

Established in 1999, Urban Dictionary is recognized for its bold content, especially concerning women and individuals of color. Positioned among the top 500 websites nationally, the platform mirrors how people leverage the internet to reinterpret familiar terms or introduce new slang.

According to Jonah Steinberg, director of the Anti-Defamation League for New England, “‘Israeled’ signifies claiming something that is not one’s own, done in a hostile manner.” Steinberg further notes, “The implication is that Jews have no legitimacy in Israel. The usage also suggests that Israel inherently represents unjust appropriation and that offensive behavior typifies Israel. It’s an antisemitic use of our people’s ancient name.”

After October 7, when 3,000 Hamas terrorists infiltrated Israel, causing casualties and taking hostages, numerous entries for “Israeled” surfaced on Urban Dictionary, with various definitions garnering over 40,000 upvotes. However, a significant number also received more downvotes, indicating a lack of unanimous acceptance among users.

While the website determines popular slang through user voting, it also engages in the commercialization of internet slang, selling items like custom mugs featuring the new terms.

Reports suggest that supporters of Israel actively rallied online to encourage downvotes for “Israeled” on Urban Dictionary. Simultaneously, links to purchase products labeled “Israeled” were not operational at the time of publication.

The term “Israeled” primarily denotes land theft on Urban Dictionary, but it has also been used to describe less severe transgressions. For instance, one user narrates a scenario where they were asked to share a restaurant table but were later requested to leave for a meeting, concluding with, “Looks like you just got Israeled.”

In the realm of pro-Israel sentiments, there exists a parallel notion of “getting Israeled” concerning Palestinians and Hamas, known as “Gazalighting,” a play on the term gaslighting. It has garnered approval from hundreds of Urban Dictionary users, defined as a situation where “a terrorist group from Gaza carried out a massacre, then later denies it and blames the victim.”

While “Israeled” might not be among the most popular terms on Urban Dictionary, its presence reflects broader antisemitism on the platform. The site features numerous definitions for the slur “kike,” and entries for the term Jew often veer into explicit or dehumanizing content.

The trend of “getting Israeled” since October 7 is the latest illustration of Urban Dictionary both mirroring and influencing how internet users globally perceive Jews and Israel. The entry, along with other problematic content about Israel on the platform, is seen as contributing to an environment saturated with antisemitism, associating Israel with historic antisemitic tropes of theft and deceit, according to a spokesperson for the Anti-Defamation League in New York City. The spokesperson emphasizes that while criticism of specific Israeli policies is legitimate, this entry appears to be a biased attempt to employ the platform for spreading anti-Israel sentiments.

{Matzav.com Israel}