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pixeljade: #it IS very much a complex issue and I feel like saying that has been pissing off a lot of folks on both sides #one fact i would add to the table is that the current actions against palestine DO constitute a genocide by definition #its a word i hear pro-Israel people get very upset by because they think it is inherently comparing this to the holocaust #but its not. some people DO and thats its own discussion. but calling it a “genocide” is simply accurate and undeniable

Speaking as someone who was that pro-Israel person in her teens and very early 20s, the reactions you're describing are 800% cognitive dissonance freak outs. Most of these people, like me, received either directly or indirectly from their Elders in the Jewish community a very trauma-induced and deeply emotional information about the history of this situation, which boils down to: "They tried to kill us all once and they didn't now we finally have returned to the Promised Land, the only place we have to shield ourselves against It Happening Again. Israel's detractors hate that Jews can defend themselves now, and if any of them, including the Palestinians, were to have their way, they'd see us all dead. We must defend ourselves at all costs, and not let anyone ever put us in existential danger as a people ever again."

And then to have some rando 19 year old who knows jack shit about your or your community or your community's trauma to get up in your face and start screaming at you about genocide? It's only going to trigger that intergenerational trauma, and cause the party being screamed at to dig deeper into their defensive, cognitive-dissonance fueled response. Which, if we were to boil that response down to a thought process, looks like "This person hates me and all Jews. They think we're a hive mind who don't deserve to live. Thank G-d for Israel."

What's complex, is that not everything in that trauma response is wrong, and not everything the dumbass 19 yo who has no interest in unpacking their own learned anti-Semitism was wrong.

Israel's actions towards Palestinian Arabs since 1948 does fit several definitions of genocide and/or ethnic cleansing. And many of the Westerners who scream about it the loudest are fairly openly anti-Semitic.

Now, as someone with big Holocaust intergenerational trauma in her family, I am sympathetic to the Jewish kid in this scenario. But cognitive dissonance is just that: the domain of a child. Adults understand that cognitive dissonance is a little voice in our head telling us "Hey comrade our discomfort with this is a little much. Maybe this is a learning opportunity?"

I mean, that's what I did. But it's difficult. Its uncomfortable, and that scares people. It's much easier to believe that "They call it the Naqba because they hate us and think our survival and access to national self-determination is a disaster,"* than it is to understand that "They call it the Naqba because it was the near total dispossession and ethnic cleansing of Palestinian Arab populations from their generational homes and properties."

And again, everything I'm saying here is a result of my journey from a hardcore Zionist-in-the-contemporary-sense child (though always left in terms of domestic US Politics), to a grown Holocaust historian who understands that Israel is no better and no worse than all the other nation states (for new readers, I understand the nation-state as a political entity, the logical end point of which is genocide and/or ethnic cleansing), and openly criticizes it on those grounds.

*A rabbi in a youth group I belonged to told me this almost verbatim when I was 15. And when you're 15 and somebody tells you they love you you're gonna believe them.

#this post is clunky but i have a fever so w/e #i have great love and compassion for my community as an american jewish woman #so much of how american jewry remembers the history of israel is shaped by our collective trauma #sometimes in ways that we ourselves don't understand #i'm not here to shit on them #but i am here to compassionately call them in #and the only groups who i don't expect that compassion from #are actual palestinians

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Just fyi for anti-Semites people who refuse to grasp the diversity of Jewish political views and actions. Because we’re not a hive mind.

This war has to stop. Israel is stopping aid from getting into Gaza and people are starving.

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Daaaamn this is a good take.

Conversation between me, and another high educated Jewish women whose opinions I respect

Her: What's missing here are the facts. If we stuck to the facts there wouldn't be so much intensity surrounding this issue. Me: But you and I are both highly educated Jewish women, and we can't even agree on the facts regarding the history of Palestine as a place name, ethnic identifier, and nation. If we can't even agree on those facts, how on earth can facts help anyone move forward?

There's the question. Not just for Jews, but for everyone involved in, or concerned with this conflict. How do we move forward if multiple sides of the room dispute the veracity of such basic statements as:

-Jews are a globally oppressed minority ethnic group, the hatred of which is deeply embedded in Western thought and rhetoric.

-The Naqba was a period of ethnic cleansing in which the government and military of the new State of Israel expelled Palestinian Arabs from their homes and property; a dispossession and a series of events which continue to traumatize and negatively impact the lives and livelihoods of Palestinians.

-The Holocaust was a traumatic event in the history of the Jewish people, the legacy of which is embedded in the psyches, world views, and collective trauma of the Jewish people, and invariably impacts how this group views global issues.

-Palestinian Arabs had a full developed sense of identity and statehood before the British Empire fucked off, and made their discomfort with increasing Jewish emigration clear to the British before the outbreak of the Second World War.

-Jews had nowhere to go before, during, or really, after the Holocaust; and the governments of many Arab States ethnically cleaned their own ancient Jewish communities in retribution for the creation of the State of Israel.

-The State of Israel does not exist because the Holocaust happened, or as an "apology" for said event.

THIS POST COMPRISES A SERIES OF RHETORICAL QUESTIONS MEANT TO MAKE US APPRECIATE THE DEPTHS OF THE DISCURSIVE PROBLEMS HERE; NOT A POST FOR "DISCOURSE" AND HATEFUL, AGGRESSIVE SHIT.

If you feel you have to do that, copy & paste into your own separate post.

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Like, I’m racking my brains trying to think of one of equal complexity, but I’m coming up blank. Though some of the geo-political situations in parts of the Caucasus and Central Africa are extremely challenging, but then, I haven’t spent more than a decade studying parts of those histories.

Conversation between me, and another high educated Jewish women whose opinions I respect

Her: What's missing here are the facts. If we stuck to the facts there wouldn't be so much intensity surrounding this issue. Me: But you and I are both highly educated Jewish women, and we can't even agree on the facts regarding the history of Palestine as a place name, ethnic identifier, and nation. If we can't even agree on those facts, how on earth can facts help anyone move forward?

There's the question. Not just for Jews, but for everyone involved in, or concerned with this conflict. How do we move forward if multiple sides of the room dispute the veracity of such basic statements as:

-Jews are a globally oppressed minority ethnic group, the hatred of which is deeply embedded in Western thought and rhetoric.

-The Naqba was a period of ethnic cleansing in which the government and military of the new State of Israel expelled Palestinian Arabs from their homes and property; a dispossession and a series of events which continue to traumatize and negatively impact the lives and livelihoods of Palestinians.

-The Holocaust was a traumatic event in the history of the Jewish people, the legacy of which is embedded in the psyches, world views, and collective trauma of the Jewish people, and invariably impacts how this group views global issues.

-Palestinian Arabs had a full developed sense of identity and statehood before the British Empire fucked off, and made their discomfort with increasing Jewish emigration clear to the British before the outbreak of the Second World War.

-Jews had nowhere to go before, during, or really, after the Holocaust; and the governments of many Arab States ethnically cleaned their own ancient Jewish communities in retribution for the creation of the State of Israel.

-The State of Israel does not exist because the Holocaust happened, or as an "apology" for said event.

THIS POST COMPRISES A SERIES OF RHETORICAL QUESTIONS MEANT TO MAKE US APPRECIATE THE DEPTHS OF THE DISCURSIVE PROBLEMS HERE; NOT A POST FOR "DISCOURSE" AND HATEFUL, AGGRESSIVE SHIT.

If you feel you have to do that, copy & paste into your own separate post.

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Hello, have you read anything by the Israeli/British historian Ilan Pappé, and if so, what do you think of his writings? (I am currently reading his work “The making of the Arab-Israeli conflict, 1947-1951” (1992), this ask is not intended to be a ‘gotcha’ or something.)

I have not! I see that he's one of the New Historians; they're honestly such a fascinating group. I'm interested in them more from the standpoint of historiography than anything else, and at some point I just want to gather their major works and read them back to back.

#benny morris is SO MESSY

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When an org that rejected my job application sends me fundraising emails

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Where would we be able to pre-order/purchase your book coming out in 2025? I'd love to support you.

we're still in the very early post-submission stages, but once i have an answer you bet my broke ass will be screaming it from the rooftops

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itsybitsylemonsqueezy: #yep even these statements are frustrating for some #and even if you accept all of them #you immediately see the conflicts and discrepancies in different perspectives #how disagreements can so easily arise #add to that investment and you quickly have an extra impass #I know the popular take right now is that this is easy #I don't think it is #this is painful and complicated and horrific #and the answer isn't do nothing #but it probably isn't shout out people trying to help and trying to understand

VERY FUCKING WELL SAID.

Conversation between me, and another high educated Jewish women whose opinions I respect

Her: What's missing here are the facts. If we stuck to the facts there wouldn't be so much intensity surrounding this issue. Me: But you and I are both highly educated Jewish women, and we can't even agree on the facts regarding the history of Palestine as a place name, ethnic identifier, and nation. If we can't even agree on those facts, how on earth can facts help anyone move forward?

There's the question. Not just for Jews, but for everyone involved in, or concerned with this conflict. How do we move forward if multiple sides of the room dispute the veracity of such basic statements as:

-Jews are a globally oppressed minority ethnic group, the hatred of which is deeply embedded in Western thought and rhetoric.

-The Naqba was a period of ethnic cleansing in which the government and military of the new State of Israel expelled Palestinian Arabs from their homes and property; a dispossession and a series of events which continue to traumatize and negatively impact the lives and livelihoods of Palestinians.

-The Holocaust was a traumatic event in the history of the Jewish people, the legacy of which is embedded in the psyches, world views, and collective trauma of the Jewish people, and invariably impacts how this group views global issues.

-Palestinian Arabs had a full developed sense of identity and statehood before the British Empire fucked off, and made their discomfort with increasing Jewish emigration clear to the British before the outbreak of the Second World War.

-Jews had nowhere to go before, during, or really, after the Holocaust; and the governments of many Arab States ethnically cleaned their own ancient Jewish communities in retribution for the creation of the State of Israel.

-The State of Israel does not exist because the Holocaust happened, or as an "apology" for said event.

THIS POST COMPRISES A SERIES OF RHETORICAL QUESTIONS MEANT TO MAKE US APPRECIATE THE DEPTHS OF THE DISCURSIVE PROBLEMS HERE; NOT A POST FOR "DISCOURSE" AND HATEFUL, AGGRESSIVE SHIT.

If you feel you have to do that, copy & paste into your own separate post.

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Conversation between me, and another high educated Jewish women whose opinions I respect

Her: What's missing here are the facts. If we stuck to the facts there wouldn't be so much intensity surrounding this issue. Me: But you and I are both highly educated Jewish women, and we can't even agree on the facts regarding the history of Palestine as a place name, ethnic identifier, and nation. If we can't even agree on those facts, how on earth can facts help anyone move forward?

There's the question. Not just for Jews, but for everyone involved in, or concerned with this conflict. How do we move forward if multiple sides of the room dispute the veracity of such basic statements as:

-Jews are a globally oppressed minority ethnic group, the hatred of which is deeply embedded in Western thought and rhetoric.

-The Naqba was a period of ethnic cleansing in which the government and military of the new State of Israel expelled Palestinian Arabs from their homes and property; a dispossession and a series of events which continue to traumatize and negatively impact the lives and livelihoods of Palestinians.

-The Holocaust was a traumatic event in the history of the Jewish people, the legacy of which is embedded in the psyches, world views, and collective trauma of the Jewish people, and invariably impacts how this group views global issues.

-Palestinian Arabs had a full developed sense of identity and statehood before the British Empire fucked off, and made their discomfort with increasing Jewish emigration clear to the British before the outbreak of the Second World War.

-Jews had nowhere to go before, during, or really, after the Holocaust; and the governments of many Arab States ethnically cleaned their own ancient Jewish communities in retribution for the creation of the State of Israel.

-The State of Israel does not exist because the Holocaust happened, or as an "apology" for said event.

THIS POST COMPRISES A SERIES OF RHETORICAL QUESTIONS MEANT TO MAKE US APPRECIATE THE DEPTHS OF THE DISCURSIVE PROBLEMS HERE; NOT A POST FOR "DISCOURSE" AND HATEFUL, AGGRESSIVE SHIT.

If you feel you have to do that, copy & paste into your own separate post.

#discourse about the discourse

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This is not an Oppression Olympics Post. Do not even.

If I could write poetry, I'd write about the intensity of emotion I feel when, as a Holocaust historian, I turn towards Black American Histories. I don't think any other medium could express it.

Doing deep dives into those pasts...the only sensation I can compare it to is when your seatbelt goes into SAFETY mode and gets really tight around your gut. Or like looking into the eclipse without the special glasses.

Putting the rest of this....pondering beneath a cut, for traumatic histories and images.

every mother who couldn't protect her teenage daughter from the predations of their "owner"

every beautiful, loving old man treated with thoughtless disdain by the white folks across town

every veteran coming home from ww1 only to find themselves surrounded by a crowd of hateful, white folks. forget Verdun; these fuckers are the real danger.

with their post-cards about barbecues.

After looking into the darkest corners of the Holocaust, these black American histories, they....their horrors render me wordless.

Polish Jewish artist Arthur Szyk was in the UK when WW2 began. He left for the US in late 1940/early 1941. In 1949, he drew a piece titled "Do Not Forgive Them, O Lord, For They Do Know What They Do."

#musings #black history #cw: everything #cw: lynchings

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Today is the 81st anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising!!

I still remember that day in grad school when I learned about this lady named Vladka Meed, who smuggled explosives into the Ghetto in preparation for the Uprising.

That is my origin story. Learning the deep involvement of women at every level of the Uprising, from armaments to command (enter: Queen Zivia) changed my life, as a Jewish woman, and as a historian, forever. And I'm so SO honored that I get to play a role in ensuring that they take their rightful place in our collective memory.*

Remember, US readers, whenever anyone tells you that the Jews "should have resisted," that "if the Jews had guns more could have been saved," remember, that the Jews DID resist. They DID have guns. And most of the Jews who rose up and fought?--expected to die. The Warsaw Ghetto fighters didn't start the Uprising out of some silly dream that they could "beat" the Nazis, they rose up to make a statement about the dignity of the Jewish people.

As a sidenote, many of the best scholarly treatments of Jewish resistance during the Holocaust have been out of print since the 1970s.

*My first book, The Girl Bandits of the Warsaw Ghetto, is set to be released in Fall 2025.

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I’ve read some testimonies of the Unit 731 perpetrators. Their scientific detachment from the atrocities they perpetrated on against so many thousands of people is honestly chilling.

But you know, summer ‘45 be like “ok you did a war crime but also a science? Do you want to hang with us, or Stalin? Haha cool choice we’ll bury these war crimes lmao 😉”

[jesus fucking crisis king leopold ii in the congo]

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Oh shit that’s going on the list

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@kvietka: #I can't believe OP reblogged me!!!#I love your blog and the work that you're doing!#yeah it def takes time to build up#usually I can handle most of that stuff and just feel more depressed

Aww thanks! And thank you for reading this stuff and doing the work yourself! even the best writing and research does nothing if no one engages with and learns from it.

at some point i'll tell you the story about how i couldn't read Sexual Violence Against Jewish Women During the Holocaust without the aid of vodka and weed.*

actually, that's it. that's the story.

*I do not encourage reliance on substances to get you [general, plural] through these kinds of texts. i'm just being honest about my own....choices in that regard.

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@kvietka: #the book king leopold's ghost will hit you like a brick in the face#I felt reclusive/depressed for a few days after reading it#more than I normally do I mean#reading “Neighbors: The Destruction of the Jewish Community in Jedwabne - Poland” also made me feel that way too#history major/student moment#😔😔😔

it takes time to build up your traumatic-reading-callus. like, mine took about 6 years to grow to maturation. and i still can't do medical experimentation/vivisection/Mengele/Unit 731 level shit. [don't google any of that unless your callus has been growing for at least 3 years]

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[SCREAMS IN POST-COLONIAL THEORY, FRANTZ FANON]

[also, that book's been sitting in my To Read pile for YEARS. i keep telling myself that i'll read it when i take a holocaust break]

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for all my museum/lib/archive and other non-profit girlies~~

when a job in manhattan is full time, on site, and pays under 65K

#i will not go back again. #i did my 7 years