#that includes denying Jewish connection to the land

[bitter-and-queer]

.

#btw not that anyone really cares but my previous ‘I’ll unfollow u if all u have to say is isr*el gov bad’ is lifted #obvs contextually the vibe has changed #i said that pre a military response from isr*el (which lets be fair they were always going to have but still) #when it was just a massacre of isr*elis and all anyone could say were just justifications for the terrorism i wasn’t in a head space to see #that kinda bs #now that we’re watching a very heavy handed response that is in turn killing civilians pls feel free to criticise #THAT BEING SAID #and i hate that I feel the need to remind ppl #uhhhhhh let’s not swing into antisemitism babes #that includes denying Jewish connection to the land #or the classic river to sea line bc that’s like (to my knowledge) just fully abt wiping all Jews from the area #i realise that *most* ppl don’t mean it like that or even realise but like that’s very much the vibe there gang #(oh also don’t do Islamophobia either okay) #okay yeah im just rambling now #and also im censoring some of the words here bc I don’t want this post in a tag for just any old person to see #this is literally for the like 3 people who will actually read this

[matan4il]

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

"You support ethnic cleansing!"

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

"You support an ethno-state!"

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

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

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

"You support collective punishment!"

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

"You suppor apartheid!"

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

"You deny the Nakba!"

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

"You support colonialism!"

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

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

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

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

#israel #antisemitism #israeli #israel news #israel under attack #israel under fire #israelunderattack #terrorism #anti terrorism #hamas #antisemitic #antisemites #jews #jew #judaism #jumblr #frumblr #jewish #resources

[edenfenixblogs]

Blog Housekeeping:

Gonna take the rest of the week off from high-effort posting and analysis. Just to recharge.

This is a marathon, not a sprint. And I need to take my own advice so I can finish this instead of burning out.

A lot of things have been upsetting to me this past week. A lot of hypocrisy from so-called activists. A lot of Jewish spaces being so flooded with antisemitism that I can’t even find Jews in them. I just need a rest.

I looked up “olive tree” on this site just for reference pix of so I could draw an olive tree. And instead I was flooded with propaganda about how Jews can’t be indigenous to Israel because of we cared so much about our land we wouldn’t destroy so many olive trees. And how important olive trees are to Palestinians. And yes. I absolutely 100% believe that Palestinians value olive trees. I believe Palestinians when they say that they value all the things they say they value.

What upsets me is that I can’t even search a symbol that is also very connected to Judaism and peace and my indigeneity without my culture being vilified and my indigeneity denied and encountering a disrespectful level of ignorance about the core values of Judaism.

Like… imagine telling JEWS we are evil for not caring enough about trees. 33% of our religion is about trees!!!!! Specific trees too! Including olive trees! I deserve to look up pictures of olive trees and be able to find a nice picture of an olive tree.

I’m not saying that nobody should post about the destruction of olive trees in Palestine. But why can’t I find any posts with olive trees that are just about the trees? Why is this symbol of peace across multiple religions and cultures being used AGAINST Jews worldwide just because of the actions of a country halfway around the world? And why do I feel like saying the truth that “Jews love trees, but not more than human life” will be a stance that gets me called evil and accused of devaluing Palestinian life. I don’t. And never have. But my goodness. I just wanted to look at a tree. Idk. It just made me sad. It was just the latest instance of a long line of stuff that has made me weary lately. Fandoms, nature pictures, everything I enjoy is just soaked in politicization rn and there is no escape. And I just…it’s overwhelming. I’ll be back and I’ll be analytical and kind and the same as I’ve always been. But I need a week to recharge myself.

#comments are ok #please don’t reblog #I’m not interested in getting antisemitic hate for this post

[pat-lechem]

"The 20th century has been marked by a transition from empires to states. We begin the 20th century when much of the world is divided between empires. We end it when much of the world is divided between states. When lucky, those states were based on the self determination of a people who share a common history, language, ethnicity, background religion and connection to a territory. (Zionism emerged in this context based on the idea of self determination for the Jewish people in the only territory to which they were ever connected as a people). When unlucky those new states were artificially created by receding empires drawing boundaries, forcing different peoples to share one state, leading almost always to civil war, dictatorship, or both. This transition has been bloody. It involved two world wars and numerous regional and civil wars. In the bloody process of empires receding and new states emerging to replace them, tens of millions of people were displaced, fleeing across newly created borders, typically to new countries with an ethnic makeup similar to their own. This was true of Hindus and Muslim, Ukrainians, Poles and Germans, Bulgarians, Greeks and Turks and Arabs and Jews. This was not unique.

What was unique is that one group only of refugees from that time and those wars were allowed to maintain themselves as endless refugees in anticipation of one day winning a war they had lost. Those were the Arab refugees from the war of 1948, later to be known as Palestinians. All other refugee groups, except the Palestinians, were presented with a clear message: “it’s tough, it’s tragic, move on”. There was a clear understanding that in the most fundamental sense there is no going back - not in place and not in time (thus, there was no such thing as “a right of return”). To seek to go back would mean endless war. And so the message was forward looking and future facing. Tens of millions of refugees and displaced persons, among them millions of Jews, would build new lives in the new countries to which they fled.

Except Palestinians. The war that the Arabs of the land and the surrounding countries waged to prevent a Jewish state from emerging and gaining independence failed to achieve its goals. Despite the violent onslaught of 1947-49, Israel emerged as a sovereign state. But the Arabs of the land, sustained by broader Arab support, refused to accept this outcome. They proceeded to undo it through a variety of means, including repeated wars, economic boycotts, international condemnations and a complete refusal of the refugees themselves to be settled, as it would effectively mean accepting that the war was over.

To that end of keeping the war of 1948 alive until its goal of undoing the Jewish state could be achieved, a temporary agency established to resettle the refugees - UNRWA (initially called REWA, but the Arabs insisted on the letters UN so that it would appear to enjoy international legitimacy) - was hijacked by the Arab refugees. As a result of this hijacking UNRWA effectively became a Palestinian entity devoted singularly to sustaining and stoking the idea that uniquely among the world’s refugees, Palestinians don’t need to move on and can keep insisting on “return”, both in space and in time, to a time when there was no Israel. UNRWA thus became the mechanism by which the Jewish people alone were denied the right to to consider their hard won self-determination and sovereign statehood as a done deal."

-Einat Wilf, 1 Nov 2023 (source)

#israel #gaza #palestine #ישראל #bold text and a little editing by me #history #unrwa

[bisou-doux]

Being from a place doesn't mean that one group indigenous to that place gets to go and kick everyone else who is also indigenous to that same place. It certainly doesn't mean that one group indigenous to that place gets to bomb innocent civilians because that is not the way to catch terrorists. Even if the terrorists die, so did countless people who weren't terrorists. Being indigenous to a land also doesn't mean that said group should deny humanitarian aid to another group, whether that group is indigenous to that area or not.

First of all, if you really wanna have a conversation about this come off anon- I don’t bite.

Secondly, Palestinians as a national group do not fit the UN* criteria for indigeneity, even if many of them have jewish, druze, or ancestry from other groups indigenous to the levant- because indigeneity is not solely based on DNA and ancestry, it’s about cultural practices that show a clear connection to the physical land (among other things). Of course, I fully support the formation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, and this does not mean that they have any less right to live on the land and claim it as their home, considering the very long history Palestinians have in the region. When Jews immigrated en masse to British Mandate Palestine after WWII, they did not kick anyone out- they legally purchased empty land. What happened was the neighboring arab countries felt threatened by the growing Jewish population, and when israel declared itself a state they told arab palestinians to leave their homes so the arab armies could come in, but that it would all be over within two weeks and they could come back. The arab armies lost the war and israel won the territory.

With all this in mind, are you telling me that Hamas, a genocidal terrorist organization that abuses its own citizens, has the right to enter a Israel’s internationally recognized sovereign territory, brutally rape and slaughter 1,400 of its people (1,200 of them Israeli), kidnap over 200 of them (130 are still being held in captivity, including the bodies of dead hostages which Hamas refuses to return), including children and the elderly, and yet the Israel has no right to respond militarily? Do you hear how insane that sounds?

Yes, the fact that innocent Gazans are killed as a result of the bombing is undoubtedly a tragedy- but that’s what war is. Over 2 million German civilians were killed in WWII, yet no one would argue that the allies didn’t have a right to attack Germany, nor has anyone ever made the argument (to my knowledge) that the allies had a responsibility to provide German citizens with humanitarian aid. The only responsibility a country responding to an attack on its territory has to the citizens of the opposing country is to take every measure to ensure that as few civilians are killed as possible- which Israel has done. They’ve sent down flyers, made phone calls, sent text messages, and use “door knocker” bombs that shake the building without destroying anything to warn people to evacuate. Strategically, telling civilians exactly when and where they will attack is a horrible idea as it alerts the enemy (Hamas) exactly where Israel will be striking. But i’m not at all opposed to these methods because they save innocent lives. It’s horrible and traumatizing when people’s homes are destroyed and they are only given minutes to evacuate, but is that not a better fate than death? Not only that, but Hamas has built MILES of underground tunnels underneath Gaza using money from aid organizations. With the money they have, they could’ve built bomb shelters, a defense system like the iron dome, but instead the leaders of Hamas are billionaires living in luxury in qatar while their people suffer. Because the truth is, they don’t care about Gazans, they have said themselves they have no interest in running Gaza and their only goal is destroying Israel and the Jewish people.

One could argue that Israel could do a better job of warning civilians, and at this point I (an American Jew) and most Israelis are unsure what further bombing of gaza is even accomplishing and are furious with Netanyahu and his cabinet. With that being said, Israel estimates it has killed somewhere between 9,000-13,000 hamas terrorists, if the death toll of 34,000 provided by the gaza ministry of health (which is controlled by hamas) is to be believed (and I say this bc Hamas has a history of lying about the number of deaths and also does not differentiate between civilian and combatant casualties), that still means that the combatant to civilian death ratio is roughly between 1:3 to 1:1. The average ratio in urban warfare is closer to 1:14. Israel has absolutely zero responsibility to provide humanitarian aid to Gazans, that is the responsibility of Hamas- the de-facto government of Gaza that started this war in the first place. And YET there are more than double the amount of aid trucks entering Gaza than before the war (70/day vs now 300/day). Yet half the population of Gaza is on the brink of starvation- Why? Because Hamas is literally STEALING HUMANITARIAN AID for themselves and selling it back at exorbitant prices.

#there’s more I can say but this is already so long #israel #palestine #gaza #i/p #israel hamas war #fuck hamas

[thebrightestwitchofherage]

Religion and the conflict- an excuse for antisemitism

Many users seem to use everyone's interest in the conflict to spread misinformation and antisemitic beliefs. Antisemitism today is being rebranded as antizionism.

Zionism is simply the notion that the Jewish people should have a state of their own, in Zion (AKA the historical and religious name for Israel).

Debunking some common musconcepti0ons about Zionism -It's not a new movement- This concept has been around ever since the Jewish people were first expelled from Israel. Jews have tried to immigrate to Israel ever since and were often met with refusal. They were then sent back against their will to nearby territories such as Cyprus.

But I’m not antisemitic, I’m just anti Israeli

-Antisemitic hate crimes rates have gone up globally:

from slurs, genocidal chants and violence in American college campuses, to hate crimes and violence spiking across Europe…

Take London for an example - there’s currently a 1,350% spike in antisemitism.

People are killed for being Jewish. Swastikas are drawn, and the hashtag “Hitler was right” is trending all over social media.

You can’t deny that chanting “gas the Jews” in protests in antisemitic…

It's not like what happened in Canada & the USA -Treatment of Palestinians after the founding of the state of Israel: To better understand the situation, you'll need to understand the difference between Palestinian territories outside of Israel, Palestinian territories inside Israel, and Israeli territories.

-Palestinians living in Palestinian territories Outside of Israel (The Gaza Strip) are governed by Hamas. -Palestinians living in Palestinian territories within Israel are governed by the Palestinian Authority and not Israel. *For further reading, you can read about the differences between A, B, and C zones.

-Arabic Muslims and Arabic Christians living within Israeli territories have the exact same rights as Jewish Israelis. There are many "mixed" cities in which Arabic people and Jewish people live peacefully, it's a nonissue.

Israeli people are European settlers \ white colonizers

Are they all white? I can't believe I have to write this, but contrary to popular belief, not all Jews are white, just like not all Christians are white ... Stop being ignorant: there are Jewish People from Asian, Arab, and African countries. Please stop telling Arabic\African Jews to go back to Europe, You are embarrassing yourself. The reason why there aren't a lot of them in those countries right now is that they were either killed or forced to leave them (often without any of their possessions) after years of discrimination and violence. *Are they collonsiers?

The Jewish people are indigenous to the land of Israel. There is much historical, and archeological evidence for that. There is evidence that supports that the Jewish people have been here for thousands of years. The Jewish people all originated from Israel, and are an Ethnic group that originated from Israel. How can we be colonizers on our own land?

Most of the land of Israel was either given by the British mandate or purchased legally.

Obviously, some land was occupied- but that was during wars that were forced on Israel, after many terror attacks. -Many of the people claiming Israeli people are colonizers, are European, American, or Canadian.... AKA the biggest colonizers in history, who have 0 connection to the land they occupied. While Israel was a British colony until 1948-and Unlike popular belief, the conflict doesn't start there. That's what Hamas wants you to think. Your favorite Maps are a lie

They won't tell you about the Balfour declaration in 1917, the 1936 Peel Commission, or the 1947 UN partition plan which the Palestinian people rejected. Do you know what followed that rejection? Foreign armies from Syria, Iraq, Egypt, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia attacked.

Many peace accords including the 1993 Oslo Accords (which since then were violated by the Palestinians)- were all initiated by Israel.

Not one of the wars in Israeli history was initiated by Israel. * Besides the occupation of the Golan Heights and the Sinai Peninsula** Most of the lands that make up Israel were either given by the British after their mandate over the country had ended or purchased legally*. *Besides the Golan Heights and the Sinai Peninsula**. **The Sinai peninsula was returned completely to Egypt in 1982. as part of the 1977 peace accords between Egypt and Israel. Further context and more information:

I suggest you read about the Suez Crisis \ The Sinai War of 1956, The Egypt- Israel Peace Accords, the Oslo Accords, the British mandate over Israel (especially the end of it), and different UN decisions made in the years before the founding of Israel.

#israel #israeli #jewish #jewblr #טאמבלר ישראלי #politics #human rights #Gaza #Gaza strip #Hamas is Isis #bring them back #bring them home

[eretzyisrael]

BY PARK MACDOUGALD

The “movement,” in turn, while it recruits from among students and other self-motivated radicals willing to put their bodies on the line, relies heavily on the funding of progressive donors and nonprofits connected to the upper reaches of the Democratic Party. Take the epicenter of the nationwide protest movement, Columbia University. According to reporting in the New York Post, the Columbia encampment was principally organized by three groups: Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), and Within Our Lifetime (WOL). Let’s take each in turn.

JVP is, in essence, the “Jewish”-branch of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, backed by the usual big-money progressive donors—including some, like the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, that were instrumental in selling Obama’s Iran Deal to the public. JVP and its affiliated political action arm, JVP Action, have received at least $650,000 from various branches of George Soros’ philanthropic empire since 2017, $441,510 from the Kaphan Foundation (founded by early Amazon employee Sheldon Kaphan), $340,000 from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and smaller amounts from progressive donors such as the Quitiplas Foundation, according to reporting from the New York Post and NGO Monitor, a pro-Israel research institute. JVP has also received nearly $1.5 million from various donor-advised funds—which allow wealthy clients to give anonymously through their financial institutions—run through the charitable giving arms of Fidelity Investments, Charles Schwab, Morgan Stanley, Vanguard, and TIAA, according to NGO Monitor’s review of those institutions’ tax documents.

SJP, by contrast, is an outgrowth of the Islamist networks dissolved during the U.S. government’s prosecution of the Holy Land Foundation (HLF) and related charities for fundraising for Hamas. SJP is a subsidiary of an organization called American Muslims for Palestine (AMP); SJP in fact has no “formal corporate structure of its own but operates as AMP’s campus brand,” according to a lawsuit filed last week against AJP Educational Fund, the parent nonprofit of AMP. Both AMP and SJP were founded by the same man, Hatem Bazian, a Palestinian academic who formerly fundraised for KindHearts, an Islamic charity dissolved in 2012 pursuant to a settlement with the U.S. Treasury, which froze the group’s assets for fundraising for Hamas (KindHearts did not admit wrongdoing in the settlement). And several of AMP’s senior leaders are former fundraisers for HLF and related charities, according to November congressional testimony from former U.S. Treasury official Jonathan Schanzer. An ongoing federal lawsuit by the family of David Boim, an American teenager killed in a Hamas terrorist attack in 1996, goes so far as to allege that AMP is a “disguised continuance” and “legal alter-ego” of the Islamic Association for Palestine, was founded with startup money from current Hamas official Musa Abu Marzook and dissolved alongside HLF. AMP has denied it is a continuation of IAP.

Today, however, National SJP is legally a “fiscal sponsorship” of another nonprofit: a White Plains, New York, 501(c)(3) called the WESPAC Foundation. A fiscal sponsorship is a legal arrangement in which a larger nonprofit “sponsors” a smaller group, essentially lending it the sponsor’s tax-exempt status and providing back-office support in exchange for fees and influence over the sponsorship’s operations. For legal and tax purposes, the sponsor and the sponsorship are the same entity, meaning that the sponsorship is relieved of the requirement to independently disclose its donors or file a Form 990 with the IRS. This makes fiscal sponsorships a “convenient way to mask links between donors and controversial causes,” according to the Capital Research Center. Donors, in other words, can effectively use nonprofits such as WESPAC to obscure their direct connections to controversial causes.

Something of the sort appears to be happening with WESPAC. Run by the market researcher Howard Horowitz, WESPAC reveals very little about its donors, although scattered reporting and public disclosures suggest that the group is used as a pass-through between larger institutions and pro-Palestinian radicals. Since 2006, for instance, WESPAC has received more than half a million in donations from the Elias Foundation, a family foundation run by the private equity investor James Mann and his wife. WESPAC has also received smaller amounts from Grassroots International (an “environmental” group heavily funded by Thousand Currents), the Sparkplug Foundation (a far-left group funded by the Wall Street fortune of Felice and Yoram Gelman), and the Bafrayung Fund, run by Rachel Gelman, an heir to the Levi Strauss fortune and the sister of Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman. (A self-described “abolitionist,” Gelman was featured in a 2020 New York Times feature on “The Rich Kids Who Want to Tear Down Capitalism.”) In 2022, WESPAC also received $97,000 from the Tides Foundation, the grant-making arm of the Tides Nexus.

WESPAC, however, is not merely the fiscal sponsor of the Hamas-linked SJP but also the fiscal sponsor of the third group involved in organizing the Columbia protests, Within Our Lifetime (WOL), formerly known as New York City SJP. Founded by the Palestinian American lawyer Nerdeen Kiswani, a former activist with the Hunter College and CUNY chapters of SJP, WOL has emerged over the past seven months as perhaps the most notorious antisemitic group in the country, and has been banned from Facebook and Instagram for glorifying Hamas. A full list of the group’s provocations would take thousands of words, but it has been the central organizing force in the series of “Flood”-themed protests in New York City since Oct. 7, including multiple bridge and highway blockades, a November riot at Grand Central Station, the vandalism of the New York Public Library, and protests at the Rockefeller Center Christmas-tree lighting. In addition to their confrontational tactics, WOL-led protests tend to have a few other hallmarks. These include eliminationist rhetoric directed at the Jewish state—such as Arabic chants of “strike, strike, Tel Aviv”; the prominent display of Hezbollah flags and other insignia of explicitly Islamist resistance; the presence of masked Arab street muscle; and the antisemitic intimidation of counterprotesters by said masked Arab street muscle.

WOL’s role appears to be that of shock troops, akin to the role played by black block militants on the anarchist side of the ledger. WOL is, however, connected to more seemingly “mainstream” elements of the anti-Israel movement. Abdullah Akl, a prominent WOL leader—indeed, the man leading the “strike Tel Aviv” chants in the video linked above—is also listed as a “field organizer” on the website of MPower Change, the “advocacy project” led by Linda Sarsour. MPower Change, in turn, is a fiscal sponsorship of NEO Philanthropy, another large progressive clearinghouse. NEO Philanthropy and its 501(c)(4) “sister,” NEO Philanthropy Action Fund, have received more than $37 million from Soros’ Open Society Foundations since 2021 alone, as well as substantial funding from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the Ford Foundation, and the Tides Foundation.

#tides foundation #national lawyers guild #within our lifetime #jewish voice for peace #students for justice in palestine #dark money #rockefeller brothers fund #funding for terrorism #lisa fithian #occupy

[wot-tidbits]

Wheel of Time plagiarized from Dune

With the coming of the new part of the awesome Dune movies, we again witness several people and fans to speculate on the similarities between Dune and WoT. There are many who even step further and claim that Robert Jordan was “inspired” (plagiarized) from Herbert. In that light, I want to bring back to your attention that Robert Jordan has spoken on that topic and he completely denies it.

INTERVIEW: May 19th, 2004 Rome Signing Report - Raven (Translated) ROBERT JORDAN Someone else asked if while writing the Aiel he got his inspiration from Herbert (re: the native inhabitants of Dune [the Fremen people]); he answered that it was not that, that the real source of inspiration is the Cheyenne people, originally shepherds and forced to became warriors and to flee into the desert when the white man came.

INTERVIEW: Nov 11th, 1998 MSN eFriends Interview (Verbatim) TIJAMILISM I love all the similarities between Frank Herbert's Dune and WOT. Was this intended? If so, are you a fan of his? ROBERT JORDAN No, there was no intention to make any similarities between Dune and my writings. And I am certainly a big fan of the original Dune novel. Although I doubt if I've read it since it first came out!

SOURCE.

The fast answer to these two quotes is “But of course he is obviously lying!”. To this day we still have no example of Robert Jordan lying to his fans. Moreover Robert Jordan publicly stated about using Tolkien in his writing and had no problem to admit it. Why he will admit about Tolkien but won’t do the same for Herbert? I do not see any reason to not believe Robert Jordan except the obvious “but it must be a lie”.

For first time we also can finally use RJ’s notes as proof that the similarity is coincidental.

ORIGINS OF |THE WHEEL OF TIME by Michael Livingston Aiel. The idea of people living in a harsh desert landscape beside a great chain of mountains is one that came to Jordan early: Altaii has a similar concept, and the Aiel are present in some of the earliest Wheel of Time notes: “They are infantry, in many ways like a cross between the Apache and the Zulu, with touches of Cheyenne. Physically, most are tall, with blonde or reddish hair and blue or blue-gray eyes most common.” To this he added elements of the culture of the Bedouins and the Irish—the latter, he said, at least initially intended as a joking comment against the tendency of novelists to all have the same kind of desert people (see Tuatha’an). Indeed, it’s nevertheless been commented upon that Jordan’s Aiel are strikingly similar to the Fremen from Frank Herbert’s Dune (1965). That similarity, however, is almost entirely the result of Herbert and Jordan using the same source materials of the real world: in particular, the ancient Israelites who wandered in the desert while awaiting their entry into what they believed was their Promised Land. Rand al’Thor plays a role akin to both Moses and, at least within Christian mythology, Jesus (as the Messiah who both splits and saves the Jews). Other notable Jewish parallels include the Aiel Tribes and, somewhat obviously, their name: Aiel derives from Israel. Their connections to Native Americans (particularly Plains Indians) should not be forgotten, however: from their rituals to their clan names, Jordan made frequent recourse to them.

#wheel of time #dune #robert jordan #tidbits

[fortunatelychaoticphantom]

Highlighted Posts - Serious Topics

Link for the fandom topics post.

For the sake of convenience, I've decided to make two massive posts concentrating all of my most important posts on various topics. These are my most popular posts, my favorite posts (i.e. not necessarily popular but they should be! Just kidding. Or not...) and my best comments on other people's posts that are valuable enough to be mentioned here (in my opinion obviously...).

The posts are separated into subjects, and each has a comment in brackets denoting what type of post it is: an analysis relating to real world issues, meta for fandom stuff, and jokes when it's, well, jokes, plus occasional ones that are self explanatory. Both subjects and Types might overlap. It seems like there might be a limit to the number of links per post, so I've divided them into two groups - serious topics posts and fandom posts.

Beside these posts, I have many others I made or commented on that were just not important enough to include here, as well as literally thousands of amazing and fascinating posts I've rebloged from others, but mentioning them all here is of course impossible. It should also be mentioned that often specific reblogs might have valuable notes on them on chains of reblogs, so keep that in mind.

Jewish Things:

Mourning October 7th (analysis).

Part 1: You fuckers say: “go back to where you came from”. The fuckers in those places say: “they’re not from here, don’t send them here”. Jews: =/ (analysis/joke).

Part 2: Denying the connection of Jews to the Land of Israel, but not letting us live anywhere else. It’s almost like… you don’t actually want us to live. Anywhere. At all. [AKA: the history of antisemitism on the left] (analysis).

Part 3: It's okay, the others hate us too [AKA: antisemitism on the right] (analysis).

Stop pandering to Western Leftists. They want us dead (analysis).

Western leftists might want me dead, but I don't want them dead. I'm angry but I'm not a fucking monster, you know (analysis).

My Roman Empire (the Roman Empire) (joke).

Blaming the Roman Empire, subversion and responsibility (analysis).

History and the Weaponization of Trauma in post-colonial narratives (analysis).

From sea to shiny sea, Abya Yala will be free (joke????/analysis).

Part 1: Israel is not a colonizer state, comparison to Liberia and the origin of the word “Palestina” (analysis).

Part 2: Jews and Palestinians are both indigenous to the southern Levant, and they're both fucking assholes (analysis).

Part 3: A day will come when we can recognizes that we’re all Arabs, but it is not this day. Also – the ridicules obsession with the foundation of Israel being in ’48 and the fact that new nations and cultures are always being created, even in recent history (yes, the Palestinians are one of those) (analysis).

Israel. Is. Not. A. Fucking. Colonizer. State. Guess who is though??!?!?!?! (joke/analysis).

The trauma of Oct. 7th and the fact that I no longer trust any of you fuckers (analysis).

Existing as a Jew on this platform is fucking hell (analysis).

Archaeological terminology and academia’s allergy to “Israel” (analysis).

No, Jesus wasn’t a Palestinian. Just say you hate Jews for fuck’s sake! (analysis).

אבל מה אם ישו כן היה חי היום...? (בדיחה)

Israel didn't exist in Biblical times??? Are you on fucking crack?! (analysis).

Ahhh, yes. Palestine. The historic home of every nation in the world (except Jews). Sure. Also, apparently they're appropriating the fucking Natufians now. (analysis).

Jews aren’t white 1 (analysis).

Jews aren’t white 2 (analysis).

Jewish IS an ethnicity, for fucking fuck fuck fucker's sake (analysis).

Antisemitism and Hollywood (The Nanny, The Golden Girls, Seinfeld and Friends) (Analysis).

Jewish people's physical appearance and antisemitism (analysis).

אנחנו חייבים לדבר על חוסר היעילות של הפגנות (ניתוח).

History and Social Issues:

King Menashe of Judea is awesome actually (analysis).

Native American cities and ethnocentrism (analysis).

Ancient Egyptians were (not) black (analysis).

The erasure of Hatshepsut isn’t what you think (analysis).

No, Hatshepsut didn’t wear a fake beard (analysis).

No, the Santorini volcano did not cause the Egyptian plagues (cause there were no plagues!) (analysis).

Elizabeth II, Rameses II and longevity of reign (joke).

The reality of the field of archaeology is a little more nuanced than calling them “grave robbers” (analysis).

No, Europe isn’t keeping historical artifacts “safe” in museums from the barbarians who can’t take care of them (analysis).

The danger of the “erasing queerness from history” tumblr narrative (analysis / didn’t contribute to this one, but it's important for other purposes and for easy access).

The danger of the “erasing queerness from history” tumblr narrative continues, Egyptian tombs electric boogaloo (analysis).

Cultural appropriation is rarely what you think it is (analysis).

You’re calling it “cultural appropriation”, but you’re just advocating for segregation (analysis).

Bend it like Beckham and the internet’s inability to understand the complexity of history and ethnicity (analysis).

Western Leftists be like: “well maybe you should have been born in a more MORAL country, like mine =)” (analysis).

The problem with “educate yourself” mentality (analysis).

Influencers and “educate yourself” bullshit (analysis).

Shutting up about social issues you know nothing about is an option, you should try it (analysis).

Real people aren’t representation (analysis).

Not everyone knows their sexual/gender identity, and that’s just as important to represent in media (analysis).

The concept of consent and haunted houses (analysis/joke).

If your multi-dating, talk to your fucking partners (analysis).

Covid and being on the same boat (joke/analysis).

A Covid joke because I’m hilarious and underappreciated (joke).

Professionals criticizing their profession's image in cinema (joke).

The trolley Problem is not about fault! (joke/analysis).

Police and “bad apples” (joke/analysis).

No, you don’t have a right over other people’s labor and creations (analysis).

Dupes are fucking evil and so are you (joke/analysis).

Stop insulting YA books (analysis).

Social media cyclical criticism of authors (joke/analysis).

Special editions are for fighting Amazon actually (analysis/joke).

Stop saying "Amazon is losing money on Kindle books". You're playing into their hands (analysis).

Bezos, the man who has everything except a heart (joke).

There’s nothing wrong with nepotism, you guys just don’t understand how professions work (analysis).

#highlighted posts #jewish things #jumblr #history #archaeology #social issues

[dear-indies]

hi cat and mouse! i've been a big fan of your resources for a while now and i wanted to ask you to please, PLEASE refrain from using "from the river to the sea." as a jewish rper in this community that's already so antisemitic and unfriendly towards people like myself i feel the need to share that that phrase is not only some rallying cry for palestine's freedom but it has historical charge of antisemitism denying us jewish the right to self-determination by removing us from our ancestral homeland. hamas uses it frequently in the latter sense like on oct. 7th when they slaughtered 1,400 jewish civilians in a genocide (the largest single-day slaughter since the holocaust btw).

totally appreciate your decision to side with palestine in this situation but i wanted to inform you there's a way to do it without being antisemitic.

hey anon! tackling antisemitism is extremely important which is why i feel it's important to point out the following and reiterate to the rest of my followers that zionism is NOT judaism and criticism of isr*el is not antisemitic. if i have posted anything antisemitic please let me know but this ask is not it and has many zionist red flags.

first off, jewish palestinians exist. they've existed in peace alongside christian and muslim palestinians long before isr*el was forcefully created. isr*el is a colonizer state committing genocide and has no right to exist. palestinians (including jewish palestinains) deserve human rights. palestinians (including jewish palestinains) deserve their land back.

a select few may use it with antisemitic connotations because they're antisemitic (thats a reflection on the person, not the phrase) but from the river to the sea is not antisemitic and has never been antisemitic. it's a call for palestinian freedom and liberation. (another source) so it makes me ask, why do you, an unaffected person by the genocide of palestinians, feel aggression for a call for their freedom?

addin on isr*el has never been a safe place for jewish people especially jewish people of colour, holocaust survivors (another source), queer jewish people, and antizionist jewish people.

it was not the biggest. the biggest was with the use of isr*aeli weapons.

it was not a genocide.

additionally, the death count from the 7th was 695 Isr*eli civilians and some of which were friendly fire. that's another propaganda fact that isr*ael likes to inflate.

adding on to that, IOF has killed its own hostages numerous times. (another source, another source) and they refuse to accept any deals which would get their hostage back much to the anger of the hostages' families.

since you want to mention hamas please don't forget that the IOF are terrorists and were formed by terrorist groups a lot of people seem to forget that.

and more relevant links:

tikkunolamresistance (highlighting that they do anti-zionist torah studies on pateron if any of my jewish moots are interested!)

jewish voice for peace

if not now

jews against white supremacy

jewish anti zionist history

jewish anti zionist history 2

anti-zionist/diasporist judaica roundup!

books and documentaries mostly by arab and anti-zionist jewish people

"basic resources for anti-zionist jews who feel really alone and want to connect with each other or with our culture or history"

edgar morin

matt bernstein

sim kern - "do jews have some unique and special need and right to maintain a theocratic ethnostate?"

anita zsurzsan

isr*elism

+ please let me know if anyone needs more i follow so many antizionist jewish advocates!

[hmsharmony]

As requested by anon, turning my response into a post that does not enhance exposure for the OP. My original thoughts from my reblog are below (with the second paragraph edited to clarify I was not referring to OP when I said someone I thought highly of), and I will be deleting the reblog.

This broke me.

I don’t know it it’s the dehumanization, or the trading in antisemitic tropes, or seeing it be reblogged from someone I thought so highly of.

But I read this and broke down and sobbed for almost an hour.

More than 1,000 Israelis dead, and it doesn’t matter because they’re “colonizers”? (How do you colonize your homeland? How do you colonize when you have no mother country? How do you think SWANA became Arab? What happened to all the indigenous communities that existed before Arab conquest? But it’s simple, right? It’s not complicated? Jews were exiled and ended up in Europe and somehow that makes us Europeans, even though one country after the next murdered us and exiled us again, told us to return to Palestine when we couldn’t, because the occupying powers prohibited it or made life so difficult that the Jews who were brave enough to stay had to rely on support from the diaspora to survive. Never mind the majority of Israelis who came from surrounding countries in the “Middle East,” where they lived for hundreds of years after being forced out of Israel/Palestine. Talk to me about the demographics of Israel. His many are Ashkenazi? Mizrahim? Sephardi? How many were ethnically cleansed from surrounding Arab countries? How many were Holocaust survivors left to die in DP camps until Israel was established, because countries still wouldn’t let Jews in after the war ended and they saw what was done to us because we were never European? Tell me the history of this land. Tell me how Jews went to being the majority population to such a small minority. Tell me when there was last sovereign rule in the land before 1948. Tell me why for 2000 years we’ve said next year in Jerusalem. Was it some conspiracy to justify the taking of the land from Palestinians, somehow devised before Palestinians even existed?

Tell me about the Hebron pogrom. Tell me about the ethnic cleansing of Jews from Jerusalem. Talk to me about the war of 1948. How many countries attacked? Which came to the aid of Israel? After its conclusion, when Jordan annexed and Egypt occupied the West Bank and Gaza, respectively, why was a Palestinian state never established? Explain to me why Palestinian refugees are the only ones that the UN cannot resettle, why surrounding countries refuse to grant Palestinian refugees citizenship, instead forcing them to live in refugee camps.

Talk to me about Hamas. Where do they store their weapons? What did they say in their charter? What have they done to improve life for Palestinians? Why do they shoot rockets from densely populated areas when other areas exist?

Because it’s simple, right? It’s not complicated?)

This take is vile and devoid of humanity. My heart has broken today. I know you don’t care. But know that this rhetoric will not help Palestinians. Know that it will only make it harder for the people on the ground fighting for Palestinian liberation (yes, including in Israel, including Israelis, many of whom were viciously murdered by Hamas) to achieve that goal.

As I’ve said before and will continue to say, none of what I say above justifies denying Palestinians’ claim to self determination. None of it detracts from the fact that the siege against Gaza is a war crime, and if by some miracle Gazans are able to evacuate but they’re not allowed to return to their homes, that would be an ethic cleansing, and nothing Hamas did can justify that. It does not detract from what the Israeli government has done, now and historically, to Palestinians. But you cannot say one ethnic cleansing is abhorrent while another is fine, simply because of the ethnicity or nationality of those being cleansed. And to lie about Jewish connection to Israel, when history and dna and archaeology all make clear this is where ethnic Jews are from, to justify that ethnic cleansing is horrifying.

#israel hamas war #issues: antisemitism

[thistle-nightshade]

The Hundred Years' War on Palestine by Rashid Khalidi

This is a well written book, but it is a dense history text. I encourage those who can read it, but for those short on time or unable to parse the text, here are the main points I was able to draw out, with links to articles concerning the major topics.

1917 Balfour Declaration: a British document committing Britain to the creation of a national Jewish homeland. Makes no mention of the Palestinians.

1922 Mandate for Palestine: formalized British governance over Palestine, expanded upon the Balfour Declaration, paved the way for national rights of the Jewish people, attempted to erase Palestinian historical ties to the land while highlighting a Jewish historical connection.

Jews begin to flee Nazi Germany. With many antisemitic immigration laws in place, Palestine was the only option for many.

1936-1939 Great Revolt: grassroots uprising in Palestine that lead to a 6 month general strike against the British.

Nakba (The Catastrophe)

1947 UN General Assembly Resolution 181: UN General Assembly decides in favor or a partition of Palestine into Arab and Jewish States. This would pave the way for 80% of the area’s Arab population to be forced from their homes, losing their land and property.

1948 Israel Established

Security Council Resolution 242 : called for withdrawal of Israel, but ambiguous language was exploited to delay this process.

Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO): formed to centralize leadership of Palestinian resistance movement

Israel Invades Lebanon against the PLO

Bombing of Beirut 1982

Israel backed by US with US weapons. US fails to protect noncombatants in the region.

Sabra and Shatila massacres of refugee camps.

Intifada: wide spread grassroots uprising born of decades of Palestinian frustrations. This included demonstrations, strikes, boycotts, withholding taxes, and other civil disobedience.

Israel had a brutal “break bones” policy in response in order to try and break the uprising.

1897 Hamas forms. There was initial support from Israel because it was believed this would weaken the PLO.

Oslo Accords

Palestine Authority granted highly restrictive self rule that did not include control of land, water, or borders.

Policy of Seperation

Gaza severed from the West Bank, West Bank severed from Jerusalem. Permits required to pass through Israeli checkpoints.

2006 elections give Hamas control of the Gaza strip. The siege imposed by Israel after the fact lead to what has been titled the ‘open air prison’ of Gaza.

After this point, there was a large escalation in violence including Hamas suicide bombers attacking Israel, Israeli military incursions into Palestine, and War on Gaza.

“While the fundamentally colonial nature of the Palestine-Israel encounter must be acknowledged, there are now two peoples in Palestine, irrespective of how they came into being, and the conflict between them cannot be resolved as long as the national existence of each is denied by the other. Their mutual acceptance can only be based on complete equality of rights, including national rights, not withstanding the crucial historical differences between the two.”

#hundred years war #palestine #history of palestine #rashid khalidi #books #history books

[captawesomesauce]

Why are there even places called “refugee camps” in Gaza? And why are two thirds of the people living in Gaza, who were born there and lived there their entire lives, called “refugees” from a war that ended more than seven decades ago? The answers to these question unlock the core of the conflict. Here they are (Part 1; Part 2 in the first comment): 1.The 20th century has been marked by a transition from empires to states. We begin the 20th century when much of the world is divided between empires. We end it when much of the world is divided between states. When lucky, those states were based on the self determination of a people who share a common history, language, ethnicity, background religion and connection to a territory. (Zionism emerged in this context based on the idea of self determination for the Jewish people in the only territory to which they were ever connected as a people). When unlucky those new states were artificially created by receding empires drawing boundaries, forcing different peoples to share one state, leading almost always to civil war, dictatorship, or both. This transition has been bloody. It involved two world wars and numerous regional and civil wars. In the bloody process of empires receding and new states emerging to replace them, tens of millions of people were displaced, fleeing across newly created borders, typically to new countries with an ethnic makeup similar to their own. This was true of Hindus and Muslim, Ukrainians, Poles and Germans, Bulgarians, Greeks and Turks and Arabs and Jews. This was not unique. 2.What was unique is that one group only of refugees from that time and those wars were allowed to maintain themselves as endless refugees in anticipation of one day winning a war they had lost. Those were the Arab refugees from the war of 1948, later to be known as Palestinians. All other refugee groups, except the Palestinians, were presented with a clear message: “it’s tough, it’s tragic, move on”. There was a clear understanding that in the most fundamental sense there is no going back - not in place and not in time (thus, there was no such thing as “a right of return”). To seek to go back would mean endless war. And so the message was forward looking and future facing. Tens of millions of refugees and displaced persons, among them millions of Jews, would build new lives in the new countries to which they fled. 3.Except Palestinians. The war that the Arabs of the land and the surrounding countries waged to prevent a Jewish state from emerging and gaining independence failed to achieve its goals. Despite the violent onslaught of 1947-49, Israel emerged as a sovereign state. But the Arabs of the land, sustained by broader Arab support, refused to accept this outcome. They proceeded to undo it through a variety of means, including repeated wars, economic boycotts, international condemnations and a complete refusal of the refugees themselves to be settled, as it would effectively mean accepting that the war was over. 4.To that end of keeping the war of 1948 alive until its goal of undoing the Jewish state could be achieved, a temporary agency established to resettle the refugees - UNRWA (initially called REWA, but the Arabs insisted on the letters UN so that it would appear to enjoy international legitimacy) - was hijacked by the Arab refugees. As a result of this hijacking UNRWA effectively became a Palestinian entity devoted singularly to sustaining and stoking the idea that uniquely among the world’s refugees, Palestinians don’t need to move on and can keep insisting on “return”, both in space and in time, to a time when there was no Israel. UNRWA thus became the mechanism by which the Jewish people alone were denied the right to to consider their hard won self-determination and sovereign statehood as a done deal. (Part 2 continues in the first comment:)

5. One of the most important means by which UNRWA fulfilled its mission is inflating the number of Palestinians it registers as refugees. It does so by engaging in several unique practices, not applied to any other refugee population in the world: (1) Counting descendants of the original refugees displaced by the War of 1948 in perpetuity (by now into the fifth generation) automatically and with no qualifications; (2) Never removing any “refugees” from the count even if they acquired citizenship of another country, a status that for all other true refugees ends their refugee status; (3) Counting Palestinians who continue to live in the West Bank and Gaza, so in “Palestine” as refugees “from” Palestine. Once UNRWA’s inflationary practices are removed, almost none of the Palestinians who claim to be “refugees”, either as registered by UNRWA (around 5.7 Million) or self-claimed by Palestinians living in the West (a total of 8-9 Million) are actually refugees by any international standard. The vast majority of them are either (1) living in the West Bank and Gaza, and so clearly are not refugees “from” Palestine, still very much living there, and since almost all of them are by now second to fifth generation claimants they have also never been displaced by war - 2.2 Million; (2) Citizens of countries such as Jordan - 2.2 Million or various countries around the world - 2-3 Million. Citizens of countries are not refugees by any international standard. This leaves about 250,000 Palestinians who remain stateless in Syria and Lebanon, despite having been born there and never having been displaced by war. Those countries refuse to give them citizenship. They are certainly no longer refugees, but they are stateless. Of them, perhaps 30,000 are indeed refugees by international standards in that they were displaced by war, crossed the border and have not been given citizenship by any other country. Them, and only them, should be recognized as refugees. That is less than 1% of the total number of Palestinians who claim to be “refugees”.

6. In addition to its inflationary practices, the UNRWA compounds (“Refugee Camps”) and schools are the incubators in which the Palestinian national ethos of “revenge and return” was created and shaped. It is the ground zero Palestinian political organization in that it daily reinforces the Palestinian ethos that the Jews have no right to a state in any of the territory between the Jordan River and the Sea, and that Palestinians will one day undo Israel by means of “return”. Since the days of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre, planned and perpetrated by UNRWA graduates, to the October 7th massacre by Hamas, also planned and perpetrated by UNRWA graduates (Muhammad Deif was raised in an UNRWA compound and studied in its school), UNRWA has sustained, nourished, educated and raised generation after generation of Palestinians dedicated to undoing Israel by “all means”, primarily violence and terror. Hamas, like Fatah before it, merely recruits UNRWA graduates ready to commit any atrocity in the name of “revenge and return”. It’s no coincidence that the two places where the perpetual refugee culture is strongest - Gaza and Lebanon - are also the most violent. In short, why are there still millions of people claiming to be refugees from a war that ended more than seven decades ago? Because to the Palestinians, that war has never ended, and they continue to believe that one day, with enough patience and violence, they could still win it to achieve their original goal: no state for the Jewish people anywhere from “The River to the Sea”. (The full history is of-course available in “The War of Return: How Western Indulgence of the Palestinian Dream has Obstructed the Path to Peace”).

#must read

[ausetkmt]

Dr. Yosef Ben Jochannan Black Jewish Historian Of His People

by Rabbi Sholomo B. Levy

The Israelite community mourns the passing of our beloved elder Dr. Yosef Ben Jochannan (1918-2015).  He was born in Ethiopia and raised in the village of Gondar according to the customs of the African Jews in that region who are known as Beta Israel. His father was a member of this community and he was named after his grandfather Jochannan. In fact, his name is Hebrew and means Joseph the son of Jonathan. He received a Bar Mitzvah and during his adolescence  moved to the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico before immigrating to the United States.  His magnum opus, We The Black Jews, was the first major historical work written by us, about us, and primarily for us. As such,  Dr. Ben, as he was affectionately known, was our scholar and our champion. Long before his reputation commanded attention on the international stage, he was embraced by Chief Rabbi W.A. Matthew, leader of the Commandment Keepers Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation in Harlem. As a Jew of Ethiopian birth, Dr. Ben dedicated the second volume of We The Black Jews to Rabbi Matthew. He was a frequent visitor to many Black synagogues. In 1977, Dr. Ben accepted an honorary faculty position with the Israelite Rabbinical Academy at Beth Shalom Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation in Brooklyn, New York. In that photograph you see him flanked by most of the Black rabbis in New York City including Chief Rabbi Levi Ben Levy and his dear friend from Ethiopia, Rabbi Hailu Paris, who was the leader of Mt. Horeb Congregation in the Bronx. (see photo above) Dr. Ben maintain a close relationship with the Black Jewish community throughout his life.

Dr. Ben’s work expanded to explore the Egyptian origins of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. When asked about this shift in academic focus, Dr. Ben explained that he was attempting to put our identity as Black Jews into its proper historical context as a people and religion that literally came out of Africa. He demonstrated that the Torah and archaeological  evidence both supported the claim that All the  Hebrews who settled the biblical land of Israel—including Moses, Aaron, Miriam, and Joshua—were born in African and raised in Egypt. Zipporah, the wife of Moses, was born in Ethiopia, like Dr. Ben. As Black Jews we have always been comfortable with acknowledging our ancient and modern connections with Africa. The greatest criticism and opposition that Dr. Ben faced came from those who attempted to deny this connection and to remake Judaism into a White European creation.  It is important to remember—as Dr Ben so frequently emphasized—“Judaism is not a race.” He expressed a pride in the fact that the first Jews would be considered Black if they lived in our radicalized world. Dr. Ben never asserted that all Jews are Black—in fact on many occasions and in much of his writings he refers to Jewish communities all over the world.

In latter years, Dr. Ben startled many of his supporters when he began to distinguish his ancestry as a Jew with his skepticism about the existence of God. At one point, he reached the conclusion in his own mind that “God is not a reality.”    We do not know whether this view grew out of the frustration of fighting religious battles for so many decades or from an academic position that demands logic according to human understanding and does not allow for faith, mystery, or the divine.  What we do know is that through all of his transitions he remained a man with a keen intellect and a  loving heart.

As millions of Jews around the world prepare to celebrate the Passover, a commemoration of our Exodus from Egypt, we celebrate the life and work of Dr. Ben who meticulously  and courageously made two irrefutable points: Egypt is in Africa and African people are Black. Therefore, we who call our Jews must trace our ancestry back to these Black Africans.

Rabbi Levy, Alma John, Dr. Ben, Percy Sutton Beth Shalom Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation, 1977

#Dr. Yosef Ben Jochannan - Black Jewish Historian - blackjews.org #Dr Ben

[tjmystic]

Other people have said this more eloquently than I have and will continue to do so, but, on the off chance that my small smattering of followers might need to see it said from someone else (and are sick of the pity party I've been throwing because of my latest breakdown), I thought I'd share my thoughts.

First off, let's get the annoying argument out of the way: I don't hate Jewish people. I don't hate Judaism. I'm not going to throw some garbage in here about how I have Jewish family and friends or that some of my favorite celebrities are Jewish or anything that white (or white passing, in my case) people tend to use as a reason why they can't hate a certain group. I don't hate the people, their race, or their religion because they're people, full stop. I feel the same way about Muslims and Islam, Christianity (if not all Christians, but, as a Christian, I feel I'm allowed to say this), atheists, agnostics, people of all religious beliefs and non-beliefs.

Likewise, I don't deny the Holocaust. I fully acknowledge the systematic murder of more than 17 million people (military included), over 6 million of whom were Jewish and killed specifically for being Jewish. The fact that this was allowed to happen will never not be a blight on humanity, and the fact that anti-semitism is still a problem that leads to the murders of Jewish people and Jewish allies harrows me to my core.

None of this, however, has anything to do with Israel, nor does it serve as an excuse for what Israel is currently doing to Palestine and has done since 1948. To repeat the phrase I've seen most frequently about this matter, "Surviving one genocide doesn't give you the right to commit another."

Another factor: Israel would not exist without the Allied Forces of World War II. What England (because I refuse to lump in the rest of Britain with this abhorrent decision) and America did was take a deeply traumatized people who had narrowly "escaped" -- if you can even call it that -- the largest genocide the modern world has ever seen (I know Wikipedia isn't the most reputable source, but the sources used in this entry are good, and it's just easier to link there than list each of those stats individually) and shove them off onto a separate continent. Instead of owning the choices that we (America, especially) made to allow this genocide to happen and actually trying to make reparations for it, to tell the remaining Jewish population, "You can return to your actual homes, your actual home countries, and we're going to do everything possible to make those places feel like home for you once again," we said, "Actually, it's really awkward if you're still here and we have to be reminded of what we did to you, so we're sending you somewhere else. Good luck!" That the "somewhere else" happened to be the the Jewish Holy Land is irrelevant. Especially considering that Jewish people were already living there and had been for upwards of 2000 years of recorded history.

But even that isn't fully accurate, because Holocaust survivors aren't the ones doing this. More often, Holocaust survivors are also victims of Israel.

Jewish people have more than enough justification to be afraid. They have equal justification to want a safe space where they can be Jewish however they want. They have a deep connection to the part of the Middle East in which Israel sits, as do Muslims, Christians, and many other world religions, and they should feel safe and respected in traveling to or living in that part of the world.

And none of this justifies Israel's existence as a state or the continued murder of thousands and thousands of innocent Palestinians.

#free palestine #anti anti-semitism #anti zionisim

[eretzyisrael]

By Adam Pagnucco

Council Member Andrew Friedson is one of the county’s most prominent elected officials.  CASA is one of the county’s most prominent interest groups and depends on the state and county governments for a large chunk of its budget.  Normally, when parties like this disagree, they do so politely and, if possible, quietly.

Not this time.

The Israel-Hamas war originated overseas and this site does not cover international affairs.  However, I have previously published on its impact on county politics three times:

October 11: The Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington (JCRC) and the Anti-Defamation League of Washington DC protested against MCPS’s response to Hamas’s attack on Israeli civilians.

October 13: Friedson wrote a guest column about Hamas’s attacks.

November 6: Delegate Gabriel Acevero claimed that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza.

The issue has not stopped there.  CASA, an immigrant rights group established in Montgomery County many years ago and a major recipient of state and county funds, weighed in on the conflict in Gaza on Twitter.  The tweets have been deleted but a reader forwarded them.  They were also released as a statement.  The tweets and statement are reprinted below.

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Statement by Gustavo Torres

CASA Executive Director

November 6, 2023

CASA stands in resolute and steadfast solidarity with the people of Palestine in their relentless fight for freedom. We stand shoulder to shoulder with countless Black and brown freedom activists from around the world. We specifically condemn the utilization of US tax dollars to promote the ongoing violence. We call for an immediate ceasefire to save all precious life and halt the systematic ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people.

Like much of the world, we join in condemning the outrageous attack by Hamas in Israel. Our hearts go out to the innocent children and families caught in the midst of this horrendous conflict.

We also reject the notion that any act of violence can ever justify the heinous practice of terror currently unleashed by Israel in Gaza, including on refugee camps, medical and UN aid workers, and more.

As we dedicate ourselves to building a world where our community can live free from discrimination and fear, we deeply acknowledge the interconnectedness of the struggle for the liberation of the Palestinian people and Black and brown communities in the United States. Our shared and unwavering commitment is to foster humanity, safety, and lasting peace throughout the entire region while confronting the historical oppression that demands urgent redress.

Finally, we strongly support the struggle for decolonization, affirming the rights of Indigenous peoples and historically colonized nations to reclaim their land. The Palestinian struggle mirrors our own; with many CASA members fleeing governments and countries wrecked by the damage of US economic and political intervention.

We firmly assert: free Palestine NOW!

CASA’s statement provoked this response from Council Member Andrew Friedson, who has previously stated his views on the Israel-Hamas war on our site.

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November 6, 2023

Statement from Council Vice-President Andrew Friedson

The inflammatory and inaccurate statement by CASA is deeply offensive and hurtful.  While the tweets have since been deleted, the statement demonstrated a divisive disregard for the Jewish community who have been steadfast partners in countless of the organization’s efforts to support immigrants in our community over the years.  Using antisemitic language that denies Jews as being indigenous to their own ancestral homeland and failing to recognize that over half of Israel’s population are people of color, CASA inexplicably failed to recognize the connection so many Jews have to CASA’s mission and to their own homeland as a people who have been systematically persecuted and forced to flee countless countries for over 2,000 years.

While I appreciate CASA’s dedication to “building a world where our community can live free from discrimination and fear,” their statement suggests that Jews – and especially Jews of color – have no place in that community.  We must be able to advocate for Palestinian lives without diminishing the existence of Jewish lives.  We can question government policies and decisions without denying rights to existence and self-determination.  We must mourn all innocent lives lost and recognize each loss as a tragedy.

I hope CASA will formally retract the statement and use this painful misstep as a learning opportunity to engage with Jewish community leaders and organizations to repair the damage and avoid future pain.

As I mentioned above, CASA depends on state and county tax dollars for a significant part of its budget.  Its 2021 Form 990 filing with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service reports revenues of $25.7 million for the year ended 6/30/22, of which $4.9 million came from government grants and $11.3 million came from government contracts.  At least some of that money may be at risk.  One elected official told me, “CASA’s virulently antisemitic statement will have dire consequences for them in both Rockville and Annapolis. We cannot and will not subsidize hate with taxpayer dollars.”

#casa #montgomery perspective #andrew friedson