Zionists want you to conflate Judaism and Zionism. Zionists want you to believe that Judaism cannot exist without Zionism and that all Jews are Zionists. Zionism would have Jews believe that a Jewish state is the only way that they can be safe from antisemitism and will point to any instance of antisemitism as proof that Zionism is the solution- so Zionism wants gentiles to be antisemitic in their support of Palestine. They want you to conflate all Jews with Zionism and the state of Israel, and they want you to treat all Jews regardless of political affiliation as the face of Israel. Antizionist Jews exist, and incidences of antisemitism ostensibly acting against Zionism will not help dismantle the forces propping Zionism up.

Don't do their work for them.

awful tweet warning:

Before I describe everything that's wrong with this tweet, let me transcribe Stephen Fry's words:

I am Stephen Fry, and I am a Jew. The great Irish thinker and writer Conor Cruise O'Brien once said that antisemitism is a light sleeper. Well, it seems to have woken up of late. The horrendous events of October 7th, and the Israeli response, seem to have stirred up this ancient hatred. It's agonizing to see all violence and destruction that is unfolding, and the terrible loss of life on both sides brings me an overwhelming sadness and heartache. But whatever our opinions on what is happening, there can be no excuse for the behaviour of some of our citizens. Since October the 7th, there have been 50 separate reported incidents of antisemitism every single day in London alone, an increase of 1350%, according to the Metropolitan police. Shop windows smashed, stars of David and swastikas daubed on walls of Jewish properties, synagogues, and cemeteries. Jewish schools have been forced to close. There is real fear stalking the Jewish neighbourhoods of Britain. Jewish people here are becoming fearful of showing themselves, in Britain, in 2023.

(Then it cuts off.)

For those who still don't know why this tweet was ignorant and inane, let me explain.

"To hear him conflate antiZionism with antisemitism has shocked me."

Guess how many times Stephen Fry mentions zionism? Zero! Guess how many times he mentions the country of Israel? Zero! (Unless you count "the Israeli response" which is unrelated to the existence of the country, or Zionism at all.) What this person is saying, is that they consider the smashing of shop windows, and the vandalism and marking of Jewish property, to be anti-Zionism. Considering they are an anti-Zionist, by following their logic, we can conclude that they not only believe this destruction and harassment is acceptable, but they believe it is ethical.

Further, they accuse him of showing no care for the Palestinians, even though he explicitly states that the loss of life on both sides brings him overwhelming sadness.

Finally, they accuse him of "[Centring] people in this country". It is disturbing that this person believes one cannot be concerned over two issues at a time. It perpetuates the idea that we can only talk about the "worst oppression" and talking about anything else means you are complicit in "silencing" someone else. If this were true, we would not be allowed to talk about Gaza either, or Ukraine, or police brutality, racism, islamophobia, homophobia, transphobia, and so on and so on, because clearly there are other issues with hundreds of thousands more deaths, and millions more displacements, so why bring attention to it ever?

Unfortunately, people are not talking about those countries, like Syria, Yemen, Ethiopia, Congo, and more, and anyone who does is spammed with "free Palestine" comments. In fact, the most I've heard people talking about Sudan is when these TikTok geopolitical experts attempt to spam the Palestinian flag and get it wrong.

This is not new. This is obviously not new. I have seen tweets like these every single day in the hundreds for the last 80 days. It is not surprising that people think smashing windows is "anti-zionism", nor that they think it good. It is not surprising that they hear a Jew speak, and experience shock and disgust, regardless of what we say.

I do wonder if they would regard anything short of a second Holocaust as antisemitism.

I'm gonna share a few thoughts.

>>> People who are very insistent (rightfully) that Hamas and the Palestinians are not the same, because it de-humanizes the latter, are the same people who take every quote an Israeli official makes about fighting Hamas, and attribute it as if it was said about fighting the Palestinians. It seems they're the ones who are conflating Hamas and the Palestinians, but only when it can be used to de-humanize Jews.

>>> The same people who rushed to provide the "context" that the Islamist terrorists massacred over 1,400 people in Israel on Oct 7 due to occupation, were very silent when two Swedish soccer fans were murdered by an Islamist terrorist in Belgium on Oct 16. The last time I checked, Sweden had never occupied any part of Tunisia. For that matter, Hamas murdered and kidnapped many foreigners working and studying in Israel. I'm also pretty sure Thailand, Nepal, China and the Philippines had never occupied Palestine.

>>> I've seen many people screaming that the number of aid trucks being brought into Gaza since Oct 7 is insufficient, because so far it has been less than 100 a day, and before Hamas' attack, it was 500 daily. These are the same people who have been comparing Gaza to a ghetto or concentration camp. I can't remember a single day when the Nazis allowed 500 aid trucks into the Warsaw Ghetto or the Dachau concentration camp.

>>> I've seen many people claiming that Israel warning the Palestinians to evacuate parts of Gaza is forced transfer. I did not see these people so much as acknowledging the existence of well over 500,000 Israelis, who have been evacuated due to Hamas and Hezbollah's on going attacks against Israel.

>>> These same people criticize Israel so much, did not post a single condemnation of Egypt, which refuses to allow Gazans a temporary refuge within its borders. Egypt has also used the "forced transfer" excuse to deny Palestinians a safe temporary shelter. When Ukrainians needed to leave their bombarded cities, I don't remember their neighboring countries refusing to accept them temporarily, because it would be "forced transfer."

>>> IDK if this anti-Israeli post has the worst take yet, but it is def a strong contender:

The same people who can't bring themselves to condemn Hamas without reservations, to admit that it's a terrorist organization, with the stated genocidal goal of killing ALL JEWS, are the ones invoking the memory of the genocide perpetrated against Jews to try and get others to come out against the only Jewish state, and one that was very much a needed refuge place for about two thirds of Holocaust survivors after what they had endured. When Hamas has literally kidnapped and murdered Holocaust survivors and their family members. When countless Jewish people have pointed out that Hamas' massacre was the deadliest assault on Jews since the Holocaust, and made many of them be reminded of its horrors.

To take the memory of the Holocaust and use it to attack Jews, including Holocaust survivors and their families, and most of all, to do it based on a narrative that is completely ignorant or deliberately dismissive of Jewish native rights in Israel, is unconscionable. This person and those who agreed with them, they're guilty of exactly what they accuse others of. They've bought into the anti-Israeli propaganda that allows them to look at kidnapped Jewish babies and tear down their posters, to ignore Jewish students having to hide from anti-Israeli mobs, and to explain that the murdered Holocaust survivors deserved it, de-humanizing and victim blaming them a second time, just as the Nazis and their collaborators did.

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

You don’t think it’s possible for someone to support Israel because they are Jewish and have a strong ethnic and personal connection to that region (his bar mitzvah was literally in Israel) without actively being full of hatred towards Palestinians? There’s this narrative going around that Noah is somehow this deeply psychotic and racist person who wants Palestinian children to be exterminated, but isn’t it far more likely that he’s just deeply connected to his culture, fearful of the rise in antisemitism, and sad about 10/7? He condemned Hamas, a terrorist org. He never said anything about hating Palestinians.

Btw I personally support Palestine and agree that Israel has gone too far in its actions. I just don’t demonize everyone on the other side which is apparently a controversial position to take

I think that ongoing support of Israel as a settler colonial state hinges on the apartheid and genocide of the Palestinian people. Noah “Zionism is sexy” Schnapp is racist as is anyone who supports Zionism because it is a racist ideology. The establishment of any nation should not require the dispossession of land and resources of an entire group of people, but that’s what Zionism does.

Israel is no different than any other settler colonial state. Noah is not more or less ethnically tied to that land than I am to America. As a person raised within a setter colonial state, I could recognize the power and privilege I have to be able to live here or I could buy into a radical ideology based on the idea that I’m inherently superior to the indigenous people here and thus I deserve this land more.

Noah Schnapp has explicitly sided with Zionism. I don’t give a single flying fuck if he has been to Israel or he had his Bar Mitzvah in Israel. There are indigenous Palestinians who can’t return to their land because of Zionism. I’ve lived here in America my whole life. My immediate family is here. That doesn’t change the violent racist history of this place.

I didn’t call him psychotic. I didn’t demonize him. I am speaking in plain and simple English here - Noah is a Zionist. Zionism is a racist ideology. Israel as a settler colonial state that is younger than my grandparents has been displacing, imprisoning, torturing, and killing the indigenous people of that land for decades on the basis that they have a right to build an ethnostate on said land.

Stop conflating Jews and Judaism with Israel. Stop conflating Jews and Judaism with Zionism. Stop using the fear of antisemitism as a rhetorical device to excuse Zionist propaganda. There are many Jews sacrificing their safety to condemn Israel. There are many Jews who have suffered because of Israel.

Israel does not represent Jews or Judaism. It is a violent settler colonial state supported by other violent settler colonial states. Jewish safety and freedom shouldn’t hinge on apartheid and genocide. That’s not true safety or freedom. The only way forward is to free the Palestinian people. Stop the genocide. End the apartheid. Build a state based on equity for all, not just some.

This isn’t a religious conflict. This is a genocide and you can either support the oppressor or the oppressed. He chose the side of the oppressor. You’re not stating a controversial opinion by arguing in his favor, for him arguing in Israel’s favor. The U.S. government argues in Israel’s favor regularly, providing billions in weapons. We all see the consequences of that.

I will remain angry with him as is my right.

People don't know how good they have it in life. No one outside of the Middle East for the most part knows what it's like hearing a jet whizzing over you and a bomb going off. I only had a small taste of it in my life and I felt like my heart was gonna give out from stress and fear. Kids in gaza are dying from cardiac arrest. Its fucking heart breaking. These are kids who already face death by either getting blown up to pieces, crushed, hunger, or by disease. Now they are experiencing heart attacks from fear and adrenaline. Any country has to be held accountable for their actions, I don't care about your history, it isn't a fucking excuse. Criticism of Israel isn't an attack on Jews, stop conflating them. Their so called mission is eradicating Hamas, they are underground, it's known by now they prefer the hostages alive than dead. Stop carpet bombing, they are in tunnels. With the so called best intelligence in the world Israel is sure acting intelligently and strategically. How about figuring out where the tunnels are and being strategic instead of flattening buildings. How did you assassinate someone in Lebanon with a drone but had to bomb several hundred people to get one Hamas leader in Gaza. You can be fucking precise in Lebanon but not in Gaza. Its absolute bullshit and Canada, UK, US, and Germany are run by monsters. All of them are complicit. There is no justice in this world, just politics. Like I said in a previous post, doesn't matter what evidence is presented, the vote will be based on the leaders the lawyers represent, not them. Screw this world.

There is just constant double standards and projections in every conversation with Zionists. Signaling your support for Palestine is just ‘trying to make yourself look like a good Jew so the bad Jews get targeted’…while they target and single out antizionist Jews constantly.

Saying “hey the Holocaust is not an excuse for genocide” is Holocaust denial but denial of Palestinian genocide is fine, rewriting Israeli and European history to fit your own narrative of the Holocaust is fine.

It was 40 beheaded babies then 40 dead babies then it turns out there were no babies but hundreds of Palestinian babies doesn’t stir you? Palestinian babies crushed by bombs and burned by chemical warfare and left to suffocate and rot in their hospital beds doesn’t draw a word from you?

Calling a zionist a zionist is really a placeholder word for the slurs you actually wanna say but calling antizionist Jews ‘Kapo’ is definitely not a cover for slurs, right?

The isolation, the doxxing, the attacks, the denial—everything the pro-Palestine movement is accused of is what zionists have been doing to antizionist Jews over and over!

“Well you need to make the diaspora safe for Jews first and then we’ll talk.” YOU are part of the danger for diasporic antizionist Jews! YOU claim the only safe place for Jews is Israel and allow for defeatism on ever combatting antisemitism HERE.

Even LOOKING at the Palestinian flag under any context is a hate crime upon you, but if a Palestinian even flinches looking at the Magen David, that’s also violence towards you?

“How dare people conflate Israel with all Jews” YOU are conflating it too! If every attack on Israel is an attack on you, how are people going to ever separate the two? If Israel is the only safe place we all belong and any heritage that prides itself on being part of the diaspora is either appropriative or delusional to you about their “true” home, how are we meant to separate out the two? If you criticize the current government only because it’s a right wing colonial empire instead of a liberal colonial empire, that means you still stand with Israel fundamentally, so how is someone meant to take that as NOT support for Israel?

What are you doing? What are you DOING? The conditioning runs deep but how has this not shaken you awake?

How do you see even a fraction of what’s happening and dedicate all your time to opposing those who want to end it?

for those wondering why i have been mostly quiet regarding israel and palestine: most of the pro-palestine stuff i come across is dismissive of hamas' horrors, blatantly antisemetic in parts, and generally conflates the israeli population with their government. or worse, treats them as a monolith; it is true that there are many israelis mocking the people their soldiers are destroying. it is NOT true that all of israel doesn't care and is just totally cool with what's going on. i will share what i find of israel's atrocities, but i will not make my jewish followers feel unsafe for shit they had nothing to do with. most of the stuff i've seen that *does* acknowledge the horror is jewish bloggers who have spent much of their life advocating for palestine, now having to struggle against antisemetics coming to them, furious that they DARE to be upset at the lost israeli lives. as though they are not allowed to mourn for both sides. as though they are not allowed to be horrified by what has happened; that they can ONLY be worried for palestine and how the attack was the perfect excuse for israel to double down. i refuse to send even more hatred their way by spreading their grief further into the void; you never know Exactly who's following your follower's followers. i am glad, at least, that nobody i follow was outright celebrating. but i know that people WERE, and now they're trying to act like that never happened. so incase this wasn't clear, cheering on the deaths of Israelis does not fucking help palestine.

I am truly disgusted with the blatant racism and colonialism that manifests israel's very core. it is an attempt at a violent ethnostate, intent to not only destroy the people it seeks to replace, but fully erase them from history. i am also disgusted with the way that the left is happy to celebrate genuine terrorism if it's committed "for the right side", as if parading dead bodies and raping people does fucking ANYTHING good. as if that doesn't fuel the israeli government's chances for propoganda. as if it hasn't traumatized your jewish neighbors. there are no fucking winners in war. free palestine and protect your muslim AND jewish friends in this time, they are BOTH getting their shit kicked in by ignorant people who want to take out their anger on some random kid in ohio. we are all posting in anger here. but let's check ourselves before we post; misinformation and antisemitism weakens our voices. Edit for clarity: this post is for my mutuals. I am specifically asking my mutuals to think carefully about what they post; i am aware that i've been too quiet, and i am trying to remedy that. i am also warning my jewish and muslim followers that if you've been using my blog as a safe spot to not think about it for a little bit, you're gonna wanna block the tags below. 'horrible things' will usually do it. i am also venting about how every jew i follow is getting hit with the "die you stupid zionist" shit from coward anons who can't tell the difference between supporting israel and just being fucking concerned for your family over there. it's fucked.

I usually never use tumblr for its intended purpose (blogging) but i feel like this time i really need to get some things out of my chest. I've seen posts on twitter about people in France spraying the magen david on houses where jewish people supposedly live; that antisemitism is on the rise in my country (just to be clear, they were twitter posts and i didn't research futher so i can't be 100% sure that the pictures are recent but for the sake of this post i'll take it as fact.) I just want you to know, all of it is a consequence of people (nazis) conflating zionism and judaism and finally finding an excuse to be nazis out in the open. Ironically, it actually ends up aiding Israel because now they can claim, "see? the world hates us, and it's the palestinians fault". I've seen it with jewish people around me, how they see these acts of antisemitism, and while they might have not spoken out before (maybe they were unsure, maybe they didn't care, whatever the case may be), suddenly this confirms the fact that the "terrorist" palestinians want to kill all jews, even though the palestinian people being carpet bombed right now have nothing to do with nazis going, "see, we told you the jews were a plague!"

These acts of antisemitism are exactly what Israel needs to keep making itself the victim and gain the support of jewish people who were not that well read about what's going on, and now jewish people who were already playing the victim can give further "proof" of their victimhood.

TL;dr: people being more openly antisemitic has nothing to do with palestinians and people thinking that it does only helps solidify Israel's lies. Israel is commiting genocide by the way. Just in case.

Yours truly, a jewish girl form latam.

Don't you think there's better ways of showing support for Palestinians/Israeli Christians than by perpetuating the "Jesus was Palestinian" myth that people constantly try and use to deny Jewish indigeneity. Allegory or not, it's not a great look for someone who purports to be against that kind of erasure and supercessionism. Also, having 1 line about how his death was the Empire's fault so don't blame the Jews is meaningless when in this allegory, the Empire (Israeli government) *is* Jewish

(anyone curious about what anon's referring to, I believe it's my poem here)

Hey there anon, thank you for your feedback. In this situation where various marginalized peoples are being pitted against each other (and/or conflated with political groups), I've been struggling to make sure my words don't add to the misinformation and harm. So whenever someone takes the time to remind me of that danger, I'll take the time to re-examine my words — even if I end up standing by them, as I mostly do in this case.

I can't promise to say and do all the perfect things, because there isn't time to waste getting my words just right before saying something — people are dying right now (and yes, anon, that includes those Israelis who are still hostages of Hamas, who are also endangered by Israel's continued attacks.)

I have been spending much of my free time these past few months learning more about Israel and Palestine, and I still don't feel I'm even close to knowing enough! But I've listened to those who are actually in the midst of the violence who say that all of us across the world must join their cry now, not letting our ignorance be an excuse. That means there have been a few things I've said that I then had to re-consider after learning more.

...

Just a few days ago, I was actually trying to look into the origins of the statement that "Jesus was a Palestinian Jew." (Btw if anyone knows the origins of this statement, please hit me up!)

Arguments against it note that the term "Palestinian" didn't exist in Jesus' day. Looking into the accuracy of that statement is still on my to-do list; I did skim over this article calling it a myth but yeah, still digging. Regardless, sure, I don't think Jesus called himself a Palestinian in his lifetime.

That doesn't necessarily mean that the statement is useless, however. I do very much believe that if Jesus were born today, in the same place, he'd be born to a Jewish Palestinian family, not an Israeli one.

That does not erase his Jewishness; it confirms God's "preferential option for the poor," God's choice to side with and become one with the most oppressed and discarded. It also does not assert that Jewish persons don't "belong" in the region — only that the modern nation/colony Israel isn't necessary for them to live and thrive there.

All that said, if anyone has more info on the statement that "Jesus was a Palestinian" — its origins, how it's been used over the years — I would absolutely like to examine it further. For now, I stand by the phrase, with an openness to re-considering that with further education.

...

I feel more confident in talking about Empire — how I used it in my poem, versus how you've interpreted it. I'm genuinely grateful to you for bringing your reading of it to my attention, because it's shown me that my words weren't clear enough there!

In these verses from my poem:

"...And now, as then, some may blame Jesus’s death on his own Jewish people — but resist this lie! Now as then the crime is Empire’s and those of us who would cast stones should ponder first what our nations gain from genocide. ..."

You interpret Empire as being Israel.

My intention was that Empire with a capital E is a much larger network of all imperial forces on earth. Israel is entangled in that, and directly backed and funded by those forces. My own country, the United States, is one of the nations at the helm of Empire.

So when I talk of Empire being to blame, I'm not saying just Israel — honestly, I'm personally more concerned with the US's complicity, because I feel as a US citizen I can help demand they stop.

So I'm going to rework that bit to better express what I mean by Empire, so it doesn't sound like I'm focusing only on Israel. Empire is so much bigger than any one state, colony, or government.

...

Okay, I'm out of steam. I'm going to link a few pieces that have been helping me frame all that's going on right now to resist pitting marginalized groups against each other:

This art piece naming "contradicting truths"

This article by Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg also naming seemingly contradictory truths

Since I didn't really get deep into this part of your ask, I also appreciate this article discussing the question of indigeneity. It discards the "need" to figure out "who was there first" in favor of exploring intersecting histories.

Oh also, because you claim that the Israeli government "is Jewish," I think discussions on how Israel isn't actually a safe haven for all Jews, only those that fit into their goals, are vital.

I don't know what it is with Jewish Zionists (both overt and crypto). They really must think we're all stupid.

You see it with principaliteas, who made a flounce post a few weeks ago, complaining about the old canards of leftist antisemitism and those horrible anti-Zionists conflating Israel with Judaism (as if Zionists themselves are not the biggest perpetrators of this conflation, but that's another story!). She says all she's ever fought for is peace and equality, and that she's pro-Palestine, and what does she get in return? Nothing but violence and hatred from anti-Zionists, who of course don't actually care about Palestine and are just looking for an excuse to hate Jews (lol). She's so nice! She's pro-Palestine! She loves peace and puppies and sunshine!

But if you look in the notes of her post, what do you find? Overt Zionists. And they're fawning over her, saying how right she is and how awful those antisemites are and how they only hate her because she's a "threat to their narrative" and is "so clearly a humanitarian."

Does this clash at all with her self-conception, do you think? She loves to lecture the anti-Zionist movement about how important it is to weed out antisemitism, but does she give a fuck about the violent Zionist settler pukes stroking her ego? It doesn't seem like she does. And she's far from being the only "pro-Palestine Jew" who nonetheless seems to (mysteriously) have more sympathy for Jewish supremacist genocidaires than she does for anti-Zionists.

I honestly believe it's because they think we're all stupid. They think we can't understand the nuance of the topic. Sure, to a goy like me it may seem like principaliteas attracts violent settlers who support the IDF and buy into ludicrous Israeli propaganda whole-heartedly, but that's because I'm stupid and simply can't understand.

Contemptible! Contemptible.

The worst consequence of conflating Israel with Judaism is that people will eventually associate Israeli war crimes and the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians with every Jew on Earth, and those who oppose Israel and its genocide of Palestinians will be one step closer to becoming full-on antisemites because of that association. And this will hurt innocent Jews, even those who are against Israel and what they are doing to the people of Gaza. But as always, Westerners don't care about protecting minorities - be it Jews or Palestinians -, they just want an excuse to murder Muslims.

And btw, this is not new either: after 9/11, hate crimes against Muslims and Arabs (most of which weren't even Afghani) skyrocketed in the US, because back then, just like people are doing right now, everyone conflated Islam with terrorism, and called for war not just against Afghanistan, but against all Muslim in the US. And time showed that those blood-thirsty Americans calling for the death of Muslims were huge racists who just wanted an excuse to murder brown people. This time it won't be different.

"I'd Rather be fetishized than oppressed"

This is an interesting one, as it comes from a user that claims to be Jewish (unverifiable, but unless the person is suspicious I tend to believe self identification). Also important to note is that while this post does not contain any explicit antisemitism, it does make excuses for antisemitic behaviors.

Philosemitism, at its most basic definition, is a love and respect for Jews. This, on its own, is not a bad thing. However, philosemitism is in many ways simply another facet of antisemitism.

Philosemitism, especially from Christians, often crosses the line from a healthy appreciation of other cultures to a fetishization of Jews. It has roots in supersessionism and replacement theology. I could go on for a long time about why fetishization is bad, but I'm going to focus on a few relevant aspects.

Putting a minority group on a pedestal does harm to the people in that group. By placing Jews in a position where we are expected to be worthy of special reverence, we are being set up to be disappointing.

Jews are "respected" not for being a beautiful, diverse, and very much living culture worthy of celebrating, but instead as tools, either for apocalyptic scenarios (the frequent goal of Christian zionist organizations, more on that in a moment), because of our "connection" to Jesus ("I love Jews! after all, Jesus was a Jew!"), or as some mystical ancestor, a relic of the past that can be used as a tool for interpreting Christianity ("ancient wisdom"). Otherwise we are "appreciated" for stereotypes: being good with money, for example, to the point that in some countries there are traditions of having figurines or paintings of Jews for good luck. How flattering. Especially interesting is that those "praiseworthy" stereotypes are the same ones Jews were first forced into by, and then later persecuted for, by Christians themselves.

Conflating support for Israel for support for Jews. Like many antisemites of a different flavor, philosemitic antisemites often associate all Jews with Israel. Christian zionists believe that the return of Jews to Israel is part of a prophecy. In this prophecy, Jews will return to Israel. They will be given the chance to convert, and only a small portion will accept. The rest will be tortured in hell for eternity, as the messianic age continues. Christian zionist actions are an attempt to speed up the fulfillment of this prophecy. As you can see, supporting Israel is not at all the same as supporting Jews, as they claim. a phrase often heard from them is "I love Jews! I am a strong supporter of Israel!". Or, "I can't be antisemitic! I'm an Israel supporter!"

Now, the specific user you see in this post's argument boils down to this: "At least they aren't killing us!"

This is, if I'm being honest, a pathetic attitude to have. Not being murdered is not exactly the best bar for what is and isn't acceptable. They go on to say that they aren't in favor of fetishization either, but that doesn't change the fact that they think Jews should just suck it up and cope, since we aren't being gassed or beaten in the streets.

They make excuses for the antisemitism. since they see it as not that bad. But excusing antisemitism contributes to the normalization and perpetuation of it. So while they are not themselves explicitly antisemitic, I feel they still deserve a place on this blog.

you might be following better people, but i've seen way too many proclaimed anarchists (and other leftists) conflating Hamas with a general "struggle for palestinean liberation", and excusing massacres of civilians as "a justified response to oppression" i've had to unfollow at least two dozen people.

honestly, if you seriously declare that Hamas or any of the recent offenseives against israel are liberatory in any way, shape, or form, you're seriously morally bankrupt (not to mention very racist as you claim the goal of Hamas [genocide of Jewish people*] is held by all Palestineans)

*they consider all Jewish people no matter where they live, the state of Israel, Zionism, and a general conspiratorial concept of the "global jewish elite" to be one in the same, and their explicit goal is to kill Jews, if you don't believe me, read their charter.

i mean. perhaps you're not understanding the general thrust of the critique, but so long as israel enforces hamas as the only source of political and social infrastructure in palestine, then the only source of struggle for palestinian liberation will be hamas.

like. yes, israel very much wants the only recognized liberatory structure in palestine to be an organization calling for the genocide of jews. that's why israel funds them and intentionally disrupts progressive parties and organizations like the PLO. it's, uh, very much a matter of public record. they don't even try to hide it.

i feel that lenses like the one in this ask are missing the forest for the trees--the impetus to stop massacres of innocent israeli civilians lies at the feet of the israeli government. they could. you know. not fund the organization that wants to genocide the jewish people and carries out military action to that end. not force an entire incarcerated population to rely on a genocidal, oppressive regime inside their fucking open-air concentration camp.

arguments over whether or not violence against colonizing forces is "liberatory" or reminders that hamas advocates for genocide in this structure feel like deflections, and i understand why people are, broadly, treating them like deflections. the topic is "israel bears the responsibility for these horrors and israeli politicians are willing to knowingly sacrifice civilians in the israeli population at random for political gain," and responding to that with "the organization directly carrying out these horrors is genocidal in ideology" is... not responding to that topic.

to bring it all back around: i do think that it is a factual statement to say that hamas is (as of status quo) the only structure through which violent action against the state of israel will occur. this is intentional on the part of israel. it is also, objectively, a bad thing. i see statements like yours being brought against anarchists who are just stating the former fact without actually claiming to support the individual actions of hamas as an organization, and that feels like deflections. i don't think you're deflecting individually, necessarily, but i think the overall thrust of the discourse has poisoned the well. i also think that poisoning is intentional messaging on the part of zionists in both the american and israeli governments alike.

obligatory context because (due to several discussions i've had today) i feel like it's important for public messaging reasons: hi! i'm jewish! like, actively and practicing!

I think it's tricky for the tumblr circles I run in because our leftism fuels our Christianity which fuels our leftism which fuels our Christianity which fuels our leftism. But it's just to small a gap, intentional or not, from using Christian language to talk about Palestine and Israel (ie, Jesus was a Palestinian, Christ is in the rubble, American evangelicals should empathize with Palestinians because many of them are Christians) to accusations of Jews as Christ killers. It's low hanging fruit for those looking for excuses to be anti-Semitic, or to conflate the modern nation state of Israel with all of Judaism. Don't give them, or yourself, that fruit. We absolutely must continue to speak out about what's going on in Palestine, but the religious vocab makes it murky and weird.

can i ask why you attend an anglican church if you're jewish? you don't have to answer ofc i'm just curious! :)

hey no worries! i am ethnically jewish, and the family that raised me consists of italian catholics + hungarian jews who converted to catholicism at the turn of the century (a process known as magyarization). as a child we did shabbos on saturday and went to church on sunday mornings- i mostly remember going to anglican churches, and when we moved in with my grandparents we attended a catholic church, but as i was homeschooled a lot (read: most) of my peers were evangelical so i went to their churches as well.

my jewish heritage is very precious to me, especially because it was treated as a dirty secret in my family. but it is a very complex and difficult relationship. i am a jew and i am ethnically jewish, i have experienced and continue to experience anti-jewish prejudice, but i am not jewish in the sense that i practice judaism. i also am unable to reconcile my love of christianity, and of christ, with practicing judaism: i don't believe they are theologically incompatible, but they are culturally such, and that is entirely the fault of antisemitism woven into christianity. so i will be baptized, and i do want to serve in anglican ministry, but i will not stop being a jew because of this. sorry if this is a very vague answer, it's a very weird topic but i want to be as open about it as possible. basically i feel alienated from judaism for a vast number of reasons, i am bastardized by catholicism, but anglicanism has very much became a home for me where i can live shoulder to shoulder with a God who resembles what i knew growing up- a loving, forgiving God. i feel a loving God in judaism, but i don’t think it’s where he wants me to serve him. 

(additionally, and i feel this is a necessary caveat: most of the synagogues in my area are pro-israel, including the one that sponsored a pride event last year, and i do not agree with this theologically, personally, or politically. another necessary caveat to this is that not all jews are zionists, and not all zionists are jews. it is fully possible to be pro-palestine without being antisemitic, and it is also fully possible to be antisemitic and a zionist. i think people tend to conflate jews and judaism with israel, understandably so, but as far as i am concerned, as a jew, israel is an apartheid state with created by countries that didn't want to take on holocaust survivors at the end of wwii, and as such has nothing to do with jews or judaism, and a lot to do with western imperialism (modern zionism as we recognize and understand it was founded incidentally a hungarian jew). the same "theology" that gave europe an excuse to colonize and murder their way across the globe is the same theology that built israel with the aid of those same global powers- as such, it is outdated and incorrect. scriptural literalism never took us anywhere holy. as this isn't a question about palestine i'm not going to continue pressing this issue but it feels necessary to say, and i do welcome dialogue on the topic. tl:dr free palestine. my family was treated as other in their own home, attacked, killed, and vilified for their existence: my heart is with palestine always.)

the sudden and spectacular mask-dropping of all these supposed nazi-punching left-wing blogs here suddenly embracing violent antisemitism the moment it becomes socially acceptable, is predictable, disgusting, and... morbidly comedic, like a black comedy of the most egregious kind. you see, I always knew all of it was performative and hypocritical. a bunch of people who thinks the government should do everything, control everything, think they're anti-fascist? a bunch of people who will take any excuse to be violent against a population they don't like are anti-nazi? but to be honest, I had no idea how performative and hypocritical they actually were.

what israel is doing could be considered an actual genocide, certainly, just like the CCP's treatment of the uyghur muslims. but in much the same way as the actions of the CCP does not justify violence against chinese immigrants, so to does the actions of the israeli government not justify violence against jews. conflation of a people and a government is a form of racialism, pure and simple, and the willingness to act on that conflation? that, my friend, is racism. antisemitism, to be exact.

(that's not even bringing up the fact that i've seen people treating hamas as a freedom-fighter group even though they have actively sabotaged any attempts at peace that don't involve ethnic cleansing of israeli jews.)

y'all think you live in a saturday-morning cartoon where any violent action taken against "the enemy" is justified because "they're the bad guys". it's infantile and gross. that's how you become what you think you're fighting.

look at the right-wing fanatics like Alex Jones. He lives in a fantasy world, where the liberals are a bunch of actual demons and goblins out to suck the blood of children, rather than being people with different perspectives and interpretations of the world. his rhetoric dehumanizes people, and crunches them all together into a single nebulous "them" that "we" can fight. this is what you are doing right now. you are turning "the jews" into a boogeyman, and then conflating them with the nazis you already think you hate. and in doing so, you are adopting nazi thought as your own, effectively becoming them. a neo-nazi, if you will.

i fully expect within the next year or two for the left to start taking up right-wing talking points from 1930s america and run with them. brace yourselves.