#I still don't think there's any future for me in Israel

[matan4il]

do you think irans attack this past weekend was a test? a dip of the toe, if you will, to assess potential future plan viability?

can’t shake the thought unfortunately

Hi lovely, sorry it's taken me a moment to reply! I think you're justified in thinking this way, because when the top military experts all did not foresee Iran's unprecedented attack on Israel coming, we all have to take their threats very seriously.

That said, I personally find it hard to believe that Iran will make its "big move" before it has a nuclear weapon. Israel (supposedly) has nuclear weapons, and also has (again, supposedly) some of them loaded unto nuclear submarines. Why the submarines? Because those are hard to locate, which means that even if an enemy thinks they can somehow exterminate Israel with one decisive strike, they'll still pay the price of Israel's retaliation, launched from those submarines. And THAT is a serious deterrent. So if Iran wants to destroy Israel and live to tell the tale, it needs at the very least its own nuclear weapon, and a plan on how to stop Israel's nuclear submarines from striking back.

Iran is def not in a place where it thinks it can avoid Israel's retaliation (at least not yet). How do I know? Because of the money they invest in Hezbollah. More than any of the other terrorist organizations it funds, the Iranian regime arms, trains and prepares Hezbollah to be its main extension during an all out war with Israel. Hezbollah is believed to be at least ten times stronger than Hamas, at least in terms of manpower and number of rockets, and Iran was still reluctant to add its power to that of Hamas on Oct 7. They're reserving that terrorist organization and its power for the day they'll need it. The reluctance to use it during the current war tells me Iran is still not ready for the ultimate showdown with Israel. It's also supported by the fact that Iran was quick to announce after its attack on Israel, that they're done if Israel doesn't further attacks, and then the Iranian regime pretended like it couldn't determine who launched the (counter)strike on Isfahan, and also did all it could to hide the damage that we now know was caused to Iran's aerial defense systems, protecting its nuclear program...

Iran is not ready yet. Does that mean they're not learning from this little exchange of blows? They are. Just like Hamas used every time they fired rockets at Israel to study Iron Dome, and make their next attacks more efficient. But what did the Iranian regime learn? That even when it looks like Israel is more diplomatically isolated than ever, that doesn't mean that the world's leaders will stand by when unjustified aggression is launched at it. They DO understand that what Iran gets away with when it comes to Israel can come for their own countries next. That its air defense systems are still no match for Israel's attack capabilities, since the Iranians failed to even detect them coming in. That there is a coalition in place, which even includes identified and unidentified moderate Arab countries, back by western ones, and this constellation will be much harder to fight than Israel on its own, even with Iran's proxies. That 99% success at defending Israel means Iran is not even close to where it needs to be, if it wants to launch its ultimate attack.

We do have to be wary, and I'm sure the heads of Israel's security forces are. But I also think we still have time before Iran makes its "big move" to destroy Israel, because honestly, I do believe they know they won't get more than one shot. So... I have that's a bit of comfort. I'm not saying Iran won't attack, but I am saying I don't think we're there yet. And just like Iran can use this little exchange to study Israel, we can do the same right back. Remember, Israel has a laser defense system that's meant to go operational in the near future, and it's meant to be even better (in more than one way) than Iron Dome. So we have a few tricks up our sleeves, too... ;)

Sending you a big hug, I hope you're okay, and if you celebrate it, then have a happy Passover! xoxox

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

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

[the-catboy-minyan]

sometimes I remember how I wanted to move to Europe or Canada to study for my career and to buy a magen david necklace and keep more Jewish traditions to stay in touch with my Jewish identity, and how my parents always warned me it's a bad idea because all the countries I listed are antisemetic. and I was like "nah you're just paranoid, they're not actually antisemetic there, it's 2020+!"

and now I look at the world and how it marches for our death with the guise of protecting lives and I'm like "....maybe my parents were right about this."

#here lies my hopes and dreams #I still don't think there's any future for me in Israel #like there's no demand for my passion here #but I'm so scared for diaspora jews rn #and I can't imagine living or (potentially) raising a family in those countries anymore #this whole thing is just a giant stab in the back #antisemitism #israel #jumblr #ישראבלר #leftist antisemitism #jewish #diaspora

[dughole]

radiohead’s complicity in israeli-occupied palestine

my feelings on radiohead are complicated these days, as i’m sure they are for many. i'm using this post as a method of sorting out my own thoughts & to provide sources.

for me, the bottom line is this: radiohead is both a brand & a musical group. the brand of radiohead has always had deep roots in the israeli colonial project - they have played many, many shows there throughout their career. their breakout single - creep, was intially only a hit in israel (x, x) & the personal choices of some of radiohead's members remain just as involved. jonny greenwood met his future wife - the israeli artist, antivaxxer & vehement zionist (x) sharona katan - at a show radiohead played in israel in 1993 (x). jonny consistently collaborated with zionist musician shye ben tzur & his projects continue to tour in tel aviv as recently as last september. as for jonny himself - his only statement in regards to the war on gaza has been in mourning for the israeli concert goers on october 10th - w no such empathy spared to the 100,000 palestinians dead, injured, or missing. as for thom, while he’s thrown a few bitchfits (x) through the years abt criticism of radiohead’s shows in israel, he has imo - only paid lipservice to the criticism, saying “playing in a country isn’t the same as endorsing its government” going against the pleas of his peers & coworkers in the music industry. as well as the pro-palestine activism undertaken by his long term friend micheal stipe (x & x). (note: stipe stood by radiohead’s performance in israel in 2017, but his current political choices suggest his understanding of the situation has evolved). even his own son - noah yorke, a fellow working musician, has voiced his opposition to the genocide in gaza via instagram stories. as for the other members, rhythm guitarist ed o'brien has called for a ceasefire, as well as making a few tweets about "solidarity with palestinians & israeli peacemakers". while bassist colin greenwood reportedly refused to accept letters of dialogue from the fan-run organization radiohead fans for palestine. drummer phillip selway's commentary is similarly brief but defensive, saying radiohead's 2017 tel aviv concert "felt right"

to me, this paints a picture of a band who's members stances on israel range from abhorrent to simply not enough. & as a brand, their particular combination of action & inaction amounts to a fundamentally zionist perspective. you cannot separate radiohead as artists from radiohead as a brand name.

i've loved radiohead since i was 14. i was brought into it by another longtime fan. i cried & danced when i saw them live back in 2017 - it was, & remains, a moment that allowed me to live through the hardest parts of my life. i felt for the longest time, that radiohead's music & political positions encouraged my empathy - my questioning of conservative political authority. & while all celebrities are failures in some sense - it is still heartbreaking to know how wrong i was.

i don't think it's possible to disconnect the decade of connection & love i have for their music - I won't ask that of myself or anyone else. & the idea of scrubbing one's taste of the "morally impure" is useless effort & an inappropriate simplification of both art & our conceptions of what makes someone "bad". but i can say with certainty - i will not be giving them any more of my money, whether that be streaming their music or buying their merch - & i encourage you to do the same. silence is complicity - this is beyond silence.

in the words of nina simone - "an artist's duty, as far as i'm concerned, is to reflect the times. how can you be an artist and not reflect the times? that to me is the definition of an artist."

#love yall. #radiohead #palestine

[fairuzfan]

I have concern that I may still be technically zionist despite claiming to be pro-palestine. This is because I knew very little about Palestine when October 7th happened, so in the time since I have been reluctant to have a stance on a two-state or one-Palestinian-state solution. I know now that almost all of Isreal is stolen land and recognize Isreal only exists due to colonialism, it took me a long time to learn that but I know it now. Before I knew that, I knew that regardless of the prior history that in current day Palestine is being subjected to a genocide. However, I struggle with politics and therefore struggle with understanding how a one-Palestinian-state could be achieved and have concern about what would happen to any genuinely innocent people who live in Isreal. To be clear, Isreal as a whole is guilty and I just have concern about what will happen to the portion of people in Isreal who are just as horrified as the rest of the world at what their government is doing. I do not personally know any Palestinians, so I have not known who to talk to about this especially since I do not want to overstep in any way. Theres more context I could provide but I wont because this is roughly the gist of where I am currently at when it comes to my concerns about whether or not I am still zionist. Do you have any reccomendations as to what I can do about my concerns? I am not sure whether or not I am overstepping right now by asking you this, but I do not know any other Palestians on a personal level that I can go to.

hey thanks for sending this in. i think we all have zionist biases that we have to unlearn, even i catch myself falling for it sometimes. so it's not necessarily a moral failing if you're trying to undo the zionism you've been taught. thanks for trying to undo it!

i do want to correct you a bit thought, in that *all* of israel is stolen land because israel is a settler colonial society. until it is relabeled as "Palestine" it can't not be stolen land.

I guess my advice is that you read scholarship and perspectives on palestinian thought and heritage. i can't tell you what a free palestine will look like but i can tell you what i imagine it to be. but what i can tell you is that the state of israel is fully intent on erasing all traces of palestinian life no matter what.

i guess i can tell you why "two state solutions" don't really work because there is no.... prevention of settlement building in the west bank and they'll never really promote *not* settling in the west bank. like i really cannot imagine a world where there aren't settlers on palestinian land no matter the case. and that's even not allowing palestinians the right of return to their homes and expecting them to give up what they dedicated their lives to. many palestinians in the west bank and gaza are themselves refugees because they were displaced in '48. so no matter what, palestinians will always get the short end of the stick and told to "just deal with it."

plus, why are we concerned with the supposed future danger towards israelis when the current, very real danger towards palestinians exists? shouldn't we prioritize actual events over hypothetical ones? why should we concern ourselves with the future when for palestinians its not a guarantee? i have no idea what's going to happen to gaza, for example.... shouldn't we prioritize that gaza lives on today?

i think i would question why you think israelis are inherently in danger in a one state solution? like do you assume that palestinians will all universally commit violence on all israelis? is it because you believe that hamas wants to kill every single israeli jew no matter what? if so, i think that's where your problem lies — in the assumption that peace can only be achieved through segregation just in a lighter form (because the state of israel relies on segregation as a principal of its existence as a jewish state). what about the palestinians who fear living side by side with the same people who raped, tortured, and murdered them for 75 years, or advocated for their deaths? aren't they inherently in more danger?

i mean palestinians have consistently been painted as the villains for more than 75 years. like in every aspect. i think to really truly be antizionist you need to prioritize palestinian concerns and worries over israeli ones because of how.... unwilling much of the world is to even consider them.

approaching zionism from an idea of an inequality structure is also necessary — rather than assuming its a one off system, we examine it as a perpetuation of multiple types of systems of inequality embedded into one. i recommend the institute for the critical study of zionism (click) for more information on this. There's also this book by Ismail Zayid written in the 80's (click) about the longtime violence the ideology of zionism has done to multiple communities, not just palestinians.

Here's a great reading list by palipunk about different aspects of palestinian thought and culture (click). i suggest looking through them to help decolonize our way of thought.

i might add on to this later if i think of something else to say.

[mylight-png]

I refuse to be told to "move on" from October 7th. I simply refuse.

You know the thing about trauma? You don't really get the choice to move on. You may be living in the future, but at least a part of your mind is trapped in that horrible moment. Sometimes that part of you can never escape.

Right now, as I'm writing this, I am sitting at my desk in my room. But right now, as I am writing this a part, huge part, of me is still in that airport. That part of me is still staring at my phone, trying to catch its breath but failing. That part of me is still watching in shock as the death count rises, the videos of Hamas's atrocities are broadcasted everywhere I see, the celebration of my people being massacred is burning my eyes. My ears are hearing the wailing sirens from when I was last in Israel. My hands are still feeling the shaking of the walls as the Iron Dome intercepts attempts upon the lives of my family and me. My heart is hurting for each life lost and each family left broken.

My body is here, in January 10th. My mind is not. My mind, and the mind of nearly every Jew is still stuck in October 7th.

Do not think we chose this. If I could choose indifference, if I could choose apathy, if I could choose ignorance, I wouldn't feel so constantly triggered and in pain.

But nobody gets to choose trauma.

This wasn't a unique trauma, a first-time event. Pogroms are nothing new to us, genocides and attempts at such against us aren't anything new, hateful libel and lies are near-constants.

That's part of what made October 7th so much worse.

I grew up hearing about how my great-grandfather lost his entire family to the Holocaust, how my ancestors survived pogroms, how my parents faced systemic antisemitism in the USSR.

We all grew up hearing our parents and grandparents tell us about antisemitism.

And do not think we were ignorant of it. I was well aware that the world is not even close to shedding its deeply ingrained antisemitism.

I was aware of it when I wrote a speech about discussion of modern antisemitism and being told it was "well-written but controversial". I was aware of it when my teacher said I was responding "emotionally, not academically" to an author claiming antisemitism and the Holocaust weren't "that bad".

I was aware of it when a synagogue near me got shot up, a synagogue I've been to. I was aware of it because I had no other choice.

But it had always felt like it was "winding down" from what my parents had told me. Yes what my teacher did was bad but at least he didn't explicitly single me out for being a Jew and intentionally fail me. Yes the feedback for my speech was hurtful but it wasn't like I was being violently censored. Yes the shooting was awful but it wasn't a full-blown pogrom.

I'm not saying my logic was correct. Far from it. But that's how it felt before October 7th.

When October 7th happened I saw that nothing was "winding down" as I had previously thought. People were still just as keen to gleefully cheer on the killing of Jews as they had been. The world is just as slow to act when Jews are being forcibly held and tortured and killed. Blood libel and ideas of the "doctor's plot" are alive and well.

Oct 7th triggered old trauma, Oct 7th was traumatic in its own right, and for most of us, Oct 7th proved that antisemitism isn't going anywhere. It isn't winding down or getting better.

And that kind of pain? That kind of trauma? That sticks with you.

You wouldn't tell any other person to get over their trauma. So what makes it ok to say it to traumatized Jews as we are still processing the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust?

That behavior is horrible and inexcusable.

Trauma is trauma, you don't get to decide who does or doesn't have the right to be traumatized. You don't get to decide how people discuss their trauma.

#jumblr #jewish #judaism #jew #proud israeli #israel solidarity #opinion #discourse #antisemitism #trauma #generational trauma

[headspace-hotel]

source

joe biden makes me want to throw up but the USA's actions under his admin have much less to do with him personally and more to do with the entire putrefying mass of USA policy and its entire history and the situation of a compromise-based government system half dominated by the most rabid, hateful fascists imaginable.

every day I see a hundred posts on here saying "look at how bad Biden is, the two sides are the same and he is no better than a republican would be" and the revulsion in my heart at my country's actions agrees, yet the Republicans are frothing over Biden being marginally less bloodthirsty and furiously demanding far more violence and repression.

Honest to God I don't even know what to do with this. I'm not telling y'all, because I don't know. This country is a suicide bomb and the whole globe is strapped to it.

Like, on a lot of policies, it seems like both parties are further right than the majority of Americans. I don't think I even know anyone IRL who is pro- helping Israel bomb Palestine, and a lot of these people would probably consider themselves "moderate conservatives" or "centrists." The government makes no pretense of representing us at all.

It's the exact same with the climate; majorities in EVERY state, even red states, support taking action to mitigate climate change, and even the moderate liberal folks support policies more radical than anything the government manages to do. Republicans are attacking the Endangered Species Act, one of the most popular laws Congress ever passed! How do we even BEGIN to get out of this mess?

I looked up this Tom Cotton's Facebook and it is just as the article says and worse

I can't even begin to describe how monstrously Fox News has just straight up lied about the genocide in Palestine, calling any and all protests in support of Palestinians "Pro-Hamas." And there is a substantial minority of Americans whose whole grasp of the world is framed by Fox News, which turns their brains into a disgusting slurry like a racist plasmodial slime mold whose primitive network of neuron-like impulses responds to no other stimuli apart from fear and paranoia

When Ron Desantis was still running for presidential nomination one of his campaign promises was that we would stop sending humanitarian aid to Gaza and that we would not allow Gazan refugees into the country. It was on his Instagram back in November. How would Gazan refugees make it all the way over here??? Like sure we should take them if they wanna come but I think they just want their home back! That fucker had to INVENT a hypothetical opportunity for a compassionate act so he could demonstrate that he would choose the cruel option. He was widely despised, but still, it's terrifying.

And before you say "violently overthrow the government," the small percentage of Americans who are straight up openly Neo-Nazis own a LARGE percentage of the guns, and they love to organize into stupid little militias about it. You bet cops and ex-military overlap with this category a lot. A "leftist revolution" is a wet dream for these guys.

I know, I know, it's not unsolvable, I know the hateful folks are in the minority, I know a future is possible, I know violence and oppression cannot continue forever, but AAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUGGGHHHHHH

#vent #usa politics #AUGHHHHHHHH #I HATE IT HERE! #pain #rant #political

[opencommunion]

This might be a bit silly. You suggested to email journos from the washington post about the article on the palestinian infants killed. Do you know what would be an effective message to write? Apart from suicide baiting

Update, I just checked and they changed the headline to "Israel's assault forced a nurse to leave babies behind. They were found decomposing." Which still doesn't sit right with me because it seems to partly blame the nurse, when obviously he had no choice because the babies could not be evacuated (as the article itself makes clear). So I still think it's worth pressuring them to change it, and to do better in the future.

I actually would NOT recommend emailing the journalists though! The link I posted was contact info for the editorial leadership, here it is again:

It's almost always editors who choose headlines, not journalists. I checked the social media of the writers of that particular article and they all reposted it with a caption that clearly conveyed the occupation's crimes. The article itself is actually some of the better reporting I've seen in the western press. So please don't harass the writers! As for the editors, I think the best way to pressure them is to emphasize that genocide denial, even if it's profitable in the short term, will do long-term damage to their publication's credibility. History will remember which publications supported Israel's crimes, openly or tacitly. The job of an editor is basically to protect the publication's image so it remains marketable (to subscribers, but more importantly to advertisers and investors). Most publications that have a reputation for being "liberal," like WashPo, are currently trying to dance on a line where they appeal to both genocidal maniacs and reasonable human beings. Our job imo is to send the message that they can't have it both ways, that we can recognize their support for genocide even when it's cloaked by weasel words, and that in the digital age every move they make stays on the public record forever. So let's not suicide bait, but let them know that in the eyes of the public they're losing any reputation they had for serious journalism. It doesn't have to be a super well-composed email imo, just telling them how the headline made you feel will show them what impact their editorial choices are having on how their product is perceived, and hopefully push them to reassess their strategy

[sweettjrose]

What is your opinion about Disney?

​

Oh boy... This is a complicated question for me.

And the main reason is that I have a lot of Nostalgia for Disney. I grew up watching and loving animated Disney movies and tv shows and is probably the main reason I have such a love for animation and music. And even when I rewatch the movies and the shows they still hold up, some even are better than I remember and show clear mastery and love for art and creativity. The truth is I love these characters and I love these stories and I honestly don't think I could ever truly hate Disney...

But I can still be disappointed. And unfortunately, Disney has and continues to do disappointing things. It would be wrong to ignore all of the bad elements of Disney. Unfortunately, Disney made quite a bit of racist media both in shorts and in movies, and as a mixed person (half-black and half-white) it honestly a truth that is hard for me to truly accept at times. Disney played a major role in really messing up our copyright system making it harder for more media to be in the public domain, despite them liberally using public domain characters to make their stories. Even now with the war in Gaza, it sucks to see Disney officially only side with Israel and not with the Palestinians, with some of them even wearing Disney merchandise. And honestly, I am really worried with the disaster of Wish, Disney+ confusion, and the rise of AI, that Disney will start making some really big anti-creative decisions and somehow even destroy the parts people still like about Disney.

But with that said, I do think there is one element that people tend to forget when talking about the pros and cons of Disney. They are not a monolith. Disney is full of constantly changing and moving people all with completely different politics, opinions, and goals, and contributions. Tbh you could argue that the only time it has been like that is when Walt was in charge and even that is debatable. As a result the people who are doing the stuff I love are rarely the ones doing the stuff I find frustrating. I know artists who work on Disney shows that are supportive of Palestine. Heck you can even feel the internal battle at Disney when it comes to trying to add more LGBTQ+ and diverse content. There are people are trying their best to use their time at Disney to create positive media for future generations, just as much as there those trying to hide or shoot down those media. And even in cases the people causing harm are the same ones making the parts I like, that unfortunately is a constant in life, no matter where you go. Gottfredson made one of my favorite Disney comic characters, but he also did and said quite a bit of racist things. This isn't a justification, but something you can't completely avoid or ignore and have to decide how to handle yourself. To be honest that alone is a completely different essay. But the point is that people change and Disney 100 years ago is different from Disney 30 years ago which is different than Disney today. And even within Disney, not everyone agrees and supports the same things.

And personally, I feel like people tend to overcorrect when it comes to criticism of Disney and act like they have been nothing but a bland corporation with no creativity or positive impact on the world at all. I feel like people tend to group Disney with corporations like McDonalds as if they don't produce any artistic endeavors at all, but just generic content and I can't really believe or support that either. Regardless of how you feel about Disney. They have made such an impact on not just animation, not just on American media and culture, but everything all over the world. Anime is heavily inspired by Disney. Videogame Mascots like Sonic and Mario are inspired by Disney. Even media that takes shots at Disney like Shrek wouldn't have existed without Disney. To be honest it would be harder to find stuff without some element of Disney influence. As I said before a lot of amazing movies have been made with Disney and wouldn't have existed without it. I would consider The Great Mouse Detective and Beauty and the Beast straight-up masterpieces. And it was through Disney that they even got made. Disney can have its frustrating eras (like now), but they're also an effective tool to allow amazing movies and shows to be created. And in a world that doesn't value animation, we still need companies like Disney to still have that faith and support. At least I hope we can.

So to make a long story short, I think it is important to acknowledge the flaws and not ignore or hide them, but to also recognize the artistic achievements as well. Disney had a positive impact on me and nothing will be able to change that. Disney is a constantly changing cultural force that will grow along with us. It will continue to evolve as new people take the reins. Some will try to make up for past mistakes and move forward and some will repeat those mistakes and cause more problems.

All that we can hope is that the good will outweigh the bad.

#disney thoughts #answered

[determinate-negation]

Days ago you said your "commitment is to women" and now you post about how the rape and murder of women within the context of war is justified because they "should've known better" than to go to a rave and therefore really did have it coming, they really did ask for it, they really were bad/stupid enough to deserve it. I think you've lost the plot. Its like you've achieved a place of comfort within the system you claim to intellectually oppose and don't really care anymore. I no longer think you are thinking or acting within the frankfurt school marxism you claim to academically represent or intellectually continue. I think it's all just a game of achieving academic success to you now and you don't care about truth.

what rape? i have yet to see a single actual verified report of this that is confirmed and isnt just people spreading shit on twitter based on a few videos and their own racist assumptions about arab brutality. (by the way, that video of the german israeli girl who everyone keeps saying was stripped naked was actually wearing that outfit to the rave and literally was just confirmed to still be alive) i never said or implied that rape and murder of women was justified at all. what i have said is its inevitable that 2 million people trapped in a small area of land under an internationally illegal blockade, with constant bombing, where their electricity and water are controlled by israel, where theyre subject to violence and intimidation by the idf who regularly raid their homes, kill their families, etc- not to mention that theyre the descendants of refugees forced from their homes, in these conditions people will violently rebel and if youre horrified by it you should be horrified by everything israel has been doing. including funding and supporting hamas. its unfortunate to me if any civilians die but this isnt new. civilians have been dying every day, theyre just mostly palestinian. also lmao what academic success am i achieving with this? my position is not one looked favorably on by academia and people regularly lose their jobs for supporting palestine. ive probably already made my own future more difficult for this because im on pro palestine watchlists and i really dont give a fuck, you are on the wrong side of history

and one more question: would you go to a rave outside of the modern equivalent of the warsaw ghetto?

[kuronekonerochan]

The whole fucking world stood by and watched as millions were spent in rescue efforts for half a dozen millionaires with a real countdown clock on their lives a few months ago.

We now witness a countdown clock in the fuel left in the generators of all the hospitals providing medical aid to an entire people while under constant bombings. A countdown to when every injured individual will become a casualty in a slow agonizing way because there will be no medical aid possible and the world does nothing. Nothing at all. If you can't reason with a genocidal state to let in water, food, medicine and fuel for the hospitals to keep running, maybe it's time to do it by force. Blue helmets, whatever is needed to rescue innocent civilians. But not even an economic sanction. The European Union (from where I'm from) is giving carte blanche to ethnic cleansing and genocide, while managing to lose all legitimacy to condemn Russia in the same stead (the part they did right). Having 2 criteria for war crimes makes the EU feel like a joke. We are in a fucking alliance for cooperation and peace and the Head Representative personally goes to Israel to give her support for genocide. I think every decent human being has lost any faith left in politics and politicians over the last few days. Scandals and corruption seem insignificant compared to this.

No, I don't trust our politicians, no they definitely are not representing me.

And they definitely do not work for the people when they agree to exterminate an entire people.

This is Nazism. Ethnic cleansing check. Collective punishment check. Confining millions in a war camp with no way to leave and committing genocide check.

And don't you dare call me antisemitic. I was not the one who chose to compare this to the Holocaust. The atrocities being committed by the Zionist State of Israel are the ones mirroring it. Do we have to wait until the body count is over the million mark to finally start calling it out?

Watching this happen live until there is no power left on the cameras and phones to keep recording what's happening is agonizing. But it feels as if people and politicians mostly are eagerly waiting for the eventual shutdown of coverage to put it all past them and move on as if nothing's happening. People will keep dying in the dark.

What is happening just shattered the fake mask of this "modern civilized world with human rights of 2023". Humans still have no rights apparently and I cannot fathom how people in conflict free zones are comfortable, compliant and complacent to this. How idiotfully jolly it must be to keep thinking that you will never in your lifetime have the tiniest chance of being treated like this in your western corner of the world. I for one can't live in that fantasy anymore. However improbable it seems now, I now know that there's a chance I will someday be denied water, food, medicine and shelter, isolated with no means of escape while missiles (or whatever future horror the warlords conjure) rain down on me and if I get injured there will be no medical aid and I might be left for dead in agony....and I now also now that while this happens free thinking first world democracies might be nodding along or purposefully looking away but none will help.

#gaza #free palestine #free gaza #palestine #israel #never antisemitic #but always #anti zionisim #anti war crimes #and for the defense of #human rights

[matan4il]

please hate me because i praying ceasefire of both sides - realase hostages and free gaza for civilians

Why would I hate you for this message? I'd like to think you have good intentions, and are mostly uninformed about what your message actually means.

The problem is that, as I wrote here, good intentions can lead to real harm, when people don't understand the consequences of their choices, and we're still responsible for the harm we caused, no matter how good are intentions were.

So let's make it clear: It's great to want the hostages free! But that's not enough after Oct 7.

Hamas has violated every ceasefire ever, including the one that was in place until 6:30 in the morning on that day. Its terrorists slaughtered civilians. They raped people of all ages, so brutally that bones were broken. They cut off body parts, breasts off women, genitalia off men, fingers and toes off children. They tied family members together, then burned those captives alive.

These terrorists placed a Jewish baby in an oven, and turned it on. Think about how much that baby must have screamed! It was in pain, and it was helpless, and all it could do to try and stop the physical hurt as it grew worse and worse, was to scream its little lungs out. And up until then, this baby probably thought the world was a good place, because whenever it cried, one of this kid's parents came, and made things better. what was the world to this child as it cried, and cried, and then screamed with every ounce of strength it had, and no one made the pain go away? I don't think I could ever fully process how horrible this baby's death was.

And a Hamas senior said explicitly on Oct 24, that they would continue in the exact same way, and carry out this massacre again, and again, and again...

A ceasefire before Hamas is destroyed means to accept that a massacre like this will happen again. Because no border can contain a genocidal terrorist organization, as Hamas proved on Oct 7. If you didn't understand that this is what it means, that it isn't a simple wish for peace, but a guarantee of another future massacre of innocent civilians, innocent babies, you do know now. And hopefully, you know better than to wish for the future deaths of more people in Israel.

If you don't, if you still wish for a ceasefire while Hamas continues to exist, with no regard for the well being of the people that it designates as it would be victims (which is all Jews, though as we've seen on Oct 7, Hamas will kill non-Jews as well, if they're associated with the Jewish state), then: 1. There is something morally wrong with your stance on this. 2. And you don't have a right to make that wish unless you put yourself in the line of Hamas' fire, by moving to Israel and living right on the border with Hamas, knowing that at any moment, they might breach the border again, and come and do to you, to your loved ones, what they have promised they will do to every last Israeli and Jew.

Lastly, I do wish for the Gazans to be free, just like I wish for the hostages to be released! I have no doubt that the Palestinians in Gaza will never be free, until Hamas is destroyed. If you do pray for Israelis and Gazans alike, you should pray for Hamas to be taken down, for the sake of the innocents on both sides. Then we have a chance at a real peace, not a fake ceasefire, that will for sure be broken.

(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 #ask #anon ask

[keshetchai]

Thank you for your deconstruction of that post about Jewish ethnicity and your detailed explanation of why it was a terrible take! I saw that post earlier and it got my hackles up but I didn't even know where to start when they're starting from such a flawed understanding of Jewish identity and ethnicity in general.

Yeah idk the most generous conclusions I have were those last two points — the argument either starts from assuming ethnonationalists have always been the ones defining ethnicity/they are the main arbiters of defining it (which I just reject categorically), or they have misunderstood or don't actually know what ethnicity means (outside of understanding ethnonationalism is bad).

And I never want to come out the gate with like "I think you just don't know what that word means," because that feels extremely condescending and combative. At the same time we're clearly facing some kind of vast language gap if the concept of "Jews are an ethnic group" is considered absurd or laughable. So working backwards those are my guesses for how someone got themselves to that conclusion which bizarrely had a lot of reblogs and i didn't look at the notes but like.

Please tell me I wasn't the only one baffled by this?? Anti-/non-zionist Jewish movements have typically still explicitly emphasized ethnicity, like...sometimes even moreso because "shared cultural identity here-ness" HAS to care more about group belonging in culture rather than in place or nation.

Either way: We can just reject ethnonationalism without erasing the concept of people having ethnicities! That's totally an option. Israel and Palestine both have histories of nationalist movements AND both can and should reject ethnonationalism because the levant itself is a place full of a variety of ethnicities. No matter what the future of the levant and any states within it look, ethnonationalism should be rejected.

Like yeah I can fully climb on board the whole "the modern nation state itself is bad, borders are violence enacted upon people, nation-states foment nationalism, colonialism, and so on, let's move forwards towards stateless society." Ethnonationalism is bad.

But simultaneously I live in like...a reality where something has to float us all until we can get there and I don't believe in a leftist rapture of "bloody revolution will overthrow all of current society."

spoilers: ethnic self-determination and governance doesn't mean you can avoid ethnonationalism strains cropping up!

Also just because this has been getting to me recently, here's a big tangent not part of the OP but something else I've been seeing: Indigeneity to a place doesn't actually elevate you to this morally pure and uncorrupt self, and it doesn't mean you're going to be a better society than anyone else trying to govern there or avoid ethnonationalism or nationalism.

That's...I mean that's not how it fucking works. I keep seeing like "these Israelis are destroying olive trees, an indigenous people wouldn't do that!" And it's like...such a kindergarten way of treating the status of being "native" as morally and ethically untainted by bad ideologies. To me it absolutely reeks of "noble savage" fantasies wherein like: nobleness of character, innocent benevolence to foreigners, and perfect stewardship of land is somehow the hallmarks of "true" Indigeneity.

I regret to inform everyone but if you only ever get the highlights reel history of Spanish colonialism in Mexico: the Spaniards were able to conquer Mexico the way they did for a variety of reasons (smallpox devastating the native populace is one of them), but one of those big key ways is the fact that various native groups hated the aztec triumvirate (the Mexica) so much that they actively helped the Spanish overthrow them.

The Spanish didn't conquer the Aztecs by themselves. The Spanish had maybe an army of 3,100 or so. The Aztecs had a fighting force of 200,000+, not including other allied forces. The spanish were able to conquer the Aztec empire because a whole lot of other indigenous forces were assisting them.

Being indigenous to somewhere absolutely doesn't mean you won't burn or destroy farms, or murder your also indigenous neighbors, or commit terrible atrocities, or even become an imperial force who enslaves people or enforces a caste system or anything else. It's not a guarantee that your society won't be shitty somehow. The Aztecs were comprised of native people, and they still cracked open rib cages of other human beings to extract their hearts in ritual sacrifice so like. It's not a strong argument to say "they definitely aren't from here because they destroy tree groves or murder Innocents."

If you wanna talk about settlers being settlers there's other ways to do it.

[rose-in-a-fisted-glove]

Hi it’s the SU anon here I’m very sorry for how much I upset you, and I seriously wanted to piece tgt what I’m missing from the Jewish viewpoint so I appreciate u still being open to talking to me despite the ignorance. Also disclaimer I’m born and raised in Malaysia so I’ve not met an actual Jew in person until very recently in uni, so all I know is from the messy pile on the internet and I do genuinely learn from ur posts when I see them.

From what I see on ur blog u do show quite a lot of sympathy to the all the cruelty happening in Gaza, but don’t tolerate this being used as an excuse to target Israel/Jewish ppl. I do understand that the whole concept of pushing for an Israel/jewish ethnostate is very much entwined with the history of Jewish culture and the antisemitism endured through different times, so I think this is the part where I made the most ignorant statement on? After rereading what I wrote it might also have sounded like all Jews hold extremely reactionary views towards the word “ceasefire”? Pls do point out more of what upset u, I take full responsibility for what I said and pls stop this convo at any point if I end up offending u more.

Recognizing that you don't know something is the first step towards fixing it. It's good that you thought on your previous ask and tried to research it! But you're missing an awful lot so let's start from the top.

(As a reminder and so others can seee, here's the original ask)

"Hi, this a question abt ur opinion on what’s happening in Gaza just bc you’re one of my favourite blogs that goes deep into Jewish culture/issues. If at any point this question becomes annoying pls ignore.

Anyways so in my college SU meeting recently someone sent in a motion to make an official statement to condemn the war and call for immediate and permanent ceasefire + provide more support to the Jewish and Muslim/Arab students affected by increased hate in the community as well. This sparked a debate among those in attendance and of course there’s a few very pro-Israel voices that insists that a ceasefire will cause Israel to lose all ability to defend itself as well as many pro-Palestine arguments. The motion ended up discarded bc of procedural reasons but as someone who has mostly held a free Palestine view so far and has been hoping for a more inclusive Israel in the future, I don’t understand why stopping a war hurting both sides is taken as an Israel must disappear take by many. I always just accepted it as it’s probably got a lot more antisemitic undertone when it’s a Jew that hears it, but I really wanna hear ur take as well bc the debate I witnessed brought up very disturbing points that I can’t stop thinking about. Hope this didn’t end up sounding disrespectful and thanks for always sharing important Jewish viewpoints without undermining other social issues!"

First problem comes right with the opening sentence; "Hi, this a question abt ur opinion on what’s happening in Gaza just bc you’re one of my favourite blogs that goes deep into Jewish culture/issues."

Going to random Jews who do not post about the conflict and asking for their "stance" on it is part of a series of antisemitic loyalty tests and is extremely rude on top of it. Furthermore, speaking on Jewish cultures and issues and antisemitism is not the same as being experienced or knowledgeable on international conflicts.

And then your next paragraphs are of course riddled with anti-Israeli biases and examples that you've been listening to/reading propaganda uncritically, such as "wanting a more inclusive Israel" and in your more recent ask saying things like "I do understand that the whole concept of pushing for an Israel/jewish ethnostate is very much entwined with the history of Jewish culture and the antisemitism endured through different times". So you clearly have a basic lack of knowledge about both Israel and the conflict in general along with Zionism itself.

But, again, that's not an area I talk about much. If any of the folks who do talk about it, see this and want to go into it, please do! Just to repeat here, you shouldn't have been asking me in the first place.

Then, this part here, showed me that you have a history of dismissing antisemitism as Jews being overly sensitive "I always just accepted it as it’s probably got a lot more antisemitic undertone when it’s a Jew that hears it." And then that was compounded by your closing insult, "thanks for always sharing important Jewish viewpoints without undermining other social issues!"

And that closing insult told me that I had woefully failed in sharing any information about antisemitism at all. "Sharing important Jewish viewpoints without undermining other social issues". Jewish "viewpoints" and antisemitism are just as important as any other sort of bias. Pointing out antisemitism and sharing stories about antisemitism does not, and can not, undermine other social issues. It is not lesser. Honestly, I'm still kind of livid over that shot.

[screamingfromuz]

weird how you reblog posts saying Israel was founded on genocide while also reblogging posts saying the IDF has some measure of honor. like did you see the video of how they shot an Israeli citizen thinking he was Palestinian? Yuval Doron Castleman wa shis name, and the video is not hard to find. the had his hands up in the air, and he was shot multiple times. this happened in the past 24 hours. was there a specific point where the state of Israel became good?

you talk about Jewish people feeling unsafe around anti-Israel talk, but do you ever wonder if people of color feel unsafe around you, and your excusing of ceuel and dehumanizing police forces?

you are very funny to me, you kind of people little anon. So full of yourself yet cannot comprehend complex concepts of grey morality.

I don't fully agree with everything I reblog, I reblog things I believe are important to talk about.

The founding of Israel has several faces that should be acknowledged. It was both a victory to an indigenous land back movement and offered a desperately needed sanctuary for hundred of thousands that would flee, and horrible disaster to another indigenous group. This does not contradict. For peace to exists we must acknowledge the co existence of those narratives. Horrible things were done in 1947-1949, by everyone involved (Britian, Israel, Palestinians, Jordan, Egypt, Syrian, Lebanon), and ignoring or diminishing it is foolish. On the other side, blowing it up is just as stupid and destructive.

using the correct term is important, as using the wrong terms might leads fools such as yourself to misunderstand the problem, and worsen the actual problem by "trying to help".

the IDF takes extreme measures to be careful with civilian life while simultaneously being careless with it. Again, both things are true as the same time.

Me saying that I do not consider the actions in Gaza genocide, does not mean I agree with all of them. as explained in this post (and it various reblogs), the use of the word "Genocide" is done as a way to shut down conversations and vilify Israel. The things that are happening are horrific and I hate it, I mourn every death. But as I refuse to call this a genocide, any criticism I will have will be either dismissed or twisted and used against me. For that reason, I limit my criticism to Israeli circle and the real world.

I saw the video, of course I did. And what do you want me to say? that it is horrific? That I knew that something like this was gonna happen at some point? The soldiers fucked up, they will be trialed for that. This are problems that stem from militarized society that I fight against.

Israel is a state. It is not bad or good in your simplistic moral scale, like any other country on the planet. But Israel is my home, and I would not abandon if even if it is fucked up in here. There have been 9 months of protests before the war, people are still protesting and sighing petitions and working to build a better future here, for all of us. just like the people in Poland and in Hungary, we want a better country. The point is that you don't care, you don't want Israel to exist. You are calling or erasing Israel from the map without understanding the devastating consequences of such action. You don't care about our effort and our criticism unless you can twist if to the support of the eradication of Israel.

what you fail to understand, is how much your "anti-Israel" talk is toxic, destructive and full of antisemitism. Of course we feel unsafe! you are not criticizing Israel, you are calling for it's destruction and to the horrible consequences to the Jewish people that will follow.

I have talked about this, many Jewish and Israeli talked about it, but the amount of hate a vitriol your kind spew, the silencing methods you employ does not leave a place to our criticism. Nuanced opinions of the systems of violence, the militarization of the Israeli society, about the ties between culture and crime, of neglect, those are swept aside as they do not satisfy your "Israel bad" criteria.

Understanding the actions taken and explaining them is not endorsing or supporting said actions. it's called having an understanding.

I understand that this ask is a result of your underdeveloped moral compass, and truly hope you would be able to develop a healthy one little anon.

You don't know me, you see fractions of me through a screen, pieces of opinions I share on this wretched hell hole in hope of a good constructive criticism, in hope that by speaking out people will feel less alone.

for summery anon, life is more complex then your little fanfiction version of it. I hope you grow out of this mindset.

#I swear that so many of you cannot hold complex thoughts even if your life are dependent on that #people are stupid #israel #palestine #antisemitism #faulty moral compass #ask uz

[hollytanaka]

I’m mostly typing this for myself to help process and organize my thoughts but… feel free to read if you want, especially if you have been annoyed lately too.

I’m cutting my ties with Call of Duty as a fan of the games.

Prepare for my unsolicited thoughts under the cut:

This game has always had shady politics and racial discourses. This is known, lol. It has always depicted Arabs, Eastern Europeans, and Latin Americans as caricatures, even if sometimes they sometimes succeeded in portraying their countries as being the victims of European and U.S. imperialism. But in light of the rapid intensification of violence toward Palestinians with the genocide in Gaza, this tendency just leaves a worse taste in my mouth. While the gameplay and plot structure for the new BO game next year will probably be better than MWIII, I have low hopes with how they’ll portray the goddamn Gulf War. The fact they've added an Israeli operator called "Doc" to MWIII in this particular moment in history tells me all I have to know about where Activision stands as a company.

Furthermore, the last Modern Warfare campaign was so bad, it just signaled to me once and for all that Activision does not care about the future of their games or the legacy of any of their previous good games. I’ve mostly been playing Zombies, not even traditional MP / Warzone. But even then, it’s easy for me to get burnt out playing Zombies. And Zombies is not worth the 100 dollars I paid thinking the campaign would be more enjoyable. And season’s 1 battle pass that came with the 100-dollar edition of the game is awful in my opinion.

Not to mention, the voice actors of both the Modern Warfare and Black Ops series have been either totally racist or highly indifferent about the genocide in Gaza. First, Barry Sloane's tone-deaf Beatles post about "peace" he posted on October that he quickly deleted was more insensitive than I think he even realizes. Samuel Roukin liking a racist article that equates calls decolonization as a "false narrative" was despicable. Of course, that article targets Palestine specifically in its racism, but it also indirectly charges all Third World countries with its accusation of their independence and claims to sovereignty as being "a false narrative." As someone who is of both Latin American and Asian descent and whose countries of origins had to fight for independence more than twice (!!), I cannot accept that.

Then Claudia—a woman of Lebanese descent—and Elliot—a queer black man—encouraging and offering condolences to an ex-IOF soldier was downright evil. The IOF actively bombs Lebanon as part of their current genocidal campaign. It has waged brutal wars against the Lebanese people in the 1980s & 2000s [x] [x]. And it has carried out both anti-Black violence [x] and sexual violence—including against Palestinian men and women [x] [x], and it engages in its frequently-exposed pinkwashing [x]. Rather than allying with Lebanese, queer, and Black people who have been victims of Israeli/Zionist violence, Claudia & Elliot as people with major platforms instead are disappointingly choosing to legitimize Zionist propaganda.

I don't know a lot about Julian, Warren, Neil or Alain's stances on this genocide, but I never take silence in the face of genocide or war to be a good sign. Lastly, since Oct 7, María Elisa Camargo (more like caga'o) posted her support for Israel, equating Palestinian existence and resistance with "terrorism." I already did not like her for engaging in indigenista discourses and tropes and for seemingly being very nonchalant about playing the role of a narco-terrorist, trying to girl-bossify a very real source of fear & terror to contemporary Latin American and Mexican people's lives. This was not surprising for her, but it's still worth highlighting.

In terms of Black Ops actors, the former actor for Frank Woods also made incredibly shitty comments in a live stream about the genocide, talking about a so-called "Middle Eastern mentality," (essentializing all Middle Easterners, really), practically equating all Palestinians with Hamas, and roughly stating that people keep on going further back in history to justify their acts of violence—and I'm sure he was not just referring to Israelis weaponizing the Holocaust to commit atrocities against Palestinians. Like many other people, he gives the impression that he dismisses Palestinians and Arabs as incapable of producing a coherent political thought, and that they only resort to violence out of instinct or because of their religion (which is a gross idea—Islam is not a religion of violence at all!)

Again, I didn't have much expectations for Call of Duty to be anti-Zionist, let's be real. But I see these actors as creatives whose literal jobs are to empathize with other people's stories and experiences as part of their work. The fact that they're trained to put themselves in another person's shoes but are incapable of putting themselves in the shoes of Palestinian people right now, when nearly 20,000 have been recorded as killed—and many more injured or displaced—is very telling.

Anyone who knows this blog knows I have formed a lot of beef with other COD blogs for stuff like fanfic tropes, sexual politics, and about the idea of watching playthroughs vs. playing the game. For once, I'm actually relieved and oddly glad most of this fandom has rallied around the idea that Palestine is not the villain, and that we almost all understand that what Israel's doing is unacceptable, and that these actors and creative industry workers have a duty as humans to stand with victims of genocide and to call out crimes against humanity. For this, I actually have to commend this fandom. We're so trivial about shit like fanfic tropes and headcanons, but I'm glad we have our heads on straight for things that truly matter—like real life war and mass violence.

Honestly, the last straw today—although much minor in its gravity compared to genocide apologism—was Barry's childish behavior toward COD fans on twitter who expressed that they agreed with Christopher Judge's joke at The Game Awards last night that the MWIII campaign was too short. You do not get to talk down, mock, or be childish to your fans when they give you feedback on a public platform as an actor. Judge did not even attack the quality of the game or the VAs' performances—he only joked about the game's super short length. Yet, Barry chooses to act out on Twitter because of these harmless jokes. He seems to care more about protecting his ego as "Captain Price's actor" than about the quality of the game or story that fans are receiving and sometimes paying upwards of 100 dollars for.

I thought to myself, okay, this is just one actor letting his ego get to him. That's not that extraordinary. But the fact that COD devs on Twitter today also starting getting defensive about the jokes and trying to excuse the shitty game they produced? That truly showed me that the horrible launch of the campaign and of MP that happened with MWIII was not a learning opportunity for these studios or devs, but rather only made them stick their heads further up their own asses.

I have little faith in this franchise and honestly am not enjoying it, both in terms of game play and the political discourses coming from its creators. After the Season 1 BP is completed (because I fucking paid for it—sadly), I will be planning to uninstall and shelf the game. If I ever play a COD game in the future, it'll be after it goes on a sale because I won't be paying full price. But the thought of giving this company any more money turns me the fuck off right now.

I also realize I'm co-admin for @dailycallofduty and I will still be participating in running it. I'll be promoting the actors' signings less and promoting the game's new content less. Nonetheless, I'll still be reblogging posts that dailycallofduty is tagged in, like art, graphics, and gifs. On my personal blog, I'll still be reblogging COD gifs that I'm tagged in by friends & mutuals. Just don't be expecting more gifs from me. Not that there were many great scenes to make gifs from this new game anyway.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading.

Here are some useful ways to advocate for Palestinians:

Donate to Doctors Without Borders, where in Gaza they are providing medical and psychological assistance to people affected by the ongoing conflict.

Tell Congress: Support the Ceasefire Now Resolution (call now w/ a script)

Donate to Palestine Legal, an org dedicated to defending and advancing the civil rights and liberties of people in the US who speak out for Palestinian freedom.

Donate to National Students for Justice in Palestine, which supports over two hundred Palestine solidarity organizations on university campuses across occupied Turtle Island (U.S. and Canada).

Read DecolonizePalestine's Reading List to expand your knowledge on all things Palestine

Find a Palestine Protest near you.

Support the BDS Movement, a Palestinian-led movement for freedom, justice and equality that calls for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel until it complies with international law and universal principles of human rights.

#mari.txt #cod #call of duty #cod discourse

[hawkinsschoolcounselor]

Hello. I'm conflicted and don't know what to do so I've decided to turn to you, the Byler fandom's school counselor, for advice. Some people who I consider to be my friends said I must no longer ship Byler since both actors are Jewish and one of them is a Zionist so shipping them means supporting genocide.

I googled the word Zionist and learned that even lots of nice and peaceful Jews identify as Zionists so I was confused and asked my mom and she said that my friends were being anti semitic, but when I told them that they said they think my mom supports genocide too and that I mustn't fall for western propaganda and that their opinion isn't anti semitic but realistic.

They even showed me videos of people in Gaza being attacked by the army of Israel and it was horrible. But now I don't know what to do believe anymore. My mom's always been a nice and peaceful woman and I love her and Byler has always been my comfort ship. I'm still not fully convinced that my mom, Noah and Finn are bad people or that the things Noah's said and done automatically make him an evil right winger, but I've seen the videos. Why would the people who post them make all of that up and why would my friends lie to me anyways?

I'm sorry. I know it's a lot, I just wanted to get it off my chest and right now I feel like have no one to talk to irl.

I really didn't want to get too deep into this, but, as a counselor, how can I ignore such a plea.

First off, forget anything anyone has told you about good or evil. Those are social constructs designed to idealize and dehumanize, respectively. Everyone is capable of actions that we would consider to be such things. However, people tend to pigeonhole anyone who is considered "other" into the evil category, while holding up their own group as good. This is not something exclusive to any culture, really. Humans, in general, are tribal. The only thing that's changed over the years is how we've defined our tribes.

Palestinians are not evil. Israelis are not evil. However, both sides have done awful things to the other despite there being numerous people on both sides who simply want peace. This leads to propaganda on both sides where actions are cherry picked in order to demonize the other side in the public mind. Why has Hamas been able to hold power despite people not wanting war? They promise to protect against the "evil" Israelis. Why do right-wing war mongers hold on to power in Israel? They promise to protect against the Hamas terrorists. It's a cycle that leaders on both sides use to prop up their own power at the cost of innocent lives.

Zionism is not, in and of itself, an evil thing. I'm not going to make or endorse any calls for the destruction of Israel, even if I think some major changes need to be made in order to guarantee a peaceful future. However, I do feel like this ardent defense of Israel's existence is often used as an excuse to engage in horrible actions against the Palestinian people. Zionism only becomes a problem when it's used as an excuse to subjugate and persecute Palestinians. Similarly, on the other side, the Palestinians who support groups like Hamas are willing to do anything and everything to destroy Israel. This is not ok, either, as the only difference in the two mentalities is that one side currently has a lot more power than the other.

The only way through this is for the two sides to stop seeing each other as a faceless, less-than-human "other." These are two groups of people who have become so desensitized to acts of hate and systematic extermination that they're willing to commit such things against each other. It doesn't help that their supporters around the world also see anyone who disagrees with them or supports the other side as horrible monsters. I personally see all the recent vitriol and bile being spewed, whether is be against Noah or anyone else, as performative outrage. People want to be seen as taking a side, but it's more for their own sense of self-satisfaction than anything else. It does neither side any good to attack someone who doesn't have any real power in the matter.

I don't personally agree with what Noah has done, even if I understand where he's coming from. He's a man who has recently undergone deep engagement in his cultural and religious identity, making a trip to Israel among that, so it's not hard to see why he'd be defensive of his culture after the Hamas invasion. In such a delicate situation, though, it's not a good idea to lose sense of humanity. I don't think he hates the Palestinian people or their plight, but he just wasn't considering that point of view when defending his own culture.

It's honestly not unlike how many people who support Palestine have ignored the fact that Hamas killed and kidnapped a lot of Israeli civilians in the initial attacks. Yes, the disregard for safety of Palestinian civilians in the Israeli counterattack is deplorable, but invoking one without the other is discounting the humanity of the other side. I don't think Palestinian protestors support the deaths and kidnapping of Israeli civilians (or I hope not, at least), but, like Noah and others on the other side, they aren't considering that aspect of the conflict when arguing for the rights of their own side.

This is why I say that perspective and nuance are important to consider in this situation. Both sides are so hyper-focused on their own, that confirmation bias is easy to fall into. Every atrocity by the "enemy" only proves your point, meanwhile any atrocity by your own is conveniently ignored. This doesn't make the regular people on either side "evil" or "bad." We're human; we fall into bias on the regular. We're also easily manipulated by those who need our support to stay in power. Make no mistake, both the Israeli government and Hamas are engaging in propaganda to influence people.

I don't think you're a bad person. I don't think your mom is a bad person. I don't even think that the people attack Noah or others are bad people (even if I have no desire to read the hate and vitriol). Even the people I've seen who have said things about how Israel shouldn't exist are not bad people. They've all just become so immersed in their own side that they no longer see the other side as thinking, feeling people anymore. That's what needs to change here. It's just not what the leaders on either side want since seeing enemies as people tends to make us not want to hurt them anymore.

tl;dr: Nobody is a bad person for supporting one side or another in this. It's not like either side has clean hands. However, we all need to take a step back to think about why this is happening and to see that the "other side" is made up of human beings, too.