#which is dangerous for diaspora Jews. it is dangerous for us. your rhetoric is DANGEROUS TO US

[creekfiend]

I just really need ppl to integrate the fact that Jews being explicitly racialized and violently targeted for elimination under white supremacy is in fact the reason this is all happening to begin with so perhaps rhetoric which conflates is with the group of people who have been ethnically cleansing and genociding us for centuries is like, not the hottest thing to do idk

[fromchaostocosmos]

I keep having this terrible thought.

A thought that haunts me as I read article after article, watch commentary video after commentary video.

As I scour the internet to find almost no mention of absolutely horrific antisemitism found in Hogwarts Legacy.

Antisemitism so bad it read like something take right pages of history book about an pogrom from middle ages.

I find maybe one or two Jewish news sites sadly giving the most mild reactions to it.

What I do find are endless information of JKR's transphobia, the escalation of her transphobia, what she is doing with her money, her dangerous rhetoric, and a break down of anything and everything you might need to know in regards to this realm.

To be clear I'm very happy that so many people are talking her horrific actions and statements and are willing to hold her responsible for that which she says and does. That is good, that is important.

But when tumblr is the only place I see talking about the terrifying antisemitism of this game, where we Jews here have gone in depth multiple times breaking it down to show how very explicit the antisemitism.

How antisemitic choices in even the smallest of details in this game that you might not even notice which just furthers goes to proves how very intentional it all is.

And I can't find anything comparable to what going on here tumblr well I'm a bit at loss for words.

Sure there may be sentence here or a something mentioned in passing there or maybe on the rare occasion some trying to bring attention to what is happening in the comments.

But that is it.

So I'm left thinking a terrible thought, if JKR wasn't transphobic, but the game was still just as antisemitic where would we be. What would happen then. Would even on tumblr anyone care to listen to us.

I don't enjoy this thought, I don't like. I know it is very Oppression Olympics in nature and I hate it.

And at the same time I remember for how long so many of us said hey these books how some major antisemitism problems to only be silenced and essentially be speaking to the void.

Same with when the new movies came, the fantastic beasts set of films, we had the same story of pointing out some major antisemitic problems and again getting told to be quiet, that we are making a mountain out a molehill, being paranoid, seeing antisemitism everywhere, and the other usual exhausting things that get to said us.

And the suddenly like magic one day people decided now is the time to care about the antisemitism in the Harry Potter universe.

Except is felt less like caring about the antisemitism because it is a problem, it adds to the endangering of Jewish people, adds to the further normalization of antisemitism and its various stereotypes and tropes, and so on.

Rather it felt more like we were being used like both a prop and to help prop up other peoples points and very valid issues with the series ad JKR herself. But there wasn't any actual listening to Jewish voices or involving in them.

So I am frustrated, I am hurt, and most of all I tired.

I'm tired of these games that being played our lives.

Being Jewish in Diaspora is like with a sword above your head and it is a matter of high or low that sword is. Well right now that sword is pretty low down and gets ever closer to coming down us.

So I'm tired yes, but I guess a foolish part me also held hope expecting better only to be so bitterly let down.

Unfortunately, disappointment in these dangerous times is just to expensive.

[normalbeast-downformaintenance]

This is what we as antizionists need to understand about Jewish Zionists. Yes, you'd think that the genocide of Jews less than 100 years ago and the colonization and dispossession and persecution that has followed us throughout history would make us form a collective hardline stance of solidarity with all colonized people across the world and refusal to ever put another group through that. And for a lot of people that is the case. But fear is an extremely powerful force and especially when you know that fear is well founded, it gets easy to justify in your mind lashing out as a reaction to that fear.

Zionism is a brutal example of this, on a much bigger scale. Think about how much of the rhetoric of Zionism is built around fear: "Every country that has tried to ethnically cleanse Jews has succeeded except in Israel", "The rest of the world is dangerous, Israel is the only place where we're safe", etc. etc. Then, by asserting Israel as the only safe place for Jewish people, everyone who stands in the way of Israel (read, Palestinians) are in your mind against Jewish safety. Now you can justify anything you do to them with that they're antisemitic. "We have to expel the Palestinians because Israel is our only safe place" becomes "We have to kill Palestinians because they are a threat to Jewish safety and hate Jews" and any resistance from Palestine becomes justification for further escalation. Similar logic is applied to any outside opposition to Zionism.

This is why antizionist Jews are so vehemently accused of being privileged or faking their Jewishness - if we're not Zionists, it must be because we are not afraid, because we haven't been targeted by antisemitism. Having to face that we're just as marginalized, just as scared, but choosing solidarity instead of violence, would mean having to question fear as a justification for violence.

The pipeline described previously is also how you end up with Hamas attacks on non combatant civilians, and antisemitism within Hamas as exhibited in the 1988 charter. The attacks were carried out by Palestinians who have lived their entire lives under an active military occupation by a state that has enacted horrific crimes on their people for over 75 years. Most of them are orphans. They have grown up in fear as a direct result of Jewish nationalism, and that fear becomes fear of Jews and the justification of violence against any Jew whether they're an active part of the military occupation or not.

Here's where it's important to remember what OP said about degrees of power and social capital. The Zionist colonial project was aided by Great Britain in its inception and is being backed by several powerful countries in the west including the United States which provides Israel with billions of dollars in foreign aid yearly that Israel in turn uses to purchase military technology from the US. Because of Israel's close ties with the US and its importance as an outpost for western interests in the Middle East, western media outlets largely run with the narrative of Israel as the state of the Jews and criticism of Israel as antisemitic, and there are tangible efforts all over the west to censor criticism against Israel and Zionism. The Zionist colonial project has displaced many hundreds of thousands of Palestinians and killed several hundred thousands as well, whereas the number of civilians killed in the attacks on October 7th is estimated to around 1200.

These two forces are in no way equal. Not in terms of scale, not in terms of international support. What they both have in common is how the fear that comes with marginalization has played a central part in their emergence. Theodore Herzl himself, the father of Zionism, stated that antisemitism would become the greatest friend to Zionism, and he was right.

This is why it is absolutely vital for antizionism to fight against antisemitism and the conflation of Jews with Zionism, for Jews and Palestinians in the diaspora to have solidarity with each other, and for Jewish voices to be boosted in the antizionist movement. When Zionists claim that we'll never be safe in the diaspora, when Israeli and western politicians and Hamas officials paint the Jewish people and the Palestinian people as enemies, we have to become each other's safety. We fight against the narrative of fear.

We all know there's a lot of ways that people use their marginalization to defend anything bad they do, but I think there's a very specific flavor of this where people are convinced that because they're oppressed, they can't fall into reactionary lines of thinking. That's just not true.

The core emotion behind most reactionary thought is fear. And the thing is, much as it hurts to acknowledge, being afraid because you're genuinely in danger doesn't actually make you less vulnerable to reactionary thought than being afraid because some grifter has convinced you that other people having rights is a threat.

Of course, that doesn't mean that everyone with a reactionary mindset has the same degree of power, but everyone has the capacity to hurt people. If your response to fear is to then look around for someone to blame and scapegoat and bully and abuse, then even if you have very little social capital you're still going to hurt a whole lot of people. The fear you feel being a response to others actually trying to hurt you isn't going to change that.

[progressivejudaism]

I want to share with you an exchange that I had with a Messianic “Rabbi.”  If you are not Jewish, I especially suggest skimming this.

Hi friends,

Rabbi Josh here (he/him) with an installment of “let’s learn why Messianic ‘Judaism’ is problematic and dangerous.” 

Last week, I contacted an organization that calls themselves the “Jewish Voice Ministries” - an Evangelical Christian, far-right group cosplaying as Jews with the goal of using humanitarian work to convert as many Jews as possible to their ministry.   You can learn more about their “white saviorist” message that they use as a cover for their three major goals - which conflict with each other; the first two being the goal to convert Jews, while the third being to support Jews and the State of Israel.  (Hot take- one cannot simultaneously want to eradicate Jews and Judaism; while also supporting Jews and the State of Israel.)

I’ve included both screen shots of the respones and my own commentary below.

I would love to hear your compassionate thoughts on this organization and this figure in reblogs and comments.  All antisemitic, racist, and otherwise inappropriate responses will result in a ban from the PJBlog.

I sent the following message to the organization, hoping for answers to why they do what they do:

Hi there, I’m a little confused regarding your messaging here. Why are you identifying as Jews but yet preaching about Christian theology? As I’m sure that you’re aware, this is a classic antisemitic trope that is not okay. I’m a rabbi with now ten years of academic schooling. I would absolutely love to come to your Church and teach about how to be a better friend to the Jewish People. Please let me know how I can support you on your journey to eliminating antisemitic and bigotry aimed at Jews. L’shalom, Rabbi Josh

A “Messianic Rabbi” responded to this message.  Instead of directly replying to this figure only to get into an ethical stalemate, I would like to use this as a learning opportunity for all of us.  (See this to better understand why the title in quotes)

Below I have provided their responses to my inquiry, to which I will include my own commentary so we can unpack and learn how problematic “Jewish Voice Ministries” and “Messianic Judaism” is and how these kinds of Evangelical Groups effect our safety as Jews:

Shalom Rabbi Josh,

Thank you so much for writing and reaching out to us; it’s a blessing to hear from you. [Jews rarely use “it’s a blessing” in our correspondence.  Unless using Hebrew, culturally I’ve never seen it, especially from Jewish clergy. Similarly, very few Jews in my experience begin emails with “shalom.”  It feels like they’re trying to prove something.]

I appreciate your question and comments and will be happy to reply to them.

We identify as Jews because many on our staff, including myself and Rabbi Jonathan Bernis, are Jews. [This is inappropriate.  Just because a few staff members are Jewish, does not mean that you are a Jewish organization. ESPECIALLY if said staff members have chosen to live life as a Christian -- and thus become a Jewish Apostate.  As an example, should the US Senate identify as Jews because Bernie Sanders, Chuck Schumer, and Jackie Rosen are three of eight Jewish members? No, the answer is no.]

The theology we preach, is Biblical Jewish theology, which was later adopted (and in many cases, unfortunately twisted), by Christianity. [“Biblical Jewish theology” can no longer be practiced. Biblical Jewish life centered around the Temple.  And we have no Temple.  The line of ordained Koheinim (ritual priests) has ended.  And even if we as Jews all collectively agreed and decided to actually build a Third Temple in Jerusalem, we can’t due to political, social, and ethical tensions with Palestinians, Jordanians, and our Muslim siblings - we cannot *just* build the Temple again. Read more here.]

Interestingly, to this day, many in Christianity do not realize that the foundation of their beliefs, is from Judaism. [This is an interesting way to say that "Messianic Judaism” was formed by Evangelical Christians in the 1970s, and use that theology with some Jewish language to pretend to be Jews!  More here.]  And while there has been much in Christian theological teaching that fits the pattern of antisemitic tropes, such is a reflection on the errors of such churches, and not on the very sound Jewish theology we teach and espouse. [This also is frankly not true. Their entire goal is to convert Jews and eradicate Judaism.  There is a long history of Christians attempting to do this-- with the most famous being during the Inquisition where Jews were forced to “convert or die.”  This is the definition of antisemitic theology.  And they are not the only group preaching this harmful theology.  Read more here.]

We appreciate that you would love to come to our church, and we would be honored to host you, were it not for the fact that we do not have a church. [Well if this isn’t a Church, whatever they preach about is certainly not recognized as Judaism by any major Jewish organization. See here for rabbinic responses to the movement. ] Indeed, Rabbi Jonathan and myself do what we've been doing since childhood, and attend Shul on Shabbat. [It was an interesting and non-inclusive choice to use Ashkenormative language here. And that said, while it is true that they might have attended a synagogue as a child, what they are doing now is certainly not Judaism.  For more information about differences between Jews and Christians, see this article on Bible interpretation.]

And while some of our employees are Gentile and do attend churches, such churches are those which understand and uphold the importance of blessing Israel, which includes standing with Israel against anti-Semitism [This is code for “Anti-Israel” sentiment, which is often code for equalizing any critique against far-right leaders in the Knesset to antisemitism.  One could always critique Israel without being antisemitic.  And conflating all critique of Israel as antisemitism is extremely dangerous.  Also, the term “anti-semitism” is not correct with the dash.  Read more here.] and helping raise awareness that (when it comes to ongoing conflicts with Hamas), Israel is not committing genocide, is not an apartheid nation, is not occupying supposed "Palestinian" territory, and any Christian who is truly following what their religion teaches, would and should be appalled by the efforts of the BDS Movement, and folks like Bernie Sanders, who - up until recently - was intent on stopping a $735 million arms sale to Israel, so that the nation could purchase more iron domes from us, to continue to protect the innocent citizens who simply, as you know, just want to live in peace. [I am fascinated by this chunk.  Firstly, I want to identify the clear and obvious antisemitism here in naming Bernie Sanders as an enemy of the State of Israel while using a financial figure to prove how “bad” he is for the State of Israel.  Secondly, it’s fascinating that this “rabbi” chose to lay out all that he preaches about Israel in such a broad way - most likely to make me “feel better” about his stances.  He knows how scared so many Jews are about their movement, and made MASSIVE assumptions about my politics, using poorly written talking points that really do not mean much, and frankly some that are wrong.  As an example, the US does not sell “iron domes” to Israel (not in the plural, or in the present tense).  The US helped to create the Iron Dome System (singular, past tense) which protects innocent civilians in Israel from rocket fire often from Hamas.  The system is singular, and the US helps to maintain said system.  I point out this small thing here because, it is a very clear example of how ignorant this individual is of the real challenges that Israelis and Palestinians, and Jews and Palestinians in the diaspora, face.]

I can tell you though, I do know of a number of churches that would benefit from what you desire to teach. Especially those which erroneously blame our people as the sole purveyors of Deicide. [This is a fascinating way to attempt to emotionally spin this conversation.  (Deicide is the false claim that the Jews killed Jesus, as poorly understood from the Book of Matthew).  Instead of recognizing his own harm in being a part of a system that for now nearly 1700 years has attempted to convert Jews in order to eradicate Judaism, he is focused on something that most Christians *already* agree on.  As an example, this was formally adapted in the Catholic Church in the mid-60s.] 

They would learn much from you, dear friend. [This is a rhetorical tactic designed to make us equal- so that they can continue to preach harmful things about Jews, Palestinians, and the State of Israel.]  And if you need me to suggest some to you, just email me back; I'd be happy to do so.      

Thank you again for writing; I wish you well in your continued spiritual journey as a fellow Rabbi. [See comment above.]

B”H  [Another interesting move.  In my experience, mainly Orthodox and few Conservative rabbis will use this “Baruch Hashem” (Blessed is God) in a meaningful way in correspondence.]

Jack

I really want this to be a learning experience for us all- including me.  I am really curious what you learned from this exchange.  How might you have spoken to this figure?  What did you learn about the movement from this small interaction?  (Also check out their website on incognito mode to learn more)

So what did I learn from this experience?  This organization cares about pushing a particular right-wing and particularly dangerous narrative about Israel rather than actually helping Jews, or frankly helping people on their missions.

From this experience, what do I feel is the most dangerous part of this organization?  In claiming to be the “Jewish Voice,” they are silencing *actual* Jewish voices in the process.  If you cared about Jews, you would learn the history of antisemitism (i.e. do your homework), not pretend to be Jews, not seek to perpetuate antisemitism by converting Jews, and you would always raise up Jewish voices (especially Jews of Color, Jews with disabilities, LGBTQ+ Jews, non-neurotypical Jewry, and Jews-by-Choice).

I hope that you enjoyed learning alongside me with this experience.  I would love to hear your compassionate thoughts below.

[faggotry-enjoyer]

a number of statements that are not contradictory:

jews are not collectively responsible for anything the state of israel does.

expecting the relationship israelis (whether jewish, arab, or otherwise) have to israel to be fundamentally different, more sinister, more antagonistic, more nationalist, or less valid than the relationship people anywhere else have to their countries is an antisemitic double standard.

expecting jews, whether israeli or diaspora, to have any specific take on israel is antisemitic (dual loyalty).

demanding to know any jew's take(s) on i/p is invasive and disrespectful.

attempting to divide jews into good antizionist israel-hating tokens and evil zionist palestinian-hating monsters is antisemitic.

jews are indigenous to the land of israel, and denying their connection to the land is antisemitic.

jews, like any other indigenous group, deserve the right to self-determination in their homeland. in our current world, the typical form of self-determination is the nation-state. therefore, the state of israel is as legitimate as any other nation-state.

the modern state of israel was established for jewish refugees, and continues to be a place for jews to go when the rest of the violently antisemitic world expels them or makes fleeing the least dangerous option. it is the only place in the world where jews are not an extreme minority, and the only place in the world where jews can be visibly jewish without fear. therefore, israel's existence is essential to jewish safety.

roughly half of the world's jewish population lives in israel, which would make their loss of sovereignty devastating to the jewish community as a whole

a number of significant aliyah waves are within living memory. there are very few jews in the world. jewish communities tend to become stronger and form more ties with each other whenever antisemitism increases. communication across long distances is easier than any other point in human history. all of these factors combined makes it so that many diaspora jews are only at most a few degrees of separation away from at least one israeli jew.

all of these factors, and probably more i'm missing, mean that most jews are probably going to have some kind of feelings ahout israel, which are often going to be very personal. expecting their thoughts to fall into your outside party line is antisemitic and quite frankly callous.

the state of israel has its problems and deserves to be criticized like any other country

most outside criticism of israel is done in bad faith, and israel is not treated like any other country. no other country has its right to exist denied or called into question so frequently or so widely.

antisemitic tropes are commonly projected onto the state of israel

the state of israel is commonly used as a rhetorical prop for justification or denial of antisemitism

if the anti-israeli crowd and broader discourse on i/p wasn't antisemitic, we wouldn't see massive increases in antisemitism every time tensions rise or large-scale violence breaks out in israel and/or palestine

inverting an incorrect point of view does not produce a correct one. inverting "jews are inherently more likely to support israel and anything bad israel does" to "jews do not have any connection to israel" doesn't get rid of the antisemitism. it's just a different antisemitic talking point.

i am not jewish. all claims about jewish community and culture i make here are based on the most common views i see expressed by the many jews i follow. political takes are heavily influenced by analysis and stories from a number of jews and middle easterners, especially israelis and mizrahim, but are ultimately my own and always subject to change. this reblog was written on january 19, 2024.

thinking about how so much of the left spent so long making dual loyalty accusations that so many jews had to reiterate that "judaism != israel" as in "just because i'm jewish doesn't mean i support anything and everything the israeli state does wtf" only for the left to turn around and start saying "judaism != israel" as in "israel has nothing at all to to do with judaism" as in "any and all discussion of antisemitism with regard to israel is irrelevant derailing" (at best) and have the gall to act like they're saying the same thing because those are the Right Words, right? forced them to put up a shield only to rip that shield from their hands and beat them with it. vile. fucking vile.

[entanglingbriars]

You’re coming at this from a really odd perspective, so I want to first say that I checked at your blog and you do legitimately seem to be a Zionist arguing against Palestinian militias rather than for the Nazis. Second I want to acknowledge that a ton of leftists are hella antisemitic and while I don’t agree with your estimated percentages, the basic sentiment probably isn’t too far off from reality.

So, let’s start with two complementary differences between 1930s Germany and modern Palestine. First, Germany was not occupied by Jews. One of the things that makes the modern State of Israel really interesting from a history of antisemitism perspective is that Israel is the first place in modern history that the idea of Jewish political control of a country has been a reasonable conclusion rather than a wide-eyed conspiracy theory torn from the pages of Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

Not only that, but the occupation of Germany ended three years before the Weimar Republic fell and Hitler took control (1930 and 1933 respectively). The Nazis were not fighting to end the occupation of Germany (although you could make a case for reunification).

Second, Germany (at the time the Nazis had power) was controlled by Germans. Although the West Bank and Gaza have some degree of internal self-government, its borders, water rights, and people’s freedom of movement are all under Israeli control. The Shoah was possible precisely because the notion of Jewish control of Germany was absurd.

This could easily lead someone (and in fact has led a lot of people) to conclude that Palestinians’ occupation and oppression is the fault of the Jewish people even if they can easily see through the claim the 1930s Germany’s sufferings were caused by “the Jews.” Conflating the State of Israel with the Jewish people is a common rhetorical trick pulled by both Zionists and antizionists, but this ignores not only all of us in the Diaspora, but also the interplay of racial dynamics among Jews in Israel, the extent to which Israel’s power relies on the backing of foreign governments, the way coalitions form in the Knesset, etc.

Finally, I want to stress just how dangerous making this sort of argument is. The reasons that lead a lot of liberals and leftists to support Palestine are sufficiently compelling to them that they’re unlikely to abandon them if they are unable to explain how the Palestinian nationalists differ from the Nazis. This means that there is a significant risk that in order to resolve the cognitive dissonance this creates they will stop thinking the Nazis were wrong. We see much smaller versions of this when the response to “Antizionism is antisemtism” is “Okay, then I’m an antisemite.” It’s always dangerous to point out someone’s hypocrisy if they can resolve that hypocrisy in a way that’s worse than the hypocrisy itself.

If the gate at Auschwitz had said "CRITICISM OF ISRAEL" about 30% of woke-SJ types would be fine with it. Make it 60% if the Nazis hadn't been white.

Life in 1920 Berlin was no easier than in 2020 Gaza. Germany was under occupation (by France and Belgium). Society was crippled and humiliated. There was like 15,000% inflation, it cost 200 billion deutschemarks to buy a loaf of bread. Rampant unemployment, poverty, hunger, and a suicide epidemic so big it is still studied a century later. And they didn't have a thousand global charities giving them pity donations. If the Palestinians have an excuse to form a fascist militia to mass murder Jewish communities, why NOT the Germans? I always thought it was just plain wrong and there was no excuse, yet all I ever hear about the Palestinian fascist militias are excuses. You see the memes about "What do you call someone who joined the Nazis because they were poor and hopeless? A NAZI, punch a Nazi (like and share!)", makes sense, but apparently there's some fine print involved, a secret password where someone who's double-reverse-pinkyswear hopeless every other Thursday gets to join the Nazis and it's actually understandable and still the Jews' fault.