#im an anti-zionist jew

[thefirsthogokage]

I really want to make batches of soup and freeze them, but you know those silicone storage containers for soups? Every single one of them is either made by zionists (Super Cubes), sold somewhere that supports zionists (Williams-Sonoma, Amazon, Walmart), or on one of the sketchiest shopping sites ever - Temu.

If anyone has any ideas where to get non-zionist freezer soup storage containers, please let me know.

[mashpotatoe]

im a white jew, i was born in israel,

ive lived there all my life and was brought up in an environment that fosters racism driven by nationalism, nationalism driven by racism.

in israel, they teach you jews and muslims (though usually, they just say arabs) have always been enemies, the same way the US deems the entire middle east as a inherent war zone, ridding them of the responsibility for perpetuating war in thst region.

they tell you "were the fair and humane side who strives for peace! its the arabs who never accept the offer!"

i remember the first time i began doubting that sentiment was in fourth grade, when we were having a discussion in class about the character of Saul from the Torah. the teacher was talking about how Saul, the first monarch of the Kingdom of Israel, used to fight the Philistines, and when she added that the Philistines were the natural enemy of the Israelites, she asked the class what group of people is their modern equivalent to which everyone very eagerly replied "Arabs!" and nevermind that there in that same class sat two arab boys, one of whom sat next to me, who i looked at and thought "but he isnt my enemy? hes just a boy in my class."

they teach you to hate arabs. sometimes they say it outright. sometimes they say it more carefully, or make a distinction between good and bad arabs, those who are with us and those who are against us.

in a state based on the idea of (white) jewish supremacy, they teach you jews are naturally superior. they use the conspiratorial narrative of "jews controlling the world" to their favor, giving their own watered down explanation for why antisemitism exists, saying that it must be driven by jealousy.

the zionist movement always used antisemitism to its advantage, either for reinforcing the notion of jewish supremacy or appealing to the real pain and trauma of generations, people who survived the holocaust, connecting them to stolen land where they are "guaranteed" safety ergo granting "justification" for the suffering of others.

its using peoples real pain that makes fear mongering so effective, and when the israeli population grows up being told all of their neighboring countries want to kill them, they quickly get defensive of the "only land where they can feel safe", but the only explanation ever provided for Why these neighboring countries are considered enemies is because theyre arabs.

and when it comes to palestine, it isnt even recognized as a country, nor identity. just a threat. ive talked to many people who are genuinely unaware of the occupation, and they arent willing to believe it either, because the media narrative has successfully shifted the blame on hamas. because "how could it be us? we want peace! its the terrorists who make us look bad! and their children, they grow up to be antisemites*, might as well get rid of them too!" they never stop to think what environment these children must grow up in to develop these "radical" ideas.

* what they mean by antisemite is really just antizionist, but the term anti/zionist isnt practiced in local dialect, being a zionist is treated as a given

any jew who stands against israels oppression is dubbed a self hating jew, but the biggest contributors to antisemitism is the people in charge of an ethnostate, because at any moment they could decide who is not white enough to be jewish, who is too jewish to be white, who stood against the current coalition government and who is an obedient dog.

israelis arent a monolith, but many of them have been won over, convinced its an "us v them" situation, when in reality it could never be the "us" that "loses"

the israeli government was waiting for an event like the massacre on the seventh of october to declare war, to have the so called "right to defend itself", so they could initiate the final steps of an ethnic genocide and displace, if not kill, all remaining palestinians. under the guise of bringing peace.

it isnt too late to call for a permanent ceasefire, to end the occupation.

please contact your representatives, attend protests and rallies if you are able. palestine will be free, and the flowers will rise again.

[roach-works]

if you are anti-zionist the most effective work you can do is to ensure your community--politically and geographically-- is safe for jews to exist in. im serious. is your community safe for jews to be in? do you know any jews? if you do, are they scared of you? if you don't, if they are, why?

zionism is the premise that jews need to take exclusive control of our own homeland by force because there is nowhere else in the world for us to belong. that's it, that's the heart of it. if you disagree with the premise, you need to be part of the counter argument: that the jews of the diaspora are valued by their fellow citizens in countries around the world. that the jews of europe and asia and africa and the americas belong where they were born, that the jewish people deserve to belong wherever we live, that we are not invaders or parasites or unwanted guests living on the sufferance of christians and muslims who have a natural right to expell us when we've outstayed our welcome.

i'm not israeli. that land is the home of those who were born there, and i was born in california. i know a lot of my fellow americans right now that say they're anti-zionist but what they mean is they want israel gone and me along with it. and that is, ironically, why there's zionism in the first place.

are you anti-zionist or anti-jew? are we your neighbors or not? if you really want decolonization, get your own community in order. if you want all the jews to just fucking shut up already, you can join a six thousand year tradition of not actually ever managing that no matter how many genocides get done.

[fierceawakening]

“Being anti Zionist is inherently antisemitism because all Zionism says is that Jews have a right to live in their homeland.”

Do other groups all have the right to live in their homeland? What is “a right” in this context?

If I have “a right” to go live in Greece, as it is my homeland, what exactly is owed to me by the Greek government?

Every time I try to figure out what the other side is saying this concept of “rights” to “homelands” pops up and is discussed as if it’s obvious and I can’t even decode it.

I believe refugees from the Holocaust should absolutely have been given asylum somewhere safe for them, but I have no idea how that parses as “a right to live in their homeland.”

Im open to the idea that there exists a version of Zionism that does not include slaughtering the other people who also want to live in their homeland, but i don’t get how it looks when none of these terms are defined.

[jewish-vents]

i love zlibrary i really do

But the fact that you can type the word "jewish" and the first thing that comes up is a nation of islam book is terrifying.

it's always been like this but now it's a million times more scary.

im writing a paper on antisemitism and jewishness and doing research is like pouring salt into wounds.

al jazeera is the first thing that pops up when you search jewish/jew/israel/zionism/the list goes on.

on z library when you search these types of words you'll get: nation of islam with high ratings, protocols of the elders of zion 5/5 star rating (i wish i was making this up), a book by an israeli anti zionist 5/5 stars, norman finkelstein 5/5 stars, one book that actually talks about antisemitism 1/5 stars and even more books like "culture of critique" by ken macdonald with high ratings and is purely antisemitic.

they hate us so much that when i find a book that's about jews and not antisemitic, it's severely downvoted and the comments are 4chan material. then you got on their accounts and you find that they dedicated their acocunts to commenting on every book about jews they possibly can.

this makes me so nauseated. everyone really does hate us and want us dead. I knew it since october 7th when crowds upon crowds celebrated our massacre but this simple thing really makes it sink in.

even when i use google scholar some anti zionist thing gets recommended on each page and it worries me. the heavy backing of anti zionism just to eradicate israeli jews and zionist jews is depressing to see.

i cant google if a celeb is jewish because all i'll get is their hatred for israel/zionist jews or even support for hamas.

someone on reddit said that all the hard work of google getting rid of white supremacist suggestions being the first thing you get when googling "jewish" has gone down the drain and it's true.

.

[fairuzfan]

I think it’s deeply silly how some of the people on this website who say “you can’t redefine antisemitism, it means only the hatred of jewish people and thus cannot include goyim” which is absolutely true, etymology=/=meaning and antisemitism refers exclusively to Jew-hatred and changing that meaning is making it impossible for jews to name their oppressors and the ideology that is oppressing them. Yet are the same people who gleefully say shit like “zionism can mean infinitely many different things so you can’t call it colonial or white supremacist or anti-Palestinian“ as if that changes its material manifestation. As if the zionism that exists in their head or in theophilosophical discussions changes what the zionism that exists in Palestine is doing. As if Palestinians uniquely don’t have the right to recognize Palestinian-hatred and the right to name their oppressors and the ideology and movement that is driving them.

A liberal zionist’s blog is where Ideological consistency goes to die in darkness.

i completely agree. and like i actively let people know of the harm when they say "palestinians are semitic" type statements because it does redefine antisemitism and that disenfranchises jews first and foremost who experience it so when people are like "actually zionism is a discussion for jews only" im like no the fuck it is not?????? im the one who is affected by your zionism??? palestinians are the ones who are affected by your zionism????? i think we have the most say in what zionism means and how we get to call out our oppressors???????????

like how insulting it is to be told "actually *some* zionists are not genocidal" no actually all of them are. i don't care if you think zionism is one thing or the other. zionism is the reason my family was exiled and a genocide is currently happening in gaza. if you in any capacity ally yourself with zionism, then yeah, you're a racist.

something that i do want to point out though is that a few years ago these sorts of conversations would never have been happening so i'm glad at least that zionists are getting called out. so i guess slowly but surely we are seeing a change.

[jewishvitya]

Hello, we were taught in school (uk) that Christians, jews and muslims lived side by side in Israel.

But we never learnt about what happened to the Palestianina jews?

Also in Uk schools dont know about anyone who had a british education that we never learnt about what the Brits did during coloniolism and im south asian british and my great grandparents and grandparetns were effected by the parition but we never talk about it.

That's true, we did live side by side here. When the Zionist movement came and took over, it mostly absorbed the existing Jewish community into Israel. There was some resistance. That community often relied on donations from worldwide Jewish communities who wanted to support Jewish life here since they couldn't be present. The Zionist movement disrupted that. They were very religious, while early Zionists were secular and looked down on religious life. They had opposition to the Zionist movement on the religious basis of "We're not supposed to start our own country again without the Moshiach doing that" and even today there are very religious communities who are anti-Zionist not from a place of support for Palestine or Palestinians, they're against Palestinians as well, but from a place of rejecting the secular government.

I live in a neighborhood full of people who think this way, the trash cans near my home have graffiti that reads "Zionists in the trash, prison over military service." Which, thumbs up, now get rid of the anti-Palestinian racism and we can be on the same page.

That's a huge tangent, though. If you want to learn more about the old Jewish community that existed here and what happened to them, look up The Old Yishuv. Yishuv means settlement, but not in the meaning of like, settler colonialism, just the meaning of... a place of living, like a city, town, a place where a community lives.

I'm sorry you have to see them ignoring the harm they did when your family probably knows the impact well. Colonizers hate admitting the harm they caused.

[jewish-sideblog]

hey, so im Palestinian and a strong activist for my people's liberation. i wanted to ask for some info/advice on avoiding antisemitism in my activism for Palestine. im on anon bc i don't want to be called a racefaker for caring about Jewish ppl. i know antisemitism is on the rise right now (and generally over the past few years) and i want to make sure i'm not unintentionally contributing to it.

Hey there! I wanted to start by genuinely thanking you for asking this question. Partially because I don't actually get any well-intentioned or helpful questions in my inbox anymore, but also because I understand the amount of bravery it takes to reach out with a question like that at a time like this.

Next, I want to apologize to all my followers who hate long posts. Judaism is a very complicated ethnoreligious group, antisemitism is a very complicated form of bigotry, and the Israeli/Palestinian conflict is arguably the most complicated international issue that has ever existed. I'm going to try to go through everything as succinctly as possible below the cut-- I am also going to ask other Jews to contribute to and make edits to this list as needed.

And finally-- I'm writing this as though I were speaking to someone with very little knowledge of the subject. I understand that as a Palestinian, you probably know a lot about what's going on here. But I want to make sure that I'm covering bases for anybody else who might need to use this post. So if you're like, Yeah, Obviously I Knew That. Please remember that a fuckton of people on tumblr are engaging in Israeli criticism without obviously knowing that.

There are two primary forms of antisemitism in anti-Zionist spaces-- antisemitic conspiracy theory, and criticism of Israel that no other country receives. The first kind is the easiest kind to pick out, and it makes a nice bulleted list, so we'll start there.

Dual Loyalty. A global stereotype that has skyrocketed since the establishment of Israel, but it's been around for a lot longer than that. Simply put, it's the idea that Jews are more loyal to Israel (or some global secret kabal) than we are to the countries we currently reside in. With I/P, it manifests as the idea that All Jews are directly responsible for Israel or the idea that All Jews secretly support Israel. If you see a Jew who isn't directly engaging in I/P topics, don't ask them what their stance is. Plenty of us have never even been to Israel, and it's fucked up to assume that we're all experts in geopolitics.

The Holocaust was a Fabrication or a Lesson. The idea that Jews made up the Shoah has been around since the Shoah was still happening, and it's always been ridiculous. Today, you'll see three primary lines about this. Either it's that Jews made up the Shoah as an excuse to establish Israel, that the Jews deserved the Shoah because of what's happening in Israel today, or that the Jews "should have learned their lesson from the Holocaust" because now Jews are "the new Nazis". Frankly, I wish goyim would stop treating the deaths of millions of Jews like a TV show. Palestinian deaths are genuinely horrible, but this isn't some kind of "narrative parallel" to the Shoah.

The Kazars Theory, or All Jews are White. This is the DNA test nonsense. The idea is that Israel (or Jews at large) are only pretending to be indigenous to the Levant and that secretly Jews as a whole are actually indigenous to Eastern Europe. It's a lie, started by a German professor of Russian history in the early 1800s. Meanwhile, the vast majority of genetic, historical, and archaeological evidence points to Jewish origins in the Israeli/Palestinian region. There have been literal hundreds of genetic studies on this. Most of them suggest that Jews, even "white" Ashkenazim, are nearly genetically identical to Palestinians.

World Domination. The idea that Jews control the world began with the Protocols of the Elders of Zion in 1903. If you're encountering criticism of Israel that suggests that world governments, particularly European or American ones, are being controlled by Jews, you've got yourself antisemitism. White supremacists like to use the term "Zionist Occupied Government" or "ZOG" as shorthand for this conspiracy. The next two points are born out of this same ideology.

Controlling the Media. The idea that Jews are in charge of Hollywood and/or major news organizations around the world. Regarding I/P, I've seen a bunch of people say something like "Western media outlets won't cover this! (Because you know who controls them!)" only to look online and see... Western media outlets covering it. See also: "My source is tiktok! I don't trust the news!" While it's obviously a fair criticism to say that some Western news outlets certainly have a pro-Israel and anti-Palestinian bias, it's certainly not every single one of them. Reuters and the AP are once again my go-to's here.

Controlling the Financial World. I haven't actually seen this come up regarding I/P, but considering how things have been going, it's only a matter of time. We don't control the banks. We don't control the stock market. We're not in charge of American aid being sent to Israel. HaShem knows that if we controlled all the money, I'd certainly be living larger than I am now...

Those Bloodthirsty Jews. This one arguably started with Blood Libel in the 1100s, when Christians started accusing us of stealing and eating their babies. Straight up, I have met Christians who still believe this in 2023. You see this a lot with I/P-- the Al Ahli Hospital is the biggest example. More than a month later, most reliable intelligence organizations agree that a misfired Hamas rocket landed in a parking lot, killing about 100 people. But a ton of people are still saying that Those Bloodthirsty Jews intentionally bombed the hospital dead on, killing 470 people. I want to be clear-- Israel is killing a lot of civilians. But if you see a bandwagon of people focusing on the one group of deaths that Israel probably actually didn't cause? Consider why.

Causing wars, revolutions, and calamities. Hamas has straight-up got this one in their founding charter. No, the Jews are not responsible for any major global conflicts, revolutions, or counter-revolutions that don't directly involve Israel. We didn't do WWII. We didn't do the October Revolution. See above-- we're not secretly plotting massacres on Shabbat. A lot of people are saying that Netanyahu and Likud let Hamas in to justify the invasion of Gaza... I'd be shocked if that was the case. All evidence points to a classic intelligence failure. We're not orchestrating bloodbaths.

Section 2: Criticisms only levelled at Israel

It's important to recognise that Israeli civilians are no more collectively responsible for the actions of the Likud coalition than Palestinians are collectively responsible for the actions of Hamas. No Palestinian deserves to be stripped of their rights to self-determination in their ancestral lands because of the October 7th attack. Likewise, no Chinese person deserves to be displaced from China because of the CCP's human rights violations in Tibet, Uyghur and Hong Kong. No Russian person deserves to be ethnically cleansed from Russia because of the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine. But plenty of people do believe that Jews should be stripped of their rights to self-determination in historically Jewish indigenous lands because of the actions of the Israeli government.

After October 7th, I've seen people argue that Israeli babies deserved to be kidnapped because of their national origin. I've seen people argue that Israeli women deserved to be sexually abused because of their nation of origin. I've seen people argue that the seven million Jews living in their ancestral homeland deserve death or displacement because of their nation of origin. Justifying or allowing brutal harm against people because of their national origin is hateful.

I want to make this part very clear-- I do not have an issue with calling out Israeli war crimes or crimes against humanity. But I do have an issue with treating Jewish civilians differently than civilians of other nations responsible for similar horrors. Amplifying bias against a particular group because of that group's nation of origin is called bigotry. Taking a stand against Israeli settlements in the West Bank is anti-Zionism. Collectivizing the label of "white colonialism", and forcing that label upon refugees forced to move to Israel, or Mizrahim with uninterrupted 8,000-year histories in Israel, is antisemitism.

Part 3: Moving Forward

So where do we go from here? If advocating for the destruction of Israel is advocating for the elimination of Jewish self-determination in our ancestral lands, but advocating in favour of the Israeli government is advocating for the elimination of Palestinian self-determination in your ancestral lands, then we must find some middle ground. A solution that allows seven million Jews and five-and-a-half-million Arabs to share the same holy land, without fear of persecution, displacement, or death. For me, this means a few things.

First of all, the recognition that most Israelis disagree with Netanyahu's approach to Palestine, and most Palestinians disagree with Hamas's approach to Israel. And that brings up a question-- why are Likud and Hamas in charge of Israel and Gaza respectively if most people disagree with them? Without getting into the complicated intricacies of the Knesset and the PNA on an already very long post (and without explaining your own government to you), the simple answer is international funds.

Israeli crimes against Palestinians are bankrolled by American Evangelical Christians, who believe that when Palestine is gone, all the Jews will go to Israel, and Jesus will come back to kill the world's infidels. They actually fucking believe that. Meanwhile, Hamas is bankrolled by Iran, which believes that the more often Jews and Sunni Muslims kill each other, the easier it will be for Iranian Shiite Jihad to take over the world. They actually fucking believe that.

So what steps can we take during our advocacy? Not for the destruction of Israel nor the destruction of Palestine, but for America and Iran to get their noses out of our damn business. I genuinely believe that a defunded Likud and a defunded Hamas will allow Israelis and Palestinians to work together for a peaceful two-state or joint-rule solution. Something that will keep my Palestinian friends from feeling like they can't safely travel from Jaffa to Tel Aviv. Something that will allow my Jewish family to visit and pray at the Cenotaphs of Isaac and Rebecca and the Temple Mount. Something that will let Israeli children from Kibbutz Nirim and Palestinian children from Khan Yunis play on the same playgrounds together, instead of sheltering from missile fire.

Frankly, we nearly had that when the Supreme Muslim Council and the Assembly of Representatives began collaborating against the British Mandate instead of against each other. Clearly, it's possible, we just need to stop being pitted against each other by foreign powers.

[butchmeows]

i've made a discord server for anti-zionist jews & jews-to-be, and palestinians of any religious background are welcome! here is the link!

im looking for some more online community due to having limited options irl, with most synagogues around me being heavily zionist, but i know so many anti-zionist jews are out there and i'd like to meet them.

feel free to rb to spread the word!

[kick-a-long]

People who say zionism is the majority and that anti zionism is revolutionary because being anti zionist comes with a cost unlike zionism which "controls the world" have no idea that most countries have no jewish populations and those countries especially those of the global south are at least 90% anti zionist. The 10% or maybe 5% are the people who "support" Israel because they want it to fall and the antichrist to come.

Im speaking from experience. Anti zionism is the vast majority of the 3rd world country im from. There are no more jews left there and 99% of people dont even know there used to be a jewish population.

the thing is that most "revolutionary" and "popular" and "poorly thought out extreme political/racist/violent social reaction" fads and movements are the same thing. they dress themselves up as niche and alt but it's usually popular anger scapegoating easy targets rather than do the hard work of learning what will actually improve your political system. Even the "eat the rich" people refuse to start/support alternative businesses and vote for politicians that will actually have a positive effect on wealth disparity. It's laziness and foolishness.

the world is steeped in three thousand years of jew hatered, and people think they are being new and revolutionary renaming jew hatered. "it's not jew hatred. it's this scientific term antisemitism!" "it's not jew hatred. it's an inquisition to root out fake christians." "it's not jew hatred. it's holding everyone to muslim religious law." "it's not jew hatred. it's just hatred of the only jewish state defending itself from terrorists who's stated problem with israel is the jews."

they think they are being leftist and kind by allying with the most restrictive, conservative, richest, and politically powerful muslim hypocrites in the middle east. they think it's culture which is bs. muslim arabs deserve to have a say in their governance as much as anyone else... like jews. like south americans, and africans, and asians, and europeans, and north americans, and everyone else.

dictators stay in power because of fear, complacency, and money. it's not revolutionary to be anti-zionist, anymore than it's revolutionary to by pro-dictator or pro-theocracy. it's offensively ignorant and offensively entitled.

look at what has happened because Israel attacked just hezbollah (who had been and have been bombing civilian israeli targets for years and more intensely for months.) Syrians finally overthrew Assad, one of the longest running dictators in history. (although what the long term ramifications of that are??? we will see. at least assad is gone.) Lebanon might be able to rebuild a functional government that cares more about the Lebanese people, their lives and economy, than Iranian dictators. Iran's gov might have to improve their people's living conditions and freedoms to avoid being overthrown rather waste taxes and oil profits on trying to genocide a populace the size of Massachusetts with some of the most technologically superior defensive/offensive capabilities in the world. Russia has been partially pushed out of the middle east. that's leftist movement. people who oppose that really have to work hard to stay ignorant. there are lots of arguments about how to improve the situation in other ways, but they don't have real world examples of how to produce results like this.

[grecoromanyaoi]

first time i see an anti zionist israeli..... does that shit feel like being the only sane guy in fascist germany? 😭

ok im gonna try to b nice n its not against u personally but like. im kind of tired of this attitude lol. there is antizionist organization in israel like there is antizionist organization everywhere. like how in every country there is organization against it. u wouldnt say 'omg whats it like being an antizionist american i thought u were all racist pigs' even tho the us is just as complicit in any n all crimes committed by israel lmfao. treating antizionist israelis like unicorns is not only like. a weird attitude. acting like were brainwashed racists by nature n being antizionist somehow betrays some inherent congenital trait. it undermines the v important, valuable n active antizionist action done by israelis. sorry if thats mean but again why do ppl feel so comfortable talking to jews like that when no self respecting progressive would talk to leftist americans, turks, azeris, etc. this way

'wow ur so normal ur not at all a raging genocidal racist pig like i expected 🥰' is. not a compliment to me. sorry. and again thats making palestinian liberation abt ME n MY feelings n experiences which r. irrelevant. n not the point.

[jewish-vents]

im so tired of hearing the “i dont want jews to die, i just want each and every zionist [80-90% of jews] to die!!” like sorry if you’re under the impression that 80-90% of any ethnic community is ulta right-wing pro-genocide, maybe it’s actually that you’re disinformed on the matter at hand. and if your ideology hinges on the vast majority of jews being classified as baseline evil or deserving of death, that is simply antisemitism, no if ands or buts.

tired of people pretending to care about life and wellbeing of humanity when they’re fine calling for mass deaths of any group, and somehow it’s always permissible to foam at the mouth at the concept of jewish death. these people do not care about jews and no matter how much they insist “it’s zionists not jews!” they always end up showing their true colors as either an ignorant fool parroting talking points hand crafted for silencing jews and ending any conversation, or a flat out bloodthirsty antisemite.

also, let’s say every single person in israel dies right this instant. is palestine suddenly free? no, they’re still under hamas rule. the economy in the middle east is destabilized, the surrounding countries will probably try to grab onto any land they can, and it’ll most likely lead to an even worse war. and all the while, jews everywhere are suffering a 50% loss in the tribe, the loss of family and friends and memories and stories, food music culture… say goodbye to any ancient artifacts left behind.. and millions of non-jewish people who have also been there hundreds and thousands of years lose everything..

like i genuinely believe rabid anti-zionists either live in an entirely separate reality or they would be perfectly fine with jewish death. the only time they care about us is when we’re dead, and even then, it’s often to mock us or spit on our graves.

.

[jewishvitya]

I just wanted to thank you so much for all of your insight and generosity with your perspective as an anti-zionist israeli, something you absolutely don't owe us but I feel immense amounts of respect and admiration for. from an American jew, it's been so valuable to know there are people like you out there, it's made everything feel much less hopeless despite all the hopelessness. I've felt very alone recently, surrounded by all the Jewish people in my life who are pro-israel and don't seem to grasp the gravity of the situation and my pro-palestine gentile friends, and I've felt very alone in my grief as I've only really started to unpack and dismantle my own biases very recently. reading your posts and your perspective on everything has just made me feel very seen as a jew in this situation, especially as I try to reconcile my feelings about everything going on with my own feelings about my faith and my identity.

you've probably seen that I've gone through a lot of your posts and that I've followed you. i just want you to know that I'm not necessarily following you just for that, I know you're just a fandom blog, it's just that after looking through your posts I feel like you're just a really nice person and seeing yoi on my dash from you would be endearing coming from you even though im not into it myself.

just. thank you again for sharing your story and continuing to share. you have no idea how much it's helped me.

I'm in tears. I've been crying way more than usual over the past couple of months, but it's nice for a change to have those tears to come from being touched instead of grief. I apologize if I'm going to ramble.

You say I didn't owe you all this, but I do feel responsible. I'm watching so much destruction and seeing how comfortable people around me are with the loss of life. This is why I've been talking about what we do and not as much about the impact of October 7 on me or people I know. I did a bit of that in the beginning, but pretending it was the start of everything to keep going back to that one day, after two months of horror, as if I can't count past 7... I didn't choose to be born where I am, I didn't choose to grow up in the most extremist community this place has to offer. But since I'm here, since I'm comfortable at the expense of Palestinians and violence is being done in my name and I have the tools to highlight issues within my society, I think it's a moral obligation.

I know how I talk about things here, and that's genuinely because I don't want to minimize the severity of the racism and the nationalism in Israel. And someone perceived my words as showing hatred for Israelis. But... I love my people. I don't expect those who see or experience our violence to feel the same or even understand me, but I do. It's my neighbors and my childhood friends and my family. It's children I see playing outside and getting excited when they see I have a cat, and the random people who stop me in the street and give me directions if they think I look lost.

Even growing up in the West Bank settlements, the people were very good to me. I needed years to internalize the fact that this kindness doesn't get extended to you if you're not part of the in-group. It broke my heart. It still does. Seeing people who I know are capable of kindness and compassion, hardening themselves against the pain of other human beings. Closing their eyes and telling themselves it isn't real. It's all an act.

I told a friend I feel like I'm betraying my mom, who was deeply bigoted, but also a wonderful mother. She taught me a lot of the principles that are guiding me now - I just took down the walls she put around who deserves to be considered. She'd be horrified with seeing the things I'm saying if she was still alive. But she taught me to care about people, I just decided it means all people.

Everyone should be prioritizing Palestinian liberation, and at the same time, I care about this too. I care about the morality of my people. I need us to be better than this. I want to dismantle the nationalism that teaches us hate and violence so we can start to heal and come to terms with what we did (and still do) here. I want us to fix what we can and hold ourselves accountable. I want us to reimagine safety in a way that doesn't cause harm, and build good relationships with the rest of humanity. Every marginalized community is experiencing bigotry in interactions with every other community, that's just how these things work. But I believe healing the world, and healing my society, is possible.

And it's hard, because so much of what we learn is rooted in truth. Antisemitism is real. Millennia of persecution are real. The trauma we carry is real. If the idea of an ethnostate makes us feel safe, and the idea of losing it makes us scared, how do we differentiate between fear as a natural reaction to antisemitic violence and fear that was taught to us for the sake of nationalism? Especially those of us living in Israel, immersed in the propaganda. It doesn't matter in practice, our feelings of safety or fear don't justify an ethnostate, especially not one built on top of another nation, but it matters for the conversations I have with people.

And I said that the violence I'm seeing feels like an attack on my identity. Seeing a giant hannukiyah in Gaza, when Hannukah tells the story of occupied people fighting off their oppressors. Seeing images that echo so much of the horrors that were done to us. The Magen David being used with hate and spite. It's all so painful. And I love this land, it's the only home I've known, so seeing us destroying nature and soaking it with blood and calling that connection?

Judaism does guide me here. The concept of tikkun olam. The idea of לא עליך המלאכה לגמור ולא אתה בין חורין לבטל ממנה - doing what I can, even if what I'm able to do isn't some decisive blow that entirely turns the tide. The idea that every human being is a whole entire world, to me it means that every single person alive is worth fighting for. So no matter how much death I see, there's still worlds more to save.

And Jewitches had this post that felt just healing to read. Nationalism hijacked our culture, and it will always leave a mark for centuries into the future. But I'm not letting go, and I'm not letting that create a rift between me and thousands of years full of history I can be proud of.

I feel your grief. And I'm grateful for the anti-zionist Jews I met by talking about this, because honestly, I need you people in my life. The pain and the anger are both easier to hold together.

So, thank you for following. I might follow back, just to see you around on my feed. And thank you for sending this. Feel free to message me anytime for any reason (I promise it won't result in a lecture every time).

Also, your url gave me pjo nostalgia

[jewfrogs]

hi gabriel. i have a problem. i initially followed your blog a year or two ago because i was in the process of converting; haunting my local reform synagogue, becoming a known quantity, chilling with folks at holidays, et cetera. i stopped attending friday services regularly a little before oct 7 (restaurant job with conflicting hours), but since things started i haven’t gone back. i keep telling people it’s because i don’t want to have to talk about it but i don’t know how to square being an anti zionist convert with being surrounded by people who are firmly pro israel. just last week they invited an idf soldier to speak about how hard his job is!! and fuck i miss the friends i made there. i miss having ten grandmas. im sorry i know you’re not the Jewish Ambassador and you sure didn’t ask for receiving random emotionally loaded anons, but i dont know what to do. i know i can’t be a solitary jew but the ones i know are apparently cool with war crimes if their side does them. i didn’t think i had a soul but i guess i do and it’s fucking hurting bad right now fuck

hi honey. i’m sorry i can’t say much of substance beyond that i’m right there with you and it’s miserable and i wish there was an easy solution. i wish it wasn’t this way; i wish so many jewish spaces weren’t this way.

nothing can fully replace physical, in-person community in most cases, but it’s important to find ways to remind yourself that you may be solitary, but you are not alone.

you might look into the shabbat services at tzedek chicago (one of the only actively antizionist synagogues i know of) which are available virtually around the world.

depending on where you live, there might be a jewish presence at pro-palestine protests or events with organizations like JVP or INN or other local groups, which can be affirming and meaningful (and even if there isn’t an explicit presence, there’s a high likelihood that there’ll be other solitary jews).

reading historical and contemporary writings by antizionist jews is great (i recommend anti-zionism: analytical reflections, although i’m not sure if it’s anywhere online).

online spaces can be a blessing too—r/jewsofconscience has consistently solid conversations and community, and even just seeing other antizionist jews on here reminds me that i’m not alone and i’ve never been alone.

i wish you well and i hope you find as much peace as possible 🪬💙🧿

[nereidprinc3ss]

hi, I'm a huge fan of your work, and I just saw that you had the link to decolonize palestine on your intro post (since you just posted a new one). I had read the website before, as a jew (who had been told different information but wanted to double check my info) and I found some of it really questionable. so I decided to research it a bit. obviously, feel free to do your own research, I actually encourage it, but here is a tumblr post that seems? to pretty well explain how wildly antisemitic that website is (i did not fully vet the post, but given what I know of jewish history, it seems to fit). I'm all for being pro-palestine and there are a ton of good resources out there, however, this website does not seem to be one of them.

obviously, it's up to you if you want to keep it or not, or even outright ignore this ask, but there has been a lot of misinformation going around, and in case this was your main source of information, I wanted to let you know that you should maybe cross reference it.

https://www.tumblr.com/arandomshotinthedark/743280738106998784/decolonize-palestine-is-a-terrible-source-that?source=share

Hello!! I read that post and some of the comments and reblogs as well as other posts by the original poster and while it does seem like the decolonize Palestine might have source issues and skip over sections of history I don’t think the post or blog you linked is any more reliable of a source. In the comments/reblogs alone I found posts which discredited major points it made, clarifying that “pink washing” is actually a term INVENTED by pro Palestine Israeli activists and that BDS discredited the Boston branch for the mapping project which is a separate thing from BDS. Those two facts, one of which the OP acknowledged in reblogs but did not change in the original post because it was “still in the realm of bad” make me hesitant to trust 100% of their information, and also because stuff like ancestral heritage/who can claim what as their homeland is contentious and Im not equipped/qualified to discuss it or evaluate it by any means. I took a look through that blog and found some of the ways it talked about Gaza and the genocide to be suspect. Specifically when they said they see the appeal of Israel because Judaism is the “dominant culture” there. They said photos of the atrocities happening in Gaza are just a way to make you angry so you’re more susceptible to Hamas propaganda and that they discourage “higher thinking.” They didn’t seem to indicate any solidly anti genocide stances which makes me think they are no more unbiased than decolonizepalestine is, just in the opposite direction. What went implied but unsaid is that anti-Zionism=anti-semitism, with which I disagree when your anti-Zionist views are based on your human rights views. I do think some anti-semites have embraced this as an opportunity to be flagrantly anti Jewish but this is not the full story of anti Zionism and is not true of most anti Zionists.

Regardless it seems like maybe that’s not a perfect website to link because it erases some relevant history but I just thought I’d let you know that blog to me is quite dog whistley. Also to anyone who might be considering it Im not interested in fighting in my inbox and I simply won’t engage. Pls do send alternative suggestions for links I could put there maybe to better sourced sites or a compilation of vetted fundraisers!! Thank you

[spot-the-antisemitism]

cecil, i swear the questions are genuine, in good faith and not meant as a gotcha, i know you get a lot of backhanded ones.

can you please tell me, what to avoid while criticising the israeli government. things like not lumping every israeli (and every zionist) as a monolith is obvious, but what else is there? bc while i dont want to stay silent abt bibi, ben-gvir and their buddies, i also dont want to cause any harm to jews in general, while criticising these guys (obviously)

also, what sources you would deem generally trustworthy? bc ive seen you name a bunch of institutions, not all of them that obvious, as untrustworthy, so i want to know, who you consider to usually have it correct/true to facts/etc.

and this one isnt that much of a question, as it is an observation, bc reading your posts i sometimes feel like we live in different realities (in some sense we do, i guess, since im a goy), but from people around me, who identify with pro palestine movement, ive seen genuine interest in learning from different sources and understanding all the nuance, elections in usa not changing anything. not to mention, none of them being antisemitic (at least not intentionally and when on rare occassion of something like that happening, met with the information, that this might be, usual response is "shit, i had no idea, thank you for telling me, i wont do/say that anymore"). it is also just one of many "things" (for the lack of a better word) they care about, we are all generally interested in politics, social issues and local activism. but my social circle may be a bubble, since i am careful about who i befriend, not to mention i live in an entirely different country. idk. this last part may have been a dm, honestly, i just felt like sharing it with you, bc dissonance between our experiences is on my mind a lot.

tldr, im trying my best to be an ally to jewish people and im asking your advice

Dear Zina,

"can you please tell me, what to avoid while criticising the israeli government?"

If what you're saying sounds like a desparagement of all Jews rather than certain idviduals you're doing it wrong. The moment you imply people are cruel or doing harm because they're Jewish or Israeli, you fucked up.

But sure go off how the Likud silences hostages when they talk about their rapes but say the real rape is them not being able continue the war.

Talk about how Ben-Gvir finds Muslim call to prayer upsetting and hires police to harass Mosques and claim it's for "safety" and that the calls "drown out the bomb siren" but never imply it's because Jews are evil and hate Muslims or that's it illegal for Muslims to pray in Israel (it's currently not, but Ben-Gvir wishes he could change that)

"also, what sources you would deem generally trustworthy? bc ive seen you name a bunch of institutions, not all of them that obvious, as untrustworthy, so i want to know, who you consider to usually have it correct/true to facts/etc."

that's hard as all media either has a pro-Israel bias and sometimes softens the things they do or more usually an anti-Israel bias and exxagerates it to stoke antisemitism. Al-Jazeera and the grey zone and mint media exist for this sole purpose. Avoid them. Know that Haaretz and JPost are biased in the other direction. As for the rest plug that into Media bias

Media bias is your friend

"bc reading your posts i sometimes feel like we live in different realities (in some sense we do, i guess, since im a goy), but from people around me, who identify with pro palestine movement, ive seen genuine interest in learning from different sources and understanding all the nuance, elections in usa not changing anything."

So first off you're a gentile and really really miss a lot of Dogwhistles. secondly I debunk terminally online slactivists who wish to join Hamas but can't even go the polls, you are friends with people with lives and actual activism. Your friends and my enemies simply aren't the same

"but my social circle may be a bubble, since i am careful about who i befriend" yeah see you might be activist Georg who is the outlier since you don't befriend abusive people and so you just don't hang out with antisemites

"i live in an entirely different country" you live in POLAND. one of the more nationalistic, xenophobic and antisemitic countries. You are lucky not to be Russian like myself but I know how your countries treated and continues to treat immigrants and Jews. Your friend group sounds great but beware of the substrates of your culture seeping in.

"bc dissonance between our experiences is on my mind a lot" you do know this is just my online experience and most of my friends IRL who do care about Palestine are very reasonable people? it's just very dangerous to be a jew with any degree of fame online right now

please write again,

Cecil