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#it's important to me that my jewish friends and jewish people in general can feel safe in fandom especially in the tally hall fandom
jewishconvertthings · 6 months
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This isn’t a conversion question but I hope it’s okay to ask here. Is there anything I can do to support people living in Israel during this terrifying time?
Hi anon,
I wrestled with how/if to respond to this, because I try very hard to keep I/P politics off of this blog and have since I started this blog in 2017 or so. It is not relevant to this blog what my opinions are on this, and it's hard to talk about the topic at all (even in a neutral way) without people accusing you of being Zionist or Anti-Zionist if what you say does not perfectly line up with their viewpoint.
But in the end, I think that this transcends politics. It has to. Condemning the slaughter, torture, and sexual abuse of human beings, whoever they are, is the correct opinion. I don't care who is doing it, and I don't care why. This isn't a political debate; this is basic human decency.
As for what you can do right now? If you have Israeli or Palestinian friends (whether they are in your community or in Israel/Palestine, reach out to them. They may b'ezrat Hashem be safe, but they are not ok, so instead of asking, just let them know you are thinking of them, that you are praying for their continued safety and for peace to come swiftly and justly. They may not feel like talking, but if they do, hold space for them.
There are a lot of excellent organizations collecting funds to help with the great need that has been created by these atrocities. Find ones whose mission and goals align with your own, double check their validity, and then donate what you can.
Many Jewish communities (most, I assume) are currently organizing or have already set up community events to address the issues and to pray as a community. Look at your email - my inbox had no less than twelve different events (online and in person) within the next few days - and check the websites for Jewish organizations that you affiliate with for opportunities to gather and debrief.
And, perhaps, the most important thing from a social media standpoint: make sure that you vet *all* information before deciding to accept it as true and cross-check it with other sources, especially if you plan on sharing that information. Both Hamas and the Israeli government are masters of propaganda, and the Western media really likes to lean into this for a better story. Since Western media thrives on conflict and hyped up emotions to keep people interested and scrolling, there is a strong incentive to publish as much as quickly as possible, the more sensational the better. Use reputable sources, but don't rely on them to get it right 100% of the time. I would suggest looking at reputable sources that have a clear, known bias in each direction and comparing them both to media that at least attempts to be neutral. So far, it doesn't seem like too too many facts have been in dispute (most of the information about the atrocities committed by Hamas has been posted by Hamas as propaganda) but it's early. If you have the emotional bandwidth and have done the research, please correct the misinformation you see from friends, family, and followers. Do **not** jump in with assumptions or non-researched opinions, because that will only fuel the chaos and not help anyone.
Above all, be smart, be wary of disinformation, be compassionate, and (to the extent you are able) be generous. Remember that civilians are civilians, that neither group of civilians chose this, that plenty of them dream of a peaceful and just coexistence, and that intentionally hurting non-combatants is always wrong no matter the justification.
As for me, I will turn to Tehillim and to the words of the Prayer for Peace:
May we see the day when war and bloodshed cease, When a great peace will embrace the whole world. Then nation will not threaten nation, and the human family will not again know war. For all who live on earth shall realize we have not come into being to hate or to destroy. We have come into being to praise, to labor, and to love. Compassionate God, bless the leaders of all nations with the power of compassion. Fulfill the promise conveyed in Scripture: I will bring peace to the land and you shall lie down and no one shall terrify you. I will rid the land of vicious beasts and it shall not be ravaged by war. Let justice and righteousness flow like a mighty stream. Let God’s peace fill the earth as the waters fill the sea. And let us say: Amen
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rotzaprachim · 5 months
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one of the things that’s so grotesque is like, never in my life have I ever felt people en masse really cared very much about Jews or wanted us to be safe, and that includes Israelis. They don’t care about us but we can be used to justify so so much mass death on people who never hurt us at all. I spent four years living in a horrific Antisemitism Country, a now “neutral” Western European power which killed Jews, expelled jews, banned Jews for hundreds of years. There were large Eastern European and middle eastern diasporas there and I was almost always the First Jew anyone had ever met - or that had admitted to being Jewish. People regularly assumed jews controlled the world media. I got harassed for - yes- the idea of Zionist infiltration, for being one of the evil Zionists people knew controlled the world. One time I left shule with a friend who had forgotten to take his kippah off and a group of drunks coming out of a bar physically shook us as we walked by. To get to Jewish events I walked over the literally former “Jewry” where Jews had lived in the medieval era but were expelled and which had me ember been rebuilt or returned to Jews. When I was in university the most famous fascist family in the country donated money to one of the most famous universities in the country in order to have a building named after their fascist family name and people agreed to it! In university someone gave off a long Hitler impersonation at a general event and the manager of the event refused to end it or call him out. We always always looked over our shoulders. My friends who were Israelis, who came from Iraqi and Indian and Persian Jewish families, described racial and ethnic harassment that occured to them all the time from people who saw Brown people and decided it was time for racism. Even Ashkenazi Israelis I knew were harassed for being Too middle eastern, too foreign, their language Hebrew too strange. We just lived with it all. relatively speaking this is small stuff. *minor.* it’s not like what’s happening in Gaza and it never will be. But what it was was years of accumulated pain, and the understanding that the country did not love us and was unwilling to do much but the bare minimum to let us live. And then three weeks ago the leader of that country got up and declared support for the state of Israel because of his support for the Jews. And he’s stood by that. He’s stood supporting the state of Israel as they’ve killed over seven thousand people, including thousands of children. My safety wasn’t important enough when I lived in *their* country to be much worth doing anything about, anything that might slice into the rind of how awful and alienating and antisemitic that culture was, but it’s also important enough to be worth the violent murder of thousands of children. NO ONE EVER FUCKING ASKED ME WHAT WOULD MAKE ME SAFE, BUT THEY DID DECIDE THOUSANDS OF CHILDREN NEEDED TO DIE, and they decided they needed to put my name to it. I’ve gotten to watch world leaders pull off a “the people of yisrael live” over and over again these last three years ago to justify arming a right wing dictator I never voted for in a country I never set foot on kill thousands and thousands of people. And I’ve gotten to see the hordes screaming for my death in response. Because it’s in our name and we asked for it and after all we do run everything. I’ve yet to get the feeling that western powers like Israelis all that much. The coverage really isn’t like us and uk based terror attacks. But they certainly don’t like Jews at all. No one cares about Jewish lives but they can collectively be used to justify non stop murder of a civilian population. The leader of that country I lived in will support all this forever. There’s no horror greater than that.
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edenfenixblogs · 5 months
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Attention Goy Friends!
I was recently asked by another goy friend on Facebook to explain something. And I thought I’d share it here for people who are not in the know.
This person wanted to know why we get SO upset when synagogues are defaced. It wasn’t like they were telling me they didn’t understand why we got upset at all. But they didn’t seem to understand where the depth of feeling came from, especially when there is actual genocide happening to Palestinians. This is a good person acting in good faith and is working on holding two truths at once, so I answered. Here’s what I told them:
First of all, of course, we can fight for Palestinian liberation shoulder to shoulder and feel as awful as you do about it! I hate this genocidal Likud party and their deranged evil leader just like anyone else would. This does not mean we don’t also carry our own pain. It doesn’t mute the pain we carry for Palestinians. We just feel EVEN WORSE on top of that.
Second, with regard to synagogues and other places of Jewish social gathering—I think those of us living in Christian-majority nations all know a fair bit about Christian history just by way of cultural exchange. But if you are not aware—The Protestant split in Europe led to the translation of Church services and texts into English/the primary spoken languages of the various Western European nations worshipping within various Jesus-centric religions. This was a huge and important milestone for poor and lower class people who had every right to participate equally and fully in their religion and could now understand the scriptures and services.
However, to this day, shul is conducted in Hebrew. Prayers are sung in Hebrew. In every Jewish synagogue regardless of denomination. Sure, there are often parts in the common tongue of the area too, but the prayers themselves are still in Hebrew. Usually the same melodies or selection of melodies too. And it’s not because we are some elitist group, as some might claim.
It’s because, even in diaspora, I can go to any Jewish community in the entire world. I may not speak the common tongue of whatever place I end up. But I can go there, listen for the sound of Jewish prayer. If I have nothing to my name and no money or food or home or safety I can look for some Hebrew on a door or a Jewish star and listen for someone singing Oseh Shalom or the Shema Yisrael or the V’ahavta in the same melody that I learned it growing up. And I will have found safety. I will have found community. I will have found people who understand me.
And the part of this that I think most goyim don’t understand is that because of our long history with Christianity there is statistically a more than 50% chance that I or other members of my generation will actually NEED to employ that Jewish community as a resource in the exact circumstance I described above. Because we become victims of genocide within 2-3 generation intervals like clockwork for the last 2000 years.
When a synagogue is attacked in a nation that allows antisemitic hatred to foment unchecked it is such a brutal emotional blow. Because every synagogue destroyed is a safe place for Jews that is no longer safe. Not for the people who go there regularly. And certainly not for the people who may need to go there—who will VERY LIKELY need to go there. And with each space eliminated, we are sent further into diaspora.
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cuckoo-on-a-string · 6 months
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Look
So. I have nothing new to add to the discussion, but it's important, particularly for younger friends, to understand the explosion of violence in Israel and Palestine has been expected (and inevitable with current politics) for decades.
The gross human rights violations inflicted on Palestinians was well-documented and 'old news' when I was in college a DECADE AGO. There are many large scale examples, but I had the honor of talking to attempted peace keepers from the region who spent their days escorting school children so people from the colonist settlements wouldn't literally throw rocks at them as they passed the colonizers' 'property.' That stayed with me. Things have only gotten worse.
Because I know someone will go out of their way to be twat, this is not a defense of Hamas. It's also not a defense of a highly militarized ethno theistic state that has repeated refused to address ongoing harm (both active and passive) it inflicted on the native population.
The news frankly isn't doing a great job presenting the whole story, which is why I feel I need to put this out there.
If you want to see some the older evidence concerning what the people who eventually became Hamas were raised suffering, Amnesty International is a reliable, third party source that conducted extensive research and has attempted to do something. (Here's a link to a general piece about a specific campaign to get you started: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2017/06/israel-occupation-50-years-of-dispossession/)
The fact that western countries are being bullied out of sending humanitarian aid for the millions of Palestinians who are not Hamas/active combatants should tell you a hell of a lot.
Is the political, historical, and religious history of the region complicated? Absolutely. But I have to say as a white American who's had to come to grips with/own up to the legacy of colonization, dispossession, and genocide my ethnicity grants me (and the associated privileges), this whole story sounds damn familiar. Again, it isn't exactly the same, and the Jewish people as a whole have a long and storied history of just trying to survive in a world that is actively trying to annihilate them. But Israel does not represent all Jewish people. It is a political entity, and it should be held to account like any other.
There are paths towards peace, but they involve sweeping changes and concessions people in power find distasteful. That means Israeli citizens face determined violence from people who have nothing left to lose.
If you can fund relief efforts, do it. If you can bear to watch the news and hold the press, your politicians, and all the uncles who call the Palestinian people as a whole terrorists - DO IT.
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reddancer1 · 5 months
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Robert Reich
Friends,
I’m worried about my children. Not my biological ones — they’re fine — but my students, whom I think of as my children because I have taught them and counseled them and nurtured them for years.
They are at a time of their lives when they’re trying to figure out the meaning of social justice and their roles in seeking to advance it.
Yet some of them who are Jewish tell me they’re afraid.
Some who are Arab or Palestinian or Muslim tell me they’re afraid, too.
The two groups are afraid of each other. There have been perceived threats, slights, intimidation.
My Jewish students tell me of receiving antisemitic notes, of seeing swastikas, of feeling unsafe.
My Arab, Palestinian, and Muslim students tell me that speaking out against Israel’s aggression has resulted in “doxing,” and in some cases withdrawals of offers of employment. They are subject to anti-Palestinian and Islamophobic taunts. They also feel unsafe.
Here’s what I’m telling them in response.
First, if Jews and Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslims on an American college campus cannot feel safe around each other, they will never feel safe around each other, anywhere.
Second, the only way forward is to reject stereotypes, and begin to talk to one another.
Talking to one another involves listening — listening to the fears and anguish, to the anger and resentments on the other side. Trying to understand those feelings and not dismiss them.
Active listening is itself therapeutic to a community torn by dreadful actions thousands of miles away. It is an important act in the pursuit of social justice.
Third, what does not move us closer to social justice is to attribute collective guilt to all Palestinians (or Arabs or Muslims) or to all Jews, for atrocities committed by Hamas or by Israel’s government. Such mass attribution is racist and immoral.
And what moves us away from social justice is to demean, criticize, or threaten others based on their ethnicity or religion.
Fourth, the war raises issues that are morally complicated, because they have complex histories extending back generations, if not centuries, in which both sides feel aggrieved and afraid.
This complexity can make the war difficult or uncomfortable to discuss. The pursuit of social justice is easier when there are clear oppressors and oppressed. Few feelings are more satisfying than righteous indignation.
What Hamas did on October 7 was horrific. Israel’s attack on Gaza is barbaric. The occupation of the West Bank by Israeli settlers has inflicted hardship and cruelty on Palestinians. There is never any moral justification for the killing and maiming of innocent people.
I’m not suggesting bland “both-sides”-ism here. I believe that Israel has been tragically wrong, that its invasion of Gaza is a terrible mistake, and that it is morally unacceptable to consider certain people’s lives more valuable than other people’s lives.
But the central issue for us should not be who is wrong. All of us are complicit to some degree. The central issue now is how we move forward.
I ask them not to be consumed by their own rage and fear.
I try to dissuade them from putting their energies and efforts into “statements” that reflect only part of the truth, or believe that demonstrations and petitions somehow legitimize their own points of view. I don’t want them to think that there is any easy way to a lasting peace.
Finally, I tell them that there is no ready formula for social justice. Social justice is a process. It requires the discovery — or the creation — of a shared sense of common good.
This may be nearly impossible for Israel and Hamas, so long as Hamas is dedicated to killing all Jews and erasing Israel, and Israelis now live with that fear.
But finding a shared sense of the common good is an achievable goal on the college campuses of America. It must be.
The core of a good liberal arts education is ethics. The central question is the meaning of a good society. This has been the case since the 18th century, when most of America’s prestigious institutions of higher education were founded.
There is no single answer to the meaning of a good society, of course. It is the pursuit of it that draws on one’s judgment and conscience. This is why higher education has advanced the role of reason in human affairs and stood for the Enlightenment values of tolerance and democracy.
My dear students — you, whom I think of as my children — please know that I deeply admire and love you. But I beseech you not to replicate here on this campus the threats and violence now devastating the Middle East.
Use this time in your young lives to chart a different path — of listening, understanding, and respecting each other.
You may not solve the entrenched problems of the Middle East this way, but you will provide a small beacon of hope for social justice in the world.
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phoenixyfriend · 6 days
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I liked hearing your post about hearing Israelis out and I'm Jewish with Israeli friends but I have one issue and I'd like to hear your opinion on it. Unsurprisingly extremism especially after something as traumatic as oct 7th is rampant, the ensuing violence in Gaza and less so throughout Israel and the West Bank has ensured that civilians everywhere more easily fall victim to extremism in the face of desperate and scary times. I know these friends and I know where their hearts lie however I have a hard time drawing the line between allowing the processing of trauma and calling out bullshit because they become defensive really fast. At this point I'm really tired and it feels like there's so many more important issues that should be talked about, not just the same old feelings that are based on paranoia. I don't know.. Its really hard to avoid extremism in general online right now and I just want to know how to better confront people on their traumas. Sighs.
Hey anon.
I feel for you, but a general rule of the internet is: do not trauma dump on strangers. I know you framed it as asking for advice, but just reading this ask ratcheted up my anxiety.
I do not know you. I do not know your friends. I am not a professional, and I try to be very clear on that front. This is a situation that needs to be handled delicately, and I am just not anywhere near close enough to it to give advice on what you can do here. Delicate interpersonal relationships need details and context, and I am an internet stranger.
My post is about propaganda and how it can affect policy, because I have been talking a lot about geopolitics. I am not a psychologist, or a relationship therapist, or anything in that vein. I am not qualified to give advice, especially in something like this.
Please, please talk to a professional for guidance. If you're in school, talk to a guidance counselor. If you're not, maybe your employer offers mental health benefits. I don't know and I cannot know, because you are an online stranger.
Please, people, do not ask me for advice on your personal lives. I am very bad at personal lives. It's also just... inappropriate.
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batwynn · 2 months
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Ok so since my last post about Palestine on this blog*, which I spent multiple days writing to try to make it as clear as possible where I stand and how I feel about both what is happening and how people are using their couch activism to do nothing but get internet points against other people on the internet, I’ve received a bunch of ‘go girl give us nothing’ kind of anons praising me for ‘not taking a stance’ or yelling at me for ‘not talking a stance’.
Which, for one. No. Just because don’t talk about everything that I do to support important causes does not mean I don’t do anything. I’m not posting my donation receipts online for your approval.
I’m also… I’m genuinely lost as to how that was the message received. I know I’m autistic af, but don’t feel like that’s what I said at all and I can’t figure out why that’s what people got from it.
This will be another long post with basically the same information as the last one, but put more bluntly. If you are still struggling to understand where I stand, I genuinely don’t know how to help you with this anymore and I’m not spending more energy hashing it out for you.
I thought I said, pretty explicitly, that I think colonizing entities and terrorism is bad. That genocide is bad. I thought it was very clear that I don’t support the murder of many thousands of people—tens of thousands of children. I included the USA in this previous statement explicitly because we are backing a genocide, yet again. (If not, you know, directly doing genocide against people ourselves.) I expressed clearly, I thought, that I did not support anyone killing innocent people, as a reminder to the ‘what-about-ers’, who like to say that people who don’t agree with a genocide ‘cheer on’ what the Hamas did to random citizens. I cant 100% say I know enough about the Hamas and their desires to tell you much more of my thoughts about that. It’s been a constant struggle with misinformation, in general, but a lot of it surrounding them and their beliefs/actions.
I thought it was also pretty clear that I am so far removed from this that I’m constantly aware that me saying anything could be based on wrong, outdated, or mistranslated info at any given point. I’m catching up as fast as I can, continuously educating myself, and voiding years of propaganda from growing up in this shitty ass country with its shitty ass education propaganda system. I mean a lifetime of messages directly from the media, our politicians, teachers, etc. to not pay attention because it’s ’not our problem’ as a country and there’s ’always a war there’ so ‘don’t care about it’ and ‘don’t react.’ Which is part of the reason why I made the original post, because I do care and I am reacting, and it does matter.
So, I guess I have to say it again, because as hard as I tried to get the message through last time, it apparently got lost somewhere.
I do not support the ongoing genocide of Palestine. I do not support the crimes against humanity that I have seen happening there. I do not support murder and terrorism. I do not support the country I am forced to live in, and its involvement in this. (USA)
I do love my Jewish and Muslim friends. I do not believe in a bigoted hatred against either religious grouping based on the actions of some people. I support the Jewish people standing up for Palestine. I do want peace. I do want healing. But I am also aware that peace and healing is something heavily owed to Palestine for many years now, and that it can’t be achieved until something massively changes in how the world and Israel treat them.
Now, if this statement is not clear enough or is said the ‘wrong way’ or isn’t ‘right’ or just isn’t what you want to hear. I’m sorry. I always struggle with communication, and I’m genuinely not good at this. I tried so hard with the last post, and I was still told that I was doing nothing and saying nothing. The only thing I can ask is that you give me the smallest amount of kindness and understanding, and assume that I am trying to communicate compassion for people suffering. Give me the benefit of the doubt, if you can, that I just fucking care about people who are being hurt.
And lastly, please keep your ‘what about’ bullshit out of my inbox. I can’t address every single thing, all the time. I can’t know every single thing, all the time. I’m aware of multiple horrific things happening in the world right now and how important it is to pay attention to them. I do share and talk about them on my side blog* that is dedicated to that kind of thing, but this one thing in particular is something people keep coming to me about in my inbox here and I’m addressing it this one last time.
*Again, my main blog here has always been mostly about my art and projects, and after years of people outright screaming at me to keep it that way and to not include any current events, political, or ‘too personal’ posts I’ve long since moved most of that over to my side blog. Many of you already follow me there or know what blog it is. I am not sharing it again because I’m tired of having personal life things I share being used to hurt me. Also, one last reminder that you can’t have it both ways. You either want to know my personal stuff and political stuff, or you don’t and only want to see my art. You don’t get both. And this will be the last time I address this here.
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notetaeker · 6 months
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Regarding the shift of focus of your blog, I just wanted to thank you for doing that.
Your posts were the first to introduce me to the other side of the story, and make me aware of the horrific and indescribable violence inflicted upon the Palestinian people by the Zionists. I’m ashamed to admit that up until that point I was blind to all of it, from start to finish. The mainstream media had a firm grip on me with regards to this issue, even though I tend to read multiple news sources and generally consider myself media-literate. Clearly, media literacy isn’t enough, if 95% of the media is supporting genocide and spreading lies.
That is to say, what you’re doing here is important. If it weren’t for you, I probably would’ve carried on in ignorance. Thanks to liking your posts the algorithm has now suggested me a few other related posts from creators I never would’ve found otherwise, since they exist outside of my narrow areas of interest (studyblr, notebooks, stationary, art).
I am so sorry for what you’re going through. My heart goes out to you and everyone affected.
No omg don’t feel ashamed! As you said it is the tight grip of the media. Especially if you don’t have exposure to the communities that are talking about the other side not mentioned by the news. It’s so deeply ingrained in us that news is supposed to be unbiased and include both sides of the story that we don’t notice when it’s not (we automatically assume it is true because that is what we expect of news)
As for me, my palestinian friends would tell me stories of their families, how houses of people they knew were crushed by the colonizers bulldozers, humiliation they themselves experienced at Isr*eli checkpoints and the fear. Oh God the fear of making a mistake. And I was in ELEMENTARY SCHOOL hearing all of this so it has always stayed with me.
I think this issue is crystal clear for anyone who looks up the information. Even just looking at things like accounts from people who live on each side it becomes so clear. But that’s the thing they add labels and bad words so that you don’t want to support them. Like who wants to support terrorists? barbarians? antisem*tics? No one.
But if you go deeper than labels, for example for anti-semitism, you see that many diaspora Jews condemn Israel. Some Isr*eli citizens themselves don’t agree with the violent settler colonialism of the Isr*eli government. Many Isr*elis aren’t even practicing Jews- it’s not Judaism that is the problem- it never was. It’s not even a Muslim-Jewish “religious” conflict- Isr*el has displaced half the Christian Palestinian population of West Jerusalem as well. Muslims don’t hate Jews, in fact, a quick check into history reveals that Jews have always thrived under Muslim rule and often sought to live under Muslim rule themselves because of the violent history of antisemitism from christians!
And all of that is needed JUST to dismantle the way a single word is used to label the issue. So who would go out of their way to do that research? That’s what the oppressors are banking on.
Don’t be ashamed at all, I applaud you actually. It takes actual concern for your fellow humans to look past those labels and find out what’s really going on. I do always say that it’s the least we can do, and that we owe it to the civilians suffering on both sides to find the truth, but in reality no one does it, so it is a very commendable task that you have actually done. I applaud you for having the courage to question what you believe. It is a powerful thing 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
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researchgate · 6 months
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Although I don't live in Israel, as a Persian Jew born and living in France I really appreciate your reblogs recently, it seems most of radblr is choosing to gaslight many Jewish users that NOBODY is attacking Jewish people and ONLY criticising Israeli government, while I and many other Jewish people I know are facing extreme antisemitism on the daily that only gets worse. I've had coworkers «joke» in various different ways basically that I should have my will written up for when Palestine reclaims their land because all «colonisers» [Israeli = Jewish as usual] deserve to be killed -- which is the mildest example. Seeing claims that no antisemitism is happening as a result of the pro-Hamas state of the internet and media is so ignorant and shows that most of these people are not Jewish nor do they know any Jewish people. Being Jewish is stressful on person and online and yet most responses are like «You people have only yourselves to blame» or calling us Zionists if we dare call out antisemitism, it's disgusting and as usual feels incredibly isolating. It makes me very relieved to have another Jewish woman on here like you who is so well-spoken! <3
Hi! Thank you so much for this, I'm so glad I could give you some relief.
I follow less than 40 blogs so I don't see most of the hate, but I surely believe this is the sentiment in general given how it is outside radblr, and what friends of mine told me happens on radblr itself. It's terrible and seeing some notes on posts is just... Despairing. It's clear none of them ever gave an actual damn about the conflict until they could celebrate the rape of Jewish women, and the slaughter of innocent Jewish civilians.
Antisemitism has always been a problem for diaspora Jews, regardless of the country, and it is undeniable it's gotten worse ever since Hamas has invaded Israel with the sole purpose of killing jews. People online are maliciously happy and proud of that, and as much as we like to call them "keyboard warriors" these are real people who not only espouse their opinions online, but live these opinions in real life too, thus posing a direct, active danger to Jews as possible offenders at worst, and at best, they'd be bystanders who film/encourage/watch silently attacks against Jews in real life.
These people never liked the idea of Jews existing, that much is clear. And when it comes to radblr, it seems they forget some important feminists were Jewish themselves. Instead they go full Judith Butler and call Hamas a liberation/resistance movement just because the latter is in their name (Harakat al muqawamah al Islamiyah — Islamic Resistance Movement), whereas they know to call out things like liberal feminism nit being feminism. It's honestly irritating at the very least.
The media and reaction to it is another interesting (and by interesting I mean very much predictable) case: when it's pto Hamas, no one bats an eye, people share al Jazeera, Middle East Eye, etc. articles without viewing them with even a little bit of critical thinking. But when a news source is clearly anti Hamas (not even pro Israel!), it's suddenly pro Israel and Zionist and the sentiment is terribly close to "Jews control the media." I'm not saying there weren't reports that were meant for just shock value (that's literally how news media work), but it was still very interesting to see people go back to antisemitic tropes. Predictable, too.
In the UK, security on Jewish schools has been strengthened in fear of violence against kids, but people would blame "Israel's treatment of the Palestinians" for that, which is full on victim blaming and antisemitism: they're jewish; Jewish = Israel; Israel = bad → jewish = bad like Israel → Israel deserves punishment → Jews deserve punishment.
The fact that the solution for Jews is to walk outside without anything that can mark them as Jewish is not too different to the idea that "she shouldn't have dressed in provocative outfit," which again, puts the blame and responsibility on the victim.
The fact that calling out any form of antisemitism is seen as Zionism is, however, not just the fault of antisemites in my opinion, because Token Jews allow themselves to ignore antisemitic notions within the movements which tokenize them, and allow people to think only Zionist (non-token) Jews care about antisemitism. It's vile, and just wrong. It's especially wring since Zionism isn't even what they think it is, they just think all Jews who protest or call out antisemitism is like that absolute scum Ben-Gvir (who is actually partially responsible for the situation right now, but I digress). It's so disheartening to see and even moreso to experience, of that I'm certain. The ""joke"" about the will for instance, is just absolutely vile and disgusting, although it accidentally acknowledges the fact Hamas wants total annihilation of Jews and not just the "Zionist Entity" as the 2017 revision of their charter suggests.
I'm sorry if I didn't address all of your points, your ask is very loaded, as is expected given the circumstances, and me being unfortunately not very well-dpoken means I probably couldn't treat it with all the due eloquence it deserves. For what it's worth, though, I did try my best.
Being Jewish, especially in the diaspora, is always stressful, but the current situation sure has made it worse ten-fold. Again, I'm glad I could offer some relief for at least the online experience. Myaskbox and DMs are always open if you want to share anything, or just need an ear for your frustrations. Given my situation, I cannot imagine yours but I can sympathize and offer my utmost patience and efforts to understand.
Thank you again for this meaningful ask, here's hoping for somewhat better, somewhat safer days to come as soon as possible. My thoughts are also with the diaspora Jews, at these truly trying times. 💙
Am Yisrael Chai, and we will outlive them.
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queerprayers · 1 year
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Are head cannons about Jesus heresy because I have so many
Welcome, beloved. Go for it, I support you. I'll elaborate, though, as always:
Let's get one thing clear first: heresy is defined by people in power ("adherence to a religious opinion contrary to church dogma") and obviously very much depends on what church dogma you're following. Many of my beliefs are heresy to Roman Catholic doctrine, but I don't much mind, because I'm not Catholic. Heresy as an accusation has also been used for centuries to silence minority voices and diversity of belief, so I don't use it all that much. Generally I feel like it's used to shut down conversations or insult someone.
On the other hand, it's sometimes nice to separate a difference of opinion vs. clear contrariness within a community, if that makes sense. Christians within the same denomination will disagree on lots of things, and it can be useful to identify what's a disagreement within the same belief system, as opposed to what's just a different belief system. The word "heresy" could be used to differentiate these situations. If someone shows up to my church with a different belief about the relation of the Genesis creation myth to the reality of evolution, that's a discussion we could have within the same belief system. On the other hand, if someone shows up at my church who believes the Book of Mormon is the word of God, while that's also a discussion we could have with respect, it's very clearly a completely different belief system. We might both be Christian, but that's heresy to me, meaning on a completely dogmatic page. When it's used not as an insult or for silencing, but for neutrally describing a belief that inherently goes against a certain system, I can appreciate its use.
I also really like the separation of things you're curious about and like to imagine, things you believe, and things you build your faith around. (I think I got this idea from Luther's beliefs on the Apocrypha.) I study and find meaning from Muslim and Jewish texts, but I don't inherently believe in them, and I definitely don't stake my faith on them. I believe many things about the afterlife, but I don't build my practice around them, because I know and understand so little, and don't have any dogma I connect with. While I won't claim to understand it or be able to prove it, and sometimes doubt it, I stake my faith on and build my practice around Jesus's identity as God. This is a really cool exercise to investigate your own thoughts/beliefs/practices. Obviously we can't separate everything into neat boxes, but it can be so useful to recognize what's most important to us.
The canonical gospels tell us what the writers believed was important about Jesus, what we should build our faith around. But we aren't told so much. We know barely anything about Jesus's childhood/young adult years, or about what he did in the fifty days between his resurrection and ascension. We don't know anything about his relationship with his father, or whether he experienced romantic attraction, or how he met many of his friends, or most of his siblings' names, or what jokes he told around the dinner table, or what he looked like, or what his laugh sounded like. I yearn for this knowledge, I imagine anyone who loves him yearns for this knowledge. I want to know God, and God was a human, and learning these things is how we know other humans. I love my friends by knowing their laugh and meeting their families and holding their hands. Why would I not want that, or at least want to know what it was like, with the most important human of all?
It's natural, when connecting with Jesus, to fill in the blanks. To tell our own stories. People have told stories about his childhood for centuries. The Cherry Tree Carol was a favorite of mine when I was a kid. "What was the God of the universe like as a child?" is an incredible question! Every movie/book chronicling Jesus's life includes the author's head-canons. Every painting of Jesus is an assumption/projection about his looks. Should we do away with religious art just because it always includes the creator's biases? (That's not necessarily a hypothetical question--some religions do put restrictions on this. Mainstream Christianity never has, though.) An important point is that telling stories doesn't mean you believe them. I engage with lots of things I don't necessarily believe. I think everyone should be able to and allowed to do that; it's good for us.
Saying "Jesus is gay and had relationships with men" is literal heresy to lots of people. Jesus being celibate/not engaging in romance is very important to many belief systems, and he obviously didn't idolize/prioritize romance--romantic love isn't mentioned at all in the gospels. And of course this would be heresy to anyone who's homophobic. You could also bring up that Jesus was a faithful Jewish man, and regardless of his personal feelings, it might be important that he followed his cultural/religious sexual norms. Someone might really value friendship in the gospels, and to put romance where it doesn't explicitly exist might devalue that narrative to you. To me, the most important question would be: are you staking your faith on this? Building your practice around Jesus experiencing romance is heresy to my belief system, because it's not something we're given, and whether he did or didn't isn't foundational to any belief I value. But telling stories about it? Even thinking it might be true? Who am I to stop you? I love boykeats' poems about this very subject. (especially this one, and also this one)
Another thing to ask is whether the story contradicts canon. I can't not used fandom terminology here: is it canon-compliant? If I say Jesus didn't actually die when he was crucified, he was just in a coma/close to death, this is a perfectly realistic turn of events, but is inherently heresy and destroys the foundational Christian belief about death/resurrection. If I say Jesus had blonde hair, this is historically inaccurate and ridiculous, but it doesn't contradict the gospels technically. With context, it becomes racist, though, and is no longer just a story. But if I say Jesus told lots of jokes to his friends, this doesn't change anything foundational to Christianity, doesn't cause any harm, and is quite lovely to imagine.
All this to say: all of your beliefs are heresy to someone out there, maybe to me, probably to the pope. The stories you tell, the things you think about Jesus, your head-canons we might say, are going to contradict someone else's dogma, it's inevitable. That can't be a reason to not engage in belief, though. It's useful to investigate whether a belief is heresy or not, but don't be afraid of that. Don't conform for the sake of conforming.
I don't stake my belief/build my practice around Jesus using things that aren't canon to my belief system. That's a choice, one you don't have to make. But I do believe things that no canon can prove, and with curiosity and creativity I seek out other narratives to expand my thinking.
Rachel Held Evans described choosing to be Christian as the story she's willing to be wrong about. What are you willing to be wrong about? What kinds of stories do you tell and how do they connect you with God? What's foundational to your dogma, and what do you simply believe, and what do you imagine/learn about? Happy creating, beloved. Go forth and connect with Jesus your own way, which sounds like it includes imagination and humor. Be reflective, but also unapologetic. Respect the dogma of any denomination you may belong to, but use it as a starting point, a tradition, and a community-building tool, not a prison.
<3 Johanna
P.S. My favorite Jesus headcanon is that he was super physically affectionate. I don't know, I just really admire how close his friendships were and open he was about loving those around him, and the footwashing & anointing narratives connect to my own stories about him serving/protecting/loving through physical closeness. I'm really physically affectionate, and I like projecting, I guess. I'm not starting a church about it, but it's a story I hold close.
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spacelazarwolf · 8 months
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Seeing how you're responding to a lot of insensitive asks from Christians, I was wondering if I could ask a good faith question as a change of pace?
I am religiously a liberal quaker, so one of the most important things to me spiritually is learning about how other people engage with god/their higher power. By listening to their experiences and making a strong effort to understand their perspective, I feel more connected with God and my community. Specifically, I want to learn how individuals engage in their faith and not just the "by the book, this is what x religion believes" you find online.
I've always had a deep respect for Judaism, and I want to approach the people in my circle and try to have those good faith learning experiences if they are willing, especially since the Jewish faith is so rare where I live.
Unfortunately, with a lot of my ethos and language being derived from Christ (even if I'm not a christian), it makes it feel like a minefield to even start the conversation. I'm queer, and the man who raised me was native American. I'm very aware of how being connected to Christianity, even only tangentially, will immediately raise red flags for people. And for good reason.
So, how do I disarm myself? I want to hear people's stories, I want to know the Light in them because I truly wish to love and understand them as they are. How do I approach and ask for consent for such a thing without it feeling like I'm waving a torch in their face?
i would start with gauging your level of awareness and education when it comes to general jewish stuff like history and practices and holidays. if you want to get more into the nitty gritty with hearing people's stories you'll need that foundation first if you really want to understand them. there's tons of books, websites like myjewishlearning, and you could even try contacting a rabbi and asking for an in person or phone appointment with them to ask some questions and get some suggestions for what resources to use. once you have that foundational level of understanding of judaism and the jewish people, it'll be much easier to talk to jews about more personal things.
in terms of actually approaching people, if they're your friends, then hopefully they already have a good idea of what kind of person you are and if they're comfortable sharing with you. if you don't know them as well, make sure you're not just going into the encounter with the goal of "learn jew stuff" and that's it. they're whole people, and you don't want to treat them like a jewish encyclopedia.
we can usually tell when someone is being genuine and when someone has weird or bad motives, so as long as you're respectful and honest about what you want from the conversation, and maybe share a bit of yourself as well, most of us are happy to talk about it.
also quakerism and quakers have always seemed very cool to me. i heard it's much more about a way of life instead of a set faith, which feels a lot like judaism to me. also y'all have the public universal friend so u r winning.
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last year on new years eve i did a post about how important the hacks fandom had been in helping me feel more comfortable openly, loudly expressing sapphic desire, and building real community around that desire, and how i hoped that in 2022 i would just keep going in that direction. and though my relationship with the show and characters has evolved since then, the people who inspired and delighted me last year are largely the same people who did this year, even into new fandoms, with some very important additions.
apologies in advance for how this is gonna sound like an oscars acceptance speech, but there are a bunch of people i need to tag and briefly thank for making this year so much better for me. if you know me you know i am prone to these bouts of arguably cringe sincerity, but i just can’t help it and don’t really want to. love you all 💕
@queerofdenial my number one ride-or-die who i always feel safest with, who has cheered on this new fandom i brought into existence in such a special way, and whose taste i trust so much that i spent the end of the year watching a bunch of star trek (if that doesn’t say fandom spouse what does?) i could say so many other things but i know you know. 🥰 excited for framing my art but you know i love those post its as much or more, and kept them in a special place.
@jennamacaroni continues to always make me believe that there is genuine goodness in the world. who is always kind and passionate and thinking of me when i don’t even realize it in ways that make my heart so full. i am so happy for what this year has brought you my friend!! 🥹
@confusedanon i feel so lucky to have a real friend from tumblr who i can actually see on a regular basis, and i continue to be so grateful to @jennamacaroni for introducing us. it has been a long time since i’ve been able to have the kinds of conversations i have with you about jewish identity and they have enriched me so much. i look forward to many more special times together in 2023!
@ensorcei thank you for not only making blanchejudith a real fandom, but for cheerleading me in all my fandom nonsense, whatever it was, and just being unfailingly positive and kind every day. you’ve been such a bright spot and my year would be completely different (and much worse) if you hadn’t written that first fic!
@naturaliseme your support for this ship and willingness to give your time and energy to making content for them has meant so much to me, and i am always inspired by your passion for rarepairs and the way you do fandom generally. continuing to be in your fandom orbit beyond hacks is something i really cherish. 💖
@sapphicscholar i think anyone who reads your fic can probably tell that you are brilliant and funny, but i feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to learn so much more about you and from you this year beyond the ao3 comment section. you have been such a reliable and kind sounding board for any and everything, and really helped keep me sane when fandom got a little maddening. also, i learned a lot from you about queer theory and fandom studies and literature, which i hope makes you feel pretty great as an actual teacher 😉
@fatimagic and @cassiopeiasara you guys really welcomed me into a new fandom with open arms, and made me excited to keep posting about it and talking to you because i knew you’d be right there cheering me on. the final quarter of 2022 was incredibly fun for me because of wtb, but it wouldn’t have been fun in the same way without you. can’t wait to finish and listen to even more of your thoughts in 2023!
@softdeb your friendship has meant so much to me, especially as it has become clear that it’s not tied to any particular fandom, but we just genuinely care about each other as people from ten thousand miles away. 🥹 you are brilliant and thoughtful and funny and i hope 2023 brings you only good things.
@dkc2017 your constant feedback on all of my judith stuff always makes me smile and encourages me to keep at it, and i just feel like you really got my sense of humor in a way that made me feel seen. your desire to connect is the best of what fandom can be. 💜
wanted to additionally thank a handful of people who have been really supportive of my blanchejudith and/or judith light nonsense—maybe even without realizing it—without whom i wouldn’t have been as motivated to keep at it - it means a lot 💝 @wise1rabbity @lush-retina @houseuponthehills @katiedingo @orlaogden @hummingbirdswords
@echofades @blurryoz @justusandlove none of you are super active here right now, but you’re all still very special to me and it really does make the sting of losing vanity easier to bear to know i got all of you out of it 🌈
there are a ton of other people whose posts and dms and comments have been the best parts of my 2022. even if i didn’t tag you here, especially if you reblogged or commented on anything blanchejudith or judith light related, if you said hi to me at any point, if we’re mutuals and you shared something real and true about yourself with all of us on tumblr dot com in 2022 - this post is a thanks for you too. fandom is community most of all for me, and queer fandom/queer community is like nothing else. ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜
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la-bruja · 6 months
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🐉 @dragonboytail follow
we need to ban parents from using the word "attitude" so they can maybe start grappling with the fact that their children maybe are having a reasonably angry response
🍲 @matzobs follow
This sounds wild when you write it down like I'm about to, but I'm right:
Sometimes the kid's feelings simply aren't relevant to the situation, and it's better parenting to explain that to them.
I get it, you don't want to go to skool. I don't particularly want to send you to skool. But the law says you have to go, and the alternatives aren't realistic, and we live in the world. The bright side is, your friends will be there. I'd recommend finding some joy in that. Please go brush your teeth now.
I hear you thought you were hanging out with your friend this weekend but it's rosh hashana. Sometimes being jewish means doing things we dont think we'll like. We made an agreement. They'll be blowing the shofar. Put your white shirt on.
🦌 @vaspider √✔️☑️✅🦀 follow
"Your feelings are real but not always relevant" is a thing that a lot of people could use to learn earlier.
👬 @jraker4 follow
I can see why many folks would shy away from this lesson, because it is *super easy* (and not uncommon!) to weaponize ‘sometimes you have to do things you don’t want to’. But…sometimes ya do, and the person making you do it isn’t always bad for making you do it.
⚫️ @xxlovelynovaxx follow
The thing is, it's better to convince someone to do something than force them to - and explaining why it's important to do the thing and y'know, treating a child like the actual human being they are by validating their feelings but having a conversation about why it's necessary anyway - will often do that.
In the rare events where explaining doesn't help or even makes it worse, it is often then time to consider if there's a deeper issue at play. I can guarantee 9/10 times it's not entitlement. Is the kid undiagnosed as neurodivergent and having a meltdown because they know an event will be sensory hell? Do they legitimately not understand WHAT they have to do and are focusing on WHY they have to do it as a coping mechanism?
There's a wide gap to how people in general react to "things I don't really want to do but fully can" vs "things I genuinely can't do or would hurt me to do to the point that even if they're technically possible for me to do, I functionally can't do them". Kids are no different - and quite honestly in my experience, no less able to articulate this than most adults, who also struggle to recognize the difference.
If it's discovered that it really is a bigger issue than "not wanting to", then it's a lot of work to make bigger adjustments. Sometimes it means temporarily dealing with the penalties of missing a necessary event - getting a doctor's note from a child psychologist to pull them out of school for more than 1-3 sick days while further uncovering the underlying cause of the inability to deal with school, for example. Is it undiagnosed neurodivergence? Untreated mental illness? Bullying? Some form of trauma unrelated to school that is still most impacting school? An ability to get a need met being severely impacted by the time and energy spent on school? Etc.
Anyway, part of the reason "your feelings are real but not always relevant" is so important is because it's a critical tool in determining when your feelings ARE relevant. And the earlier you learn that, the happier and healthier you'll be as you grow.
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jewish-lgbtq · 2 years
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Hi! I have some news that is really important to me, and there aren't a whole lot of people I can tell about it, so I'm saying it in your ask box, I hope that's okay (my sincerest apologies if not). I'm converting to Judaism, and I'm second-generation Indian American. I found out a couple weeks ago that my family are/were Cochin Jews- after the arrival of Thomas in Kerala, some people converted to Christianity, and my family was a mix of both religions until 1940-ish (1/2)
(2/2) Most of the Jewish members of the family left for Israel, but my maternal great-grandmother, Ammachi, still followed Jewish traditions, albeit in secret, until her death in 2016. I didn't find this out until two weeks ago, and I decided to convert when I was 13 (two years ago). When I told this whole story to a friend of mine at camp, he said "I don't believe in fate, but there really isn't another explanation for that.", and that statement really does sum up my feelings right now.
This is so cool! Thank you for sharing!!
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aur-el-ias · 9 months
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centricide ask again! do you think there are parental bonds between the ideologies (other than Nazbol and his parents)? either "blood" or spiritual relatives. or are there none, Nazbol included?
ask me a question about centricide because i'm the closest thing ya got to jreg and everything i say makes complete sense.
Centricide spoilers and my own fanfiction "monopoly man" spoilers under the cut.
OKAY I'm really excited because this is a concept I want to explore in Monopoly Man, but it might get lost in all the subtext (which I tend to overstuff) so let me scream my truth.
There is a duality of humanity-divinity/ideology that exists in every identity of each Centricide character. You see this most clearly in Centricide 6, Identity, where N*zi finds out he's Jewish. Jreg combined a human element (DNA, physical biology) to ideological identity (political and moral belief). In a sense, we are what we believe. When your beliefs are inconsistent with your reality, something has to change. We see this happen when N*zi becomes a Z*onist, and Jreg's Blueman is obviously a criticism of the state of Israel.
In dialogue, the characters also almost talk exclusively about politics and in political terms. However, because they are political ideologies, they are talking about themselves. This sort of self-divulging creates an interesting dialogue of desire. Personal desire can be radically different from political desire. Most Centricide characters don't realize this, and that is why you see a lot of struggles with identity with the characters. Ancap famously establishes Ancapistan and starts to exploit minorities and women after the statists give him a dressing-down. Ancom becomes Post-Left. The only ideology that does not go through an identity crisis is Commie, but that is because Commie has a very solid belief in his identity that is supported by his knowledge of history.
In Monopoly Man Chapter 4, Ancap and Ancom have a conversation about Ancap's empathy. Ancap can only empathize with Ancom due to Ancom's ability of Mutual Aid. In this conversation, Ancap argues that it's not about politics anymore, and urges Ancom to stop talking about it. He has realized that his personal desire, care, and empathy for Ancom exceeds his principles of non-interference. But to talk about the person's desires as an individual is a breakaway from high-minded political theory that most Centricide characters engage in. It's almost a radical betrayal of their identity.
So what does this mean about familial ties? In my interpretation of the world in general, familial connections and love are something that is human in essence. As political ideologies and demi-gods, the ideologies struggle with this humanity-divinity conflict. Is it better to be "godly" and disengage, go the Buddhist route and sever your attachment from the world in favour of your ideals? Or is it more important to think about the people that you will impact? Your neighbours, lovers, and friends?
I think instead of family, due to the complex nature of political ideologies being born from each other but is not necessarily related or the same, I use the term "kinship." It feels quite spiritual and abstract, which I feel matches the vibe of political ideologies. So for example, Nazbol is both kin to N*zi and Commie, but is not the necessary result of the two joining together to unite and create a separate ideology. Commie and Ancom share a special connection, or "kinship", through leftist unity, but is not necessarily brothers or blood-related. The same goes with libunity and authunity. Posadist is kin to Commie but is not kin to Ancom, etc.
I think that as part-humans, they can have their own families separate from their beliefs and actions as political ideologies, but again, it can never be completely divorced. Thinking of the extremist polycule as parents and I think that'd be really cute. Their child's gonna be a mess of conflicting ideologies and end up as a centrist LMAO.
Thank you for the question! I always love your questions and seeing you on the dash <3
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our-blood-is-our-ink · 6 months
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https://www.tumblr.com/our-blood-is-our-ink/730930961393549312/im-exhausted-of-living-through-historical-once-in?source=share
if it conforts you (probably won't) almost every generation lived through an historical moment... world wars, different pandemics, going all the way back to colonialism. Something important is always happening, and probably other people from the past thought they were the "unlucky" ones...
idk, i just always think of this when someone says stuff like that...
Hi I have zero idea how you meant this but I'm going to be real for a moment.
But before I do, I apologize, as I went on a flow of thought tangent. Primarily, my thoughts have been racing, and it seems to have spilled out to here.
First and foremost, please never come onto a Jewish person's blog, good intent or otherwise, and say something like this.
This is not me feeling unlucky. This is me recognizing the patterns of history repeating itself.
I used to fight with my Hebrew day school teachers when they would teach us about Jewish history, Historia. Because surely, they were wrong. Surely as a whole, people don't hate the Jewish people that much. That another Holocaust could even be a threat. That yet another country will kick my people out of their homes, penniless, for the crime of their culture and religion. That we won't be kicked out from our fucking homeland for the billionth time. (I acknowledge the right of everyone else who considers Israel to be their homeland, everyone deserves to be able to live where they originate from.)
But they were right. And I hate saying that. I hate finding myself agreeing with people who I fundamentally disagreed with the most, because I found as a child, as a student, that their empathy for others lacking.
I can now recognize, wrong as that lack of empathy may be, that it is a product of generations of hate and suffering being inflicted upon the Jewish nation.
It's a jadedness I'm well aware I'm now gaining. This inescapable knowledge that no where is safe. That my half-sister, not even two months, would gain no consideration for her life simply because she's Jewish. That my best friend's daughter, barely two weeks old won't get any consideration to her life, for the crime of her heritage.
I have to sit and live with the knowledge world wide people are openly supporting Hamas in the murder of innocent children. Toddlers. Babies. Infants.
That there are chants being raised of gas the Jews.
Do you know how terrifying that is? To be faced with undeniable proof that there are literally thousands, if not millions of people who want my family and friends -- want me -- dead?
Do you know how gut-wrenching it is that I have to face this realization of "oh, no wonder FDR was able to turn away boatfuls of refugees back to Germany to be slaughter -- Jewish lives don't matter as much to the world as other lived do", of "no wonder my people have faced violence and brutality (such as progoms) for centuries for the simple crime of living" because the truth is, when we need voices raised in support for us the most, there's only silence ringing that can be heard.
And don't think that the Jewish people haven't noticed that most of the more influential folks who don't have any potential political gain out of this war have been Jewish, or have strong Jewish connections. Don't think we aren't aware of how wildly alone we are in this.
And y'all want to know the worst part?
I'm starting to believe that the majority of the secular world would have been happier if Hitler had succeeded in his goals. And that's fucking crushing.
An important note: make no mistake. I don't support any war crimes or inhumane actions done by the Israeli government. I don't support the death and suffering of innocents. I acknowledge that there is much pain and horror and suffering on both sides of this war. I am simply relating my experiences and thoughts, as is anyone's right. I believe the Palestinians have just as much as a right to live peacefully in the land currently known as Israel as much as any Christian, Muslim, or Jew does. Period.
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