#Challenge antisemitism when you see it question your own biases

[anyoldfandom]

Why are you anti-Israel as a Jew? genuine question, I'm just curious as a non-Jewish person bc all my irl Jewish friends are pro-Israel

Okay so normally I don't really,,check my inbox so sorry for the late response anon, but thank you for the genuine curiosity! I'm glad you're coming to the table with an open mind.

I am going to put a disclaimer here, however: Jewish people are not the only people impacted by Israel's actions. We're not even the most impacted. I am going to give my perspective because it was asked for, but my biggest suggestion is to listen to Palestinian voices the most before you draw any conclusions, as they are the real victims in the center of Israel's actions.

As for my opinion, however - quite frankly, my dislike of the Israeli state comes from a few places. Yes, it is true that Jewish people lived in Israel in the past, and yes, it is a holy land - but I genuinely do not believe that the Israeli government has Jewish interests in heart. The common narrative that I've heard in a lot of spaces is that Israel is a safe place should the world turn against us again, but quite frankly...it's unrealistic. Not every Jew in the world can move to Israel. Only the wealthy Jews (and I can tell you, many Jews are not wealthy at all) would be able to flee, and the rest of us would be stuck where we are.

And that would be if Israel was not already filled with Palestinians. A phrase I and other Jews have used is "Not in our name".

The Israeli state is breaking international laws - yes, Hamas has also been condemned for breaking international laws, but the Israeli government is also a state. It is a government. A government that has a history of committing genocide - so much that South Africa is trying to sue them for war crimes.

And, to be frank, and I will admit my language is about to be very harsh - please know my anger is directed at the Israeli government, anon, and not you - but I do not want a fucking genocide in my name. I do not want other peoples to suffer because my people have in the past - Israel is not the answer, fighting real, actual antisemitism is. Making the entire world safe is the answer. I also hate that the government is claiming any criticism of Israel is antisemitic - I've spoken out against antisemitism in the past, consistently. I've written in concerns that people will use criticism of Israel in a way where they simply attack Jewish people, which is absolutely antisemitism, but holding a state responsible for their actions is not bigotry.

And, one more point - I do not think the allies of Israel are the allies of Jews. I can only speak as a US citizen, and not for any other country - but I do not, and have never, believed that my country is an ally of the Jewish people. I am constantly hearing antisemitic conspiracy theories being spread by politicians, and I heard the president claim that Israel would be the only safe place for Jews - supporting another genocidal country over the citizens he's supposed to be protecting, by suggesting the only place we will be safe is far away from America.

So, I don't support Israel. I don't support the murder of innocent Palestinians, the killing of journalists and children. I don't support the removal of people from their homes - and I'm frankly disgusted at those who would imply that I must run from my own home to be safe, because they refuse to be the change to keep my people safe.

I hope I explained my position well, anon. I really appreciate it when people, especially people not in the groups centered in a conversation, try to speak to both sides to at least understand all of the issue - though, don't just listen to me. As I said at the beginning, listen to Palestinian voices, as well - listen to the people living through these horrors. While Jews are centered in the conversation, it's important to remember that there are other victims here, who deserve to be listened to a whole hell of a lot more than me.

[kenobihater]

Hello! Sorry if this isn't a topic you want to speak on (so feel free to ignore this) but I have two questions regarding different arguments I've seen about the Hogwarts Legacy bullshit, as there were mixed views from both trans and Jewish people when I went on a blocking spree earlier:

1. I saw a couple of the fans that paid actual money for the game defend their choice with "but Im trans" or "but Im Jewish" or both. Thoughts on that?

2. There have been claims that pirating the game is alright as long as you don't talk about it online, whereas others posed that engaging with the game through piracy is in itself harmful - maybe not to the wider society as a whole, but to Jewish, trans, and other marginalized individuals in that persons life. What is your stance on the matter?

I have some ideas about these myself but seeing as I am neither trans nor Jewish I think it'd be best to ask first and only follow up with a dialogue if that is wanted of me. I know that outsiders can sometimes have more nuanced/better positions than insiders (like with the whole truscum and transmedicalism rot going on about in some trans circles) but. Yeah. Asking predominantly out of curiosity but also because you tend to be aggressively clear and honest about the shit going on with HP and I like that.

I'm fine with answering this, though I will add that I'm not Jewish and so I'm not qualified to speak in depth on the antisemitism present within the game other than to acknowledge that it is very blatant and wrong.

From the perspective of a trans person, I think that even trans people can hold harmful and transphobic stances when it comes to this game bc they're letting their nostalgia blind them. Being a minority does not inherently free you from being wrong and bigoted, even against a group you yourself are part of. Sidenote - considering how this game actually has a trans person in it and to my admittedly limited knowledge it doesn't engage in transphobic rhetoric or tropes like it does with the antisemitism, I'd find it VERY sketch if a trans gentile claimed they could play the game bc they were trans. Like, hello! The antisemitism isn't negated by your transness!!

Onto your second question: I've thought about this myself and I think I've finally decided on my stance, though it's quite rambly. Imho if someone is absolutely 100% going to play the game, I'd prefer that they pirate it, do so behind closed doors, and not speak of it bc there's no such thing as bad publicity. But like... they're knowingly engaging with a game that is steeped in antisemitism and monetarily benefits a transphobe. The simple decision to play that game, even if it doesn't impact their worldview in any way, even if they aren't lining joann's pockets, even if they give it no publicity... they're still making a decision to put their own pleasure and enjoyment over the pleas of Jewish and trans people. That's selfish in my book. Like, if someone hasn't dropped HP I doubt anything I can say will change that, but I just find it sad and exhausting that people will call themselves allies and then refuse to do anything that could possibly challenge or inconvenience them. They post infographs about the rise of antisemitic hatecrimes and reblog "fuck terfs!", but will they actually show up to rallies? Call their legislators to complain about bigoted legislature? Educate themselves? Make room for Jewish and trans voices and be silent when necessary? Consistantly reflect on their own biases and bigoted behaviors and grow as a person? Something tells me that if they can't even refrain from playing a blatantly antisemitic wizard game just bc it reminds them of a book written by a terf they read when they were 12, that that's not very likely.