#Jewish people deserve to have land where they are safe to go to if there is another rise in antisemitic attacks in their current home | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

jewishvitya · 6 months

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[This post was originally written in response to someone tagging me and claiming that a free Palestine would mean all Israeli Jews will be kicked out and where will I go, and how they can't understand why I'm so against Israel being our ethnostate. OP blocked me, so I'm reposting with a few edits, because I already wrote this and I might as well.]

Look. I understand your mentality. We're traumatized by a history of violence against us. We were shown that so many in the world want us dead, and so many others won't stop them. I get it. But I refuse to let myself silently become the face of similar oppression for other people.

Israel benefits from antisemitism and maintains myths that got Jewish people killed in the past, like double loyalty. It weaponizes it for propaganda reasons. It's supported by antisemitic Christian zionist organizations with terrifying motivations. It started out with violence not only against Palestinians but against Jews too. Israel isn't motivated by our safety, it abuses that idea. It manipulates and weaponizes our trauma to make us feel justified in causing so much suffering to innocent people.

You're right that I'll have nowhere to go if I'm kicked out of here. This is where I was born. My parents come from other countries that I won't feel safe in. But all of this is hypothetical. The ethnic cleansing and genocide of Palestinians is not hypothetical, it's REALITY. It's happening RIGHT NOW. And I don't understand how, as a Jewish person who knows what this kind of suffering and loss of life means, you seem unable to prioritize that. I tell you I'm witnessing a genocide happening right next to me and you keep telling me "but what if they hurt you instead."

The assumption that Palestinians will pull some sort of reverse ethnic cleansing against us is racist. This assumption is the reason Israel feels comfortable calling the carpet bombing of a civilian population "self defense." Killing them based on a this is not self defense, it's a racially motivated crime against humanity.

And I'm calling it an assumption because I'm not willing to pull from the Hamas charter that they've since replaced. Hamas isn't Palestinians. The only reason they became this powerful is Israeli funding, and Israeli violence giving Hamas free PR as the only ones who will stand up to the state that will keep them trapped and dying.

We control every aspect of their lives. Israel created a place that breeds radicalization. No group of people, living under the conditions forced on Palestinians, would be peaceful. They would fight back. Because peaceful attempts to have the human rights that Israel denies them got nothing. We stomped on every single one. We blocked all other routes and left them with only violence, which Israeli politicians have been using as an excuse for over 15 years to make a show of force with military campaigns whenever they wanted a boost in popularity. We created living conditions with such low life expectancy that half of the population is children because so few adults survive. They don't deserve this. No one deserves this.

Palestine was a land with people living in it. One plot of land can create multiple groups of people, especially when we've been separated for 2000 years. Our connection to this land does not cancel out theirs. Removing them to create our own country could never be right. It's not an argument saying that our connection to Israel gives us the right to move here to live ALONGSIDE Palestinians. That's not what we wanted. We wanted a country that enforces Jewish majority and legally prioritizes Jews. You're justifying this when I repeatedly state that the only way for it to exist is through ethnic cleansing and genocide. There's no way to make this concept into a reality without killing, displacing, and oppressing whoever's left in various different ways, from apartheid to other kinds of discrimination.

I'm not against safety for us. I want to be safe. I want my children to grow in a safe world where we can be openly and joyfully Jewish. I'm not willing to pay for that with the lives and freedoms of other people.

So I will be loud about this: Palestinians deserve to be free in every part of their homeland, even if it's our ancestral homeland too.

If safety for us means we're the ones committing the genocide, maybe we should rethink what safety looks like.

I'm terrified for the lives of millions of people in Gaza. Right now, all I can think about is this, and it baffles me to see people so willing to transfer the horrors of our history to other people.

I had a lovely conversation in DMs in response to the first post, about how zionism encourages us to isolate rather than build bridges in the places where we live all over the world. We can't ignore the way antisemitism saturates culture, but we should also remember the places where Jewish communities thrived for centuries, the places where our neighbors protected us. We're hated, and we're loved. Each form of oppression is unique, so no other group experiences what Jewish people do exactly, but we're not alone. We have a long and rich history of solidarity with other marginalized communities and involvement in liberation movements. We're actively working to make the world safer, and we have people fighting with us. I'm just participating in this fight where I am. The struggle for liberation is a human struggle. You can't use the trauma of antisemitism to silence me about other kinds of bigotry.

Never again. To ANYONE.

#riki babbles

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laineystein · 5 months

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How do you make peace with the IDF storming into hospitals and UN schools? How do you make peace with the news that the IDF opened fire on Israeli citizens on October 7th? Why do the Palestinians deserve to be chased out of their homes since 1948? Do you know about Rachel Corrie? Do you know that the IDF has killed a record breaking amount of journalists? I don't understand how you can be so close to this tragedy and act like it is anything other than genocide.

You make peace when you understand international law and learn that the only war crimes being committed are being committed by Hamas. We’re not storming hospitals or schools. International law also states that as soon as a faction begins using an area for military purposes, it is no longer protected. It is no longer a “civilian” area, even if civilians still reside there. So many sources (that notably hate Israel and Jews) have come out confirming that Al Shifa is Hamas HQ. Many sources have come out confirming that Hamas is using schools to store weapons and indoctrinate children *and* that NGOs like the UN have turned a blind eye.

You make peace when you learn to educate yourself instead of falling victim to jihadist propaganda. The “Israelis killed their own people on October 7th” lie has been debunked. No sources could be found confirming that and the IDF and the Israel Police both came out saying that was factually inaccurate. If you know reporting out of those groups you know that when we’ve fucked up, we admit it. This was all a fabrication to excuse terrorism and continue to wrongfully demonize Israel.

You make peace when you deal with actual facts. There was a two-state solution planned before 1948 and then four countries attacked Israel and we defeated them all which lead to what y’all refer to as the Nakba. BUT!!! The Jewish population did not want their Arab neighbors to leave. Arab nations encouraged the Nakba. Arab nations have always used the plight of the Palestinian people to further their agenda of demonizing Israel in an attempt to eradicate it and kill Jews. But if we’re going to talk to about being expelled from your homes - Jewish families were expelled from Gaza in 2005 when we gave the land to the Palestinians. Do you care about that? Where are the Jews in Iraq? Yemen? Afghanistan? Syria? Sudan? Morocco? Feel free to talk about how those people were ethnically cleansed from those countries - but if that doesn’t interest you then your activism might be performative and you might just hate Jews.

I know it is not genocide because I’m so close to it. I spent all of last week ensuring the safe passage of Palestinians out of Gaza, into the South. I had Palestinians thank me. I administered aid to Palestinian children and the elderly. I watched them pray to Allah that Hamas would go away. What happened to my people on October 7th was an attempted genocide - something that Hamas has admitted to. What we are doing in Gaza is working to prevent a genocide, one of Hamas’ own doing.

Please read a book. Please get off social media. Please stop regurgitating lies fed to you by influencers and antisemites that did not care about this conflict before October 7th. You clearly need to be educated and messaging an IDF soldier on anon isn’t the way to do it. I have better shit to do. Yalla bye✌🏼

#⚔️🇮🇱#the schmucket continues to grow in size #y’all have lost the plot

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edenfenixblogs · 3 months

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Hi, I have a question and you seem like a really balanced person, so here goes: I want to join a drag king collective, and I’m so excited about it, but the king leading it has some Interesting views. It’s the kind of thing where it’s constant “fuck Zionists” and what feels like extremely performative activism (Palestinian flag in bio but no actual fundraising/peace efforts, posting misinformation/irresponsible rhetoric etc.) I’m scared that if I join it I’ll be treated different, and even more scared that my friends will think the antisemitism justified (they aren’t great at understanding what antisemitism looks like these days). Idk what to do about the fear of someone being antisemitic because I don’t want it to stop me from doing what I want, but I also know it’ll devastate me if it does happen. If you can offer any insight I’ll be very grateful.

Hi friend!

I'm really glad you reached out to me. Not because I pretend to know all the answers, but because I love that we can all rely on each other during this time.

Unfortunately, whether you sign up for this is ultimately a matter of your own personal priorities and how you are prone to handle confrontation.

Personally, if it was me, I would join. I'm not afraid of defending myself (but I very much used to be, so no shame if you're not there yet). If I wanted to explore my gender identity through performance (if indeed that is what you are doing. I've never been personally drawn to perform drag, so I cannot pretend to know exactly why one might start. But I don't think I'm out of line to assume that it involves some kind of exploration or critique of gender both personally and societally) I certainly wouldn't let antisemites be the reasons I didn't go for it.

If the Anti-Zionist jerk starts coming at you, you can simply say "OK, great. Real quick question: What's a Zionist?" And watch him squirm to say anything real or substantive other than "a Jew." He might say, "They're basically Nazis!" or "They're people who want Palestinians to suffer!" or some other confidently incorrect hyperbolic statement. If he does so, you can say, "Oh! Well, then that's definitely not what I am," and move on.

If he says something slightly more substantive, like, "They're people who think Jews should get to take land from Arabs/Palestinians in order to have a Jewish ethnostate!" You can use the same response as above. But you can also say, "Oh, weird. That's definitely not what I thought it was. Which Zionist Jews have said this, exactly? Cuz I heard it was something completely different." Remember, their goal isn't actually to educate you or help anyone or even to provide limited but factual information. The goal is to shame you into aligning with their self-righteous point of view. That is not an effective tactic when you respond with QUESTIONS instead of outright CORRECTIONS. Making people explain themselves is a great way to defang a bad faith accusation like that.

Finally, they might say, "It's someone who supports Israel." In this case, either of the above methods will work. Or you could question even further. Here's an example of a chat:

You: Supports Israel how?

Jerkface: They want Biden to use our tax dollars to fund a genocide!

You: Oh, well then I'm definitely not a Zionist.

Jerkface: No, you don't understand! It's people who think that Jews can only be safe in a settler colonial apartheid ethnostate that justified its existence by crying about the Holocaust.

You: Well then I'm still not a Zionist. I don't know why you're assuming these things about me. But people should generally cry about the Holocaust. It was really bad thing that people did to Jews. Do you not think the Holocaust is a big deal?

Jerkface: Of course I think it was a big deal. That's why we all have to condemn THIS genocide. The Jews are the Nazis now.

You: I don't know. I don't think that' show Nazism works. But I definitely don't like genocide. If liking genocide makes a Zionist, then I'm definitely not whatever you're accusing me of.

Jerkface: No! I'm just saying that Zionists don't want a ceasefire. They're trying to kill all the Palestinians.

You: I don't know what to tell you then. Because that's still not me. Of course I want Hamas and Israel to both stop bombing each other.

Jerkface: No, Palestine is JUSTIFIED in bombing Israelis because of the oppression.

You: I think its weird that you're conflating Palestinians with Hamas. Are you saying that Palestinian civilians are bombing Israel as as a protest tactic? I thought for sure that Hamas, a terrorist organization, was the group responsible for Anti-Israeli violence. Personally, I've always though that most Palestinians just want to live in peace and don't support terrorism and violence. I don't know why it would harm Palestinians to suggest that both Israel and Hamas should end this conflict diplomatically rather than with violence.

Jerkface: Right! That's why we need to tell Biden to call for a ceaseefire!

You: OK, but I still don't know if you're saying Israel should just stop firing or that Israel and Hamas should stop bombing. I definitely want everyone to stop bombing each other. But I'm not really sure why Hamas would care about what Biden says.

etc...

I call this the "Rabbi method," because when you go to a rabbi, they never really give you an answer to your question. They answer with other questions designed to get them to see their own answer.

Either Hamas is a terrorist group unfairly targeting Israeli civilians and launching bombs into civilian territories--something that is clearly bad and which makes average Palestinian civilians innocent victims (this is the truth btw) that require both Hamas and Israel too lay down their arms. OR Palestinians and Hamas are interchangeable terms and the ongoing oppression of Palestinians have driven them to violent, offensive, armed resistance--which you may or may not agree with as a revolutionary tactic (To be clear, this is NOT TRUE OF PALESTINIANS. PALESTINIANS ARE NOT TERRORISTS AND DO NOT DESERVE TO BE BOMBED). Palestine IS NOT HAMAS. Hamas is bombing Israeli civilians.

Israel is retaliating with extreme force and prejudice against a terrorist organization in a way that is devastating the lives and futures of Palestinian Civilians, who very much deserve for all sides to lay down their weapons and address their mutual grievances diplomatically and responsibly. What is occurring right now is a messy, ugly, brutal war that is killing and traumatizing all civilians in the Levant. And a one-sided ceasefire leaves the side that ceases firing dead. A ceasefire means that EVERYONE must cease firing.

Unless Jerkface has a plan for how to ensure the safety of Palestinian civilians from Hamas that also includes Israeli safety from Hamas, asking for Israelis to simply lay down all their weapons without any guarantee of safety is asking for a nation of mostly Jews to die without putting up a fight. And wanting Arab Israelis and also Jews not to die is not what Zionism means. It's not even what pro-Israel means. That's just called not being violently antisemitic, actually.

Israelis aren't mindless Zionist Nazi Monsters who get off on killing Palestinian babies. Palestinians aren't Noble Savages who have never done anything wrong as individual people and who are inherently morally superior to every single Israeli because they were born Palestinian. Both Israelis and Palestinians are complex, global micro-minorities who have both perpetrated tremendous harm to one another over the course of several decades, and neither group is going anywhere. Neither group deserves for its people to die. Neither group is only "worth helping" if western onlookers categorize them as "innocent" and "good." If someone's activism isn't geared toward respecting the inherent dignity of Palestinians and Israelis regardless of either group's history, then that person is not engaging in activism. If someone is asking you to support that cause because their chosen cause involves perfect cinnamon rolls being targeted by pure evil enemies, then they are not asking you to join them in activism. They are not even asking you to join them in a political reality. What they are asking is for you to join their toxic fandom.

And reducing this conflict down to simplistic fandom rhetoric is not going to help anyone and is frankly offensive to all Jews, Israelis, and Palestinians--all of whom deserve to be seen for the traumatized, suffering, imperfect people they are.

People don't earn support by being good. They inherently deserve support, because they are people.

All that said, maybe it's not emotionally useful for you to engage in this group. Maybe this type of conflict is too much for you. That's OK, too.

And while I would never let antisemitism take away an opportunity for me to fulfill a dream, I will say that my experience of Antisemitism during this time is 100000000% responsible for making me realize that the dreams I had before this experience need to evolve. I no longer wish to be in the town where I live. I wish to be home with my family closeby, because when the chips are down, that's who matters. The idea of moving back to my home state was unthinkable to me before October. Now? I cannot get out of here fast enough. There's nothing I want that is exclusive to my current location anymore. The community I thought I'd built for myself is gone. And while antisemitism didn't take them from me, it sure as fuck showed me that I never had it in thee first place.

If you're going to join this collective, be sure its worth the fight. And if it's not worth the fight, then look for a place that is. Exploring your gender identity freely should not come at the cost of living your ethnic and religious identities openly. Ever.

Don't trade one closet for another. You deserve more than that. We all do.

hope that helps @kit-chaos-doodle

#ask me stuff #kit-chaos-doodle #jumblr #advice #antisemitism #leftist antisemitism

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nightwingsnightblog · 5 months

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It’s okay to change your identity over time! I am queer, I know what it’s like to try and find a label that fits you. Current day Palestinians used to consider themselves as Syrian or Jordanian, or just as Palestinian Arabs. And there were Palestinian Jews, and Palestinian Christians, and Palestinian Druze, and so on! If you lived in that region known at that time as Palestine, you were Palestinian. All people have the right to self-determination and a safe and comfortable life. It’s okay that the Palestinians call themselves Palestinians, even though it is the colonized name of Israel. Even Jews used that name. But now the Jewish Palestinians and diaspora have reclaimed their land and chosen to identify it and themselves as Israel. It was after this point, in around 1964-1968 that the current day Palestinians chose to become the Palestinian People as a nation. Unfortunately, this was done in some part to undermine the Jewish right to Israel and self-determination, fanning the flames on an impossible conflict. Some Jews even forfeit their right to self determination out of love and respect for the Palestinian people. It does not mean that Jews do not have the right to self-determination, and it does not mean that Jews are not indigenous to Israel. It is a testament to the depth of humanity that we can all possess.

Did you know that I am sick of having to speak like this? That you afford me no humanity, but I have to get onto my damn knees to placate you? Of course I believe in the humanity of every single person on this planet, of course I believe we all deserve, by merit of existing, to have our basic human rights met, and to go well beyond them as well. The fact that the majority of the left cannot hold two truths in their mind at once is sorely disappointing. Imagine what the world could be if you stopped yelling and started caring. I have been doing a lot of learning recently, about Israel, and Palestine, and the history, and the claims. I keep coming back to the same conclusion that I have come to for years. We both have a right to Israel, to live there and be free there. But how can we live there and be free there when organizations like Hamas and the general antisemitism of the Arab and Muslim world governments leaves Jews vulnerable to violence and dispossession time and time again. We have been facing war, genocide, and expulsion from before ‘Palestine’ was even a name. Show some compassion, show some grace.

Find me a solution that isn’t a globalized intifada or driving the Jews into the sea. Show me a Palestine where there is safety and equality and human rights. Show me true indigenous solidarity. Israel is not perfect. But it is a hell of a lot closer than many Arab countries. Maybe if you shared support instead of hatred, we could move forward to a better version of a mixed country like Israel already is, even thought the majority are Jews. This doesn’t seem to bother you when it is majority Muslim or Arab countries that Jews were ethnically cleansed from by colonizing Muslim/Arabs. For some reason, it is the one place in the whole world that having a majority anything demographic is a problem, even though Jews are a worldwide minority everywhere but in the indigenous Jewish land. Or, we could have a two-state solution, like all the ones that never happened because of the hatred, and violence, and wars of the Arab world. Stop clutching your western pearls and open your eyes. It’s okay to change your identity, or your mind, over time.

#israel #palestine

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onetruesirius · 6 months

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I sit here and I watch the news about Gaza

and I think

shit, I need to get back to work;

it's toxic to just fixate on the news,

It's bad for my mental health.

I can't be irresponsible to myself

I have class in the morning.

I have exams next week...

But how can I turn a blind eye?

How can I not care

that nine thousand Gazan children are dead,

that the Israeli Occupation Force has dropped the equivalent of an atomic bomb

on a space about the size of the New York City metropolis,

that an episcopal church was bombed—

it was one of the oldest churches in the world,

that one of the oldest mosques in the region was destroyed

that hospitals are being shelled with doctors and patients still within,

that men are carrying pieces of their dead children out of houses in plastic grocery bags because there's no other way to carry that many pieces in their hands,

that over a million people were told to evacuate on bombed-out roads,

and then they were shot and bombed with USAmerican white phosphorus when trying to leave?

Do you know what white phosphorus does to a human body?????

Please google it.

And if you "don't want to see something like that"

Oh,

I want you to google it even more now.

just to be appropriately horrified.

How can I not see that the Israeli government doesn't see Palestinian people [THEIR people if we're going by statehood metrics, who were on that land when the BRITISH GOVERNMENT decided to make the state] as human beings,

that they'd do anything to slaughter Palestinians under the cover of radio silence so the world turns away?

And that men wail from minarets—

not to call their flock to holy prayer but

to speak messages of hope that god will save them,

to attempt to reach the outside world, when the information reaches the people at the edge of the strip, who have international SIM cards and can get the word out,

and to deliver news of where the bombs fall so that paramedics can know where to dig more bodies out—the bodies that aren't a bloody slurry sprayed across the streets and walls, anyways.

And that journalists are being executed en masse to hide the story.

And that men are being stripped naken and forced to sit on the ground for hours at a time, just like in Nazi Germany.

And I can't forget the fact that the United States, MY NATION, voted AGAINST a UN call for a ceasefire...

TWICE.

And that construction companies are already tearing down the old apartments to make room for new living arrangements for the colonisers, before the old buildings even stop burning.

And that settlers are coming into these abandoned homes and looting food and jewelry and desecrating prayer rugs.

And it isn't the fault of Jewish people.

I know that.

Jewish people deserve a place to be safe and free, wherever they are...

But this fact likewise does not require the creation of an ethnostate.

The implication that the only way for Jewish people to be safe is to kill everyone else... is it not in itself antisemitic?

I'm scared for the Palestinian people, and also for my Jewish diaspora friends.

They hate what's going on just as much as I do,

but they're going to get blamed by well-meaning Palestine supporters.

I know they will.

They know they will.

We all know that they will.

Another wave of antisemitism.

Another wave of islamophobia.

Another wave of killings.

Another wave of ethnic cleansing.

On it goes.

A little boy was already killed by his mother's racist landlord in Chicago. Stabbed 26 times.

Three college students were attacked and one was maimed for life.

Attacks against synagogues here in the US have only increased. Two people were shot, allegedly for a Free Palestine...

But we all know that the neonazis have been using this mess to stir the pot against Jewish people and boost their recruitment.

The Palestinian 2023/24 school year has been officially canceled going forward.

Because the enrolled students are dead or missing.

Because they were bombed with American ground-to-ground missiles.

We all know the missiles are American in origin.

Russia has its own genocide to attend to, and China doesn't care enough to give arms to anyone. And we know it's American White Phosphorus.

All the while, war profiteers in my nation get richer and richer,

richer and richer and richer,

and richer and richer and richer and richer and richer and richer—

and they'll laugh like the evil FUCKING pricks that they are

when Gaza gets bombed,

and they'll laugh like the evil FUCKING pricks that they are

when Jewish people get attacked in the streets,

because every act of violence

and every sentiment of hated

fills their pockets with more and more and more US-AMERICAN DOLLARS and GUNS and BOMBINGS and SHOOTINGS and HATRED and GOD BLESS AMERICA—

or something like that

I've signed petitions.

I've signed so many I've lost track of the ones I've signed and the ones I haven't, the ones for other countries that I can repost but can't sign or they might get tossed out.

I've donated money to relief organizations for when the borders re-open, because I'm an optimistic bastard like that.

I've sent emails.

I've sent... so many emails.

I've called all my Representatives in Congress.

I've spread news to as many of my friends as I can without them blocking me.

And still Gaza burns.

And still children are slaughtered, even during the fake ceasefire.

And still I have exams next week.

And still I think about how I really shouldn't fixate on this, because it affects my mood.

and it's been impacting my performance at school.

and it's been undoing months of work I've done with my therapist to try and disconnect from current events.

And still I think about how

"the current events"

rain down like hellfire on innocent mothers of dead children,

and children of dead mothers,

and sisters of dead brothers,

and brothers of dead sisters,

and fathers of dead babies,

and babies of dead fathers,

and teachers of dead students,

and students of dead teachers,

and churches and pastors,

and mosques and imams,

and hospitals and doctors,

and synagogues and rabbis,

and the fucking relief trucks that were filled with food and water.

And here I sit, and I don't know what to do about it????

And I wonder if this is all the point?

To make things worse and worse and worse and worse so that people are so unbearably exhausted from just trying to do the right thing

that they can't take care of themselves?

That they can't achieve upwards mobility?

That they can't make any difference at all for the things that matter most to them?

but I'm just one monkey...

one monkey can't solve systemic problems

that are baked into the roots of our society.

It's a first world problem, for sure. I have the privilege to be able to unplug from this and rest in my bed and not get bombed.

But I just want to make things better, for everyone...

I know that I can't do that.

But I wish I could

Oh, god—

I wish I could.

But I guess I'll just go to sleep.

After all

I have class in the morning.

#palestine #free gaza #free palestine #from the river to the sea palestine will be free #first world problems

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thatmezuzaluvr · 3 months

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to my all my friends who support palestine, and to all my friends who don’t,

i understand the need for zionism, the need for israel, and the frustration that comes with being jewish now. many people i know are only alive because of israel. there is truly no completely safe place for a jew to live, israel is the only place on earth where we don’t have to be afraid. we have so much history with eretz yisrael and love for all of israel.

however, i can’t help but see and hear the suffering of the palestinians. they have every right to be angry. we are a violent nation keeping them from their homes and taking their lives. how can any amount of our fear justify the violence against the palestinians? violence sustained shouldn’t have to equal violence perpetrated. children shouldn’t have to suffer the consequences of actions they don’t even understand.

why are we forgetting the love for life within judaism? it is so important to us that sustaining life comes before any other thing, any other commandment, any mitzvot. yet, we bomb and destroy.

there is no pride in violence and death should not be celebrated. and yet, we do. we feel as though we are justified in our actions and that palestinians deserve what is happening. we have no right. we are destroying human lives. we are destroying the land we once called home.

we are staying in israel. there isn’t anything that could make us leave our own land, but palestinians aren’t leaving either. it’s about time we start doing things differently and accepting that our neighbors are going to be permanent.

i want to ask you why? why can we do this? why has murder, terrorism, sexual violence, kidnapping, bombing, become the only option?

#jewish #jumblr #jew #jewblr #jewish tumblr #israel #palestine #anti zionisim #zionism #i/p #goyim welcome

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anyoldfandom · 3 months

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Why are you anti-Israel as a Jew? genuine question, I'm just curious as a non-Jewish person bc all my irl Jewish friends are pro-Israel

Okay so normally I don't really,,check my inbox so sorry for the late response anon, but thank you for the genuine curiosity! I'm glad you're coming to the table with an open mind.

I am going to put a disclaimer here, however: Jewish people are not the only people impacted by Israel's actions. We're not even the most impacted. I am going to give my perspective because it was asked for, but my biggest suggestion is to listen to Palestinian voices the most before you draw any conclusions, as they are the real victims in the center of Israel's actions.

As for my opinion, however - quite frankly, my dislike of the Israeli state comes from a few places. Yes, it is true that Jewish people lived in Israel in the past, and yes, it is a holy land - but I genuinely do not believe that the Israeli government has Jewish interests in heart. The common narrative that I've heard in a lot of spaces is that Israel is a safe place should the world turn against us again, but quite frankly...it's unrealistic. Not every Jew in the world can move to Israel. Only the wealthy Jews (and I can tell you, many Jews are not wealthy at all) would be able to flee, and the rest of us would be stuck where we are.

And that would be if Israel was not already filled with Palestinians. A phrase I and other Jews have used is "Not in our name".

The Israeli state is breaking international laws - yes, Hamas has also been condemned for breaking international laws, but the Israeli government is also a state. It is a government. A government that has a history of committing genocide - so much that South Africa is trying to sue them for war crimes.

And, to be frank, and I will admit my language is about to be very harsh - please know my anger is directed at the Israeli government, anon, and not you - but I do not want a fucking genocide in my name. I do not want other peoples to suffer because my people have in the past - Israel is not the answer, fighting real, actual antisemitism is. Making the entire world safe is the answer. I also hate that the government is claiming any criticism of Israel is antisemitic - I've spoken out against antisemitism in the past, consistently. I've written in concerns that people will use criticism of Israel in a way where they simply attack Jewish people, which is absolutely antisemitism, but holding a state responsible for their actions is not bigotry.

And, one more point - I do not think the allies of Israel are the allies of Jews. I can only speak as a US citizen, and not for any other country - but I do not, and have never, believed that my country is an ally of the Jewish people. I am constantly hearing antisemitic conspiracy theories being spread by politicians, and I heard the president claim that Israel would be the only safe place for Jews - supporting another genocidal country over the citizens he's supposed to be protecting, by suggesting the only place we will be safe is far away from America.

So, I don't support Israel. I don't support the murder of innocent Palestinians, the killing of journalists and children. I don't support the removal of people from their homes - and I'm frankly disgusted at those who would imply that I must run from my own home to be safe, because they refuse to be the change to keep my people safe.

I hope I explained my position well, anon. I really appreciate it when people, especially people not in the groups centered in a conversation, try to speak to both sides to at least understand all of the issue - though, don't just listen to me. As I said at the beginning, listen to Palestinian voices, as well - listen to the people living through these horrors. While Jews are centered in the conversation, it's important to remember that there are other victims here, who deserve to be listened to a whole hell of a lot more than me.

#Not as many sources as I'd like but frankly grabbing sources is mentally draining #I understand that I am not the people impacted by this the most but it is still exhausting when I am already suffering from #my seasonal depression #free palestine #I will not have a genocide in my name.#I will not have war crimes in my name.#We need to hold Israel accountable and if you want to help Jewish people work to make the world a better place for all of us #Challenge antisemitism when you see it question your own biases #But PLEASE if you get anything from this. It's to listen to Palestinians

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old-school-butch · 2 months

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‘But you misunderstand my argument - I don't actually think Israel is a decolonization project - I was responding to claims that Hamas' action is some form of resistance to 'settler colonialism' which, since Judaism as a faith is indigenous to the region, is nonsense.’

Except it’s not nonsense at all. The Zionist project was conceived to be a settling of the European Jewry in Palestine initially. No other groups who make claims to their people having lived in a place in the past to justify this kind of state building are taken seriously, nor would they be. This would be like the Roma population going to north India and attempting to set up a state by displacing the locals. They are genetically and ancestrally tied to that land, so why not them, too? Shall we all go back to where our ancestors of a couple centuries, even millennia in many cases, originated from? Is that the logic we defer to to decide what is and what isn’t settler colonialism?

"The Zionist project was conceived to be a settling of the European Jewry in Palestine initially"

The struggle for Jewish self-government goes back a liiiiiittle further than that. Maybe you've not read the Bible but you can track a straight line between 'the LORD said unto Moses, go in unto Pharaoh, and tell him, thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, let my people go' to 'By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion." which happened when the Bablyonian Empire rolled into town. Another four? five? empires later you finally have the Hasmoneansn and Maccabeans self-governments weakening under Roman rule and finally the fall of the second Temple era. Which led to approximately another 2000 years of attempting to return to Zion. But Jews remained living in the area the entire time, the goal of Zion is self-government, to create a nation safe for the Jewish people.

"No other groups who make claims to their people having lived in a place in the past to justify this kind of state building are taken seriously"

What do you think is happening in Myanmar? What do you think Nunavut self-government is about in Canada? The idea of a homeland is pretty old, but modern American politics has an overly simplified view of land claims - either you can prove you were the first humans there ever or you're a settler/colonist who doesn't deserve to be there.

Except when it's about Jews in Israel. When I point out that by this logic Jews have an old erclaim to the region than the later Arabian colonizers, then I'm told the history is either too old and doesn't count, or not real because there's no documentation going that far back in history, or the (actually far more realistic) argument there are a number of ethnic groups and religions that can track extremely long timelines in the same general region because the story of human history is older than our ability to write it down. So I agree with your last point, that while there are obvious impacts of colonialism and conquest, it gets really absurd to imagine that the only place anyone really belongs is wherever they're from 'originally'.

Anyway, Israel has only recently hardened its stance and officially became a 'Jewish state' - 20% of the population are Muslim and many Druze, Bedouin, Circassians and Christians live within its borders. I'm not happy about this recent change and I'm sure those minorities are not as well.

I'd characterize the Arab-Israeli conflict as mostly religious in nature, at its core, not ethnic or even territorial. Islamism is a trans-national movement with the goal of creating a caliphate as a super-state, something the surrounding Arab states find increasingly alarming as they search for stability, but they are content to let it grow in Palestine as long as Israel remains the focus of their grievances. If Israel ever falls, do you think there would be peace in the region? I don't. Look at the wall Egypt is building on their border with Gaza.

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will80sbyers · 5 months

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Hey anon I will respond to you as soon as I can in a more eloquent way but it will be a VERY long response because the argument in question is long and complicated, but as always I don't have anything against Jewish people and I want you ALL to feel safe everywhere in the whole world!!! I'm an atheist but it's very important to me to keep in mind the safety of everybody, Jewish people around the world AND Palestinians, you all have HUMAN rights and all of you deserve to live freely and be protected!!! My critique is about Israel as a government and as a system. I know that Zionism has been taught to y'all to be the only option and I understand what you are taking that as meaning that's exactly why I don't hate you or Noah either, I understand what you have been taught, but it shouldn't be the only option and it is not the only solution, it has been a bad idea from the start because people didn't go in a completely empty territory to create this new state. You have to keep in mind the context.

You deserve to feel safe in any state as do all the Palestinians that deserve their land back and to live in peace in a ONE STATE solution for everybody where you live together because all of you deserve to be protected. We all want peace and dignity as humans and to eliminate xenophobia in any form.

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contentment-of-cats · 1 year

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Seizure disorders and online bullying

A reminder landed in my inbox with a request that I not use their identity. It was important and something that I overlooked, but it deserves a post of its own, so here we go.

You can argue that gifs are a form of internet speech, and therefore covered by the first amendment, but there is a glaring exception to this where sending a gif is a hate crime in addition to stalking, bullying, or harassment. A gif sent with the intention of causing a seizure (also called an "epileptogenic gif"). These gifs are sent with the intent to target (malice aforethought) a certain class of people (in Eichenwald's case, a liberal of Jewish descent and a person with photosensitive epilepsy) in an attempt to induce a harmful seizure (great bodily harm).

In December of 2015, journalist Kurt Eichenwald was targeted by a Maryland man named John Rayne Rivello posting under the charming handle of jew_goldstein. Rivello sent a tweet containing an epileptogenic gif along with the message, "YOU DESERVE A SEIZURE FOR YOUR POSTS." As intended, it triggered a tonic seizure. Even the Epilepsy Foundation has been attacked with strobing gifs intended to cause seizures.

I do not have epilepsy, but I do get migraines and certain gifs will give me a bad one. Patterns, strobe and flickering, even moire patterns will knock me into a dark room for a few days.

People are both cruel and assholes, and this is the type of cruelty that needs reporting if it ends up in your inbox, DMs, or on your dash. There is a way to block such gifs from your inbox. In your blog settings, go to Ask, and turn off allowing asks with media. Tumblr does not have an option to stop gifs from autoplaying, and what might trigger a seizure in one person won't in another.

Stay safe and report this if it is targeted at you.

#bullying #harassment #asks #block media in asks

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drifting-pieces-blog-blog · 2 months

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hi, i hope i won't sound borderline hateful (and if i do so, i'm sorry), but given the context in which we all live in, your post misses the point a bit. hamas militants killed more than a thousand israeli civilians, an act of pure evil necessitating punishment. in the process of exacting that punishment israel killed at least 25 thousand people, not counting the wounded and the starving, most of them women and children, which is also an act of pure evil necessitating punishment. the jewish people's past is not the topic of discussion, the state of israel's future is. do countless people needlessly rope historical facts and fiction into the discourse as a way to justify their views on how the conflict should be resolved? yes. the problem is that by seriously engaging with the discussion of historic events you start sounding terribly similar to putin's interview to tucker carlson. like, yeah, sure, prince vladimir christened the eastern slavs a thousand years ago, but what exactly it has to do with the russian rocket that killed a dozen people in odesa yesterday, including several children? why are we wasting our time right now on reading and writing about babylonian captivity and british mandate again when people are being needlessly killed in their thousands by the idf?

You asked a question and legitimately asking questions is a good thing to do! It means you have oppinions but you are also open to discussion about things. I always respect a good question.

What was my post about? My post was about the history of Israel.

I also mentioned multiple times that the leaders of Israel are NOT on my or many people'sgood graces. Different leadership is needed. What is happening to the people of Palestine is not by any means deserved.

I also note that I don't agree with Hamas, because, as you noted, they are militants that did an act of evil.

And while we haven't heard much about this aspect in any media context: I have a pretty good idea that there is a good chance that Hamas could also be abusing their 'own' people of Palestine. If someone in charge can abuse someone else, there is a good chance they can abuse their own people. Much like the the leaders of Russia have historically abused their own people.

Now, I'm not going to get into the history of Russia (though it is a VERY interesting, long, and often scary read that I encourage anyone to do, so long as it's done with an objective lense). (Subjectively I'm going to outright call Putin an evil person that terrifies me and absolutely nothing he says or does is for the good of ANY people. It's also incredibly Stalinistic to approach his claims to land the way he does because he is cherry picking his own country's history.)

Did my history post manage to stay purely objective? No. Did I acknowledge that the Palestines ALSO have history there? Yes. But if people are crying "Colonizer" and demanding that Israel give back indigenous land and that Jews all get out of the whole state of Palestine, I felt that it was a good history lesson to know.

And my post IS about the history of the land and the people that have all lived there from the start.

But yes, the Jewish people's past IS a topic of discussion because it's incredibly relevant to the history of the land. Which was the point of my whole post.

And I also acknowledge that this is a difficult conflict to resolve because it has been going on for FAR longer than 70-80 years.

You have two sets of people that RIGHTFULLY have claim to the same land. How do you resolve that conflict?

Well, for starters, you stop asking foreigners to get involved to solve the problem.

Israel needs new leadership. Hamas needs to go away. The people of Palestine deserve to have their own land where they can feel safe without getting bombed for existing.

What we have going on is that we have a house that legally has ownership claims under two people and while they need to figure out how to divide and share and come together, outside forces that have selfish motives are screaming at both sides to just burn the house down or murder the other owners.

Learning about history is NEVER a waste. What people are doing is expecting the bombing to stop and then everything is going to come up roses. If the cease fire happened right now, while this would be a fantastic event, what do you want to happen next? THAT is the question. We still have a destroyed land, thousands upon tousands of people displaced, and outside forces screaming to just burn the house down.

Which is why if we want to help in any way, we need to support causes that are going to help rebuild the house and encourage actual peace talks to act.

Yes, we do need to get the killing to stop. We need the hostages back. We need the evil people in charge to be removed from the sitaution. But we also need to encourage mediation so that this doesn't keep happening.

So many people have been short sighted. What we need to do is to work on how to keep this from continuing to happen. How to address the heavy history in the room and how to make a place where both people can build a safe place to exist.

And I know that I've opened the door to a lot of people that just want to scream at me about what the idf is doing and disproportionate military response. I'm not saying I approve of the response or that it's warranted. I'm saying: Here is a history.

#Got asked #History is never a waste of time so long as you take the time to learn the FULL history

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jellybeanium124 · 6 months

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it's growing up knowing nobody really wants you or your people. it's growing up knowing your not-that-long-ago ancestors didn't have a national identity. they weren't polish or russian or lithuanian, they were jews from poland or russia or lithuania, because no country they lived in wanted them there. it's the loser of the latest war getting the territory where the jews lived, for centuries. it's growing up knowing people still want to shove you in the ovens. it's growing up knowing there's a tiny strip of land very far away that's the only place that will be safe forever. it's knowing you may have to go there if things get bad again. it's growing up knowing that people never saw jews as belonging to a national identity, that they saw you as disloyal and untrustworthy, weird and unknown and different.

it's celebrating every may that that tiny little country has lasted one more year. that tiny little country younger than your grandfather. that despite its neighbors trying to eradicate it over and over again, it's still there. that despite so many different groups trying to eradicate us for hundreds of years, we're still here. we're still alive.

it's passover seders. this year we are slaves, next year may we be free. this year we are here, next year in the land of israel.

it's growing up with two years. 2000-and-something. 5700-and-something.

it's a story of a people who will not die, who will find spaces to be themselves. who will have seders and celebrations even in the fucking camps.

you will never kill us all. you will never stop us from making spaces for ourselves.

I hate that the government has done so much horrible shit and makes it hard to say "this tiny country deserves to exist." I really do. It'd be so much easier if the government was a city on a hill, was the most perfect government to ever exist. but it's not. and when has anything ever been easy for us?

(and, let's be honest, even if it never did anything wrong, people would still have issues with the mere situation of a jewish state existing)

#I'm not tagging this

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