(mods pls remove post if it violates rules)
TL;DR:
My 19 yo little brother who had a rough childhood (which I unfortunately contributed to) is convinced that Israel's actions and impunity is because "modern jews run the Western world". I've tried countering this with a materialist explanation of Israel's role in US imperialism to no avail. I suspect my treatment of him in the past may be an obstacle here, and that the key to changing his mind might require an emotional rather than logical approach. Please advise.
Pre-October 7th:
We live in the West and grew up in a conservative Muslim family, both male, I'm 24 and he's 19. We have been pro-palestine since birth. Some channels he watches are Gattsu, Geopold, GDF and Badempanada, doesn't like Hasan much. He's not really into socialist politics/history like me but I think he sympathizes, although he has edgy humor which is sometimes borderline centrist/center-right.
He's a lot better now but as a kid he was really difficult, and my dad and I handled this extremely poorly. I was never physical (unlike sometimes my dad), but I said some putrid shit to him throughout my teens. Regretful shit that makes me stay up at night and breakdown from guilt if I think about too much.
5-6 years ago I mellowed out and thought "man, what the fuck am I doing" and asked him if he wanted to be normal brothers again, to which he enthusiastically agreed. Since then we've had a decent relationship and talk about shows, politics, history, movies, uni stuff, etc. We seldom talk about our feelings, and we never processed that traumatic 10 year period when I was a shitty older brother. Despite going through all this he turned out relatively fine, mostly well-adjusted all things considered.
Post October 7th
At some point in the past 2 years of genocide, he started believing in ZOG (zionist occupied government), which quickly morphed into "jews run the world". According to him, "90% of Israeli and US Jews are pedophile rapist murderers"
- He thinks that in modern times, Jews control western nations including US through the media, banks, legal institutions etc.
- He knows that Zionists != Jews, but says it doesn't matter to him at this point
- Despite my best efforts to explain Israel's role in US imperialism, he still thinks "the middle east wouldnt be as bad" if not for Israel
- I've tried explaining that its a symbiosis for US and Israel, and that Israel can't do anything without green light from US, but he thinks Israel can do whatever they want because they're blackmailing US politicians with Epstein
- He sends me reels of Israeli rabbis saying crazy shit with Havah Nagilah playing in the background
- sent me an Amin al-Husseini x Hitler edit (he joked saying how husseini saw the future and wanted to save his people, and that maybe Hitler was right)
- His "evidence" includes verses from the talmud condoning pedophilia and other insane things that many religions also say
- He thinks Nick Fuentes is funny, and likes that he is "one of the only far-right people who doesn't utterly despise Muslims/Arabs"
Potential solutions
Basically I've tried explaining with logic why he's wrong but he won't budge. I suspect part of it is because I was shitty to him during his formative years so maybe that's causing some friction. I think the solution will hinge on an emotional approach rather than logical, but I'm not sure what to do.
Hey mate, I know what it's like having reactionary family, it's hard, heartbreaking, and disappointing. There's no guarantee that you can change them, and at the end of the day it's their decision and opinion, all you can do is show them your evidence, and whether they take it or not it's entirely up to them.
That being said, there's something of a mismatch in your brother's supposed viewing habits that I think you can use as a starting point. Badempanada actually did a very good piece on GDF, and how his content is deliberately presented to misrepresent the relationship between Israel, Judaism, and the US Empire in order to fuel his largely anti-Semitic audience. You could perhaps use that as a starting point to talk about the many contradictions in your brother's logic and help him understand where he's being misled.
I'll link them here
https://youtu.be/z-LxT7UDF6I
https://youtu.be/EXOwPbQRYNE
I've seen those videos and theyre bangers, unfortunately I mentioned them to him and he replied with "ok bubby". And he's a big fan of BE too, and now im realizing maybe he was only attracted to BE's unhinged nature. Im drowning here lmao
I am going to try an emotional approach like other commenters have said, hopefully that will work better
I found YouTube links in your comment. Here are links to the same videos on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
Link 1:
Link 2: