#antisemitism isn’t okay just because of Zionism

[audhdnight]

Once again people prove that they’re totally fine with ableism as long as they can pretend it’s only because of some excuse.

One of my Facebook groups is about making fun of the ridiculous things religious people say. Today someone shared a video of said religious nonsense, except the woman had a congenital condition resulting in facial differences, and instead of commenting on the absolute absurdity of what she was saying, everyone decided to talk about her face. Saying things like “you’re proof that when the Bible says god doesn’t make mistakes it’s lying” and “you’re worse than the uncanny valley kind of creepy” and “I wouldn’t ever speak if my teeth looked like that”.

And when myself and two others began pointing out that hey, maybe those are really shitty things to say? Maybe we could talk about her words instead of her looks? The way we do with every other post that gets shared here? We were called too sensitive and snowflakes, and essentially told to get over it because there’s worse things than bullying an idiot.

I don’t care how horrible of a person someone is, I don’t care if they’re perpetuating brainwashing. I’m still not going to make fun of them for things they can’t change that are constantly discriminated against already.

Like, she was saying some bullshit about how not reading our bibles makes god just as sad as hurting other people, so really we’re all just as a bad as murderers and so we shouldn’t be prideful. That is the kind of shit that deserves to be mocked. Not her teeth or her face.

[jewish-vents]

i am SO sick and tired of the usage of zionism amongst goyim. the obsession around this word in general makes me lose my mind because i don’t think goyim should be even using it, since they don’t get it and they probably never will. all they did was twist this word and turn into a fucking slur, as if it’s an insult. even people who are pro-peace and aren’t into the idea that israelis deserve to die avoid being associated with zionism like the plague, which is fine. you should identify in whatever way you like, but i feel like zionism has been taken out of context by goyim to an extent that the only definition this word carries is negative and evil. and while zionism does have different types, like the political one that people in the israeli government take advantage of, the core of zionism means no harm. all it means throughout my life in israel as a jew is supporting the existence of israel and that we have a right to live in our ancestral homeland. that’s literally it. nothing about violence, nothing about persecution, nothing about fascism, and nothing about palestine to begin with. goyim always assume for some reason that zionism = kahanism which just. isn’t exactly correct. like you should definitely oppose kahanism because it really is bad but ffs stop being so obsessed about a jewish movement (i’m talking about zionism not kahanism obviously) that has been around for more than a century. it traces back to our history and culture, you cannot separate it from our roots. not to mention the fact that this word is in hebrew, and this all just feels like cultural appropriation to me. they took zionism and destroyed the values it held, the struggle and the pain jews had to face during their years in the diaspora, they’ll never get it. we belong to zion, and nobody can take the connection that we have to this land away from us. no gaslighting, no propaganda, and no hatred will help these crybabies.

zionists are just regular human beings and aren’t monsters, they don’t want to kill children, and the majority stands against the fascists who sit in the israeli government. i wish everyone could just shut up already and normalize the fact that most people who identify as zionist want peace and two state solution as much as the next person does. extremists don’t represent us and for some reason goyim can’t distinguish that. it angers me so much

also seeing zionism on goyim’s dni criteria while they put it next to antisemitism will never fail to make me laugh. they think supporting the existence of the only jewish state is as evil as nazism, what the heck. like it’s okay to criticize israel but how come wanting israel to be destroyed into oblivion is cool and heroic exactly? or dehumanizing an entire group of people cuz idk… somebody on tiktok or twitter told you. i know it’s debatable, but antizionism = antisemitism and nobody can convince me otherwise. they will always treat us like scum of the earth

.

[jewishbarbies]

would it be wrong of me to assume that us (me and other non Jewish people) non Jewish people are not in a position to discuss whether Zionism should exist or not? Or whether anti Zionism is or isn’t antisemitism?

I don't know. To me, Zionism is a Jewish concept. It was created by Jewish people due to the treatment of Jewish people by non Jews at the time (as well as present).

With that said, it is quite strange that a lot of non Jewish people have basically “hijacked” the voice of Jewish people, if that makes sense. A lot of non Jewish people are speaking over actual Jewish people about Jewish things.

Non Jewish people “deciding” whether Jewish people deserve or do not deserve a homeland.

Non Jewish people “deciding” whether certain Jewish customs can be altered or not (for example, didn’t Jewish Voice for Peace, which according to jumblr is not Jewish, try the whole teacup mikvah or something? Whatever they called it. A lot of people were upset about that).

Non Jewish people labelling any and everything Jewish as “genocidal”. For example, I read about some discourse regarding the phrase “Am Yisrael Chai”, many non Jewish leftists are saying that that statement is against Palestinians because it mentions Israel and refers to the Jews as the people of Israel, which according them is false because “Palestinians are the true original people of the region, not Jews”.

Non Jewish people “deciding” what is and isn’t antisemitism, for example, one of the earliest examples of this that I saw was the discourse about the whole “river to sea, Palestine is Arab” statement and whether or not that was antisemitic. A lot of Jewish people tried to explain how that statement is bad, and non Jewish people basically just said… “no, you’re wrong.”

Or when Jewish people explained that the term “zio” is a slur coined by former KKK grande wizard David Duke and is antisemitic in nature, and non Jews just said… “it’s not antisemitic because we’re not referring to Jewish people, we’re referring to Zionists!”

There’s so much more, but I’m sure you already know that. How can this shit even be combatted? How can us non Jews do and be better? How do we even get through to people who do this stuff?

no, that’s a reasonable thing to assume. on some level, everyone regardless of group should support landback movements for all peoples, and that includes jews. At the same time, whether or not zionism is acceptable or even just what zionism is, is explicitly a jewish conversation and goyim really should not be involved. it’s definitely a bit of a grey area, but it’s pretty easy for goyim to simply recuse themselves from intracommunity conversations like zionism. no one gets to determine what our terms mean or assign morality to them but us. it’s the same basic respect afforded to other ethnic/minority groups.

as far as how goyim can combat this antisemitism and entitlement, just speak up. don’t associate with and support people insistent on being antisemitic, help educate people willing to learn by directing them to jews and jewish created resources, speak up online and irl when you hear/see strangers and people you know engage in this. it’s okay if you don’t feel comfortable or knowledgeable enough on the issue to say something authoritative, it’s perfectly fine to leave the situation and/or just link resources.

the whole point is education and respect. learning how to spot propaganda and teaching your friends/circle can be a surprisingly powerful first step.

[bonyassfish]

something im really struggling with is this idea that like... early zionists took palestinian land, but does that make their descendants not civilians? are all israelis who have previously served in the idf not civilians?

people keep saying there's no such thing as an israeli civilian and it confuses me, because it seems to be an excuse to not care about israeli deaths and paint all citizens as agents of netanyahu's awful regime rather than people who range from leftist to far-right like in any other nation.

and i wonder, is there anything antisemitic here? is it only kind of anti-israeli? and does that make it okay, or does it bring the movement down? i guess im just curious what your opinion is, since it seems to be the elephant in the discourse room.

People who say there’s no such thing as an Israeli civilian aren’t really helping the discourse imo. The issue is that when you’re trying to divide the world neatly into “colonizers/settlers” and “civilians” you’re not going to get a neat and tidy line. And it’s especially nebulous with Jews, because while we did at one point come from the ancient land of Judea, we’ve been essentially stateless for most of our history. My ancestors immigrated to north america from Eastern Europe, but they were always made to feel like outsiders there. And then they moved to a settler colonial nation. My citizenship as an American is now predicated on the displacement and genocide of indigenous people, and I live on stolen land. Is that “my fault” per se? No, but I am still responsible for understanding that history and trying to see how I can work toward reconciliation and landback movements with said indigenous populations.

When it comes to Jews in Israel, there’s a mix. Some Jews lived there prior to the formation of the Israeli state. Some came only recently. Some Jews moved to Israel because they were Zionists and believed in Zionism as a political principle. Some Jews moved to Israel because they felt a historical connection to the land. And some Jews moved because they were refugees and had nowhere else to go. Some came from Europe, some from Asia, some from Africa. And today, as you point out, Israeli Jews aren’t a monolith: some are right wing, some are left, some are in fact opposed to Zionism and despise their current government, much the same as any group of citizens.

It is true that Israel has a draft which means the majority of Jews (along with Druze Israelis) serve in the IDF, though of late many young Israelis have been refusing service, being sent to jail for their refusal. America also had a draft up until somewhat recently. Some of the loudest voices for peace in America sometimes come from veterans, who can say firsthand the horrors the American military has enacted.

Ultimately, I think it’s a mistake to focus on this idea of trying to define Israelis as settlers or not because ultimately the issue here is the Israeli state, which is currently engaged in a horrific genocide in Gaza. The issue isn’t whether Jews can live there, the issue is who is in control and whether Palestinians can live lives in peace with freedom.

Within any group of people, some will be violent and some will not. Some will want peace and some will not. Painting any group of people with a broad stroke is a dangerous game. If we can understand that not all Americans support their government, why can’t we do the same for other countries?

To quote Marjane Satrapi:

[min-pathologica]

🍉 rant

wow i’m pissed as fuckkkkkk. i’m sick of people saying the “israel-hamas conflict” (genocide of palestinians) is a ‘complex multifaceted issue!’ and ‘neither side is right!’ like okay. go sprout flowers with your pure mind and adjust your scale of holy fairness why don’t you. cause ‘there should be a balance’ and you ‘don’t take sides’ and you’re ‘so neutral’? just ignore a literal genocide cause you can only look at it from your western lens of religion, american politics, and years of being taught from a covertly islamophobic and white supremacist curriculum? you can’t look at the death tolls and tell me who’s dying and who’s not? you can’t read one history book and tell me who took whose land? you jumped to defend ukraine and ‘do everything you could to help’, but when it comes to palestine it’s a ‘complex issue’ and there’s ‘not much you can do ‘cause they’re across the world’. i heard some classmate say this stuff, thinking she was better for it. do the children being killed not count because they’re middle eastern? do you believe the israeli propaganda of the ‘savage hamas terrorist’ because you only grew up learning about how middle easterns are terrorists? you never questioned it? that bias just stuck, and when those people get brutally mass murdered you turn a blind eye?

is that the issue, or are you just ignorant because israel was your ‘status quo’? you never knew about any conflict that wasn’t america, britain, france some decades ago, so you assumed everything was fine everywhere else so long as no headlines were made? you thought the ‘war’ started october 7th when hamas attacked israel? and that israel was ‘defending itself’ from hamas? when this has been happening for 75 years? you never knew, but when you learn, you think again that this is a ‘complex issue’ somehow.

or do you still think the conflict has anything to do with western politics? that palestine equals hamas, judaism equals zionism, anti-zionism equals antisemitism, etc., really, that anything has much to do with jewish people? no, the problem is with zionism, a problematic political belief, which can exist separately from judaism, a valid religion like any other. zionism being the support of israel as a ‘jewish homeland’, which is occupied palestinian land. a quick skim through history shows this. zionism believes that they need more, so it wants to eliminate palestine and its people. hence, violence. it kind of resembles the ww2 german concept of ‘lebensraum’ (‘living space’). but see how it can be separate from judaism? which means the inverses are separate as well. but in western politics, concepts like these are merged, and once again the mass killings of children is turned into a political conundrum because it’s apparently anti-semitic to want israel to not commit a genocide. even calling their actions a genocide is considered very political for the same reason, when it should be a basic application of the u.n. genocide convention’s definition - “a crime committed with the intent to destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, in whole or in part”. the same convention lists the criteria for a genocide as “killing members of the group, causing them serious bodily or mental harm, imposing living conditions intended to destroy the group, preventing births, and forcibly transferring children out of the group”. it’s pretty clear that, as stated by several first-party accounts, israel intends to wipe out palestinians. zionism also applies for reasons i described earlier. as for the five criteria - a quick look at any source ever shows israel is killing palestinians, this isn’t disputable. the second criteria, serious bodily or mental harm, can be checked off for the same reason. same with the third. the fourth is trickier, but like. newborn babies are killed, hospital bombings, everyone’s seen a few baby corpses by now. the fifth point can mean different things - it can mean stealing children and forcibly assimilating them, or experimenting on them, which was frequent during ww2. in this case, it would be applied with the child hostages. and the stuff that happens to those hostages. and generally, a lot of children are being killed. israel’s actions can easily be applied to the criteria for a genocide, but for whatever reason it’s “too complicated”. it’s ‘a conflict’. and there’s the point of euphemisms and distant language in media coverage. the thing of ‘minors vs children’, ‘dead vs killed’ that is everywhere on this topic. it’s not that complicated, and staying neutral is just as bad as supporting israel. see ‘first they came’ by martin niemöller, or ‘terrible things’ by eve bunting. see also the ten stages of genocide.

i would elaborate but honestly i’ve had a bad headache the whole time writing this so ahhh. night

[daggerbisexual]

ok so i originally wrote this for facebook but im gonna share it here too. So, given everything that’s been going on lately, I thought I’d give everyone a brief lesson. Now, I’d like to preface this by saying that I am, in no way, an expert on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It’s the longest running world conflict and a very complex topic that I, like many, have only scratched the surface of. I’d also like to note, that UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES AM I DEFENDING THE ISRAELI GOVERNMENT. What they’re doing is horrendous, and criminal under the Geneva convention (but i’m not an expert in war crimes either). References will be linked under the cut.

Okay, let’s start with a couple of definitions, shall we?

Jew: Someone who belongs to Judaism, either through birth or conversion.

Judaism: an Abrahamic ethno-religion (a religion that has a common ethnic background and thus can be treated both as ethnicity and as religion).

Zionism: a movement in favor of the self-determination and statehood for the Jewish people.

Zionist: a member of the Zionism movement.

Antisemitism: a prejudice against or hatred of Jews.

Ready? Alright, here we go.

1. American Jews have no say in the decisions of the Israeli government.

This one seems fairly obvious, but I’m gonna say it anyway. American Jews, unless they are at very high levels of our government, have no say in what the Israeli government does. Blaming Jews for the actions of the Israeli government is just a cover for antisemitism. Which leads me to number 2.

2. Being Jewish does not mean automatically supporting the actions of the Israeli government.

Note that I say the Israeli government, and not Israel itself (but I’ll get to that in a minute). The Israeli government has done some frankly awful things to Palestine and the Palestinians, particularly along the Gaza strip, and being Jewish does not mean that I automatically support this. In fact, speaking personally, think what the Israeli government has done is detestable and horrific. See the Aljazeera summary for a more complete history.

3. Being a Zionist does not necessarily mean being Pro-Israeli government or being Anti-Palestine.

Again, this one seems like common sense. Just because someone believes there should be a Jewish state does not mean they support the actions of the Israeli government. See number 2 and the Aljazeera summary. Which leads me to number 4.

4. You can support both the Zionism and Free Palestine movements.

This isn’t a contradiction. You can support the ideal of a Jewish state and also believe that the Palestinians have the same right to self-determination and statehood. In fact, these two ideas should absolutely exist side by side.

5. If you use the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as the basis for anti-Jewish rhetoric, you’re not progressive, you’re antisemitic.

See literally all of the above.

Antisemitism is at an all time high in the United States. According to the Anti-Defamation League, recorded antisemitic incidents in the US increased 36% from 2021 to 2022. We might like to think that antisemitism ended with the Holocaust, but it didn’t. It is still alive and kicking, and it is getting worse.

So criticize the Israeli government, criticize Hamas, support the people affected by this conflict. But don’t take it out on Jews. We’re as horrified as you are.

References:

Jew & Judaism definition: https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/3854897/jewish/What-Is-a-Jew.htm

Ethno-religion definition: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnoreligious_group

Zionism: definiton: https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounder/zionism

antisemitism definition: https://www.ushmm.org/antisemitism/what-is-antisemitism

Anti-israel protests and antisemitism: https://www.ajc.org/news/7-ways-some-anti-israel-protests-have-spread-antisemitism

ADL antisemitism data: https://www.adl.org/resources/report/audit-antisemitic-incidents-2022

Aljazeera summary: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/9/whats-the-israel-palestine-conflict-about-a-simple-guide

[eddieydewr]

standwithus is not “non-partisan” they’re literally classified as right wing even amongst zionist sociologists. the creator of the organization believes that any criticism of the israeli government should be condemned and that to be pro israel you must dogmatically support the actions of the government. they teach people that palestinian refugees exist not because of forceful displacement, but because of a war arab people started themselves (this is also what noah’s new bff moti believes). and when does standwithus ever mention palestinians on their page unless to call to put “palestinian terrorists” in bold red font or tell people to boycott BDS? john hagee is a key partner of SWU, and he’s a homophobic, racist, islamophobic antisemite who said hitler was a gift from god. (here’s an article from the jewish anti zionist org jewish for peace https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/2018/10/ccpfisraelilobby/).

you are absolutely right that there are thousands of years of jewish culture. which makes reducing judaism down to the state of israel a stupid conflation. there’s no denying that jewish people have a connection to the land. there is absolutely zero issue with jewish people having historically lived in, visited, or worshipped in the region for much of history before the occupation. the issue comes with an establishment of a european led settler ethnostate and the displacement and incremental genocide/ethnic cleansing of the population that was living there. israel is a white supremacist apartheid state and this is both reflected in the genocide of palestinians and the national oppression that non-ashkenazi jewish people face in israel (https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/zionism/). not only does tourism fund this project, it propagandizes it.

birthright is an indoctrination trip and fundamentally problematic. noah wasn’t on birthright based on what i know, but he was on another free sponsored trip where many of the same issues with birthright remain true (https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/2017/10/returnthebirthright-faq/ ).

palestinians aren’t the only people who are being murdered everyday, but why are we minimizing or normalizing the fact that they’re living under actual apartheid because of the israeli state? would it be okay or normal for somebody to have gone to apartheid south africa and called johannesburg their “happy place”? get real. celebrities regularly get all expense paid trips to israel and sell an image of israel that’s a whitewashed paradise. in a world where israel already gets billions of dollars in international support to fund their army that brutalizes palestinian existence and suppresses palestinian resistance, this isn’t an innocuous thing.

i’m just confused bc there are conflicting views about SWU. the zionist organization of america, for example, thinks SWU is too liberal and pro-palestine, more or less lol. i can provide a link if you want a source. also, there’s the whole thing with whether anti-zionism is antisemitism, and i’m not qualified nor an expert to answer that. i’ve been reading up on some stuff but it seems like there’s no clear answer.

this moti guy does seem firm in his convictions. but we don’t know if noah is actually close friends with him or agrees with his views. i doubt it but if he does, then that is something he’ll have to contend with. he is young, he’ll learn. anyway, i honestly think moti and the woman (rachel kay?) were the group leaders, more or less, and the boys noah were with seem to attend UPenn too.

i agree it is insensitve and ignorant to refer to israel as one’s happy place. we don’t know noah, so we don’t know what he means by it. he could be happy that he’s finally out of the closet and getting to hang out with people like him while connecting with his heritage and culture. i don’t think he meant any malice. btw, i did not mean to normalise or minimise what is happening in palestine, nor would i want to, so i apologise for that. i understand what you’re saying but there were people who enjoyed themselves in south africa during the apartheid. musicians for example, they performed gigs there. i can provide a source for that too.

again, we don’t know noah. and we can disagree on this but i don’t think he’s malicious. he likes travelling and exploring - which he often documents on insta and tiktok. and he has the opportunity rn since ST production is on hiatus due to the strike. he must be bored stiff and i don’t think he’s due back at college yet.

anon, thank you for your insights and nuance. i really do appreciate it. and thanks for the links too, i’ll have a look.

[fierceawakening]

josiepugblog The reason I see Jews point out the popularity of Zionism is to distinguish the Zionism within the Jewish community with its appropriation outside of it (either by antisemites using it as a slur or Christian Zionists fetishizing it). The broadest definition is that Jews are indigenous to the Levant and deserve to be able to live there in peace. As you point out, many Zionists also believe that Palestinians should be there as well (the ones who don’t are Kahanists and they suck). 1/

I think you’re right to be wary of it as a political ideology but I don’t think it is (only) that. Judaism is older than modern concepts of race and to a certain extent religion. Being the people of the land of Israel is central to Jewish identity even if the person has no intention of going there. Of course believing and enforcing that Jews are the Only people of/in Israel is wrong but while that falls under Zionism it isn’t synonymous(like Terfsbeing feminists but feminism not being Terfism)2/

Okay, but the thing is: we live in a global society. The US, for all its many faults, is often talked about as a blend of different cultures and ideas and... mostly this is talked about as a good thing.

There are a few people here who say this isn't a good thing, that diversity is a weakness and people should sort into like groups for safety and camaraderie...

...but they tend to be horrible people.

They tend, when they get control, to hurt anyone who doesn't look like them, and not really stick to the "oh I just want my safe space" thing. Very quickly.

So then there's a minority group, and they say "it's different when we do it, as we are a minority!"

And then you ask, "how is it different when you do it?" And you point out that believing minority members would never has hurt a lot of people. (I was literally in an abusive relationship with a black lesbian. "There are no power dynamics between women because there's no oppressor" kept me in a horrible situation.)

So you think you have a good reason to ask this stuff.

And they say "if you need to ask, you're in bad faith."

And then they get upset when people shrug and go "sounds like garden variety ethnonationalism with a different name on it. I don't support harassment, death threats, and other awful things (which I would hope is obvious but this IS tumblr), but uuuuh... why shouldn't I say that's obviously bad?"

And the reply, more often than not, is "SKREEEEEEEEEEEE."

So since That Post wherein I asked "so what *is* Zionism, exactly? I need to know to have an opinion" is once again going around and people are once again taking it the opposite of literally and talking to a guy they made up in their head, I'm going to complain about a thing they keep doing.

Which is say stuff like "90% of Jews are Zionists," as if this is some impeccable feat of logic that will by itself immediately stop me from needing to know what having it as your political view actually entails.

Which is weird as fuck to me, as this is... well, I can't think of the name of the logical fallacy right now, I'm tired, but it's the "so if everybody else jumped off a bridge, would you do it too?" one.

[colorisbyshe]

Out of curiosity, would you make the same argument if Palestinian organizations are homophobic, antisemitic, or otherwise bigoted? I wonder why it's okay to give certain people/groups a pass bc their safety & humanity comes first but we strangely cannot give that same grace to Jewish people. Interesting.

I don’t support donating to salvation army because they’re homophobic.

I don’t support donating to PETA because they are antisemitic, racist, fatphobic, and every other type of bigoted.

Every time there is a natural disaster, I warn people against donating to the Red Cross knowing their failures in almost every single crisis despite the little good they have done. Because the good does not outweigh the bad and frankly criminal.

(Note: I am not saying these are equivalent groups or create equivalent harms or are ideologically associated. I am noting instances “good intentions negated by what they enable.)

There are plenty of organizations with noble (and/or “noble”) goals who I advocate against because their methods, alliances, or other ideologies go against my moral code.

Jewish Ukrainians and other refugees deserve support. Undoubtedly.

But Palestinians deserve their homes and lands and livelihoods.

I cannot support saving one group by sacrificing the other. And Zionism—at least the one promoted by these groups, if you want to find exceptions, those exceptions have nothing to do with this specific dialogue—comes at the expense of Palestinians.

And I am simply responding to rhetoric saying that donating to Zionists groups is okay right now because “They’re focused on saving refugees, not taking over Palestine at the moment.” That rhetoric falls flat when it has been demonstrated that saving refugees is being done by displacing Palestinians.

You cannot solve a human rights violation by fueling another one.

WUPJ is working with The World Zionist Organization, responsible for the plan to set up settlements in Israel.

I cannot advocate for that.

This isn’t even a situation we can pretend it’s a bit nebulous where “Maybe sometimes, not right now, they are harming Palestine, but right now they are focused elsewhere, so let’s help them focus elsewhere.” This isn’t a nebulous “bigotry” with no material realization. This isn’t a “Okay for right now, maybe not for later” situation.

(Note: I am not saying those situations ARE actually nebulous or that these are okay arguments to make, I’m just pointing out that if you want to make those arguments, they do NOT apply to this situation.)

This is real, actualized harm happening in the present tense. Where they are reaching their good intentions (aiding Jewish refugees) in a very, very evil way.

Please do not flatten this situation or remove the nuance.

I do my best to advocate for as many groups as possible and use my voice for good and what is happening in Israel, right now, to help Ukrainian refugees cannot be ignored. Pointing out that two horrible things are happening at once does not mean I am advocating against helping the victims of both situations.

I stand with Jewish Refugees. I stand with Palestinians.

I want solutions that do not bring harm against one group to help the other.

That’s it. It’s that simple.

Maybe I’m not helping out both groups as well as I could be. I do welcome criticism here. But this isn’t it.

[daz4i]

i posted a quick thing abt it earlier but now i’m posting a whole rant. tw antisemitism as well as mentions of terrorism under the cut. i would actually appreciate it if my goyishe mutuals try to read it despite the length

it’s actually making me really angry how easily antisemitic lies are spread on this site, especially under the guise of leftism. you’re using people’s good will to further a destructive agenda, and every time a jewish person speaks up against it we’re brushed off as aggressive, racist (bc correcting goyim about their misinformation is apparently the same as hating palestinians?? for some reason??), or literally attacked for *checks notes* saying we actually don’t want to be murdered or hate crimed in some other way

it’s especially common with american or british goyim to apply the logic of their own countries to the israeli-palestinian conflict and refuse to listen to anyone pointing out how it’s way more nuanced than just “big country steals land from natives just to get stronger” even if that’s what you see on the surface, and part of it is because of said antisemitic lies

there is historical - not that far history either, we’re talking 70, maybe 80 years ago, there’s people still alive who went through this - context to it all, most of it being THE LITERAL HOLOCAUST, YOU KNOW, A GENOCIDE JEWISH PEOPLE WENT THROUGH, 6 MILLION OF US DIED, WE STILL HAVEN’T REACHED THE AMOUNT OF PEOPLE WE HAD BEFORE IT SINCE THEN BECAUSE IT WAS THIS DESTRUCTIVE TO OUR PEOPLE, that’s the reason why israel even exists in the first place. that’s not even considering hate crimes and other cases of terrorism targeting jews still happening around the world.

people saying zionism isn’t tied to judaism are either lying or are severely misinformed. zionism’s whole point is wishing for jews to be able to live and practice their religion in the country promised to them by god, aka zion, aka israel. that’s literally it. don’t let goyim make you think otherwise, don’t let them make you think it has nothing with religion, this is antisemitic propaganda and you are falling for it. (this whole rant started bc i saw a post of someone talking about how dumb and for some reason racist it is to say antizionism is antisemitism and i wanted to bite someone fr bc i KNOW they’re not jewish they’re just an antizionist and didn’t like being called antisemitic for it so they demonized the jewish people who called them out on it. please don’t put shit like that on my dash thank you)

i will admit that the modern definition of zionism slightly changed - not to most jews tbh, more to a very loud (and dangerous) minority within us, and that’s how we got to the current situation of oppressor-oppressed. i am more than willing to admit the israeli government is committing awful acts driven partially by racism and thirst for more power, especially with how right leaning it’s been for years now. we shouldn’t ignore this either.

however, hating israeli people for committing the awful crime of... being born... in a place........ IS antisemitic. i won’t blame palestinians who hate us, but i will definitely call out anyone else for that. do you hate every american person for simply being born in america because of what the actions of their government? no? okay, then what’s different about the israeli people? 🤔 hmmm really makes you think 

if your argument is “but you all serve in the military and therefore taking part in the oppression” i’ll have to remind you that:

military service is mandatory at 18 years old for 2-3 years

refusing to serve with no actual reason for it (like a disability of some sort for example) means you go to prison as well as get a huge stain on your future in general, so obviously almost all 18 y/os would prefer to serve and just get it over with rather than risk it

most of the soldiers in the idf are teenagers who may have gotten some basic training, a good majority of them probably doing office/computing jobs or stuff more similar to volunteer works but in uniform rather than going on the field and engaging in any form of violence 

which like. i can’t tell you what your opinion should be obviously but i think these are some things you should consider when you form one, not about the conflict itself but about the idf or israeli individuals 

also automatically assuming every israeli person supports the government no matter what is just dumb. we’re not a hive mind. our last prime minister and trump’s ex-bestie netanyahu stayed in power for this long by taking advantage of political loopholes basically (and tbh that’s how our current racist prime minister got the role too) rather than fair democratic elections (also even if he just got elected that doesn’t mean every single israeli person agrees with him, that’s just how democracy works. his supporters aren’t even a majority because we’ve got so many parties in every election cycle - another reason why you shouldn’t apply american or british standards to this country). viewing us as this one being that just wants to kill and steal land is antisemitic

on that note, the whole “thieves” thing ppl have abt israel is also antisemitic. for some more historical context, jews have been called thieves for centuries and we’re constantly blamed for most problems as well as for “taking over” everything because a lot of jews worked in banks and took care of money in many countries in europe, so when people had problems they dumped it on us. that’s part of where the whole lizard people conspiracy theory started from, too (on that note, don’t joke about it, yes not even about mark zuckerberg no matter how much you hate him, i hate him too but that’s no reason to make antisemitic jokes about a jewish man) 

even today, jewish people face violence and terrorism. just two weeks ago in chicago a jewish man was assaulted and synagogues and jewish schools were vandalised and sprayed with swastikas, for example. you can’t pretend antisemitism is irrelevant to this - the reason israel even exists, the reason the un decided it should exist, is to avoid cases like this. i’m only 23 years old but i remember when i was in like, middle school, there was a surge of french jews moving here after a wave of antisemitic hate crimes. this is still an issue and yes, this affects the conflict, because these people - as well as anyone being born here - need to live somewhere, obviously. you can’t talk about how we need to be kicked out of this country when this is what happens when we live anywhere else. you can’t say “never again” but then ignore what needs to be done for jews to actually be safe (i DON’T mean wars and killing palestinians or kicking them out of their homes, on god no one take me out of context and assume i’m implying something like that. i mean finding a place for jews to live and be safe). you can’t say “punch nazis” but constantly fall for their propaganda, they WILL use your good will to trick you into hating us. 

basically, i’m just asking you to pay attention, and to think before you keep spreading misinformation or sometimes even purposely malicious propaganda. 

is the person saying what does and doesn’t count as antisemitism actually jewish? no? probably propaganda, or best case scenario, a misguided person who thinks too highly of themselves. either way don’t engage with what they say and i’d say even block them, even if you think they make some good points.

is this post talking about the israeli government, or about israeli people? if it’s the latter, it’s antisemitic. at the best case scenario, it’s a person not thinking their words through, but this is still spreading dangerous ideas. don’t spread them even further. 

is a post condemning an israeli individual (most obvious example: gal gadot) for serving in the army? if you’ve read this post you already know it’s a little more nuanced. as i said, make your own opinion on the matter, but let it be an informed one rather than hating someone for something they didn’t have much of a choice in. 

also while i’m at it (didn’t know where else to put this rant sorry it’s a little off-topic), thinking all jews/israelis are white is racist - there’s more historical context like the holocaust and years before it that i’m not even sure i can explain (find any post complaining abt mother gothel’s design in tangled it’ll surely do a better job than me), but there’s a more obvious thing: a lot of jews are just. not european. honestly when it comes to ancestory, i’d argue no jew actually is (bc we’re originally from israel, aka the middle east) but obviously after so many years of assimilation it’s not exactly how it works and like everything regarding humans, it’s not black or white. still, most people in israel especially are a mix of multiple ethnic origins from across the world and it’s just unfair to brush it off to, again, apply western logic to a country that’s fundamentally different to justify your hate as being “woke”.

just. everything about this is very nuanced and complicated, because that’s how humans are. blind hate will get you nowhere. educate yourself if you can (i’d say start with the basics, read about the holocaust first, why and how it started and what led up to it). apply critical thinking before spreading infromation you’re not educated about and consider who posted and why they did it. talk to more jewish people, israeli or not. and stop putting antisemitic bullshit on my dash please i am begging you this shit is shortening my lifespan- 

[zhabe]

Okay imagine you’re a white TME trans person who was raised with new age spirtuality and you have face tattoos (3 enormous ones all completed within 3 months) and you’re autistic and your special interest is Anne Frank (?). You take a DNA test in October (2024) and you find out that your great grandfather wasn’t only Sicilian but also “hispanic” (this means you’re not white. But he was from spain btw). But more importantly you find out you had one (1) jewish ancestor from the 1700s (less than 1% “jewish”). You then proceed to make really insane videos about how you’re Jewish (you were Hindu in September). You also write in a diary (addressed to Anne Frank btw) that you’re not “less Jewish than her” because you’re 1% Jewish. You make antisemitic jokes and call everyone “gringo” and say that you can’t have gentile (pronounced “gentle”) friends because everyone is suddenly antisemitic to you including the guy delivering a package but it wasn’t your package so that’s antisemitism (?). You have an insane victim complex. You show up to a random kid’s bar mitzvah from your synagogue with an Anne Frank hairpin. You’re surprised by how well he can speak hebrew (he’s an israeli immigrant). By the way you also run a two person punk band about how cool Zionism is (you have a 13 minute video on Instagram about why you support “israel”) with your mother. By the way your mother isn’t Jewish and she’s also transgender (this is important later). Neither of you can sing or make music. You’re bald. You wear a sheitel with a kippah clipped on the very front of your head with the barrette sticking onto your forehead. You are “converting” reform (you call yourself Jewish btw) because you found out that was an option and wanted the express lane into Judaism after allegedly going to Chabad. Sometimes you wear seven tichels (pronounced “tickles”) at once because you just really love miriam ezagui. This isn’t important. Every week you have a new name and you rotate between them depending on the identity you want to grift. You have 10 first names and 6 last names. On instagram you post about how you are able to capture your feminine and masculine side and are proud to be transgender. You said you legally changed your name to Ya’akov Israel Davis. But you still go by your birth name on Facebook and have a video about why you regret top surgery (a month after saying you were getting bottom surgery soon) and that you don’t know if you are transgender after being raped (or attempted to be raped.) by your two cousins at the age of 10. One of your cousins posts exclusively lesbian disney incest posts on their instagram (unrelated). You tag these videos as “detransitioner” (remember when I said your mom is transgender). You refer to your “abba” as dead but you don’t have an “abba” and both of your mothers are alive. Sometimes you make a video of you at the yacht club. You tell people that your great-grandfather had to pretend to be italian to immigrate to America because there were laws against non anglo-saxon immigration in the 1930s (<- doesn’t make sense). Every video you make has a huge israel flag in the background (sometimes a trans flag. jury’s still out on detransitioning) and there’s an awful blue LED light on everything. You’re upset that Asperger’s isn’t a real diagnosis anymore. You don’t go to Naropa University. Imagine this

I’m freaking out about my new favorite obsession right now her life is so fucking crazy

[laineystein]

how can we help Israel from abroad? i don't qualify as mahal.

Hiii! Ahhh! I thought I posted this but found it in my drafts today. I was a bit tired when I wrote this so if it isn’t super eloquent, apologies in advance.

So for Jews that want to remain in the diaspora:

((The you I’m referring to is an informal *all Jews in the diaspora that this may apply to*…not you, the sweet human who took the time to ask me such a wonderful question))

Religious or Secular - all diaspora Jews need to stop separating themselves from Israel. What you are saying when you say that you’re a Jew but you don’t support Israel is that you don’t understand Israel. You don’t understand how important this place is to your existence. At the very least, if your comfort is so important to you that you’d prefer to preserve it even if it means encouraging hateful rhetoric — don’t say anything. Don’t denounce Zionism. Don’t denounce Israel.

It’s okay if you’re not an expert on Israel. No one is! Just because you’re a Jew doesn’t mean you can’t afford to educate yourself. Jews are just as responsible to be doing research, comparing sources, etc. And until you’ve taken sufficient time to learn all you don’t know, just be a little less bold in your poorly informed opinions. Again: don’t denounce Zionism, don’t denounce Israel.

Your words matter. And when your language is negative toward Israel (because your opinions are not at all based in fact and you too have fallen victim to the western propaganda that makes Israel seem evil) it emboldens antisemites. If Jews can’t respect other Jews, why should anyone respect Jews? If Jews are calling out other Jews then anti-Jewish bigots feel that their hatred is valid.

Similarly! Being educated on Israel and Zionism and the magick of being a Jew is powerful! If you’ve educated yourself and you still don’t want to move to Israel? You don’t love the Israeli government? Cool! Who cares! You can be a proud, informed Jew from anywhere in the world and a proud, informed Jew should support the state of Israel and what it means to the Jewish people. Don’t be afraid (you can be afraid, you just can’t let that fear dictate your actions) to share those opinions with the world. They want us to be silent and we will not be silent.

Don’t cave to the pressure of a Xtian dominated world. If you’re a Jew and you like being a Jew then you’re worthy of taking up space where that can be displayed. And that space deserves to be safe. Wear your Magen David, your Hamza, your chai. Wear your kippah and your tichel. Speak Hebrew. Speak Yiddish. Go to shul. Eat kosher. Do all of the Jew things without shame!! So much of our history has been about minimizing our existence to make gentiles more comfortable. We need to change that. It is owed to us for that to change. We are worthy of a different, more Jew friendly world.

Stand up for the orthodox community in the diaspora! We really don’t think about it much in Israel. Jews are Jews and we don’t care how you observe. In the diaspora, the orthodox communities are much more visible and in general people are scared by what they don’t understand, leaving minorities like the orthodox community vulnerable. There’s so much bravery in quite literally wearing your faith so openly. In a way, the orthodox communities in the diaspora are doing the heavy lifting just by existing. They’re being unapologetic in their faith. And they’re not compromising no matter how difficult that can be in a goy world. The least you can do is show them support - protect them, defend them.

I’m sure there are key things I’m missing. Basically I think the best way to combat hate and spread awareness is education. Diaspora Jews need educate themselves so they can then educate others. Antisemitism will never go away. We are such a small portion of the world’s population (less than 0.2%!!!!!). The least we can do is ensure that Jews are supporting Jews.

As usual, anyone in the Tribe that wants to add on to this, please do!

[nyarmand]

reasons i am tired of people asking me about Loaded Topics Regarding Jewish People:

1. i am not? google? or firefox, or duck duck go, or whatever your preference is. either way, i’m not it

2. i’m not the official ambassador for jewish people (there isn’t one) and i don’t like being treated like i am. stop asking me to speak as if i speak for all jewish people. we are not a hivemind. we disagree on a LOT of things. 

3. it reeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaally makes me feel like i’m your Token Jewish Friend. whether you mean to make me feel that way or not. 

4. you may not realize it, but having to answer questions regarding loaded topics (like ‘is this popular thing antisemitic?’ (i’ve discussed aot a billion times already, i swear to god, but there’s a lot more stuff i get asked about too) or, even worse, ‘so what’s your opinion on israel?’ as if my being jewish means i’m automatically connected to the israeli government, which i am not) feels DANGEROUS. like if i make one wrong move i’m at risk of all sorts of things that i would prefer not to experience, thank you. as such, i often just either answer very noncommittally or don’t answer at all. can’t find a way to twist my words against me if i don’t say anything

5. it is really, truly possible to form your own opinions on something by doing research and listening to multiple jewish voices. you don’t need me to validate you and that’s not my responsibility. again, jewish people are not a hivemind, we have a lot of different opinions on a lot of different things, and if you’re specifically coming to me to ask if something is ‘okay’ or not then... please stop... i am not the sole authority on these things...

6. i am literally a teenager this is not my responsibility AT ALL. go ask a rabbi or someone who is actually prepared to answer these sorts of questions

7. every time someone asks me about zionism i lose a year off my lifespan. stop asking me about zionism. i don’t have to prove myself as ‘one of the good ones’ and i hate being treated like i need to in order to not be subjected to antisemitism. the israeli government is doing some really fucking evil things but here’s a fun fact, i don’t live in israel, i’m not involved in the situation over there, and i am sick and tired of being asked about it. 

8. AGAIN. I AM LITERALLY A TEENAGER. STOP TREATING ME LIKE A RESOURCE GUIDE. I’M NOT YOUR FUCKING RESOURCE GUIDE.  I SWEAR TO FUCKING GOD. 

9. if you want to ask me my opinion on something then please at least ask me if im okay with being asked about it first because getting this shit sprung on me out of nowhere is Not Fun!

10. despite all of this i am not actually mad at most of the people who have done this i am just very small and i have no money so you can imagine the kind of stress that i am under

[bonni]

Okay, I do want to touch on this a little because it is just. one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever read. I would laugh if it wasn’t so incredibly offensive.

First of all, “Israeli Jews” are just Jews that live in Israel or are Israeli citizens. The term does not refer to a nonwhite racial group, especially considering a majority of Israeli citizens are Ashkenazim. What Jen may be referring to here are Mizrahim, members of Jewish ethnic communities descended from the area believed to be modern Israel; if so, this is incredibly hypocritical, because Mizrahim have historically been subjugated by Zionists and the Israeli government:

This is not to say that Mizrahim cannot have Zionist values or that their subjugation in Israel is as severe as that of Palestinians (who, by the way, are descended from the same areas of the middle east as Mizrahim; it’s almost like this isn’t about “reclaiming land” at all, but instead just racism?), but Zionism was founded by Ashkenazim and is still largely upheld by them. The fact that Zionism is upheld primarily by white Jews (as well as being founded on Western colonist ideals) means that no, it is not antisemitic to characterize Zionism as a form of white supremacy. The idea that Zionism is more appealing to nonwhite Jews than it is to Ashkenazim and goyim is so much more than just ignorance, it's revisionism, and I genuinely do not think it is possible that a Palestinian or Mizrahi individual with any meaningful connection to that part of their ethnicity could hold such beliefs.

[evilwickedme]

(i know we're not supposed to try and be "good Jews". But do you have any advice for someone scared to speak out who still wants to point out antisemitism in regards to speaking about Israel without being seen as "bad" and threatened? Because I want to point out but in already scared for my life)

Oof. Okay firstly, absolutely stay safe. Fighting antisemitism is important, but your life is more important, ok? If you need to, feel free to just link people to me I'm ready to fite at any point. That said:

Point out that Jews and Zionists aren't synonyms. The vast majority of Jews are Zionists - but technically, the vast majority of Zionists are Christians who think sending all Jews to Israel will bring Christ back (thank you @jewish-kulindadromeus for calculating this). Conflating Judaism with Zionism ignores the long history of Jews in diaspora.

Point out that Jews are not always safe in the diaspora, and in fact, even currently aren't. The amount of French people in Israel right now is staggering because the antisemitic attacks got so bad in the 2010s that they had to leave. Nazis are marching and saying "Jews will not replace us", Qanon is basically Nazi propaganda against Jews relying on old blood libels, and antisemitic violence in New York outnumbers all other hate crimes combined.

Criticism of the Israeli government is completely valid, but most antizionists ignore the fact that many Zionists are in fact critical of the Israeli government, too. Wanting a safe home for Jews in Israel ≠ supporting every action of the Israeli government. Look how many people voted against Bibi during the last election season.

The very existence of queer people in Israel isn't pink washing, fuck everyone who says that. Also, stop spreading blood libels about Gal Gadot. Every single person in the country is required to do army service, and the vast majority spend those two years doing nothing and seeing no combat whatsoever. Getting out of service, like I did, is a long and difficult process. It took me a year to get it and I had to fight for it.

Let Jewish people exist without constantly bringing i/p up. Associating all Jews with Zionists and not letting them exist in your sphere unless they prove they're good Jews by denouncing Israel is antisemitic. Most leftists would agree that you don't require every Muslim to denounce ISIS. Don't do that with Jews either.

I'm sure I've forgotten something. But if you scroll through my i/p or Israel tag, I'm sure something will come up.

[maxgilardi]

About & BYF

Early-mid-20s white trans lesbian jew. started HRT fall 2017, it’s fucking wild.

some personal blogging, otherwise mostly aesthetic/art/Looks/etc. and gay/trans stuff (here’s a list of tags I use for ease of navigation)

occasionally Discourse, but it’s a personal blog and not A Discourse Blog, except when I have thoughts or feelings about things to do with discourse. but this isn’t a blog centered on delivering correct political lines on anything and everything. so, communist but not on main? that being said, the following is going to be discoursey, and long:

Please do not call me queer (unless you’re also going to call me a faggot) or refer to me as “a femme”, “trans fem”, “transfeminine”, “feminine-aligned”, or “fem of center” (unless you’re going out of your way to misgender me.) Feminine and Masculine are not genders or categories/clusters/alignments of genders. Woman, Trans Woman, Lesbian, and Gay are all great. thank you!!

Please do not follow if you’re any of these:

cishet and also a man (cis aro-ace men, cis het-aro men, and cis ace-heteromantic men, this means you too). Though, to clarify, if you’re AMAB and only attracted to women and questioning whether you’re actually cis/het/male or actually a trans woman, you can still follow for as long as you’re questioning!

a minor (under the age of 18) who doesn’t filter the #NSFW tag

racist/antisemitic/transmisogynist/homophobic/transphobic/ableist/misogynist/etc.

TERF or “Gender Critical”

MOGAI

pro-USA, pro-Imperialist

Clinton, Obama, or Bernie fandom

fascist

BDSM stan / uncritical advocate

DD/lg or CG/l (read: pedophile roleplay) (FUCK OFF)

thinks fetishes and kinks are immune to critique Because Sex Positivity

thinks kinksters are Oppressed

Hentai fandom

Anime That Infantilizes Women And Sexualizes Young Girls fandom

Zionist

Thinks that opposition to Israel’s existence, or being vocal about zionism / Palestinian genocide / etc. is Inherently Suspect

Thinks that Only Palestinians And Jewish Voices Should Talk About Israel

Thinks that Jewish People Can’t Be White, i.e. All Jews Are People Of Color Just By Virtue Of Being Jewish

pedophile or “MAP”

split attraction model advocate

thinks cishet aces or cishet aros are in any way LGBT

Monosexual Privilege Discourser

won’t stop referring to LGBT people collectively as Queer People

Truscum / Transmedicalist / TrueTrans™

Refers to trans women you don’t like as “Troons” or “Male-Socialized” or “Futa Porn Brained” or other (even if Internalized) transmisogynist shit

Rationalist / LessWrong readership / Slate Star Codex readership

Jacobin readership

anti-“tankie”

support imperialist-backed regime change in DPRK or Venezuela

Believe anti-communist propaganda like Black Book Of Communism shit, Muh Millions Dead etc.

Think “real communism has never been tried!! :)” is in any way accurate, a compelling argument, or a useful way of building on the last century of revolutionary practice

“Anti-Civ”

“Primitivist”

“Post-Leftist”

“Egoist"

one of those nerds who talks about “toxic monogamy culture”

thinks it’s okay for grown adults to ship children and/or incest and/or abusive relationships: complains seriously about “antis”

Rocky Horror Picture Show fandom, i.e. You’re Okay With Celebrating Rape And Transmisogyny Because ~It’s Our History UwU~

You follow or are followed by Billnihilism [1] [2] [3], Butchcommunist [1] [4] [5] [6], LocalHorrorLesbian/MascPriv [1] [7], or Marxferatu/Fursonar/VladTheUnfollower [8] [9]

I hate to have a list like this, but :/ If you’re not any of the above, I hope you’re having a wonderful day 💖

(I mean, if you’re a minor who doesn’t filter that tag, I still hope you’re having a wonderful day, but still please do not follow me, sorry!!)

Be wary of following if you’re any of these:

an anarchist. Basically, if you reblog my posts to bother me about my being A Tankie or Authoritarian or Statist, or to post cold war era propaganda about communist movements, I will block you.

a Demsoc. same as for anarchists