As for our brothers, the whole house of Israel, who are given over to trouble or captivity, whether they abide on the sea or on the dry land:
May the All-present have mercy upon them, and bring them forth from trouble to enlargement, from darkness to light, and from subjection to redemption, now speedily and at a near time.
Are you a progressive Jew who feels utterly alone? Abandoned by people you thought were allies and feel gaslit by community members actually supporting the Cheeto Regime?
I know there are a lot of us out here.
I created a community for Jews on the Left that are coping with antisemitism on both the left and right. It’s for us to support each other.
The ground rules are simple. We abide by the IHRA definition of antisemitism.
“Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”
Contemporary examples of antisemitism in public life, the media, schools, the workplace, and in the religious sphere could, taking into account the overall context, include, but are not limited to:
Calling for, aiding, or justifying the killing or harming of Jews in the name of a radical ideology or an extremist view of religion.
Making mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing, or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the power of Jews as collective — such as, especially but not exclusively, the myth about a world Jewish conspiracy or of Jews controlling the media, economy, government or other societal institutions.
Accusing Jews as a people of being responsible for real or imagined wrongdoing committed by a single Jewish person or group, or even for acts committed by non-Jews.
Denying the fact, scope, mechanisms (e.g. gas chambers) or intentionality of the genocide of the Jewish people at the hands of National Socialist Germany and its supporters and accomplices during World War II (the Holocaust).
Accusing the Jews as a people, or Israel as a state, of inventing or exaggerating the Holocaust.
Accusing Jewish citizens of being more loyal to Israel, or to the alleged priorities of Jews worldwide, than to the interests of their own nations.
Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor.
Applying double standards by requiring of it a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation.
Using the symbols and images associated with classic antisemitism (e.g., claims of Jews killing Jesus or blood libel) to characterize Israel or Israelis.
Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.
Holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the state of Israel
We recognize Jews of all backgrounds as long as they uphold Jewish values. We are progressive and oppose all forms df racism, sexism, homophobia, and any form of bigotry or discrimination.
Send me a message and I’ll add you to the group. I will be very discerning here; I’m erring on the side of being more careful to weed out antisemites. You can plead your case if I don’t let you in the first time.
Haven’t posted in a while. I just want to make this abundantly clear. I’m a Zionist. I’m a liberal working in the progressive movement.
The ethnic cleansing Trump proposed is morally repugnant and no person of conscience would or should support that. Ever.
Any definition of Zionism that includes support for this, is a perversion of its meaning.
Support for Israel’s right to exist and defense against terrorism is not incompatible with or in opposition to Palestinian right of self determination.
While we’re on the subject, the settlers in the West Bank are state sanctioned terrorists. Period. Full stop.
Netanyahu is to Israel what Trump is to America. He is a threat to the state of Israel and to the Jewish people.
I do not support Trump or Netanyahu. Never have. Never will. Support for Israel does not equate any more to support for the government than support for the United States equates to support for Trump.
I do not speak for all Jews. I speak for myself. That said, I know many many many Jews like myself who feel exactly the same.
If you want to know how I feel about the war, I’ll tell you. I am angry. I’m angry at Hamas. For killing and kidnapping people, for the sick psychological nd physical torture they inflicted on Israelis and for the blatant disregard for the Palestinian civilians who they knew would suffer as a result.
Sinwar was asked if he thought about the impact this would have on Gazans. He replied “we can’t concern ourselves with the lives of martyrs.” In other words - he didn’t give a shit.
He knew, they all knew they were provoking Netanyahu. They knew exactly how Israel would respond and they did it anyway. So every time I see a heart wrenching story or image of innocent children, I think about how this didn’t have to happen. All Hamas cared about what drawing Israel into a war.
So if you ask me how I feel, I’m angry and devastated. I want the hostages home and I want this war to be over. I want peace,
I love you pomegranates I love you olive branches I love you doves I love you menorahs and chanukiahs I love you Shabbat candles I love you shofars I love you Torah and Tanakh and Gemara I love you Ladino and Judeo-Marathi and Krymchak and Yiddish and Judeo-Malayalam and Judeo-Arabic and all the languages I love you seven species I love you kiddush cup I love you sefarim I love you Aron I love you sniut I love you henna I love you nose rings and earrings and necklaces I love you rain and snow and storms I love you and sun and moon and stars I love you white clothes on Yom Kippur and Shabbat. I love you Judaism.
I'm curious what your stance on some of the popular literature set during the Holocaust is, as a historian specializing in that era
I've heard a lot of vitriol about Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne. Admittedly I haven't read that book since I was pretty young, but I remember cringing at the whole "Out-With" thing even at around age 10.
The other one that immediately springs to mind is Art Speigelman's Maus, which I was given a copy of at about the same age.
Do you have any thoughts on either of those books? Any other you'd either recommend or would advise to avoid?
Oof I have a LOT of thoughts. Why don't you scroll through my archive, because I know I've talked about this frequently over my time posting here.
I think most media about the Holocaust produced in the USA or by US American artists is....not good. It centers and privileges a male experiential POV, and is obsessed with the idea of forcing a happy/triumphal ending onto events which ended neither happily nor triumphally. There's also the privileging of the gentile POV, which I'm only ok with in Number the Stars.
Maus is great. My problem with it only exists in the context of what I call the Holocaust Historical Canon--fiction and nonfiction about the Holocaust which privileges/emphasizes the male experience while erasing/downplaying the female--and that's not Art Spiegelman's fault (tho it is kind of his dad's, but. I prefer not to criticize the trauma-informed behavior of Survivors, but woof.)
i have been thinking a lot lately of art spiegelman’s mom’s experience as a depressed person going through a genocide and that experience is lost forever
She was one of the kashariyot (the women my book is about), but Vladek burned Anja's diaries after she ended her life in '68, so we'll never be able to access her experiences in her own words. Meanwhile, in conversations with his son, Vladek portrayed as a rather meek, frightened individual.
None of the kashariyot were meek and frightened. They were incredibly courageous women who went out on their missions every day understanding that they might not live to see the end of it. Like.
Sara R. Horowitz, “Women in Holocaust Literature: Engendering Trauma Memory” in Women in the Holocaust, eds Dalia Ofer and Lenore J. Weitzman (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1998), 368.
Read “People Love Dead Jews.” The way the Shoah is portrayed in media is gentile-centered trauma porn with a goy savior complex. It makes it seem like a thing that happened because a small group of monsters were evil. The truth is, it didn’t “just happen.” Antisemitism was pervasive; regular people, not exceptionally evil psychopaths, rounded up, beat, discriminated against and murdered Jews. It didn’t happen in spite of Gentiles, it happened because of them.
This line from the book really resonated with me was about Anne Frank's oft quoted message “most people are good.”
To paraphrase; “it’s likely the reason Anne, a 12 year old, believed this was because she hadn’t yet encountered the people who truly were not.”
The boy in the striped pajamas is premised on historical inaccuracy. It is about how the gentile boy felt, the Jewish boy was a tragic prop. The most important and damaging narrative from the book is that people didn’t know it was happening. That’s just not true, especially an SS officer’s child.
I've almost reached my breaking point with this genocide in Ukraine. I'm older than most Tumblr users, so I was being yelled at in university tutorials in the early 00s for talking about the Holodomor, and being told that "If it happened, Ukrainians deserved it for being Nazis".
I was out there in 2007 when we had the worldwide march for the Holodomor to be recognised as a genocide, only for so many countries (the USA being one of them) to tell us that they won't do it because it might upset russia.
I remember when russia invaded in 2014 and Obama said it wasn't his business, and that russia can decide what happens in Ukraine. And then he sent Ukraine fucking helmets and "hygiene kits" instead of the military aid he was supposed to.
I remember sitting at home on the 17th of July 2014, hearing about russia shooting down MH17, and feeling my blood run cold because the initial reports said the aeroplane was full of Americans. Being so sure that the USA might finally live up to the Budapest Memorandum and get involved in the war.
Of course they didn't.
I remember being at a protest at the russian embassy in Canberra just after Crimea was annexed, and the only people who turned up for us were other Ukrainians. Soon after there were massive, bipartisan protests for Palestine and BLM from Melbourne to Dublin and beyond. Ukrainians are too white for leftists and too foreign for right-wingers to care about.
Now I go on reddit and see that Americans are discussing how Ukraine "has a neo-fascist problem". Um, you guys just voted for Donald fucking Trump?
Then I see an Australian journalist say that the US election result means that America is "becoming like Eastern Europe". No. Eastern Europeans aren't Nazis. They suffered more under the Nazis than anyone.
We're always on our own. Millions upon millions of Ukrainians have been killed in the last ninety years, millions more sold into slavery in Germany, hundreds of thousands sent to gulags (including the entire population of my grandmother's village), and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of thousands dead or missing now, but we're still not seen as worthy of caring about.
I have family members whose dead bodies have been lying on battlefields for over a year. One killed in Bahkmut, a city that no longer exists. Another taken hostage from Mariupol, a city russia bombed to the ground. The mass graves there can be seen from space.
We can't get the bodies back because russia has colonised the area. I have a relative who was moved on from fighting in Vovchansk because there was no point fighting for another city that no longer exists. My relative who was taken hostage in Mariupol was starved and tortured for 2.5 years.
And then last week our city's magazine had a three-page interview with the russian ambassador, explaining why his country "has" to commit genocide in Ukraine. The editor laughed at my aunt when she phoned to register a complaint.
But teenaged tankies on sites like this will mock Ukrainians' deaths, stick a fucking hammer and sickle in their profile, and lecture people like me about things they know nothing about.
This phenomenon of so called Leftists throwing up their hands at the tiniest pushback, or criticism, or suggestions on how to not actively be antisemitic needs to be studied. Because what do you mean instead of just accepting that an antisemitic troll claiming to be on your side said "Zionist Occupied Government" and denouncing this and moving on with your life... you double down, defend, and deflect. It's classic DARVO, but like, when people are very patiently and slowly explaining how this is a literal KKK Nazi white supremacist fascist phrase, it's not enough? You don't care?
It's clear that the "pro Palestinian" left have been fully infiltrated by fascists, both Western fascists who have always been nakedly antisemitic and are finding the perfect avenue to mainstream their Jew hatred... and Islamist fascists who simply never cared that Jews are a global minority group that has faced oppression and violence in multiple different continents, they don't care about social justice or fundamental human rights. It's not part of their intellectual tradition.
The "pro" Palestine movement has been captured by people who have decided that a) Palestine is emblematic of all of the problems of the world, and that b) every Jew is worth sacrificing to correct these problems, because c) if Palestine is emblematic, aren't Zionists responsible for everything then?
Now the prevailing thought is that someone should be able to call for violence against Jews, someone should be able to harass or even assault Jewish Americans, because bringing it up, complaining, taking a stand, that's the equivalent of telling them you like children blowing up, you like hundreds of thousands of people being homeless and food insecure, you like prisoners being detained in Guantanamo conditions without due process, where anyone can torture them as revenge even if there's no proof they're an actual Hamas member.
Is there a reason they argue like Republican Fox News addicts? I guess that kind of explains how easily the "movement" is falling apart to literal fascists.
They say "nobody cares about your hurt feelings ZIONIST!" if you mention literal stabbings and firebombs. They say "but we should talk about how pervasively synagogues indoctrinate the vast majority of Jewish people with Zionist ideology." They roll their eyes because "don't you know Palestinians are suffering 200x what these cushy American Jews could even imagine?" Facts don't care about your feelings uwu~
But at the end of the day, they care a lot about their own feelings, much more so than the facts. They feel entitled to hate all Jews all over the planet, to secretly revel in antisemitic rhetoric and acts, to want to take out their impotent frustration and despair on any and all Jews they'd like. This is very much about their feelings and not any Jewish people's feelings.
They've been waiting for this, or many of them never cared at all. Now it's finally Leftist to quote Nazis and openly make fun of Jews who are getting stabbed. Now it's finally Leftist to call for incinerating all of Israel and maybe we should consider a lot of Diaspora Jews too, you know they can't be trusted! Oh but don't forget to honor the victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, innocent civilians should never have been targeted by America's vicious imperial violence!
The fact that it took this substantial contingent of watermelon twitter less than a year to go full mask off like this... is that revealing or troubling?
I think leftists and right wingers both need a boogeyman, and until they sort out why their movements require something Bad and Other to riot against, nothing will change.
There’s deep rooted issues in the movements and if you combine that with “hot button issues” like Palestine and Jewish survival, well. We see what happens.
The fact that at this current moment in time things seem to be lining up for both movements to be champing at the bit on who can blame Jews more is… concerning.
The entitlement OP mentions is just. Like it’s dripping throughout the whole pro-Palestine movement. You’re entitled to Israeli suffering. you’re entitled to Palestinian suffering. You’re little sadists cosplaying as activists, is what you fucking are.
I think we give them too much credit when we say the left has been "inflitrated." Their racism is not an accident, that's why they double-down. It is selective and deliberate and purposeful. The cruelty is the point.
The left's rhetoric has, for the most part, always been tied to Soviet propaganda, especially when it comes to Jews. It's always been racist. It's always upheld white supremacy. It's always upheld Western Imperialism. I have never been surprised by the sudden mask off antisemitism the left's been harping on with since last October, because they were always like this. They're just louder and bolder about it now.
The left has always needed a boogyman. It was white people for a while. Right now it's Jews. Eventually they'll move on to the next trendy hate train. But it's always been about dividing people by race, by who's "good and bad". It's always been cultural christian bullshit of original sin and revenge just like the Right. They've always been obsessed with the good guys and the bad guys.
Governments get power when they can give people someone else to hate. The right gives you non-Christians (especially Jews and Muslims) to hate. The left gives "colonizers" blanketed together on skin color or ethnicity alone to hate. It's always been this way. Political extremists regardless of where and what their political views are, are always radical racists, because hate is what radicalizes people. And racism is a deep rut humanity just can't seem to get out of. Because it's easy to hate someone over something stupid like skin color, ethnicity or nationality.
The right hates non-whites. The left fetishizes and infantalizes them. They both love white power though, even if they talk about it differently. This obsession with whiteness, this obsession with race, this obsession with colonizers and savages and who is who and who isn't, and who's the good ones and who's the evil ones. It doesn't take a whole lot of brain power to see the world so black and white.
On the topic of who it's being directed at towards though. There is a difference between the left's racism (because yes, it is racism) towards whites and the left's racism towards Jews. Western culture has always uplifted whites, and the left challenges that. Good, as it should. Where they went wrong with that was making being white the original sin and pretending that only whites can commit atrocities. Going so far as to excuse genocides when it's done against white people, or ignoring the countless victims of Imperialism when it's done by non-whites.
However with Jews - Jews have historically always been an ethnic minority, have always been the target of ethnic cleansing, and have never had any uplifting from the system. They have never had a position of systematic power to the same degree that White Western Europeans have had. They are a global minority. So there's a lot more historical trauma being weaponized here. A lot more racist rhetoric that's centuries old being weaponized here. And it's a lot more dangerous to be a Jew than it will ever be to be white.
TLDR; the left has always been racist. They just justify it differently than the right does. But both sides profit from telling you who you're allowed to hate.
Unfortunately there's a lot of history preaching to hate Jews
It has never been about helping people. It was never about helping POC. It was never about helping the oppressed. It was never about helping the marginalized. It was never about helping Palestinians. It was never about helping those facing imperialism. It has always been about hate.
I love you. I love you from the most observant to people who don't at all. I love you mentally ill and Disabled jews. I love you Questioning Jews. I love you Queer Jews. I love you Gender non confirming Jews. I love you POC Jews. I love you with all my heart.
Since October, a darkness has threatened us and many call for our deaths. I want to remind you they will not succeed.
Not only will we dance again, but we will remember our perseverance. How instead of fleeing, people lined up to give blood on the worst day since the Holocaust. How we are wearing religious symbols and celebrating passover. How we are going to Synagogue.
There is not a Dictator, Queen, King, Leader of tyrant that has wiped us all out. Not now, not ever.
Wishing everyone a safe and successful week, our soldiers safety and victory, a speedy and healthy return of our hostages, and a really bad week for our enemies.
Yesterday, at my egalitarian, very very liberal synagogue, I recited the blessing for The State of Israel while holding a patch from the uniform of an IDF soldier.
It’s me. I’m the “Jewish student” they’re all talking about, whether or not we feel safe on campus, whether or not we’re zionist or antizionist.
What I can tell you is that my Hillel house is one of the *only* places I feel safe on campus and it enables me to get through long, multiple class days on campus where I can’t go home. They give me free food. They give me a rabbi I can consult. They give me endless friendly faces and community. They give me religious events.
There is no way for you to target Hillel and not be an asshole. And it’s literally just campus “activists” picking at their local low hanging fruit in a way that does nothing but punish Jewish students.
I’ve run across several goyim lately who were genuinely shocked to learn that 1) not only have they been fed a pack of lies about what Zionism is, 2) there’s more than one kind of Zionism.
So I thought I’d lay them out. I’m going to attempt to be as neutral as possible, so if you’re going “wow, that kind of Zionism is awful! Why isn’t Nina acting totally disgusted by it?”, it’s because this is an attempt to inform, not evangelize.
BASIC ZIONISM: all other forms of Zionism build off this one. Basic Zionism means you agree that the folklore, literature, calendar, and lifeways of Jews (not to mention a whole slew of archaeological evidence) meet the burden of proof that Jews are indigenous to the Levant, and that as an indigenous people we should have the right to self-determination in our indigenous homeland.
KAHANIST/EXPANSIONIST ZIONISM: this form of Zionism, pioneered by Meir Kahan, says modern-day Israel should encompass every piece of land that ancient Israel and Judea encompassed at any given time in antiquity, even if it was a temporary holding. (These were the ancient Jewish states.) This would entail all of modern-day Israel, the West Bank, most of Jordan, and tiny slices of Lebanon, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Syria. (Weirdly, although the Kahanists consider Gaza to be part of Israel, a chunk of land in roughly the same place was actually Philistia. It’s off by something like 50 miles, but after 3000 years I don’t feel like 50 miles is so much.) It also states that Jews are the only people who should be living there, and that expansion beyond these borders is a desirable goal. This form of Zionism explicitly allows for and sometimes even encourages violence. It is the closest thing on this list to the goyische definition of “Zionism” you’ve heard floating around Tumblr and college campuses.
TWO-STATE NO-RETURN ZIONISM: Two-state no-return Zionists recognize that the people who now call themselves Palestinians deserve the basic dignity and humanity due to all people, but consider a right of return to Israel for Palestinians dangerous. Two-state no-return means the West Bank and Gaza would become Palestine, and the land that’s currently Israel would remain Israel. Most two-state no-return Zionists draw their lines for these land parcels along the 1967 borders. If you’re wondering “why 1967? Wasn’t Israel founded in 1948?”, yes, and the day it was founded eight other countries invaded to try and take it over as an Arab-colonized ethnostate. This did not go well for those eight countries, but Egypt made off with Gaza and Jordan took the West Bank, so going back further than 1967 means "still no Palestine, it's Egypt and Jordan now."
TWO-STATE WITH RETURN ZIONISM: like the above, but with Palestinians having the option to seek citizenship in Israel on the basis of non-Arab Palestinians also being indigenous to the region.
TWO-STATE VARIATIONS: in the interest of full disclosure, this is where I fall—I think there should be a three-state confederation (think like the EU, but smaller). Why three states? Because historically we’ve seen that when a single country is split in pieces like Palestine is, it has a hard time defending itself and the single country will end up becoming two countries anyway. Iran would be a very real threat to a fledgling Palestine, so each part having a separate military would be in their favor. As for other variations, there are many; if someone says they support a two-state solution, they may or may not mean one of the two options above, because there are many ways, good and bad, to make two-state work. The only constant is that two-state means there’s both an Israel and a Palestine. And yes, if you support the idea that both should exist, you’re a Zionist.
ONE-STATE WITH RETURN ZIONISM: the West Bank and Gaza get absorbed into Israel. Palestinians are now considered Israeli citizens.
ONE-STATE NO-RETURN ZIONISM: the West Bank and Gaza get absorbed into Israel. The Palestinians are expelled in spite of non-Arab Palestinians also being indigenous to the region. I feel like this one is more of a pipe dream for a few bigots than it is any kind of serious position—there are seven million people living in Palestinian lands, and about two million Israelis who are from non-Jewish ethnic groups. Like, you’re not just gonna kick them all to the curb, it’s not going to work.
EVANGELICAL CHRISTIAN ZIONISM: all the Jews need to go back to Israel and destroy Al-Aqsa mosque to rebuild the Temple, because fundamentalist doctrine teaches that when they do the Rapture will begin. 144,000 of them will realize the error of their ways and convert to Christianity on the spot, and the rest will be thrown into hell. Fundamentalists neither know nor care where Palestinians come into this. For that matter, they don’t even really care about the Jews, except as a convenient theological prop.
I’m pretty sure I’ve covered all the basic forms of modern* Zionism here, although certainly there are further variations. If you’ve been confused how over 80% of Jews could support Zionism: now you know. For the vast majority of us, it’s not about making Palestinians suffer—it’s about trying to live peacefully in a land where we have existed for 3500 years, and where, before we were Jews, we were Canaanites. Our roots there predate written language. We just want to keep them there.
*historically, Zionism was built around what kind of country Israel should be, not what its borders should be.
May I offer corrections? Or perhaps, a different perspective?
The majority of Israelis don't wake up thinking to themselves "hurr durr today I will enact my full Zionism".
What dictates what actually goes on is less of a deep Zionist ideology and rather... reality.
I know that people, especially outside I/P don't like hearing this, but all this discourse about one state, confederacy, 3 states, etc. is simply non existent on the street level and is only supported by the fringe in the academia. These solutions are not feasible and thus have never become mainstream. As one of my friends has said, one who constantly criticizes the occupation and sends me Leibowitz' writings (a deceased left wing philosophical thinker): "No".
What we, Israelis, consider as Zionism is basically a national home for the Jewish people. Since we know Palestinians (and Arabs) are the majority in the region we understand that nothing good will happen with the RoR. It'll end in Balkanization for sure, no ifs nor buts. Thus, Israelis also consider Zionism with Israel being a major Jewish state, aka, no RoR.
While there are several political spectra of different political issues, when it comes to the conflict, Israelis are split based on the following 2 issues:
1. Reaching a treaty with the Palestinians, such that Palestine will be an independent state alongside Israel.
2. Security.
While the majority of Israelis do not wish to occupy Palestinians for the sake of occupying them, nor do they care about the settlements in the West Bank or expanding Israel's borders, they do care about security.
Now this is where the problem lies. Different people hold different views about what brings security. Some Likud voters for example, do not trust an independent Palestinian sate alongside Israel, they believe it'll be a launchpad for missiles and a terror hub and they also view a Palestinian state today as a price for terror. More Leftist Israelis see the importance of treaties.
Israeli right wing is right that the root cause of the conflict is the inability of Palestinians accepting the existence of Israel, or rather, accepting that Israeli Jews are indigenous to their homeland. This notion was THE CAUSE for the 1948 & 1967 wars and the occupation and not the other way around. Something that people abroad constantly miss. I am not saying that Israel is infallible nor that the occupation (of 1967) has not intensified the conflict, but rather that the root cause of the conflict is not that.
In the 90s there was a prominent group of people in Israel that thought that a peace treaty will solve things, but this process didn't bring peace but rather terror. So Israelis have learned that peace doesn't bring peace, it brings terror. The 2nd Intifada (aka the exploding buses period during a peace process), has basically killed the peace camp in Israel.
People who identify as Leftists in Israel are deemed as naive and these days as traitors.
So whenever people bring up: there is this kind of Zionism and that kind of Zionism, it's non-relevant. The reality is dictated by what people support based on what they think will bring more security. Very pragmatic, nothing too deep about border expansions or ethnocracy.
I also see many people mentioning "Liberal Zionism", but what does it mean? Does it mean Yesh Atid voters? Meretz voters? There is a spectrum and Israel is most definitely NOT a monolith. Just because the US is a two-party system, doesn't mean Israel is the same. This reduction into "Liberal Zionism" and "Conservative Zionism" is wrong, simplistic, and very much American.
Look for example at what Israeli voters think about whether Palestinians want to conquer and kills us (taken from here):
The parties from left to right are as follows: Meretz, Labor (Ha'Avoda), Yesh Atid, National Unity, Yisrael Beitenu, Likud, Shas, United Torah Judaism, Religious Zionist party + Otzma Yehudit.
The blue bar indicates the percentage of voters believing Palestinians do not want a state at the 1967 borders, but rather conquer Israel.
Orange bar: Palestinians will also want to kill Jews.
Unsurprisingly the bars are also ordered from the most left wing Zionist party (Meretz) to the most right wing Zionist party (RZP + Otzma Yehudit).
The only non Zionist parties are Shas (to some extent) and United Torah Judaism parties which are representative of the Ultra Orthodox community in Israel, aka, those religious Jews that wear black and white garments. Again, these are non-Zionist parties, but their voters are right wingers, albeit they do not serve in the military.
Confusing? Perhaps I'll explain that in a future post.
There are also 3 other parties mostly representing the Arab/Palestinian society in Israel, only a fraction of Israeli Jews vote for them, usually self-identified non-Zionists and what people abroad think non-Zionism is (they, btw, usually support any solution as long as it's democratic, providing both civic and national rights to the Palestinians AND Israelis).
As one may notice, the more right wing a voter is the more they believe that Palestinians want to conquer and kill us. So whenever I see people abroad insisting that if there won't be occupation there won't be terror attacks, Israeli Jews simply do not believe that.
Want to end the occupation/apartheid/genocide? Make Israelis believe they'll get security as a result of a treaty (I can already see the eyes of international anti-Zionists rolling their eyes, laughing in the face of vicious people who do not deserve that).
These days, Meretz and Labor have merged into one party. Its leader, Yair Golan has realized that promising Israelis peace is useless (even if he supports it), he instead labels that as "creating treaties that benefit Israelis by separating from the Palestinians" (aka the 2SS).
The legendary leaders of Meretz Yossi Sarid and Shulamit Aloni are rolling in their graves at his statements, but this is the most mainstream Israeli Jews can accept these days. Peace is too naive, pragmatism is the new deal.
Now how would you label that? Liberal Zionism? Pragmatic Zionism?
Now here is where RZP + Otzma Yehudit play a role.
I have previously discussed that since the mainstream right wing Israeli camp is so mortified by terror and thus kept silencing and intimidating any left wing position (including one that is very pragmatic and non-dovish), it has let RZP settlers take control in shaping Israeli politics. Israelis think that there is a status quo in the WB, but oh boy, the settlers sure do whatever they want there and most Israelis are unaware of that. Non-pragmatism was not the mainstream view in Israel prior 2009, but then came Bibi and through his propaganda has managed to convince Israelis that nothing can be done. Any opposition was silenced.
We could have gone a different path had Tzipi Livni managed to create a coalition back in 2009 and not Bibi, but alas, we cannot change the course of history.
RZP + Otzma Yehudit's point of views are what some people think Zionism is, because in practice, their views is what's de-facto happening.
RZP and Otzma Yehudit ARE different though.
It's a nuance people abroad might not care about, but it does exist.
Otzma Yehudit is surprisingly less ideologically driven. It is mostly associated with Kahanism and it's basically pure racism. The focus is less "Jewish supremacy", but rather: "All Palestinians are terrorists, and since they all want to kill us or kick us out, we'll kick them out or show them a lesson so they'll give up and finally stop attacking us. One has to act the way people act in the Middle East. We are no Western nation, we'll speak the humus way" (I kid you not, they use humus as a metaphor for the violent nature of Arabs in the Middle East). It's a populist agenda, and thus very dangerous as it draws mostly young people. Sadly, the Likud party is becoming more and more like that this days as well.
People who'd vote for Otzma Yehudit won't vote for it because they wish to expand Israel's borders or build settlements, but rather, they want maximum security where they have zero faith in Palestinians and believe only an endless occupation will bring security. On one hand, they keep saying we should not act based on international criticism, but otoh, they keep accusing the world with antisemitism (the world is MOST DEFINITELY antisemitic, especially Gen Z American Leftists, but a lot of the criticism is due).
The RZP is much more driven ideologically wise. Some identify as Zionists, while the most extreme ones don't. Mainstream Israelis actually consider them as anti-Zionists because they bring our nation down.
RZP people DO support annexation and expansions for the sake of expansions. They have similar views to what I have discussed above, but there is another element here nobody abroad discusses: Some believe that the only way for the Messiah to come is if Greater Israel is whole. The land of Israel should be one.
Funnily enough, ex-RZ settlers who become Left Wingers usually support a binational state or a confederacy because they still want one state, but a democratic one. They don't want for the settlements in the WB to be dismantled. For them, the Disengagement from Gaza Strip in 2005 was a traumatic experience, one that has caused them to infiltrate every position that has political influence in Israel since then.
The idea that the Messiah will come if we'll get Greater Israel is extreme, but THIS is what drives the leaders of the RZP. The founder of this ideology is NOT Meir Kahane, but rather HaRav Kook. In that sense, this is what makes people like Smotrich, Orit Strock and Daniella Weiss even more dangerous. To them, the massacre of Israelis on October 7th is a miracle, it's a chance to conquer once again Gaza Strip. They SAID they are OK with sacrifices, as long as they reach their goal.
Do you want to know how crazy these specific people I have mentioned are?
Look at how Daniella Weiss is standing in the middle of a road during a red alert of a missile attack:
These people are extreme and are not representative of mainstream Israelis. The problem is that many of them are getting promoted in the military and it most definitely has shaped the broken morality of the IDF.
Aren't there dovish people in Israel who identify as Zionist in Israel? Of course not, look at the following recent peace conference held in Israel. I have attended it, and I am most definitely a Zionist:
Whenever people abroad bring up Zionism, and paint Zionists as a monolith, I know that for sure they have zero knowledge of our society. Yes, I understand that they get the Palestinian POV of Zionism, but self-identifying Zionists come in all shapes and ideologies. There is nothing INHERENT to Zionism, it's just a national movement of Jews. It doesn't mean that the Zionist movement has done no harm nor that it hasn't brought misery to the Palestinians.
But there is nothing truly inherent about it besides wanting a national home for Jews (not even necessarily in their homeland!). There reasons for needing a national home were perfectly logical and I absolutely support Jewish self-determination.
PS - Eventually the solution will be the two state solution. I am sorry to disappoint confederacy supporters or one binational staters. It won't happen. I am very much sorry.
In Israel, those that support the latter two solutions don't self-identify as Zionists, but usually American Jews do. No Israeli Jew, as Leftist as they may be, supports one Palestinian State, nor do they support Hamas. None.
Even the most extreme radical Leftists in Israel I know of consider Hamas as a fundamentalist terror organization.
So what is Zionism? It's all of the above.
I think this is important, as well, in that I’m an American Jew and you’re an Israeli. What I’m talking about is creating a basic vocabulary, while you’re talking more about the actual situation on the ground. And in this, I think our goals are actually slightly different: I just want people to stop calling me “Zionist” as a slur and to understand there is a whole world of stuff that might be called Zionism, while I think your goal is more to talk about actual immediate solutions.
Understanding both those things is important if there’s to be any hope of peace in our lifetimes.
Everyone please reblog the living daylights out of this, a lot of people need to know about it because a) the Palestinian solidarity movement will have a much greater chance of getting shit done if they know who they should be targeting and b) to hell with letting the HARD MEN making HARD DECISIONS lobby get away with claiming they speak for all Zionists, let alone all Israelis.
@postapocalypticcottagecore maybe, possibly, just MAYBE, you could spare a second for “and maybe we should stop being horrible to Jews for something they’re not even doing.”
I rather hoped that would have gone without saying, but fair.
I really shouldn't have to add this, but anyone out there who actually gives a shit about Palestinian solidarity? The overwhelming majority of Jews, the overwhelming majority of Istaelies and even a slightly less overwhelming majority of people who call themselves Zionists; they're not your enemy. To lose sight of that is to demean yourselves and hurt the cause you claim to believe in.
Becsause you know what? I actually get where some of the hardliners are coming from. I'm not Jewish, if that wasn't spectacularly obvious already, but I'm autistic and queer and I grew up in an environment where getting bullied was considered my fault for not masking well enough: I know what it's like to feel like the only way you'll ever be safe is to be dangerous, and feeling that way led me to say and do things I'm not proud of.
But you know what helped me get past that? Well, it sure as hell wasn't being treated with more hostility and prejudice.
Unfortunately, this is a day and age where Jewish children are being raped “as revenge for Palestine” and antisemitic hate crimes have spiked by up to 1200% in some places. People are cheering at photos of murdered Israeli women and children. It doesn’t go without saying at all.
Also I mean this as kindly as possible, but “be nice to Jews so they’ll be nice to Palestinians” is not the statement of acceptance or support you think it is. Try “be kind to Jews BECAUSE THEY’RE PEOPLE.” We are not tokens and adjuncts to a group of people who mostly want us dead. We are human beings all by ourselves and should not have to fucking beg to be seen as such.
Hey - I really appreciate you trying here, and your willingness to listen and learn. There is so much to unpack on this topic and so much has happened in the last ten months that it's a lot to take in.
That being said, some pretty shocking and disgusting behavior has gotten very, very normalized on the left. We've seen:
Leftists celebrating in the streets on 10/7 and 10/8 at the mass murder, kidnapping, torture, and sexual abuse of Israelis, literally while it was happening, before the bodies cooled and well before any real military response from Israel
Denial of the atrocities committed by Hamas on 10/7 despite it being livestreamed by Hamas (the prior point notwithstanding)
Murder of counter-protesters
An attempted pogrom at an airport
Rape of random diaspora Jews as revenge
Holocaust inversion and/or colonialism
Holocaust denial
Routine harassment of visible Jews just going about their business
The targeting of Jewish businesses, Jewish Community Centers, Jewish schools, synagogues, and Holocaust museums for vandalism, protests, and bomb threats
We were never given a second to grieve, and basically any posts about Jewish grief around 10/7 and/or advocating for the hostages has been viciously attacked online and in person
Posters of the hostages have been routinely defaced and ripped down
Jewish students on campus were subjected to ideological tests and if they did not violently denounce Israel, they were physically barricaded from using many spaces on campus, including their own libraries and classes, and turned into social pariahs (there are now literal discrimination lawsuits pending about this segregation)
Routine denial of Jewish historical facts, atrocities that have happened to the Jewish people, Jewish ethnicity, Jewish peoplehood, and proven Jewish ties to the Levant
Jewish tumblr users (and I've heard on other platforms, but I don't really use them) are harassed constantly and often subjected to character assassination and doxxing and told to kill ourselves
Pretty much all of us who were on the left who didn't immediately hop on the extreme tankie position and never wavered or called out antisemitism no matter how extreme it got have lost friends and been cut out of our communities without much or any pushback
I could go on, but it's too depressing. All of this - every single point on this list - has come from dyed-in-the-wool leftists speaking as leftists who believe this is in line with leftism, and they have received very, very little pushback from non-Jews within these movements.
At this point "Jews are human beings who deserve the same rights as any other group of people including safety and freedom" is not a statement that we are able to take for granted.
october 8th there was still the asinine belief that (most of) the international community would care. that I would have "friends" who would not betray me and my people. there was hope that this would be resolved quickly. freshly broken heart.
today was waking up with an already cracked and stabbed heart full of holes, only for it to break again. a hammer home of how alone we are, how not one useful idiot in any position of power, ( in the israeli government,) other governments, the UN, IRC etc cares about jewish lives, dead or alive. how they are all just empty words and no meaningful action.
On 10/7, I think for a lot of us, our first thought was for our families and friends in Israel. Our next thought was dread. We knew. We knew like we knew on 9/11; this changes everything. We braced for the ferocity of Israel’s response because there is an implicit understanding that sympathy for Israel has a time limit and the clock was ticking.
What I wasn’t prepared for and I don’t think any of us were, is that time was already up. The statements condemning the attacks had asterisks.
Today hurts like hell because we have lost the illusion of time passing, of hope on the horizon. We’re hurting more today than yesterday because for us it’s been 10/8 for almost a year.
We will prevail, because we’re Jews and because that’s what we do. We would never have survived as long as we have without tough as nails perseverance.
It’s just that we’re coming to the realization that this won’t be a footnote in our long history of survival. It’s a whole damn chapter. And we’re weary.
We will dance again. We might not yet see the light ahead but we will dance again.
as someone who was in the privileged position of being a WASP before I began converting, you (WASPs and the like) seriously, seriously do not at ALL understand just how deep the bond between all jews (and I imagine to a similar extent, between members of other minority ethnicities/communities) is until you’re immersed in the community. there are individual jews I really dislike and would go so far as to say I loathe as people. but I know no matter what I’m always going to have their backs the moment things turn on us. on october 7th I wasn’t sparing sympathy only for those who I ideologically aligned with. I was crying and praying alongside jews I otherwise wouldn’t give a passing glance to. I was fearing for the lives and praying for the safety of jews who on any other day might look down on me as a queer person or as a reform convert. you don’t really understand just how important solidarity and compassion and mutual respect for each other across the board are until you’re put in the position where the community you’re a part of is so small and so universally persecuted that every ounce of solidarity you can get is essential to your survival.
