#all my love and support to the global palestinian community at this time and to the people in gaza

[communistchilchuck]

Hamza’s brother Zain reached out to me to help share Hamza’s fundraiser. Hamza is a Palestinian nurse urgently raising money to help evacuate he and his family from Rafah. He has only made $2,129 out of his $35,000 goal! Please share and donate, and if you can’t donate, please still share!

Hamza’s Twitter/X account: @almofty_hamza

From Hamza’s GFM:

Hi, my name is Hamza, and I am raising funds to rebuild my family's home and support my loved ones during this war.

As you may already know, more than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza. I have lost more than a hundred relatives, many still missing, and my family trapped in Gaza can attest to countless more coworkers, community members, and friends they have seen killed firsthand.

Prior to the war, I was an active member of the community. I have a passion for helping others, and for this reason, I was a nurse practicing in hospitals around Gaza. Outside of nursing, I was also a volleyball player for the Palestinian national team. After the war broke out, I volunteered at hospitals to treat those injured in the airstrikes until I was forced to stop to move with his family.

My brother, Zein El Dein, had taken courses in web development and dreamt of becoming a programmer. His dreams were cut short after the school he went to was destroyed and flipped his entire life around.

My sister, Islam, earned top marks in school that landed her in a program for engineering at her local university. Her studies were paused during the war, and with the bombardment of that university, she is trying to find somewhere outside of Gaza to continue her education and pursuit of that dream.

Omar and Mariam are both children who were still in grade school when the war broke out. Their education was not only put on pause, but were forced to grow up and try to understand why they were being displaced, why they struggled to get food, and why their friends and neighbors were being killed in airstrikes.

My father, Talaat, was pursuing a PHD in nursing at the time the war broke out. The university has been destroyed, and he has been trying to take care of his family since.

We are currently staying in Rafah, and below are pictures of my original home, now destroyed.

Many of the people that used to be around me are either confirmed dead, missing because they are trapped under the rubble, or displaced just like us. These are people who played alongside me on the national team, classmates who were pursuing their passion for nursing just like I was, and people who volunteered at hospitals when the war broke out.

Losing so many of the close friends each of us had to this war has only added to the suffering of the destruction of our home and our displacement to the refugee camps in Rafah.

As you can imagine, I cannot watch my family continue to be in this miserable condition after we lost what was everything. So, I turn to this fundraiser, and to the global community to rebuild what was destroyed and relieve my family of their suffering with financial support.

Please donate generously, share this widely, and pray for their safety and evacuation. Anything helps, and all contributions, no matter the sum, bring us closer to the goal of achieving our dream.

Thank you, salam

#i trust this fundraiser is legitimate & looked into it myself #palestine #gaza #free palestine

[scientologisabethmoss]

in so much pain right now, knowing it doesn’t even approach what gazans are experiencing at the moment, doesn’t approach what the loved ones of the israeli victims of the attacks are feeling. just tremendous sadness and anger.

all i want to do is talk and be with other jews who love being jewish, are proud of their jewish heritage, and who feel (and have felt) alienated from israel. i want to be with other jews right now and have a space to talk about our anger at israel and its ethnic cleansing of palestinians and how we can do something to fight back against this violence, this injustice, because it’s what our jewish education has instilled in us to do. and i want to be in a place with people who feel supportive of our concerns of rising anti-semitism, who understand that though we do not support israel - or any ethnostate for that matter - we probably have loved ones, or loved ones of loved ones, who live in israel and have been impacted by this violence. the global jewish community is so small that even if you don’t support the state of israel, you probably know someone who lives there and is affected.

and you know that israel is an apartheid state, you know that what israel is doing and has done to palestinians is heinous and goes against the geneva conventions, you know the power imbalance at play and that the most powerful country in the world financially backs israel and its crimes against palestinians. and there’s clarity in that, in the ethical stance you must take against injustice like that. in that way, things are simple.

but then you think about your great-grandparents and their parents, refugees who fled from pogroms and who ended up in the US. if they had remained in the pale of settlement for a few more decades, they probably would have been murdered. and if not, they likely would have sought refuge in israel after the war. and you think of your great-grandparents in new york, who housed refugees from germany in the 1930s, who were outspoken against fascism and saw their people murdered abroad and tried to live righteous lives and who had a dream of a jewish homeland and bought israel bonds to make try to make that dream a reality. these are people, my descendants, who wept with joy and relief in 1948 when israel came into being, the same year as the nakba.

and now you’re 29 in 2023 and don’t really believe in a jewish homeland anymore because you don’t believe in ethnostates. and your 94-year-old grandmother hates bibi, has been disgusted with israel for decades now, and feels like the dream of israel, the dream of her parents and grandparents, has failed. but was that dream of a jewish homeland ever valid in the first place?

you think of all of this, of the legacies of colonialism and the shoah and the nakba and all this suffering. you think of diaspora, of intergenerational pain, of memory, of who has power now and who had power a hundred years ago. and you want an outlet, a jewish community who Gets It, but you split with your previously long-term reform synagogue, the temple you became a bat mitzvah at, because you and your family were so disgusted by the zionist words of its new rabbi. and you are so thankful for and supportive of organizations like if not now and jewish voice for peace, orgs that are standing with gaza and against harm to civilians during this time, but then you see the term “jewish supremacy” used in a post to describe the actions of israel, and you think, have we completely lost the plot???

and if that’s the inside of my head right now, i know that must be the inside of the heads of so many other jews worldwide. and so when non-jews who aren’t palestinian either say that you are complacent in palestinian genocide if you admit that things, for you, are complicated, you shrivel and turn inward and think, who could i possibly share my feelings with? and if i can’t somehow share my feelings, how can i make space inside myself to properly speak up for justice, to work against israeli apartheid and attain equal rights for palestinians?

things are simple and they are complicated, but if things are both simple and complicated, they must just be complicated. i hear myself and think i must be going insane, but there has to be a scenario in which saying things are nuanced is not a cop-out or an excuse for genocide.

#writing this and posting it is just so i can function the rest of the day #this is for me first and foremost #if this bothers you please keep scrolling #because that’s what i’ve had to do with a lot of other posts these last few days #even from mutuals i really respect #literally the only reason why i’m leaving reblogs on is because this could give another jew a sense of being seen and understood #all my love and support to the global palestinian community at this time and to the people in gaza

[v-v-x-x]

Stop getting brainwashed by western media. Genuinely so sad that youve allowed yourself to be because the same shit the US and Britain and Israel are doing to the Palestinians and people that oppose them is the same shit they've been doing in the global south n Indigenous land and in all their wars INCLUDING BLACK PEOPLE. Wake up

No one is brainwashing my hun. Hamas is literally killing black Israelis, brown Israelis for sport and you guys don't seem to care. Don't you dare try and bring my fucking race into this you piece of fucking shit. You're the racist one. It's funny because majority of Israelis people I've seen are not even fucking white! I am awake. You guys are the ones that's asleep so don't come for me. You guys are the main ones calling people racial slurs the minute someone doesn't agree with your cause. Y'all want us to defend your cause but then try to coach us on how we're living our lives. I'm bisexual and the last time I checked, Palestinians in the videos have specifically said they don't want the alphabet community supporting them. Hamas is killing black people there and they're celebrating it. I am a woman and Hamas is literally raping young girls and parading their dead bodies. I have every right to be fucking outraged so don't you dare try and coach me about Americas history or UK's history because I fucking know. "It's genuinely sad" oh cry me a fucking river. If you love Hamas so much then go join them to be a human shield because that's how much your life is worth. Israel stood with Dr.King and I stand with them. Don't call me blind because I'm seeing videos of HAMAS killing women, HAMAS torturing those Thai workers, HAMAS spitting on women's dead bodies after raping them, HAMAS kidnapping babies and killing them, HAMAS using their own people as shields, HAMAS throwing gay men off roofs so they plummet to their death. THEY ARE NOT VICTIMS. Kay? Kay. So don't bring my race into this like you're trying to teach me something. "From the river to the sea" bitch, name a fucking river.

#i stand with israel #israel #free palestin from hamas #fuck hamas #hamas is isis

[nerdyqueerandjewish]

obviously these things are not all on the same scale but the compounding of personal, communal, and global events just have me 🫠

- End of Sept my beloved childhood dog had to be put down

- October 7th, Hamas attack

- October 9th, get a call from my dad that he’s flying in because grandma unexpectedly took a downturn

- October 10th, nervously waiting for my dad’s update all day. Finally get it and hear that things are critical but stable. He feels optimistic after talking to the doctor. He was able to talk to her too. She’s too tired in the evening because dialysis is tiring,but I should visit tomorrow.

- October 11th wake up early and can’t go back to sleep. Go get coffee just for something to do. Gets call at 6:58 from my dad and I know it can’t be good. Go to the hospital. See her. Give the doctors permission to start palliative care so she’s more comfortable. Hold her hand. Give her so many forehead kisses. She cant talk, but she tears up when I tell her how much I love her and my future plans. My dad is wearing a stupid fucking pro-cop shirt and I can’t help but be angry about how clueless he is and for adding this stupidity to a day that’s going to be etched into my brain for the rest of my life. Every 15 minutes or so when the nurse checks in, they remind us that there no rush, but we can take her oxygen mask off whenever we are ready. When are we ready? How are we ever ready? We know she doesn’t want to be kept on life support. Are we ready? We know she is experiencing some discomfort all hooked up like that. Are we ready? Let’s wait for one more person to get here. Are we ready? We wish she could tell us what she wanted. Are we ready? After everyone got to say goodbye. I think my partner was the one to finally suggest that it was time and I agreed. Or was it me who said it? My dad was looking for any input. An only child, not wanting to make these decisions alone. I slip into my historic role of eldest daughter, not even much younger than him anymore, knowing a decision is better than no decision. My sister and I each have one of her hands. As soon i can no longer hear her last exhale, the doctor comes in to declare her time of death. People spend different amounts of time after. My sister has to go back to work. My dad stays around, then says he’s going to grab his sweatshirt from his truck, then texts and says he’s going to find somewhere for us to get brunch. I spend about an hour with her after she was gone. Holding her hand, kissing her forehead, rubbing her arm until it’s completely cold. It takes longer than I’d thought. I keep a lock of her hair. It’s hard to leave her bedside. Next time I touch her body it will be pulverized bone that I’m trying to scoop into a locket. My partner and I get brunch with my dad.

This grief is by far the most difficult thing I’ve had to deal with in my life, and I don’t think my life has been particularly easy. She was the source of unconditional love I could depend on in my life. She was only 68 so I took for granted there would be more time. I’m able to cling to knowing that she was ready even if I wasn’t, that she had a peaceful death with people she loved. Meanwhile I’m seeing headlines every day grief multiplied over and over again, learning more about the attack, learning more about the Israeli military response escalating, bombings, bringing more and more death and grief. Violent deaths with last moments that haunt and terrify me. Deaths where the mourners do not get the comfort that I’ve been clinging to. Grieve for Jews and I have people who I consider my peers deciding that this means I’m some sort of right wing nationalist who doesn’t give a shit about Palestinians. Grieve for Palestinians, and people in my community think I’m some sort of self hating jew who believes terrorists attacks are justified. Feeling rejection on multiple fronts when shit is real. Even writing it I can hear a response of “really, feeling rejection is hurting you? People are dying!” And it’s like YES- people dying doesn’t mean that suddenly we no longer experience the human need for connection AND the thing that’s causing this rejection is seeing people’s humanity and CARING ABOUT THOSE DEATHS.

Really I just don’t know how a person can’t see their own grief and pain reflected back again and again in other people.

Don’t really have a point to this aside from the fact that this is definitely warping my brain in new and exciting ways but just shout out to people who are dealing with Major World Events and Major Life Events at the same time time. It sucks ass.

#tw grief #death tw #do not clown on this post or I will go insane

[trascapades]

🚨🇵🇸#CeasefireNow #StrikeForGaza December 11, 2023

The National and Islamic Forces, a coalition of major factions in Palestine, has called for an inclusive global strike that would include all aspects of life in solidarity with the Palestinian people—particularly in the Gaza Strip—who have been facing an Israeli war of genocide, displacement and ethnic cleansing...

Tomorrow 11th Dec. is a global strike day. "If the politicians do not hear us, then we can strike from economic life and daily movement and we can boycott everything, we can put pressure on them to stop supporting and blessing the massacre that is happening in Gaza. CEASEFIRE NOW!!!!" 

Caption reposted from Esraa Alshikh إسراء الشيخ @Esralshikh

🛑We started a campaign to push for a total strike worldwide on Monday 12/11/2023..

⭕️It is necessary to paralyze the movement of life and the economic wheel in all countries so that everyone feels that he is directly affected by the impact of the aggression on Gaza... 

⭕️ Start making your communications today, mobilizing and publishing ..

⭕️The strike must include the transportation, aviation, trade, banks, ports, and even schools and universities.

⭕️Work on gathering the majority of supporters and forget about those who are negligent and discouraged..

⭕️Any personal loss we suffer is worth nothing compared to the massacres taking place against people in Gaza..

Image 2 by artist @heyimsakina 

Images 3 & 4 and caption by artist @shirien.creates: ...I got news that my friend Refaat had been assassinated by the Israeli occupation forces in Gaza, alongside his brother, sister, and four of her children. There is confirmation that he had received a threatening phone call by the Israeli intelligence saying they have located him.

Refaat was a well-known and loved Palestinian author, poet, and English literature professor. He was also a founder of @we_are_not_numbers. Refaat taught hundreds of students in Gaza English as a way to help them tell their stories and connect Palestinian liberation with the liberation struggles of Black, Indigenous and colonized people around the world.

I met Refaat in 2014 during his book tour for “Gaza Writes Back,” a collection of stories from Gaza youth living under siege. Refaat taught me how important art and storytelling are as part of our resistance as Palestinians. His work profoundly impacted and inspired me.

Even under Israel’s relentless airstrikes, Refaat hopped around Gaza to find internet to be able to stay connected with his students, his friends abroad, and to take interviews to shed light about the atrocities happening in Gaza. He bravely spoke up knowing that Israel was systematically targeting journalists, academics, creatives, and all those exposing the truth. His home was already targeted and bombed in October, but he survived. This time, he didn’t. 

It’s hard to believe Refaat is no longer with us. It is a painful loss. His intellect, his love for Palestine, his passion to make life better for Gaza, his beautiful care for his people, and his great sense of humor will be missed. But in his short time on earth, Refaat left a lasting legacy on all Palestinians and on the world.

Refaat, in one of his last interviews, said expo markers are all he had as his resistance. But he would never give up, and he wouldn’t want any of us to give up. As he rests, we will continue to tell our stories, to demand an end to the genocide and siege in Gaza, and to keep struggling until Palestine is free.

"Writing is a testimony…a memory that outlives any human experience. We lived for a reason, to tell the tales of loss, of survival, and of hope." - Dr. Refaat Alareer   

Images 5-8 and caption by @ajplus Israel has bombed the Great Omari Mosque, the largest and oldest mosque in occupied Gaza. Since Oct. 7, Israel has damaged or destroyed over 100 cultural heritage sites in Gaza, along with thousands of historical documents.

Associate Producer: Katherine Conner

Image 9 from @npr The United States vetoed a resolution calling for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war at the United Nations Security Council on Friday.

The Security Council vote on the resolution, backed by Arab states, had 13 in favor and one — the U.S. — against, while the United Kingdom abstained.

#News #Gaza #Israel #Palestine #Palestinian #Mosque #History #GazaGeniocide #Gaza

#StrikeForGaza #CeasefireNow #Gaza #Genocide #FreePalestine #ArtIsAWeapon #RefaatAlareer

[marsiansweeney]

Human Rights in the Time of Palestinian Genocide

I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to the staffers at USAID, who seem to have finally noticed that they work for the PR arm of the CIA and not a mosquito net NGO; and all it took was the US government’s explicit (and in no way unprecedented) support and endorsement of a genocide for them to see it! At least, that is, the ones working for Samantha Power have noticed, to which all I can say is that they should probably stop taking their bosses’ vanity publications at face value; let’s just say Debbie from HR isn’t posting about the food bank on Linkedin because she cares about homeless people.

“Human rights” get a lot of play in academia and media, and if you dig past the pious mumblings of elite liberals and the Military Industrial Complex, they could be read as the core theological assumption of the West’s covert religious perspective, a perspective baked into the international institutions to which all nations are subjected. In a country where such apostles of Humanism as neuroscientist and socially-acceptable demagogue Sam Harris advocate first-strike nuclear attacks on Muslim civilians to protect those very civilians human “rights”, it should surprise us little that human rights only exist in an ideal realm where there are no actual human beings to whom those rights could apply. Somehow, however, people like Power and her minions continue to be well received when they peddle the idea that the single largest global exporter of military coups is actually the greatest defender of human rights and the only obstacle to new Holocausts. This, despite the fact that the period of US global dominance has seen dozens of genocides, some under the direct supervision and support of the “civilized” Western world and its regime of human rights. The key to this paradox lies in the method of genocide prevention and human rights protection advocated by such soulless characters: geopolitical power projection and direct military intervention.

From Russia’s “holy war” against fascism in Ukraine to George W. Bush’s “crusade” against terrorism in whichever country he decides invented terrorism, the justification of human rights atrocities with the concept of human rights is a recurring theme of contemporary global politics. Such justification is actually the primary instrumental purpose of this rhetoric, with political power balancing being the only real motivating factor for states and their puppeteers. The USSR loved communism, until they noticed anti-Soviet Trotskyists fighting the fascists in the Spanish Civil War; America loves democracy, until they notice pro-Soviet Marxists have been democratically elected in Chile; the Russian Federation is the bulwark against fascism, until some fascist paramilitaries offer up their services in invading Ukraine. The real question is one of power for states and political blocs, the ideological element is only a useful justification in the event that it supports the advancement of power politics.

In the case of the Palestinian people, one need only remember the moralizing about the Uyghur genocide that took the internet-based “discourse” by storm a few years ago. The Chinese detainment, ethnic cleansing, and cultural genocide of the Muslim Uyghurs, always justified with the logic of counter-terrorism and “self-defense”, directly paralleled the Palestinian genocide in many ways, until the Palestinians’ suffering escalated following October 7th. All the human rights crusaders who wanted “stand up to China” on the Uyghur question have changed their tune now. They aren’t just silent on the Palestinian question, most of the defenders of the Uyghurs are now vocally defending Israel’s genocide. This time, rather than cultural genocide in the form of forced reeducation and the destruction of Uyghurs’ culture and religious heritage, the Israelis are truly and explicitly committing a physical genocide of the people of Gaza. Now, over 30,000 people into an open act of genocide, the reactions of humanitarians like Power and Harris range from gentle critiques and calls for dropping crates on people’s heads, to condemnation of Islam itself as the real cause of the conflict, furthering the narrative of a clash between the “human rights” oriented civilization of the West, and the Islamic civilization of the faceless oriental Other. I hope that maybe as more innocent people are fed into the gears of the Israeli military machine, more beltway ghouls and mindless media consumers will notice that they are the very goosestepping fascists they so desire to see bombed, couped, and invaded out of existence.

#foreign policy #geopolitics #israel #palestine #human rights #USAID #neoconservatism #genocide

[topazadine]

Here talking again

I really don't know how anyone is coping right now except if they are totally, willfully ignorant. I think about almost nothing but Palestine all throughout the day and feel completely ashamed by any minor complaint I have.

I feel bad for every drink of water, even though that it doesn't impact Palestinian. I know the food I eat wouldn't be sent to Gaza, I feel guilty for even having it. Every time I go to the store I compare it to the images I have seen and feel genuinely disgusted that there is so much I could buy.

It's not fair. Not fair at all. It is a heavenly injustice that I, through no conscious effort of my own, was born in a time, place, and race that affords me opportunities, security, and freedom to do just about anything I want.

Every Palestinian, every Sudani, every Rohingya, everyone should have what I do. Even if it takes different forms (which it certainly will), they should all have the right to food and water, to secure housing, to self-expression, to education, to mental health access, to reproductive freedom.

This isn't a radical ideology, no matter what capitalist society will say. In fact, it is capitalism which has taken all those things away from our world as a whole and sold it back to us as a commodity, as a privilege, as something we have to claw back through constant political pressure and, at times, physical violence.

We weren't designed for a world like this. We weren't meant to be like this. We shouldn't have to watch another culture be massacred and scream as loud as we can and for it to make almost no difference, because we're controlled by monsters who don't listen to our pleas.

Genuinely, only three things are keeping me going right now.

The first is the images of my favorite Palestinian accounts sharing their brief moments of peace: meeting other peoples' pets, playing with children, interviewing other Palestinians to hear about their dreams once the massacre is over and they are free.

The second, much as I hate to admit it as a non-violent person, are videos from the resistance fighters. Seeing them repel the invading army through sheer grit and ingenuity is deeply inspiring. I wish they never had to take up arms, but they are doing this for their families, for their friends, for their community. They are doing it to keep their whole culture alive, and that is something very powerful.

Lastly, the third is seeing the enormous groundswell of consistent, continued pressure from people all around the world. I have never seen this much focused attention for such a sustained period in my lifetime, especially as protestors are striking back at the highest echelons of power. The intensity of the protests and direct action is almost unprecedented, especially as it is happening everywhere.

This is the Palestinians' fight, and we are only supporting them as best we can, but their struggle for freedom is going to have lasting reverberations for our entire global society. People are finally awake, connecting the dots, recognizing that we've been betrayed by our governments, fighting back against manufactured consent. It will impossible to put us all back to sleep again; when Palestine is free, we'll continue putting pressure on every corrupt system, standing up and developing a community until we can no longer be silenced.

There is going to be a chain reaction of other groups, both in the United States and abroad, using this momentum to get back their self-governance. We are ushering in an era of neofeudalism, where the locus of power is close to home and we aid other communities but don't interfere. Free communication and respect, mutual aid and solidarity, but a deep and abiding reverance for those who truly love their land.

As agonized as I am by the horrendous, heart-ripping tragedy, I also feel a renewed sense of purpose, a breathless optimism for the future, a surge of energy for a global revolution.

I want this to happen more than anything. I want all of us to be free. We can no longer accept hegemonic bludgeoning and a remorseless hoarding of power. We have never been more connected or more in step with one another everywhere, never been more invested in each others' struggle.

There are many dissenters, of course, who can't tolerate change and who want to cling to their racist, occluded worldviews. But we are stronger, and greater in numbers, and far more dedicated to our cause. Palestine will win. We will win. And this is what makes it possible not to lose myself in despair.

[40sandfabulousaf]

大家好! Last week was an extra dose of meat - I introduced N to a restaurant which serves a divine Iberico pork wat dan hor fun (wok fried broad rice noodles in egg gravy). Besides that, we ordered qing long cai (Royale chives) and lamb chops, along with 2 bottles of red. We also had fun chatting to the wait staff after the restaurant closed for the day. So far, family and friends have all loved the hor fun and N was no exception; it's SO delicious!

Occasionally, I don't mind having pasta if it isn't ridiculously overpriced. I came across aglio olio spaghetti with mutton chops for $15.50 when SC, MI, ML and I caught up over lunch and tried it. The meal was heavy and filling, so I wasn't hungry during my usual dinner time and for the price, there was enough meat. I won't mind visiting this place sporadically and trying the other items on their menu. Asian cuisine tends to deliver better nutritional bang for my buck, but this spaghetti was quite okay.

I also chose stirfried pork slices to go with my cai fan (mixed dishes and rice). The reason I'm rebalancing meat, fish/seafood and poultry with tofu and eggs is, it feels wrong to reject certain groups of food when innocent civilians in Gaza are starving. Meat and poultry are nutritious and I can reduce the saturated fat consumed by slicing off the skin and fat before eating. It just doesn't seem right to obsess about longevity when Palestinian lives are tragically cut short on a daily basis for months now. I'm grateful for the nourishing meals I can afford.

When I caught up with LL, an expat from China (photos in the next post), she shared that in the past, she didn't check the prices of groceries. Nowadays, she keeps an eye out for discounted items and specials. Global prosperity seems like a distant memory as price hikes chip away at disposable incomes. In most countries, food is so expensive, lower income households find it difficult to put food on the table. Malnutrition is a risk, amongst adults and children alike.

Unlike countries talking about sending aid to Gaza and building temporary ports, all whilst supplying weapons to Israel and enabling them to commit genocide, Singapore is helping with action rather than empty words. $8.1mil raised by a charity will be dispersed to the UNRWA. Considering that my country is the size of a full stop on the world map, it is a decent sum. This conflict has opened our eyes to the hypocrisy of certain parties who proclaim to be champions of human rights. 下次见!

#Youtube

[readysetjo]

in light of quietly losing a loved mutual a couple of weeks ago, I believe, because I don’t post enough (subjective) about what’s going on with I-/-P but also bc I post often about doing due diligence before posting/ sharing online that might come off as idk complacency(?) to some rather than my response to the shock of watching kind people be radicalized against groups of people (I won’t be specific about which groups bc I’ve seen people become sudden extremists on all sides of this issue)

but I do want to be specific about my beliefs:

1. we are seeing innocent people dying and that should be talked about loudly and it’s disgusting that a call to a ceasefire is taking so long. I have ideas on why the powers at be have made certain calls but I won’t start rumors with my conjecture. regardless the fact that Israel’s army has not called for a ceasefire despite knowing the horror it commits is a horror beyond belief.

2. Palestinians are suffering at a infinitely higher capacity at this time and our global support should be for them at this time, WITHOUT resorting to antisemitism to give our support EVER. hate is NEVER allowable

3. (personally) I tend to shut down with snuff content and seeing frequent snuff (even if not directly dead bodies but filming around it) makes me unhelpful to this cause so I don’t get involved in the posting of this issue. people aren’t numbers but I find that I am easily moved hearing of the numbers of people displaced, murdered, and tortured without seeing it. if that makes you think I’m weak, that’s okay I choose the phrasing “not desensitized” instead. I work in a hospital, started in the middle of covid, and am around death a lot so my tolerance for seeing it outside of work is probably lower than average. I do my support in private and abstain from sharing bc of the next point

4. to avoid OCD spirals on morality and my hyper-responsibility that I can get myself into, I say affirming phrases to the extent of “everyone is responsible for their own education it’s not all up to me,” “at this point everyone knows this is a horrible human rights concern rn and I would hope people research for themselves on this issue,” and “it helps no one to doom post and doom scroll”

5. what I want, after a ceasefire, is for a workable treaty and for self-directed government as decided by the people of the area for each of their countries. I’m not sure if one-state or two-state is the solution so I won’t guess. as well, I want proper sanctions for the government of Israel and any other government who provided them war supplies, including my own USA. the sanctions need to include a large sum to Palestine as they grieve and rebuild. this is bare minimum and does not address many complexities I’m sure there are smart, kind people with more thoughts

6. we are going to see more and more people displaced by environmental forces in the near future we as a global community MUST figure out how to work towards workable peace and cooperation. if these counties can do it, then I’m sure there is no excuse for anyone in the near future to not do it themselves. so the global community of the internet NEEDS to become hungry for peace over punishment

7. beyond those thoughts, I lack the knowledge of the history of the area, politics, geopolitics, sociology, etc. to provide my take on what should happen after that so I generally try to keep my ideas to myself bc they are probably peppered with a lot of naïveté. not just anyone can be an expert and we aren’t all capable of becoming skillful at all subjects and that should be acknowledged as we comment on public forums

8. I love you who share information it has been helpful to me and I love you people on my dash and mutuals for talking about creating genuine peace.

9. I believe that my personal words matter more than a reblog so this will probably be my only real post on this issue going forth besides reblogging humanizing depictions of the Palestinian people through art and continuous posts reminding careful posting and kind relations with each other

#forgive any lack of knowledge that would have made me better at articulating this I have already admitted to that in the post tho #me being me

[internshiplachlan]

5

During my time at Sports Community some of the key achievements that I made were working with Greg Shippred, producing a pitch deck and video editing. A major achievement for me was working Greg Shippred. He is a well known cricket coach, having coached teams such as Victoria, Sydney Sixers and Dehli Daredevils. These are being world known professional cricketing teams and having coached star players too. It was an experience getting to meet Greg Shipperd and seeing the work he has produced. Shipperd wanted me to put all the tactics that he has produced on paper and make it digital for him. This was a fun task as I got to see all the tactics he has made and that the work I was doing was going to be used on teams where he currently coaches, and that it was going to be seen by many cricketers. Another achievement was producing a pitch deck for sports community. A pitch deck is important for a business as it allows for them to market for new clients or investors. It includes the key points of a business, what the business provides and its services, and what the business is all about. Therefore, this was an important task to me and the business, I put a lot of effort into producing the pitch deck. I received feedback on it each week with it mostly being positive of how good it was, but also feedback on how to improve it. When I completed it, it was not final published ready as they wanted to update photos on it. But I was told that it was going to be used for the business as soon as they had done that. I felt really good after finishing this task as it is important for the business and they were happy with it. Having achievements in the workplace help to empower the employee (Nasser & Saadeh, 2013). I could that when I felt like I hit an achievement it gave me more motivation to work hard.

At Murrumbeena the achievements that I was most happy with were the making of the newsletter and producing the ANZAC DAY and NAIDOC DAY event. With the weekly newsletter not being made for a few years, I had good fun producing it every week. I had to do all the designs from the start as I had nothing to base it off. The newsletter included weekly results, player spotlights and coaches reports. I produce the newsletter on canva, which I learnt a lot about from doing this task. It was fun interviewing players and putting it onto the newsletter, as well as selecting all the photos from gameday that went onto it. I received a lot of positive feedback from supporters who viewed the newsletter, as they loved reading it week to week, which meant a lot to me.

(Carter, 2022)

Another achievement was producing the NAIDOC DAY and ANZAC DAY, this included helping to plan the day, setting up PA and putting it all together. These were major days for the club and all involved were happy with the work I had done.

 Carter, L.(2022). Newsletter 9.[PDF]. file:///C:/Users/lachi/Downloads/newsletter%209.pdf

Nasser, R. Saadeh, B. (2013). Motivation for achievement and structural workplace empowerment among Palestinian healthcare professionals. Perspectives on Global Development & Technology, 12(1), 543-560.

[itsthebeckyzone]

I'm not saying that we're saints

I'm not saying that my government is found of angels.

But some of us are innocent. My 18 years old friends? Those that got enlisted by mandatory? They don't want to go into Gaza, and possibly get killed. Not really.

And what about me? About my family? I'm 17 years old high schooler, sleeping with two little siblings, one older sister, both my parents and our cat and dog in the small safe-room, calming my 12 years old little sister, scared shitless, hoping tomorrow there will be a school to go to, that all of my friends will come too.

Last night, that's what we saw outside.

Those are rockets shot at us from Gaza, and our defense system trying to neutralize as much of them as we can.

I'm not saying all of Arabic and Palestinian people are bad, most are innocent, just like me!

I'm talking about those terror units and terror organizations. You see, one of my first memories, from 2 years old, is my parents running with me and my older sister in their hands down 4 floors of stairs just to get in time to the building's safe space. I remember her crying, and I remember the sound of the alarms and booms of the rockets exploding in the sky.

I also remember stuff from 2012 And 2014, when I was 8 and 10. Sitting in the safe room for hours in summer, I didn't go to any summer camp during those years. I remember crying over the sound of the alarms. Or being at the zoo, ducking over my baby sister when a rocket explodes right on top of us, so no shadders will fall on us.

And today, at 17, after a fucking global crisis and pandemic, I have to go through it all over again. And just to say, I'm living in one of the least bombed places, those who live in the south go through this on a daily basis.

So please, before you go and believe what some people and even celebrities who don't know shit about what we're going through post, pause, and think for a moment before sharing the false facts. Those people? Some of them were never even here!

The bad people? The terrorists? Last night, burned cars, smashed windows, cursed passers, kind of like the glass night in world war 2...

Do you know how these terror units operate? They put their rockets in hospitals, schools, even resident-filled buildings, knowing that we won't attack before at least trying to evacuate any harmless civilian. Morality, such an ironic thing. Gaza is not bad. Their head management is.

So here I am, sitting in the safe room.

(Not everyone has a safe room. Old buildings have a safe space at -1. Older buildings and houses have a community safe space. Sometimes it's so far from your house you won't make it in time...)

I'm sitting and writing this, hoping that people will finally begin to understand our situation. On both sides. And that people will stop spreading hate and lies, and start spreading love, and support, and if not that? Then awareness.

Stay safe, please. Spread love, not lies.

#stay safe #spread love not lies #save civilians #ישרבלר #ישראבלר #טאמבלר עברי #עברית #ישראל #israel #hebrew #english jewish #jewish #those celebs really dont know shit sorry not sorry #i don't want another war #heya im kinda scared #Stop anti-Semitism #Stop spreading rumors about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict #Stop spreading rumors about the i/p conflict

[girlactionfigure]

There's something I need to get off my chest.

I'm an Ultra-Orthodox, Chassidic, Hareidi Jew. I live in Jerusalem, in an area that is exclusively Ultra-Orthodox Hareidi for street after street, suburb after suburb, for miles and miles. In all of these neighborhoods where the roads are blocked off and no cars drive on Shabbos, each black-hat-wearing family has many many children and literally no TV’s. I personally only ever wear black and white clothes, my wife only dresses in Chassidic levels of tznius (modesty), and my boys and girls all attend mainstream Hareidi Chassidic schools where the main language is Yiddish. My kids don’t and never will have smartphones, nor have they ever been on the internet at all. Period. They don’t know what social media is and they’ve never seen a movie — not even Disney animation. 

Having lived exclusively immersed in this culture for the last 21 years, I think I'm sufficiently qualified and well-researched enough to state that the consistent depiction of Hareidim and Torah Judaism by mainstream media, from Netflix to the daily news, is somewhere between delusion, slander and the literal equivalent of racism. If you consider yourself less closed-minded than how you imagine we Hareidim to be, then permit me to share a few personal details about my family, and other families in our neighborhood, to see how well your mental narrative matches up to reality:

- Besides learning Torah each day, most of the men in our neighborhood work full or part-time.

- Many women in our area work. Some even manage their own business or company. These are not special or “liberated” women — it’s so normal here it’s not even a discussion point.

- My wife is a full-time mother by choice, who despite attending an Ivy League College,  finds it a profound and meaningful thing to dedicate her life to. If she didn’t, she’d go get a job. Mind you, she also attends Torah classes each week, works out with both a female fitness coach (who’s gay) and a frum Pilates instructor, writes and edits articles for a couple global websites and magazines, and personally mentors a number of women. None of this is seen as unusual. 

- Kids in our community go to Torah schools where they learn (surprise!) Torah. They are fluent in three languages from a young age and the boys even read and understand a fourth (Aramaic). All the kids learn grammar, math and science. Weekly after-school activities have included music (violin, drums, piano), Tae Kwon Do, swimming, art, woodworking and robotics. The girls' school teaches tools of emotional intelligence. The principal of the boys' school doesn't hesitate to refer to kids to OT if needed. I practice meditation with my children multiple times each week. None of our kids think the world is literally 6,000 years old. They devour books about science and think it’s cool. They know dinosaurs existed and don’t find that existentially threatening. They have a telescope with which they love to watch the stars. 

- The women in my family (like the men) only dress modestly according to Hareidi standards. The girls don't find this burdensome or oppressive. Period. They aren't taught that beauty is bad. They're certainly not taught to hate their bodies, God forbid. Each morning when they get dressed, they are as happily into their own fashion and looking pretty as any secular girl is. They just have a different sense of fashion than secular culture dictates. (Unfortunately for me,  it's no cheaper.)

- The local Hareidi rabbis we receive guidance from are deep, warm, sensitive, supportive and emotionally intelligent. If they weren’t, we wouldn’t go to them.

- My boys assume they will grow up to learn Torah, as much as they want to, and then when they’re ready, get a good job or learn a profession to support whatever lifestyle they choose. My girls assume they’ll be wives and mothers (which they can’t wait for) but they're also warmly encouraged to train in whatever other profession they desire. (My 9-year-old daughter, chatting with her friend in the living room, just commented, "I want to be a mother and a teacher and an artist." Her friend replied, "I'm going to be a ballet teacher.") All options are on the table, and their future seems bright.

- We love living in modern Israel, feel proud and blessed to be here, and frequently count and celebrate its blessings. Everyone in my area votes. Sometimes not even for Hareidi parties. I pay taxes. (And they’re expensive!)

- As a Hareidi person, I’m glad we have Hareidi representation in the government — though I don’t always love or approve of how the Hareidi politicians act, or what they choose to represent. For the record, I'm equally dubious about secular politicians, as well. 

- While I don't spend much time in Tel Aviv, I do have a few close Hareidi entrepreneur friends who have founded high-tech start-ups there, and are — Boruch Hashem! — doing very well.   

- We don’t hate all non-religious people. Our kids don’t throw stones at passing cars on Shabbos. I doubt they even know anyone who would do that or think that it’s ok. We frequently talk about the Torah value of caring for and being compassionate towards everyone. As a family, we proactively try to find ways to judge others favorably (even those people who throw stones at passing cars on Shabbos.)

- We invite all manner of religious and secular Jews to join our Shabbos meals each week and the kids are open, happy, and confident to welcome everyone. (No, we're not Chabad.) One of the many reasons for having such guests at our table is to teach the kids this lesson.

- While we would technically be classified as right-wing and we don’t at all buy the modern “Palestinian” narrative, we certainly don’t hate all Arabs, nor do we have any desire to expel them all from the land. We warmly welcome anyone seeking to dwell here with us in peace and we are pained and saddened to see the suffering and loss of lives of all innocent Arab families and children — as would any decent human being.

- Of the few local families I know whose kids no longer identify as religious, none at all chose to disown their kids. The very thought, in such lovingly family-dedicated communities, is hard to imagine. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, I'm just saying it's not as common as it's made out. Rather, these families have tirelessly, profoundly, compassionately committed to maintaining any connection with their children, and to emphasize that, no matter what, family is the most important thing. Because it is.

- We aren't just living our life blindly, dogmatically following empty religious rules; rather, we are frequently engaged with, exploring and discussing Torah's richness, depth and meaning. Our kids honestly love learning Torah, praying and doing mitzvos. They’re visibly excited about Shabbos and festivals. This lifestyle is in no way oppressive or burdensome for them. If you suggested to them it was, they’d laugh and think you were crazy.  

- We Hareidim are normal people: we laugh, we cry, we buy too much Ikea furniture, and we struggle with all of life's daily ups and downs, just like the rest of you. Some of our communities are more healthy and balanced, some are less so; some of our people are warmer, nicer and more open, some are more closed, dogmatic and judgmental; some of our leaders are noble and upstanding, and some are quite frankly idiots…JUST LIKE ANY SECULAR NEIGHBORHOOD IN THE WORLD TOO. But having grown up living a secular lifestyle myself, and today being Hareidi-by-choice, I can testify that in these communities there is generally a greater and more tangible sense of well-being, warmth, tranquility, connection and meaning. We love and feel blessed to be living this life and wouldn’t want any other.

If this description of Hareidi life is hard to swallow, be careful not to push back with the often-used defenses like: "Well, you're just an exception to the rule...", "You're just American Hareidim", "You're baalei teshuvah", "Well, I know a bunch of Haredim that aren't like that at all"....because the truth is, while there might be many Hareidim who aren't like what I described above, it's still an accurate description of literally hundreds of thousands of Hareidim in Israel and the US — a decent portion of all Hareidim in the world. Which is my very point — how come you never see this significant Hareidi demographic represented in the media, television series, or the news? How come we mostly see the darkest and most problematic cliches instead? 

And finally, if all the facts I've listed above about our communities are hard for you to accept as true, then perhaps the image you have in your head about Hareidim is less based on facts and reality and more based on stereotypes, fear, hate, and discrimination — like any other form of prejudice in the world. 

Care to prove me wrong? Well, you're welcome to come argue it out with me and my family at our Shabbos table on Friday night. It would be a joy and honor to have you. 

Doniel Katz

[333-shams]

Non SWANA people are so entitled on online forums and will shove their two cents in like it’s the truth/ the reality of geopolitical conflicts that I will literally assume they are SWANA when they aren’t.

Someone tried arguing that the Ba’ath Party is communist and that Saddam Hussein is the Iraqi equivalent of Stalin and the Ba’ath Party is the equivalent of the Bolsheviks. Oh and apparently the Green Army was communist as well. It became clear to me that they were white when they said “everyone knows this because we read it in history books as kids. this is common knowledge” so I responded that I doubted they were middle eastern because most of us (regardless of our political opinions) believe US history textbooks use distorted / whitewashed history (and we know this because of the oriental undertones and the islamophobia) to which they said “are you saying middle easterners are dumb. Where I’m from isn’t important”

So this is what I’ll say as a learning moment. If you find yourself ever thinking that Saddam regime was this amazing glamorized , anti imperialist thing- it wasn’t. Saddam Hussein was a western tool who was not strong because he was “the lion for Arabs” but because he was being militarily backed by capitalist imperial powers for most of his time in power. If the Americans can discard you when they’re done with you, I’d argue you are not all that powerful. What we see now are that Iraqis are understandably reactionary and think Saddam Hussein was an amazing liberator because of the current state of Iraq and the trauma and hell that the invasion reigned on civilians. They disregard that Saddam was that bridge for Americans to invade and strip Iraq of everything that it had. Yes, Iraq was “better off” because it was not invaded by imperialists, not because Saddam was in power. Arab “leftists” will claim the regime was liberating because they see “pan Arab” and jump up and down, but then brush over the fact Saddam’s regime executed and imprisoned communists BECAUSE they were communists (it was not coincidental). That is one of the main reasons why Hussein was being supported and the history of the Global South implies that. And of course, if Ba’ath is communist there would not be this EXTREMELY clear distinction between them and the Iraqi communist party. They did not branch from one another and become their own respective parties. Each has its own origin, it’s own ideologies, and motivations.

So why is it that so many Muslim Arabs hate communism but love figures like Fidel Castro or Che Guevara? So many leaders from other areas in the global south (especially Latin America) are praised by us because they have qualities our leaders severely lack and we THINK that we have figures like that in power. I’m pretty sure I’ve heard Arabs put Saddam right next to Castro when talking about strength (in terms of their resistance to American influence) . Come on now.

If you are a Saddam supporter , I am not arguing if you’re right or wrong. Quite frankly don’t care anymore. But what I am saying is that if you are arguing he was the key to decolonization, I am saying you need to reevaluate the information you’re being spoon fed. As a Palestinian, Iraq has held a very very dear place in my heart not only because the Middle East would be no where without it , but also because the pain and suffering iraqis have endured is unjustifiable, traumatic, and runs extremely deep but yet her people still are protesting , still organizing and demonstrating against oppression in despite of everything while the world turns its back. Will always be passionate about Iraq

[weyassinebentalb]

Gaza Conflict Stokes 'Identity Crisis' for Young American Jews

Dan Kleinman does not know quite how to feel.

As a child in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, he was taught to revere Israel as the protector of Jews everywhere, the “Jewish superman who would come out of the sky to save us” when things got bad, he said.

It was a refuge in his mind when white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia, chanted “Jews will not replace us,” or kids in college grabbed his shirt, mimicking a “South Park” episode to steal his “Jew gold.”

But his feelings have grown muddier as he has gotten older, especially now as he watches violence unfold in Israel and Gaza. His moral compass tells him to help the Palestinians, but he cannot shake an ingrained paranoia every time he hears someone make anti-Israel statements.

“It is an identity crisis,” Kleinman, 33, said. “Very small in comparison to what is happening in Gaza and the West Bank, but it is still something very strange and weird.”

As the violence escalates in the Middle East, turmoil of a different kind is growing across the Atlantic. Many young American Jews are confronting the region’s long-standing strife in a very different context, with very different pressures, from their parents’ and grandparents’ generations.

The Israel of their lifetime has been powerful, no longer appearing to some to be under constant existential threat. The violence comes after a year when mass protests across the United States have changed how many Americans see issues of racial and social justice. The pro-Palestinian position has become more common, with prominent progressive members of Congress offering impassioned speeches in defense of the Palestinians on the House floor. At the same time, reports of anti-Semitism are rising across the country.

Divides between some American Jews and Israel’s right-wing government have been growing for more than a decade, but under the Trump administration those fractures that many hoped would heal became a crevasse. Politics in Israel have also remained fraught, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s long-tenured government forged allegiances with Washington. For young people who came of age during the Trump years, political polarization over the issue only deepened.

Many Jews in America remain unreservedly supportive of Israel and its government. Still, the events of recent weeks have left some families struggling to navigate both the crisis abroad and the wide-ranging response from American Jews at home. What is at stake is not just geopolitical, but deeply personal. Fractures are intensifying along lines of age, observance and partisan affiliation.

In suburban Livingston, New Jersey, Meara Ashtivker, 38, has been afraid for her father-in-law in Israel, who has a disability and is not able to rush to the stairwell to shelter when he hears the air-raid sirens. She is also scared as she sees people in her progressive circles suddenly seem anti-Israel and anti-Jewish, she said.

Ashtivker, whose husband is Israeli, said she loved and supported Israel, even when she did not always agree with the government and its actions.

“It’s really hard being an American Jew right now,” she said. “It is exhausting and scary.”

Some young, liberal Jewish activists have found common cause with Black Lives Matter, which explicitly advocates for Palestinian liberation, concerning others who see that allegiance as anti-Semitic.

The recent turmoil is the first major outbreak of violence in Israel and Gaza for which Aviva Davis, who graduated this spring from Brandeis University, has been “socially conscious.”

“I’m on a search for the truth, but what’s the truth when everyone has a different way of looking at things?” Davis said.

Alyssa Rubin, 26, who volunteers in Boston with IfNotNow, a network of Jewish activists who want to end Jewish American support for Israeli occupation, has found protesting for the Palestinian cause to be its own form of religious observance.

She said she and her 89-year-old grandfather ultimately both want the same thing, Jewish safety. But “he is really entrenched in this narrative that the only way we can be safe is by having a country,” she said, while her generation has seen that “the inequality has become more exacerbated.”

In the protest movements last summer, “a whole new wave of people were really primed to see the connection and understand racism more explicitly,” she said, “understanding the ways racism plays out here, and then looking at Israel/Palestine and realizing it is the exact same system.”

But that comparison is exactly what worries many other American Jews, who say the history of white American slaveholders is not the correct frame for viewing the Israeli government or the global Jewish experience of oppression.

At Temple Concord, a Reform synagogue in Syracuse, New York, teenager after teenager started calling Rabbi Daniel Fellman last week, wondering how to process seeing Black Lives Matter activists they marched with last summer attack Israel as “an apartheid state.”

“The reaction today is different because of what has occurred with the past year, year and a half, here,” Fellman said. “As a Jewish community, we are looking at it through slightly different eyes.”

Nearby at Sha’arei Torah Orthodox Congregation of Syracuse, teenagers were reflecting on their visits to Israel and on their family in the region.

“They see it as Hamas being a terrorist organization that is shooting missiles onto civilian areas,” Rabbi Evan Shore said. “They can’t understand why the world seems to be supporting terrorism over Israel.”

In Colorado, a high school senior at Denver Jewish Day School said he was frustrated at the lack of nuance in the public conversation. When his social media apps filled with pro-Palestinian memes last week, slogans like “From the river to the sea” and “Zionism is a call for an apartheid state,” he deactivated his accounts.

“The conversation is so unproductive, and so aggressive, that it really stresses you out,” Jonas Rosenthal, 18, said. “I don’t think that using that message is helpful for convincing the Israelis to stop bombing Gaza.”

Compared with their elders, younger American Jews are overrepresented on the ends of the religious affiliation spectrum: a higher share are secular, and a higher share are Orthodox.

Ari Hart, 39, an Orthodox rabbi in Skokie, Illinois, has accepted the fact that his Zionism makes him unwelcome in some activist spaces where he would otherwise be comfortable. College students in his congregation are awakening to that same tension, he said. “You go to a college campus and want to get involved in anti-racism or social justice work, but if you support the state of Israel, you’re the problem,” he said.

Hart sees increasing skepticism in liberal Jewish circles over Israel’s right to exist. “This is a generation who are very moved and inspired by social justice causes and want to be on the right side of justice,” Hart said. “But they’re falling into overly simplistic narratives, and narratives driven by true enemies of the Jewish people.”

Overall, younger American Jews are less attached to Israel than older generations: About half of Jewish adults under 30 describe themselves as emotionally connected to Israel, compared with about two-thirds of Jews over age 64, according to a major survey published last week by the Pew Research Center.

And though the U.S. Jewish population is 92% white, with all other races combined accounting for 8%, among Jews ages 18 to 29 that rises to 15%.

In Los Angeles, Rachel Sumekh, 29, a first-generation Iranian American Jew, sees complicated layers in the story of her own Persian family. Her mother escaped Iran on the back of a camel, traveling by night until she got to Pakistan, where she was taken in as a refugee. She then found asylum in Israel. She believes Israel has a right to self-determination, but she also found it “horrifying” to hear an Israeli ambassador suggest other Arab countries should take in Palestinians.

“That is what happened to my people and created this intergenerational trauma of losing our homeland because of hatred,” she said.

The entire situation feels too volatile and dangerous for many people to even want to discuss, especially publicly.

Violence against Jews is increasingly close to home. Last year the third-highest number of anti-Semitic incidents in the United States were recorded since the Anti-Defamation League began cataloging them in 1979, according to a report released by the civil rights group last month. The ADL recorded more than 1,200 incidents of anti-Semitic harassment in 2020, a 10% increase from the previous year. In Los Angeles, the police are investigating a sprawling attack on sidewalk diners at a sushi restaurant Tuesday as an anti-Semitic hate crime.

Outside Cleveland, Jennifer Kaplan, 39, who grew up in a modern Orthodox family and who considers herself a centrist Democrat and a Zionist, remembered studying abroad at Hebrew University in 2002, and being in the cafeteria minutes before it was bombed. Now she wondered how the Trump era had affected her inclination to see the humanity in others, and she wished her young children were a bit older so she could talk with them about what is happening.

“I want them to understand that this is a really complicated situation, and they should question things,” she said. “I want them to understand that this isn’t just a, I don’t know, I guess, utopia of Jewish religion.”

Esther Katz, the performing arts director at the Jewish Community Center in Omaha, Nebraska, has spent significant time in Israel. She also attended Black Lives Matter protests in Omaha last summer and has signs supporting the movement in the windows of her home.

She has watched with a sense of betrayal as some of her allies in that movement have posted online about their apparently unequivocal support for the Palestinians, and compared Israel to Nazi Germany. “I’ve had some really tough conversations,” said Katz, a Conservative Jew. “They’re not seeing the facts, they’re just reading the propaganda.”

Her three children, who range in age from 7 to 13, are now wary of a country that is for Katz one of the most important places in the world. “They’re like, ‘I don’t understand why anyone would want to live in Israel, or even visit,’” she said. “That breaks my heart.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

© 2021 The New York Times Company 

source https://www.techno-90.com/2021/05/gaza-conflict-stokes-identity-crisis.html