#the 7 laws for non jews

[mrkilroi]

Watch ""Gog and Magog" - What's it All About? - Ask the Rabbi Live with Rabbi Mintz" on YouTube

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

by Lincoln Brown

Beckett Law, a religious freedom advocacy group, has taken up the cause of three Jewish students at UCLA. The students claim that in the wake of the October 7 terrorist attack on Israel, they faced mounting antisemitism, which included barring them from access to areas of the campus. The students are also represented by Clement & Murphy, PLLC.

In the lawsuit, Frankel v. The Regents of the University of California, the plaintiffs claim that pro-Hamas/anti-Israel protesters set up barricades on the Los Angeles campus, effectively creating a "Jewish Exclusion Zone." Beckett Law states that after creating the encampment, protesters not only constructed barriers but also linked arms to prevent Jewish students from accessing the most popular areas on campus. They also imposed an ideological test, and those whose views were deemed to be sufficiently anti-Israel were issued wristbands and allowed to pass unmolested through the "checkpoints."  

By contrast, Beckett law says that Jewish students were harassed and even assaulted. Law student Yitzchok Frankel was forced to find other ways to reach his classes because his route was blocked by the exclusion zone. Sophomore Joshua Ghayoum could not attend classes or study sessions because of the zone and the antisemitic activities on campus. Additionally, he was forced to listen to chants of "death to the Jews" and "death to Israel." Eden Shemuelian had trouble getting to her final exams because of the zones and had to listen to the vitriol from the encampment as she tried to study. These, said Beckett Law, are just three examples of the problems faced by Jewish students at UCLA.

Mark Rienzi, president and CEO of Becket, stated:

If masked agitators had excluded any other marginalized group at UCLA, Governor Newsom rightly would have sent in the National Guard immediately. But UCLA instead caved to the anti-Semitic activists and allowed its Jewish students to be segregated from the heart of their own campus. That is a profound and illegal failure of leadership. This is America in 2024—not Germany in 1939. It is disgusting that an elite American university would let itself devolve into a hotbed of antisemitism. UCLA’s administration should have to answer for allowing the Jew Exclusion Zone and promise that Jews will never again be segregated on campus.

The suit notes:

Defendants have deprived Plaintiffs of the free exercise and enjoyment of religion without discrimination or preference, as secured by the California Constitution, through a policy and practice that treats Plaintiffs differently than similarly situated non-Jewish individuals because Plaintiffs are Jewish.

Defendants furthered no legitimate or compelling state interest by engaging in this conduct.

Defendants failed to tailor their actions narrowly to serve any such interest.

As a result of Defendants’ actions, Plaintiffs have been injured by losing access to educational opportunities, losing access to library and classroom facilities, losing in-person learning opportunities, losing the ability to prepare for exams, being denied equal participation in the life of the university, suffering emotional and physical stress that has diverted time, attention, and focus from study, and by other harms.

In addition to seeking compensation for damages, the primary goal of the lawsuit is to hold the leadership of the University of California accountable and ensure that such a situation never arises again.

As usual, "never again" is here and now. The fact that these "students" take a great deal of pride in slinging the term "Nazi" at anyone with which they disagree yet use tactics that echo those of the Third Reich is ironic and chilling. But their savage nature can be attributed, at least in part, to those who educated them. 

Given that, one must ask if the regents of the University of California were merely caving to mob pressure. Did they turn a blind eye to the madness out of fear or because of the optics? Ideally, there should be nothing wrong with discussing the war and even debating whether or not Israel's response to the Hamas attack has been proportionate. 

The regents, president, vice-president, and chancellors never stopped to think, "Gee, it seems to be getting awfully brownshirty around here." And if they did, they were too cowardly or indoctrinated to say a word.

[matan4il]

Have you noticed how almost everything that the anti-Israel crowd accuses people who simply recognize Israel's right to exist of, is (in additional to usually being false) stuff they're guilty of themselves?

"You support ethnic cleansing!"

What do you think it means, when you chant the English translation of "From water to water, Palestine will be Arab"?

"You support an ethno-state!"

Do you call for the destruction of every single nation state, such as Germany, Japan, France, and so on? No? Then so do you. Have you called for the establishment of a Palestinian state? Then, so do you. Between Hamas ruling Gaza and being genocidal when it comes to Jews, and Mahmoud Abbas (president of the Palestinian Authority) stating no Israelis will be allowed in the State of Palestine (and by "Israelis" we all know he doesn't mean the Arab citizens of Israel, he's talking about Jews) that's going to be an ethno-state, too. Oh, you meant a "pure" ethno-state. Those don't exist in today's reality, and Israel, with 27% of its citizens being non-Jews, is no exception.

"Oct 7 didn't happen in a vacuum, you're ignoring the context of the past 75 years!"

You are ignoring big chunks of anti-Jewish violence during these 75 years, you're ignoring the expulsion of almost 900,000 Jews from Arab and Muslim countries, you're ignoring the anti-Jewish violence and persecution that preceded the establishment of the Land of Israel, and you're ignoring all 3,500 years (at least) of Jewish existence in and connection to our ancestral homeland, Israel.

"You support collective punishment!"

The same way you do, when you chant, "When people are occupied, resistance is justified"? Because that's what it means, that for the sin of Israel supposedly being a colonial state (a false claim, since Jews are native to Israel), you're justifying raping 13 year old girls, shooting them in the head, murdering Holocaust survivors, burning babies alive... what's that if not supporting collective punishment? (that's before we get into the fact that Israel not surrendering in a war started by Hamas is NOT collective punishment, or else we would have to define the allies not surrendering to the Nazis in WWII as collective punishment of the Germans)

"You suppor apartheid!"

All Israeli citizens have the same civil rights. Apartheid in South Africa was a system where citizens of the country had their rights limited based on skin color/ancestry. The issue in South Africa wasn't that racism existed (IDK a single country where racism doesn't), it's that it was codified into law, and used against the rights of that country's own citizens. Israeli Jews and Israeli Arabs have the same rights. Non-Israeli Palestinians not having the same rights as Israelis, including as Israeli Arabs, is the same as French Canadians not having the same rights in the US as French Americans. It is NOT proof the US is applying a system of apartheid unto French people. And if it were, then I have news for you, every country applies different rights to citizens vs not citizens, so every country would be an apartheid state by this criterion. Which would make the word meaningless, and it would diminish the suffering of non-whites under South Africa's apartheid (as some young black South Africans who have actually been to Israel now point out). Meanwhile, I'll point back up to where Mahmoud Abbas said no Israelis (i.e Jews) will be allowed in Palestine, and that under the Palestinian Authority, a Palestinian can be jailed or executed for selling land to Jews, which means the PA demolishes the right to property (of Jews to own it, and of the PA's Palestinian citizens to sell it as they see fit) based solely on the ancestry of the buyer... And you support the PA, right?

"You deny the Nakba!"

I had never encountered any Israeli denying that roughly 850,000 Arabs fled Israel due to the War of Independence. Pointing out that the Arabs are the ones who started that war isn't the same as denying it happened. Meanwhile, the people who make this accusation, largely deny the expulsion of the Jews from Arab and Muslim countries, deny the suffering, discrimination, expulsions and massacres Jews had endured for centuries under Arab and Muslim regimes, and deny the atrocities of Oct 7.

"You support colonialism!"

Say the people who deny the native rights of the Jews, who act as if these rights are limited by time (as if such a limitation benefits anyone other than actual colonizers), who ignore the fact that Palestinians wouldn't exist here without Arab colonialism, or who wish to confer a native status unto them by virtue of... being settler colonialists for a "long time" (to be clear, the way the UN's definition of a Palestinian refugee works, it only requires a person to have been an Arab* settler colonialist in Israel during the 2 years prior to the founding of the Israeli state, to be recognized as a Palestinian. To become a US citizen, in addition to other requirements, you have to live in the US for at least 5 years, 3 if married to an American citizen. That means in June of 1946, it was easier to become a Palestinian "native" in the eyes of the UN, than an American citizen). Don't get me wrong, Palestinians have a right to live in the place where they were born. I can both recognize that they're here due to Arab colonialism, AND be okay with them living here. Just like I can recognize that no Americans today deserve to be displaced, even though the majority of them are there thanks to colonialism. And I don't have to pretend like Americans of European descent have suddenly become native (something that if I did, would probably hurt actual Native Americans), in order to recognize their right to live where they were born. It's just ironic that if we took the logic of the anti-Israel crowd when it comes to native Jews, and applied it to all native peoples, this would harm the natives, erase their rights, recognize their colonizers as natives, and generally help colonialism.

There's probably more, but I think this is demonstrative enough.

* Technically, the UN didn't specify ancestry. As an idea, you could be Arab, Jewish, a Polish Catholic priest living in a convent in the Land of Israel from Jun '46 to May '48, and you'd be recognized as a Palestinian by the UN, but in reality this definition ended up favoring all non-Jewish colonizers of the land. In 1952, Israel said, "It's okay, we'll take care of the Jewish refugees displaced by the War of Independence. No need for the UN to do so. This is what we set up a Jewish state for." This is in addition to Israel taking care of the Jewish refugees from Arab and Muslim countries, and Jewish Holocaust survivors. And for Israel's show of responsibility, the now-Israeli Jewish refugees have been punished. They don't get recognized as existing, as having been displaced by, and having suffered due to the war the Arabs started in the Land of Israel against its Jewish communities. "Palestinian" refers to non-Jews only from the second The British Mandate in Palestine's Jews became Israeli Jews, but that doesn't stop the anti-Israel crowd from falsely claiming there are Palestinian Jews today... even though since May of 1948, there aren't, and before that, those Palestinian Jews were British subjects, not the citizens of an Arab independent state called Palestine (something that has never historically existed). Thanks to the exclusion in practice of Jews from the definition of Palestinian refugee, the UN agency for taking care of Palestinian refugees, UNRWA became a tool of spreading anti-Jewish hate.

(for all of my updates and ask replies regarding Israel, click here)

[secular-jew]

On this day in history, the Jews of Romania were forced to wear yellow stars and special hats, to identify them as Jews.

This Nazi practice was borrowed from Islam, which forced Jews in Islamic conquered countries, to wear special identifying clothing, and other horrific antisemitic apartheid rules, which always led to ethnic cleansing and genocide.

After Muslims invaded and colonized Israel and Spain, they made this the law of the land:

"o11.0 NON-MUSLIM SUBJECTS OF THE ISLAMIC STATE (AHL AL-DHIMMA)

...o11.5 Such non-Muslim subjects are obliged to comply with Islamic rules that pertain to the safety and indemnity of life, reputation, and property.

(1) Are penalized for committing adultery or theft, though not for drunkeness;

(2) Are distinguished from Muslims in dress, wearing a wide cloth belt (zunnar);

(3) Are not greeted with “as-Salamu ‘alaykum”;

(4) Must keep to the side of the street;

(5) May not build higher than or as high as the Muslims’ buildings, though if they acquire a tall house, it is not razed;

(6) Are forbidden to openly display wine or pork, (A: to ring church bells or display crosses,) recite the Torah or Evangel aloud, or make public display of their funerals and feastdays;

(7) And are forbidden to build new churches.

o11.10 The agreement is also violated [when the non-Muslim]

(5) Or mentions something impermissible about Allah, the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), or Islam.

o11.11 When a subject’s agreement with the state has been violated, the caliph chooses between the four alternatives mentioned above in connection with prisoners of war (o9.14)."

[death, slavery, ransom or release]

Source: “Reliance of the Traveller a classic manual of Islamic sacred law”, 1991 revised edition in English

[a-very-tired-jew]

Seeing Western Activists praise the recent ICJ West Bank opinion is just watching another exercise in hypocrisy and willful ignorance.

This is the same court that said they found no evidence of genocide and that Israel should do everything in its power to prevent the war from becoming one.

The response from Western Activists was to keep calling it a genocide as they had been doing since October 8th before Israel even started its military response.

This is the same court that instructed Hamas to return the hostages, which they never did.

The response from Western Activists was to ignore this ruling and Hamas's lack of action completely.

This recent opinion states that Israel must exit the West Bank and give the land back to the 1967 borders.

But then it goes back to Jordan right?

Because all of the territory seized in 1967 belonged to other Arab countries and if its going back to pre-67 borders it defaults back to them, right?

Or are we finally establishing Palestine with its own government to be recognized by the international community, and therefore be welcome and beholden to all the rules, laws, and norms?

Is that new government in charge of Gaza as well, and thus has a responsibility for 10/7 and the hostages?

Does that new government have a responsibility to handle Hamas and all the other terrorist groups?

Will this become another Lebanon where the UN says it will disarm terrorist groups within the country and enforce the disarmament, but does absolutely nothing and leaves it to Israel to be in a continued armed conflict with said groups continuously while the international community wring their hands and cry over the Jews fighting back?

(Because, let's be honest, it doesn't matter that there are non-Jewish Israelis. It only matters that the Jews are "uppity" in the global scheme of things.)

Every time an ICJ opinion comes out regarding Israel and Palestine I have to ask "Okay, what next?". Because I've never seen the next steps actually come to fruition or a detailed description of what that actually means. Maybe someone will actually put a plan of action forward and what it entails, but until then I'm just going to sit back and watch the moral grandstanding continue.

(I'm not even going to touch upon Nawaf Salam, the current president of the ICJ, and his history of rampant antisemitism that informs his decisions, but its something to keep in mind.)

[the1975attheirverybest]

Palestine Readings And Resources

The following is a list of resources that includes books, articles, websites, and nonprofits to help you get educated and/or involved in action pertaining to the Palestinian genocide. I originally compiled this list for personal purposes, to use in my own local communities. Since it's been an unbelievably grim and never-ending shit-show on the blog for the past 5 weeks, I now feel compelled to make this list public on here in the hopes that it might benefit someone.

Please be aware:

This post is NOT an invitation for you to treat me as your token Palestinian friend, personal educator, or woke police taskforce. Grow your own moral spine.

This list was originally compiled shortly after October 7. It has, as of the writing of this post, been 163 days. A LOT has happened since. Therefore, this list is not exhaustive.

New ways to get educated and involve have since materialized, and, indeed, new ones materialize everyday. Do your own due diligence and decide what shape your engagement is going to take.

I am using my own specific expertise and skill sets as a scholar and educator of Literature and Philosophy to populate this list. Therefore, naturally, a lot of what you will find on here is geared towards educating and raising awareness about the historical, socio-political, philosophical and cultural underpinnings of this genocide and how its reflected in art.

If you are looking for more practical resources, find activist spaces in your local communities.

This List Contains

Non-fiction books about Palestine

Fiction novels by palestinian authors

educational web resources

Documentary

organizations to donate to

BOOKS

A. non-fiction

Edward Said, The Question of Palestine (written by a Palestinian-American literary critic and critical theorist)

Rashid Khalidi, The Hundred Years’ War On Palestine (written by a a Palestinian scholar and historian)

A Land With A People: Palestinians and Jews Confront Zionism (anthology)

Ghassan Kanafani, On Zionist Literature (written by a Palestinian novelist and political activist)

Noura Erakat, Justice For Some: Law and the question of Palestine (written by a Palestinian-American activist and legal scholar)

B. Fiction and Poetry

Susan Abulhawa, Against The Loveless World

Etaf Rum, Evil Eye

Mahmood Darwish, A River Dies Of Thirst

Adania Shibli, Minor Detail

WEB RESOURCES

Al-Shabaka: The Palestinian Policy Network

BuildPalestine

If you are a teacher looking to educate about Palestine,

DOCUMENTARY

Gaza’s Fight For Freedom (2019) Directed By Abby Martin

ORGANIZATIONS TO DONATE TO

The Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA)

The Palestinian American Medical Association

Medical Aid for Palestinians

Jewish Orgs (specifically helpful for anti-zionist jewish conversations and advocacy)

Jewish Voice For Peace:

We envision a world where all people — from the U.S. to Palestine — live in freedom, justice, equality, and dignity.Like generations of Jewish leftists before us, we fight for the liberation of all people. We believe that through organizing, we can and will dismantle the institutions and structures that sustain injustice and grow something new, joyful, beautiful, and life-sustaining in their place...more here.

2. Jews For Justice For Palestine. Click here.

[talisidekick]

I saw a post of someone, as far as I could tell they were transgender, getting mad how people are letting the current tumblr fiasco (see any post tagging predesterone, avewy, or predestrogen. TL;DR trans girl got banned off the site for making a 'threat' to Tumblrs CEO while suffering a months long harassment, bigotry, and stalking campaigne without Tumblr lifting a finger to help. Tumblr responded with a ban citing reasons already disproven by their own process.) distract everyone from the current situation in Gaza, which is a coming mass assault. And I do get the frustration. But lets put both in perspective beginning with the 10 stages of genocide from

and

The Stages are as follows taken directly from the sources above:

"Classification – The differences between people are not respected. There’s a division of ‘us’ and ‘them’ which can be carried out using stereotypes, or excluding people who are perceived to be different.

Symbolisation – This is a visual manifestation of hatred. Jews in Nazi Europe were forced to wear yellow stars to show that they were ‘different’.

Discrimination – The dominant group denies civil rights or even citizenship to identified groups. The 1935 Nuremberg Laws stripped Jews of their German citizenship, made it illegal for them to do many jobs or to marry German non-Jews.

Dehumanisation – Those perceived as ‘different’ are treated with no form of human rights or personal dignity. During the Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, Tutsis were referred to as ‘cockroaches’; the Nazis referred to Jews as ‘vermin’.

Organisation – Genocides are always planned. Regimes of hatred often train those who go on to carry out the destruction of a people.

Polarisation – Propaganda begins to be spread by hate groups. The Nazis used the newspaper Der Stürmer to spread and incite messages of hate about Jewish people.

Preparation – Perpetrators plan the genocide. They often use euphemisms such as the Nazis’ phrase ‘The Final Solution’ to cloak their intentions. They create fear of the victim group, building up armies and weapons.

Persecution – Victims are identified because of their ethnicity or religion and death lists are drawn up. People are sometimes segregated into ghettos, deported or starved and property is often expropriated. Genocidal massacres begin.

Extermination – The hate group murders their identified victims in a deliberate and systematic campaign of violence. Millions of lives have been destroyed or changed beyond recognition through genocide.

Denial – The perpetrators or later generations deny the existence of any crime."

Now, these ten stages don't need to be done in order, and all ten aren't required to classify a genocide. If you have all 10 present, you failed to stop it and it's either happening or over. Just ONE stage present is enough to claim it's genocide. Not all genocides are bloody, they can be quiet, slow, and unnoticeable to those not the targets of it.

In Palestine, you have all 10. It's happening. No one listened, no one cared, and now innocent blood is spilled that was 100% preventable. And we, the world, get to watch that failing in action. We're seeing a bloody genocide. A violent one.

With transgender people in many places in the world, the stages present are: Classification, Symbolization, Discrimination, Dehumanization, Organization, Polarization, and Preparation. Seven, out of ten. 7/10. 70% of the way there to "too late".

So why is the predesterone/predstogen/Avewy/Rita situation important? The US, where Tumblr makes it's office. Avewy is transgender. The US is solidifying the Discrimination stage, and depending on who's elected next, even sanctuary states could feel the full pressure of the federal government. Please note, it's bad enough in the states that certain ones are offering sanctuary from others. Avewy isn't a US citizen, yet despite reporting discrimination, has so far had her reports denied and been removed from the site. So have many other enbies, trans men, and trans women.

Now Tumblr isn't a government institution, however, genocide is as much a government act as it is a social one. And private institutions, companies, corporations, and people make it happen. So getting mad saying something to the effect of "Palestinians are dying and this Avewy issue is distracting from meaningful actions being taken to prevent this nex upcoming mass assault" is aiding in allowing the same thing to happen to another minority by paving the path up to the genocide stage of Denial. How do you think the Palestinian genocide came to be? People kept saying their issues weren't important enough, and denied that there was a problem. The ongoing genocide NEEDS TO BE STOPPED but not at the cost of allowing another genocide to continue to take place.

And if you haven't figured it out, this is why anti-discrimination laws exist. Any sign of inequality in a society, whether thats based on race, creed, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, sex, disability, etc. is the starting sign of a possible genocide. This is why equality is so important. This is why Pride exists, this is why the racial equality movement is important, this is why people get on stage in protest and show up to rallies. Failure to uphold equality leads to erasure, and often to blood spilled. If you don't like that 70% of transgender people of all ages are at risk of suicide when not supported, or the higher rate of systemic violence towards people of colour and other minorities, then learn to recognize discrimination and speak up. Because failure to do so puts lives on the line, and we're all in this world together.

Free Palestine, Trans Rights Are Human Rights, Black Lives Matter, Stop the Genocide. All these statements can, should, and need to coexist on the same world stage. When ones in crisis, show up, because it only cascades and gets worse.

None of us are free unless all of us are.

[probablyasocialecologist]

In 2017, it was estimated that about 65,000 US citizens were colonial settlers in the West Bank alone (15 percent of the total settler population at the time), not counting East Jerusalem. They constitute almost a third of the 200,000 American settlers living in Israel and the occupied territories. Many among them consider themselves “liberal,” and “left-wing” and are educated professionals. The fact that at least one million Israeli Jews hold European and US nationalities should impel the US and European countries to invite them back to their home countries to ensure their safety and so that they can make room for the indigenous Palestinians of Gaza, whom their colonisation had displaced in the first place, to return to their original homes and lands in accordance with international law and UN resolutions. No Arab leader, let alone the Palestinian Authority, would dare make such demands, whether in public or private, to the Americans and Europeans. Yet these reasonable demands, which are in line with international legitimacy, could contribute to ending Israel’s belligerent insistence on maintaining Jewish supremacy and settler-colonialism in the land of the Palestinians.

[going-to-superhell]

I’m tired of people saying this is ‘just war’ and ‘not a genocide’ so I’m going to get technical with everyone.

First of all the definition of genocide, for those who can’t see the image it says, “the deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular nation or ethnic group with the aim of destroying that nation or group.”

Right of the bat Israel by definition is committing genocide because this is deliberate if it wasn’t and they were only targeting Hamas then please tell me this, why have Israel bombed supply trucks when massive groups of Palestinians go their to get what they need, why does Israel have snipers targeting civilians, why is Israel killing journalists. Even if you can somehow find some way to think that Israel telling people to go to one safe area and then carpet bombing the place isn’t genocide then how can you explain everything else.

Now that we’ve been over the definition here is what the UN has to say.

Article II

In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:

a. Killing members of the group;

b. Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;

c. Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;

d. Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;

e. Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group

The intent is the most difficult element to determine. To constitute genocide, there must be a proven intent on the part of perpetrators to physically destroy a national, ethnical, racial or religious group. Cultural destruction does not suffice, nor does an intention to simply disperse a group. It is this special intent, or dolus specialis, that makes the crime of genocide so unique. In addition, case law has associated intent with the existence of a State or organizational plan or policy, even if the definition of genocide in international law does not include that element.

Importantly, the victims of genocide are deliberately targeted - not randomly – because of their real or perceived membership of one of the four groups protected under the Convention (which excludes political groups, for example). This means that the target of destruction must be the group, as such, and not its members as individuals. Genocide can also be committed against only a part of the group, as long as that part is identifiable (including within a geographically limited area) and “substantial.”

Now let’s go over the 10 stages of genocide

The stages are:

1. Classification – The differences between people are not respected. There’s a division of ‘us’ and ‘them’ which can be carried out using stereotypes, or excluding people who are perceived to be different.

2. Symbolisation – This is a visual manifestation of hatred. Jews in Nazi Europe were forced to wear yellow stars to show that they were ‘different’.

3. Discrimination – The dominant group denies civil rights or even citizenship to identified groups. The 1935 Nuremberg Laws stripped Jews of their German citizenship, made it illegal for them to do many jobs or to marry German non-Jews.

4. Dehumanisation – Those perceived as ‘different’ are treated with no form of human rights or personal dignity. During the Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, Tutsis were referred to as ‘cockroaches’; the Nazis referred to Jews as ‘vermin’.

5. Organisation – Genocides are always planned. Regimes of hatred often train those who go on to carry out the destruction of a people.

6. Polarisation – Propaganda begins to be spread by hate groups. The Nazis used the newspaper Der Stürmer to spread and incite messages of hate about Jewish people.

7. Preparation – Perpetrators plan the genocide. They often use euphemisms such as the Nazis’ phrase ‘The Final Solution’ to cloak their intentions. They create fear of the victim group, building up armies and weapons.

8. Persecution – Victims are identified because of their ethnicity or religion and death lists are drawn up. People are sometimes segregated into ghettos, deported or starved and property is often expropriated. Genocidal massacres begin.

9. Extermination – The hate group murders their identified victims in a deliberate and systematic campaign of violence. Millions of lives have been destroyed or changed beyond recognition through genocide.

10. Denial – The perpetrators or later generations deny the existence of any crime.

Now let’s go over a-few of the steps which is only the tip of the iceberg:

Stage 1: Classification

Israel has put in place an us vs them during this genocide which goes over to stage 4 Dehumanisation. They don’t see Palestinians as people, they laugh at their suffering with one count of a woman dragged into a hole with an Israeli soldier where he forcibly took off her hijab and while she was crying shot his gun in the air told her he killed her husband and told her that he was going to bury her all while laughing. This isn’t a one off either.

Stage 4: Dehumanisation

As stated above with step 1

5. Organisation

Even if again you somehow excuse the carpet bombing of Rafah as not genocide then why was it planned to be on the same day as the Super Bowl, the same day were most people will have their eyes on one of the biggest sporting events. It’s simple it’s because everyone will have their eyes on the Super Bowl and not on them. Let’s go over more examples shall we? The bombing of supply trucks, specifically when their open and there are lots of Palestinians going there. This has happened twice. But wait there’s more because why else would they bomb hospitals if not to stop people from getting aid and we haven’t even started on Israel stopping food and other things from getting in, do you honestly think Israel originally let those supply trucks in? No, they had to be forced to let supply trucks in because they weren’t originally letting them.

Stage 7: Preparation

They are claiming they are doing this to stop Hamas but even if Hamas disbands Israel won’t stop

Steps 8-10: Persecution, Extermination and Denial

This is already happening in-front of our fucking eyes

Okay now let’s say you still think this is ‘just war’ okay let’s pretend that for a second and go over Israel’s war crimes

1. The Court shall have jurisdiction in respect of war crimes in particular when committed as part of a plan or policy or as part of a large-scale commission of such crimes.

Now for the list of Israel’s war crimes that I currently know of, this list may be expanded upon:

Wilful killing

Wilfully causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or health

Extensive destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly

Taking of hostages

Intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population as such or against individual civilians not taking direct part in hostilities

Intentionally directing attacks against civilian objects, that is, objects which are not military objectives

Intentionally directing attacks against personnel, installations, material, units or vehicles involved in a humanitarian assistance or peacekeeping mission in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, as long as they are entitled to the protection given to civilians or civilian objects under the international law of armed conflict

Intentionally launching an attack in the knowledge that such attack will cause incidental loss of life or injury to civilians or damage to civilian objects or widespread, long-term and severe damage to the natural environment which would be clearly excessive in relation to the concrete and direct overall military advantage anticipated

Attacking or bombarding, by whatever means, towns, villages, dwellings or buildings which are undefended and which are not military objectives

Intentionally directing attacks against buildings dedicated to religion, education, art, science or charitable purposes, historic monuments, hospitals and places where the sick and wounded are collected, provided they are not military objectives

Committing outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment

Intentionally using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare by depriving them of objects indispensable to their survival, including wilfully impeding relief supplies as provided for under the Geneva Conventions

Now for Israel’s crimes against humanity:

Murder

Extermination

Torture

Persecution against any identifiable group or collectivity on political, racial, national, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender as defined in paragraph 3, or other grounds that are universally recognized as impermissible under international law

Other inhumane acts of a similar character intentionally causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health

[thejewitches]

Are Noachides Messianic Jews?

While there can be overlap, generally, no.

Most Noahides do not profess themselves to be Jewish as the term itself acknowledges that the adherent is not Jewish. Messianics, however, are by-and-large Christians claiming to be Jewish.

A Noahide refers to a non-Jew who chooses to adhere to the following seven commandments known as the Seven Laws of Noah:

1) Do not deny God. 2) Do not blaspheme God. 3) Do not murder. 4) Do not engage in illicit sexual relations. 5) Do not steal. 6) Do not eat from a live animal. 7) Establish courts of justice and a legal system

The modern Noahide movement is very new and was only established in the 1990s by some religious Zionist organizations--Early promoters include convicted terrorist Meir Kahane. Despite its popularity online, it does not have a huge number of adherents, or do many Jews promote it.

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

These lawyers were described by the prosecutor as “impartial”. However, they were anything but. Some had associations with Palestinian causes; others had previously expressed often virulent anti-Israel views.

One member of this panel was the lawyer Baroness Helena Kennedy, a longtime radical-left campaigner and honorary patron of the London-based charity, Medical Aid for Palestinians.

Three weeks after the October 7 pogrom, Kennedy warned against “collective punishment” by Israel, referred to the Gaza Strip as “being reduced to rubble” and accused Israel of cutting off Gaza’s water supplies.

But her most disgusting statement was in a speech she made on genocide in March. She told the House of Lords: “The current conflict between Hamas and Israel follows decades of terrible conduct, by both the IDF and Hamas, before, during and after 7 October.”

So in the view of this doyenne of “human rights,” Israeli soldiers who desperately tried to fight off the Hamas stormtroopers — even while they were continuing to perpetrate depraved atrocities against Israeli women, children and men — were guilty of “terrible conduct” in doing so.

It is hard to fathom the obscenity of such a condemnation. Yet this moral bankruptcy was no one-off. Others in the intellectual classes have been heard to issue exactly the same condemnation of the Israelis for killing Hamas murderers on October 7 itself.

In other words, Jews are not to be allowed to defend themselves against genocidal attacks. Indeed, they are actually condemned for doing so. More astoundingly still, the genocidal attack has actually galvanised the global attempt to destroy Israel altogether.

That’s what’s happened in Ireland, Norway and Spain, which have said they will recognise a non-existent “State of Palestine”. They are thus rewarding Hamas for its barbaric onslaught. The message to all Palestinians is that slaughter, rape and hostage-taking are their route to victory.

Unilateral recognition of “Palestine” is a form of lawfare against Israel. And the principal motor behind lawfare is “human rights” law.

[matan4il]

Daily update post:

The numbers for now are 1,350 murdered, over 3,600 wounded, and over 200 kidnapped. The estimated number of terrorists who invaded Israel on Oct 7 is 3,000.

Hezbollah continued to fire into Israel today, five people were injured, one died from his injuries. His name was Mufyid Al-zeer, he was from the Israeli northern town of Abu-Snen. It's an Arab town with a population of over 14,000 people, where 55% of the population is Muslim, 15% Christian, 30% Druze. The antisemitism of Hezbollah, which wants to destroy the Jewish state, is killing non-Jews, too. May Mufyid's memory be a blessing.

One nurse who I talked to told me that Hamas terrorists placed grenades and explosives on some of the bodies of the massacred, I guess they meant to kill first responders, when they tried to touch the bodies. I've now seen it in print as well, so this report is confirmed.

In Berlin, Jews discovered their homes marked with a Star of David:

This is reminding a lot of Jews of how the Nazis marked Jewish shops and businesses in the 1930's, first for boycott, later for assault:

Israel will start supplying water to the south part of Gaza again. It's a move meant to help stop an even worse humanitarian crisis there, and to encourage Gazans to move out of the northern part, where Hamas can use civilians as human shields. I try mostly just to reflect what Israelis are going through, but because some people misconstrue why Israel stopped the water supply to Gaza in the first place, here is maybe the best explanation I heard about it:

According to reports, Israel and Egypt agreed yesterday on a humanitarian corridor that would allow people to leave Gaza, but Hamas has stopped it, and it's also trying to discourage Gazans from leaving the north, so despite everything stated in the vid, Israel will supply water to the south. I pray it works and regular Gazans will manage to get there and be as safe as they can be.

According to initial analysis of how the massacre was carried out, Iranian technology and military knowledge were a part of what enabled it. It apparently took almost two years to plan, train and get to the point of execution. Documents seized by Israel from Hamas terrorists show that there was an explicit instruction to get to schools, to agricultural communities, to kill kids and kidnap civilians.

On a personal note, my daily therapy is just looking at pics of my nephew. He hasn't been allowed out since my sister and brother in law got back home last Saturday, so they're trying to entertain him however they can. Today was broom embracing day:

When you ask me whether Hamas can continue to exist in any form, I think about this precious boy, this actual ray of sunshine, and what Hamas terrorists would have done to him and his mom if they could. I've seen the horror pics, I've heard the testimonies, so I know what those terrorists would have done.

(for all of my updates and ask replies regarding Israel, click here)

[athena5898]

I have been collecting links and resources for and from Palestine as they have come in front of me over the past several months. Here is a full list of what I have so far. CW: Links talk about sexual assault, rape, violence, death, etc. You know genocide and colonization. edit: okay it won't post all of them so i'm going to reblog with the rest.

'Israel' releases detained al-Shifa Hospital chief, 49 others | Al Mayadeen English

"May Gaza burn": The flood of genocidal rhetoric from Israel's soldiers

About | Israelism

Germany: Parliament rejects proposal to stop arms exports to Israel – Middle East Monitor

The Failure to Protect Palestinian Cultural Heritage

Air Force Engineer Resigns as Dissent Against Gaza War Spreads in Military

Palestinian journalist describes torture, abuse at Israeli detention camp

Palestinians protest against Israel land theft in Kafr Qaddum

Fears rise for Gaza's starving children | The Electronic Intifada

British far-right and pro-Israel activists are fighting the Palestinian movement together | Middle East Eye

'Israel' commits horrendous massacre on refugee tent, over 20 killed | Al Mayadeen English

On October 7, Gaza broke out of prison | Gaza | Al Jazeera

The Night Won’t End: Biden’s War on Gaza | Fault Lines Documentary - YouTube

US To Remove Aid Pier From Gaza Coast - ac.news

Gloom about the ‘day after’ the Gaza war pervasive among Mideast scholars | Brookings

Israel's use of bombs in 6 'emblematic' attacks likely violated laws of war, UN says

Running Amok | Mary Turfah

The destruction of press infrastructure in Gaza: A strategy to blind the public - Forbidden Stories

‘The grey zone’: how IDF views some journalists in Gaza as legitimate targets | Israel-Gaza war | The Guardian

Exclusive: Israeli documents show expansive government effort to shape US discourse around Gaza war | Israel | The Guardian

Exclusive: Israeli documents show expansive government effort to shape US discourse around Gaza war | Israel | The Guardian

Doctor admits Israeli pathologists harvested organs without consent | Israel | The Guardian

Israelis are celebrating mass slaughter in Gaza

Israel's skin bank raises ethical concerns on organ consent...

“Genocide Denial”: House Votes to Bar State Dept. From Citing Gaza Death Toll | Truthout

Biden Has Not Seen Pictures Of Beheaded Israeli Children, White House Says | HuffPost

A compound crime: Israeli army hits Gaza family, uses them as human shields, and runs over their mother

UK election 2024: Labour's non-Zionist Jews complain of 'disdain' | Middle East Eye

Israel announces largest Palestinian land grab in over 30 years | Middle East Eye

Israel turbocharges West Bank settlement expansion with largest land grab in decades | AP News

How Israel destroyed Gaza’s ability to feed itself | Israel-Palestine conflict News | Al Jazeera

‘More horrific than Abu Ghraib’: Lawyer recounts visit to Israeli detention center

Inside Sde Teiman, the Base Where Israel Detains Gazans - The New York Times

Palestinian Released From Israeli Prison Describes Beatings, Sexual Abuse and Torture - Twilight Zone - Haaretz.com

PAST AND FUTURE PRESENT(S): No Palestinians Involved: An Open Letter to My Colleagues

Report: Israel demolished 318 facilities, uprooted 10,000 olive trees in West Bank this year – Middle East Monitor

The Luxury of Death | Institute for Palestine Studies

Pro-Israel tycoon gives Labour half a million pounds

We Spoke Up For Palestine and Got Kicked Out of the White House Pride Party | Autostraddle

The Rise of October 7th Tourism

IDF Ordered Hannibal Directive on October 7 to Prevent Hamas Taking Soldiers Captive - Israel News - Haaretz.com

‘I’m bored, so I shoot’: The Israeli army’s approval of free-for-all violence in Gaza

IDF Ordered Hannibal Directive on October 7 to Prevent Hamas Taking Soldiers Captive - Israel News - Haaretz.com

Counting the dead in Gaza: difficult but essential - The Lancet

IDF Ordered Hannibal Directive on October 7 to Prevent Hamas Taking Soldiers Captive - Israel News - Haaretz.com

Israel turbocharges West Bank settlement expansion with largest land grab in decades | AP News

Palestinians recount abuse inside Israeli prisons

Silenced at School: NYC Public Schools Chancellor suppresses Palestinian voices – Mondoweiss

The Frankfurt Book Fair and multinational publishers are complicit in the Gaza genocide – Mondoweiss

On the Record with Hamas - by Jeremy Scahill

Sabra and Shatila massacre - Wikipedia

Sabra (character) - Wikipedia

‘Israel in collapse’: 46,000 businesses forced to close since 7 Oct

Israel war on Gaza updates: ICJ finds Israel in breach of international law | Israel-Palestine conflict News | Al Jazeera

ICJ says Israel’s presence in Palestinian territory is unlawful | Israel-Palestine conflict News | Al Jazeera

We Volunteered at a Gaza Hospital. What We Saw Was Unspeakable. - POLITICO

The end of Israel’s economy – Mondoweiss

Palestine and “Xinjiang” under Capitalist Rule: An Analysis from the Chinese Left | Chuang

One Name, Two Lists

Devil in the details: How HRW laundered Israel’s 7 October falsehoods

UK drops plans to challenge ICC arrest warrant request against Benjamin Netanyahu | AP News

Palestinian factions strike a reconciliation deal - will this time be any different? – Mondoweiss

Gaza live: UK won't challenge ICC on Netanyahu arrest warrant | Middle East Eye

Only a failing US empire would be so blind as to cheer Netanyahu and his genocide | Middle East Eye

“Oslo Is Over” - by Jeremy Scahill - Drop Site News

Kamala Harris responds to DC protests over Netanyahu visit

Pro-Palestinian protesters vow to push on at UBC, VIU encampments | CBC News

Israel’s Netanyahu dissolves war cabinet | Israel-Palestine conflict News | Al Jazeera

Travel to Israel declines from 533,200 in June 2023 to 97,700, June 2024 - The Jerusalem Post

'Horrifying' Israeli strike on girls' school in Gaza kills at least 30 | Middle East Eye

Remembering Eman Qamom – Mondoweiss

Canada set to revoke Jewish National Fund’s charitable status – Mondoweiss

Operation Olive Branch - Google Sheets

Israel privately pressures Biden admin to fast-track more weapons during Netanyahu visit - POLITICO

Living in a nightmare – Mondoweiss

As US Congress cheered for Netanyahu, protesters gathered to denounce him | Israel-Palestine conflict News | Al Jazeera

After polio detected in wastewater investigators search Gaza for active cases : Goats and Soda : NPR

Despite UN appeal, US and UK don’t fund ‘critical lifeline’ to Palestinians | Israel-Palestine conflict News | Al Jazeera

Christian Zionism and the Unseeing of the People of Palestine – Institute for Christian Socialism

As the Games open in Paris: “Israel” out of the Olympics — Boycott colonial athletics! | Samidoun: Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network

Paris Olympics 2024: Key issues – Israel, Russia, Seine, hijab ban, workers | Paris Olympics 2024 News | Al Jazeera

All the Times Israel Has Rejected Peace With Palestinians

Violence of planting in Israel-Palestine - The Architectural Review

War on Gaza: How Israel is stripping Palestinian women of their dignity | Middle East Eye

[bitegore]

This is the specific stance I have on whatever atrocities by Hamas you want me to consider.

You cannot expect me to believe that any fighting force is going to do any warfare without atrocities. You particularly will never, ever be able to convince me that fighting in civilian-populated areas will ever be free from sexual violence, from coercion, from civilian casualties. This is kind of just the nature of war - there is no such thing as a "good, clean war" and there never will be. Israel has committed plenty of human rights violations against Palestinians and whatever human rights violation you want me to worry about on October 7 has been done to Palestinians by Israeli soldiers. And it's also been done on every other population under military threat by every other military on the planet. Don't kid yourself.

What concerns me is not which side has "fought the cleanest" and what concerns me is also not which side is nicest. What specifically concerns me is the amount of control civilian populations are under and the way those civilian populations are being discussed. Each side has committed war crimes. I'm not going to bat for Hamas. But just like I expect you to stand in support of Israeli civilians who have done no wrong, I think there is something deeply wrong with you if you won't stand in support of Palestinian civilians who have done nothing wrong. And if you want to point to specific atrocities and war crimes that have been widespread on both sides as reason that Palestinian civilians should not be afforded the care Israeli citizens automatically are, then I think something is rotten in your heart.

I am also concerned by apartheid in general. Palestinians in the West Bank are subject to military law whereas Israelis in the West Bank are subject to civilian law. Reputable Israeli human rights organizations like B'tselem themselves have described Israeli laws pertaining to Palestinians (and other non-Jews in Israel, like the Druze people) as apartheid.

First and foremost in my heart I am a Jew. I was raised hoping one day to make my own home in Israel or Palestine, whatever you want to name it: the region itself is a place I see as the land of my forefathers. The part of my family I am closest to, care most about, and want to be connected to came to America from the Middle East in my grandparents' lifetimes. And I myself was raised in America, in a fundamentally flawed system with a long, bloody legacy of racism and violent settler-colonialism. For me, patriotism includes wanting the countries I care about to do better.

And at the moment Israel in its current incarnation has killed one in every 200 individuals in Gaza. Hamas's attack on October 7 was a tragedy - but they did not kill one in every 200 civilians in Israel. And they have not continued to kill tens or hundreds of civilians per day, and they have not committed to a siege of starvation on a mostly-civilian population. Israel's attacks on Gaza have targeted hospitals, schools, UN sites, and refugee camps. Israel will be able to recover from the October 7 attack. Most of Gaza's infrastructure lies in ruins.

History has taught us also that oppression will not last forever. One day the government in Israel will be overturned, and if it isn't, Palestinians will still be treated better and given a place in society. One way or another, the people of Palestine will be free. The mistreatment only promises that this freedom must be bought in Israeli blood- if there is no path forward but through Israel, then that will be the path that must be taken. And at the moment there is no path forward for the people of Gaza but through Israel. So I cannot find myself surprised that the people of Gaza are lashing out with violence, when history teaches us that this is always the case. And history also teaches us that in the years after, modern Israel will be spoken about wrapped in disclaimers of racism and Islamophobia and settler-colonialism the way America is now, or in tones of abject horror the way that Nazi Germany or Apartheid South Africa is now, depending on which way the tables turn for the current regime. Nelson Mandela, to the Western majority, was a terrorist involved in bombings before he was a hero.

I think it's rare that there's a situation this clear-cut in this day and age, where despite the tactics used by either side even a modicum of historical literacy tells you what must be done and what side needs more support. The people of Gaza are without food, without water, without safe shelter, under a four-day ceasefire that will pick back up after it's left off unless something changes and under a military blockade even if the ceasefire is permanent holding them in a cramped, besieged location. Travel for Palestinians is difficult and requires approval from both local Palestinian authorities and Israeli administrative groups; travel for Israeli citizens is significantly easier. And in the West Bank, Palestinians are under threat.

This doesn't even touch on the horrendous, genocidal remarks from Israeli government leaders. I'm not repeating the remarks verbatim, because there are too many: read them for yourself here. It's kind of really obvious that Hamas itself is not ever going to take over Israel if you're paying attention. But Israel exerts a lot of control over Gaza. Calling civilians cockroaches, subhumans, and human animals and then shelling them for more than a month straight is pretty fucking bad.

Free Palestine. Justice for the Palestinians.

[mariacallous]

(JTA) — When I was 18 years old, like many American Jews, I spent a gap year in Israel. At a right-wing army-prep program called Mechinat Yeud, located in the illegal settlement of Efrat, I learned Torah, went on hikes and practiced krav maga. I fondly look back at this year as a positive experience and a time when I matured as a young adult.

I also saw the daily mechanisms of the occupation, though I didn’t have the vocabulary to articulate this.

Over that year, I saw Palestinians whose cars bore different license plates than those driven by Jews. I saw a checkpoint between Israel and the West Bank that was a formality to Jews like my friends and me but very real to the Palestinians living right next to us. Though I finished my year in Yeud with a strong desire to live in Israel, I also knew that I couldn’t be complicit in Palestinian oppression. 

I eventually moved to Israel and threw myself into anti-occupation activism, spending weeks and months at a time in Palestinian communities in the West Bank. In addition to the bureaucratic oppression that Palestinians face on a daily basis, I saw — and sometimes was a victim of — the settler violence that plagues the West Bank.

During the American civil rights movement, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel famously referred to his protesting as “praying with his feet.” This past Yom Kippur, when the rabbis of the Talmud tell us to fully prostrate ourselves during prayer, I asked for forgiveness with my whole body by spending the Day of Atonement in Ein Rashash, a Palestinian Bedouin shepherding community located 22 miles northeast of Ramallah. Its residents had requested a 24/7 presence from solidarity activists due to threats from the nearby Israeli outpost of Malachi Hashalom.

According to a United Nations report released on Sept. 21, 1,105 Palestinians fled their homes and villages in 2022 and 2023. The report stated that settler violence is at a record high since the U.N. began documenting the trend in 2006. 

This report includes the villages of Ein-Samia, Al-Qabun, al-Baqa and Ras al-Tin. All of these villages were located near Ein Rashash, and like Ein Rashash, the communities all relied on shepherding for their livelihood. Settler attacks in the Palestinian towns of Huwara and Turmus Aya, frequently described as pogroms, have received attention within Israel and internationally.

Ein Rashash has faced similar settler violence and harassment. Shortly upon entering the village, one can see where settlers shattered the windows of homes and destroyed an outhouse in an attack in June. The community is considering leaving their land just like the community of Ein-Samia and many others have done. 

In response to this violence, a group of activists, most notably Rabbi Arik Ascherman, is spending long periods of time in Ein Rashash — located north of the ruins of Ein-Samia — to use our privilege as a de-escalating presence. When non-Palestinian activists are around, settler violence is less likely. Ein Rashash and the nearby villages are all located in Area C, the portion of the West Bank under full Israeli control as per the Oslo Accords. The Palestinian residents do not have Israeli citizenship, and they are subject to military law as opposed to the civil courts through which Israeli settlers are tried. “Protective Presence” activism is utilized in other communities in Area C that face regular threats of settler violence and home evictions, such as Masafer Yatta. I have done several shifts already, and I volunteered for the Yom Kippur shift.

I was accompanied by five other activists. The first thing we did was assign roles in case settlers came. Who would call the police or other activists? Who would film? Who would stand in front of a settler’s car if he tried to enter the village or drive through a flock of sheep? These are normal conversations in this line of work. 

There is no break during Protective Presence activism. Either there’s an immediate incident, or you’re waiting for the next one. Every unfamiliar car or person in the distance can be a settler coming to attack or harass or bringing soldiers to force Palestinians off their land. A drone from the nearby outpost hovered overhead for around 30 seconds, and I was on edge for the next hour. You sleep with one eye open. Jewish holidays often bring with them right-wing violence in Israel and the West Bank. Hate crimes were carried out in Bat Yam this year and last year, and in 2021 there was a settler pogrom in the Palestinian village of Mufagara.

This is exhausting and emotionally draining. Unlike many other Protective Presence shifts I have participated in, Yom Kippur ended without incident. 

After 25 hours, I had the privilege of going home to Jerusalem. Palestinians do not have this option. This is their life. 

According to Torah, on Yom Kippur the Israelites are told to “afflict themselves.” The rabbis concluded that self-affliction must refer to fasting, reasoning that “affliction” refers to something that, when taken to a certain extent, can lead to death. 

Life under occupation can, and does, lead to death. One look at the statistics makes that all too clear. Since 2000, 10,667 Palestinians in the occupied territories have been killed by Israeli soldiers or civilians.

Protective Presence is my self-affliction. And yet, in homage to Yom Kippur’s imagery of being sealed in the Book of Life, life goes on. Activists laughed with and got to know each other and our Palestinian hosts. We read and we ate delicious homemade food. We didn’t embrace misery as a form of repentance. We embraced the full spectrum of life. 

I believe fasting is mentally, physically and spiritually unhealthy. The only self-affliction I find meaningful is in sharing the pain — and the joy — of my fellow human beings, particularly in a way that lightens their pain and suffering. The people of Ein Rashash have told us that our presence is making their lives easier and helping them stay on their land. The children are laughing and playing in a way that they were not when we first started these shifts. This has been the most meaningful Yom Kippur I’ve ever had.

In Mishnah Yoma 8:9, we learn that repentance on Yom Kippur only allows us to atone for the sins between ourselves and God. For a sin against another person, one must “satisfy their fellow.” We don’t need to ask God for forgiveness. We must stand with the Palestinians suffering under Israeli rule, until they’re satisfied. 

I know that it’s not a matter of if the settlers will be back, but when. For as long as that’s the case, I will continue to pray with my body and sometimes “self-afflict” in the name of justice and equality. The Talmud states self-affliction does not absolve one from their sins towards other people, only those towards God. And yet, our sins towards other people are the ones for which we direly need to repent.