There is a deep lack of nuance in how Jewish identity is being treated right now, and it’s dangerous.
Being Jewish does not automatically mean supporting the Israeli government.
Being Israeli does not automatically mean agreeing with government leadership.
Being Jewish does not require being religious.
Wanting peace for Palestinians does not require erasing Jewish fear, history, or safety.
There are spectrums of humans with different beliefs; and I’m not saying any of these beliefs are right or wrong. Just to give an example that these things can all be true at the same time.
If every time a Jewish person mentions being Jewish they are expected to also explain, defend, condemn, or contextualize Israel or Palestine, that is discrimination. It treats Jewish identity as conditional; acceptable only if it comes with the “right” disclaimer.
And if every time Palestine is mentioned we refuse to hold the same nuance, to distinguish between governments, extremists, civilians, history, and humanity, we are failing the very people we claim to stand with.
This is where uninformed protest culture gets dangerous.
You hold a sign whose full meaning you don’t understand.
You chant words that to you mean peace, but to a Jewish person mean “I am not safe here.”
When language that targets a government slips into language that targets a people, a religion, or an ethnicity; and is then moralized as righteous, it creates cover for hatred. It normalizes condemnation not of policy, but of people. And it gives extremists the sense that violence, terror, and dehumanization are justified.
That is not justice. That is not peace.
This year, many people will gather freely with their families for holidays.
And my mother texts me telling me not to go to temple.
Not to be visibly Jewish on Hanukkah.
To hide who I am.
Ask yourself when Jewish mothers have had to tell their children that before.
History remembers.
We can care deeply about Palestinian lives.
We can condemn violence and oppression.
We can criticize governments.
We can even support some actions while criticizing others.
And we can still refuse antisemitism, in all its modern, repackaged forms.
Human lives require nuance.
Justice requires listening.
And peace requires that we stop treating identity as something that must be justified.
Nuance is not betrayal.
Humanity is not optional.
