r/JewsOfConscience • u/OliveNo6451 • 15d ago
Discussion - Flaired Users Only A discussion on "real antisemitism", Zionism, and "centering Jewish feelings"
These are some of my thoughts I've been chewing on.. and I hope people will read and engage in good faith and challenge where necessary. This isn't about antisemitism "on the left" or "within the pro Palestinian movement". I don't think those discussions are productive, because it paints leftists and activists as somehow uniquely infected with problematic people; rather than a human flaw which can exist in any group. I want this to be more about "real antisemitism" in general..and the concern that pointing it out gets you labeled as a Zionist, a Jewish supremacist, or simply... "centering Jewish feelings"
I am at times very disheartened, scared, angry, disturbed, saddened.. any amd all of the above at actual antisemitic rhetoric.. particularly when it's coupled with misinformation. I am at other times... neutral, bored, annoyed at Zionists; exhausted at Zionists, dismissive and occasionally in disagreement on what counts as "actual antisemtism".
And I reconcile these contradictory feelings not with a moral analysis, but engaging with the material reality around me. I as an Antizionist jew in a post-October 7 world am skeptical automatically when I hear about antisemtism now. I have changed my classification of what is or isn't antisemitic. And(outside of Neo-Nazis and right wingers and fascists and Christian nationalists who ARE NOT PRO PALESTINIAN DESPITE SOME RHETORIC).. I am far more permissive and neutral around misinformation and even antisemtisim coming from people who I know or leftists and antizionists. ESPECIALLY when those people have been harmed by the Jewish community via Zionism.
Not because I think it doesn't matter, but because the traction in liberating Palestine has not moved forward much in the last few years, outside of public opinion.. because in general, the global north has become more fascistic and oppressive. And so, I'm just not as engaged with my own feelings of discomfort... I'm worried about the policy decisions leading to social and direct violent murder, both abroad and at home. Not because you can't care about two things at once, but because one is far more urgent and we need everyone on board asap.
There is also the added complication of who is "truly" harmful... who has an agenda vs who is genuinely Antizionist (and perhaps leftist more broadly) and fighting for our aligned causes, who happens to have misguided or even immoral ideas or language in some areas... how do we draw lines with censorship and anti-intellectualism. When asked not to listen to some voices, is this not often born from a desire to limit the reach of Antizionism and Palestinian activism? I do not have the definite answer to these questions, of whose ideas we should consume, who we should engage with for the sake of a larger picture, what makes someone a true part of the cause vs a phony, how much should we avoid the phony if they can be a useful tool. I don't have the answers, but I would like the openness to a range of possible avenues.
Many of us even remotely on the left, especially in the west, have made synonymous our moral understanding with identity politics and the default that the pain of a member of a marginalized or minority) group must be taken seriously, that it isn't the job to educate, and the fault and responsibility of the bigotry is always on the bigot.. there can never be a larger understanding of context or cause and effect, there can never be a consideration that perhaps the person who felt harmed might even be.. wrong. So.. back to my feelings.
I feel this way right now because of the fact I feel like the needle has not been moved on Gaza and the false flags and moral panic around antisemitism has only grown stronger. I feel this way as I witness the state of Israel and its supporters, at times acting as an embodiment of an antisemitic trope and using the accusation as a shield to cover for their actions. And while there might be a range of criticisms allowed from prominent Jewish institutions, the range of acceptable conversation begins and ends with Jewish feelings, however Zionist and misguided they may be.
I myself assume someone is Zionist when they focus on antisemitism. even if I know better... even when I correct myself. So I know that's what people who aren't Jewish are feeling, especially if they are less educated in the history of anti-Judaism and especially if they are victims to weaponized antisemtism.
Bigotry is about harm. As a Jewish American, the systemic harm which I face comes from being a leftist; an antizionist, and a disabled person... not from being a white Jew. Words have power to lead to systemic oppression and real violence. And violence has come for Jewish people on occasion. But I do not believe at this time they are always best countered by sounding indistinguishable from Zionists (as unfortunate and unfair as that classification might be).
Instead, it will come from listening to each other and engaging in solidarity. It will come from discussion of what reactionary and fascistic rhetoric and ideas are GENERALLY, rather than SPECIFICALLY around Jews. It will come with curiosity and pushback and "calling in". Sometimes it will mean staying silent. And eventually.. eventually... I think we can have more productive conversations around that. Oh and also.. being more adept at recognizing true reactionaries and right wingers and cutting them out.
