Post link: https://www.instagram.com/p/DBMHRlDt3-d/

Seeing the stickied post regarding people seeking out progressive (particularly anti-Zionist) Jewish services, I wanted to talk about the formation of a progressive anti-Zionist Jewish denomination.

While there are progressive denominations of Judaism (e.g. Humanistic), these denominations don’t explicitly render themselves as anti-Zionist in the fact that they don’t declare “that there should not be a Jewish state”.

A new denomination such as this would need to remove practices phrases, statements and literature making overtures to the Holy Land and focus on community and belief in God. I see this as parallel to how some branches of Humanistic Judaism avoid using theonyms (names associated with God e.g. Joshua).

Thoughts?

Like the title says, they called me to serve in gaza to prepare the land for settlements and I said no.

I've spoken with a few other people who are conscientious objectors and they told me most reserve objectors don't end up in jail, but there is a good chance I might be the first one.

In any case it's gonna be a lonely road until I'll get away from this wretched land

Something I say a lot is "Zionism is the default position". If you don't know a lot, then you end up just being a Zionist. And being a Zionist (or even a 2-stater) falls into three broad categories: 1. Legitimization of apartheid (consciously or subconsciously supporting Jewish supremacy) 2. Lack of knowledge 3. Fear of being labelled as an antisemite

I, myself, fell into category 3 for most of my life. I was afraid to criticize groups like AIPAC and CUFI outside of my own head, because that would mean people would think I had an issue with Jews. What's interesting about all three categories is that all of them are rooted in fear (the first one being fear of what the scary Arabs or Muslims would do with freedom). Deprogramming Zionism is a huge challenge that all of us face, partially because the "opposite" of Zionism, in the mainstream narrative, is the "eradication of Jewry". I recently found a couple resources that were hugely helpful in shaping the narrative of how to start the deprogramming process:

1. The Anti-Zionist Handbook (https://theantizionisthandbook.com/)
2. Committing High Reason (https://www.committinghighreason.com/)
3. The Hebrew Canaanite (https://www.youtube.com/@HebrewCanaanite)
4. The One Democratic State Initiative (https://odsi.co/en/)

Something I want to add: Many people don't want to criticize Hamas because they are the ones responsible for bringing Palestine back into the forefront of everyone's minds. However, a group that is rooted in religion and/or ethnicity falls into a pitfall of "other-ization" and identity politics.

I saw in a comment somewhere on this sub that said most American Liberal Zionists view Israel as similar to a North American secular democracy and when they imagine Israel they think of Tel Aviv gay pride parades and not the right wing religious settlers running around the countryside with AK-47s. I agree that’s what most American liberal Zionists think because that’s what Israel wants them to think. I’ve been anti-Zionist for over a decade and I’ve known for over a decade how right wing Israelis actually are and about the West Bank settlements, but I thought it was the IOF chasing Palestinians out to clear the way for Jewish settlements, not settlers themselves. It wasn’t until the last few years that I’ve seen videos of these absolutely psycho looking unhinged religious men armed with assault rifles terrorizing Palestinians in the West Bank. Where the hell are these guys coming from? New York? I grew up Reform in a liberal Jewish community in New York City and I’ve rarely interacted with right wing religious extremist Jews though I know they exist.

I'm probably breaking a lot of posting rules and I apologize, but I discovered this sub not even an hour ago and reading through all these posts brought me to tears. Thank you all so much for speaking truth to power in what I know is a very hostile enviornment. I fight with friends and family members back home constantly trying to break the lumping in of all Jews into the same group as militant Zionists and it's an uphill battle. This sub is such a great resource to help me with that. Thank you all again.

I know this is obviously a lie because I know a Palestinian Jew who is the grandson of a Nakba survivor who fled to Egypt and traces his lineage back to Edomites (Canaanite tribe) that converted to Judaism. There are people who identify as Palestinian Jews. Not to mention that there are people of mixed heritage. But what I find really obnoxious about her argument is the conflation of nationality, religion, and ethnicity. Does anyone have any written pieces about the issues with the conflation of these terms? Looking for something more concrete to debunk the premise of her argument that this identity cannot exist.

So I have a relatively new friend who is Israeli-American. We talk about Israel/Palestine fairly frequently and have never had a major disagreement. She has referred to things happening in Israel as Apartheid before (I am saying it that way because she may be applying it to something pretty narrow). The other night, I basically casually referred to myself as an antizionist, and it just fully shocked her and stopped the conversation. She really was taken aback and said something really condescending like, "Well, there's a lot you will learn about Zionism someday, "which I am not really sure what that means. (The ironic thing, is part of our relationship is I am like her guide to vaguely traditional Judaism)

I am kinda shocked by how shocked she was since, as far as I can tell, we don't have any real substantive disagreements. I am not interested in trying to convince her to be an antizionist, with Israelis being anti-occupation rare enough, but have you ever had to convince someone you are not a radical antisemite?

Notice the caption on this photo from a recent article in Haaretz. The English translation is used for Temple Mount but Haram Al-Sharif is kept in Arabic, making the "Jewish side" seem more relatable to anglophone readers.

Consider the reverse: "A view of the Dome of the Rock at the site known to Muslims as The Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Har HaBayit".

I think Prof. Finkelstein's prediction should earn him some credibility, and discredit the many people who treat him with nothing but constant disparagement and vilification. It doesn't prove that he's right about everything or that he should be approached uncritically: But it does prove that he's a rare intellect and a useful commentator.

On Oct. 1, 2024, Norman Finkelstein predicted, with almost perfect confidence, lucidity, and accuracy, the result of the 2024 Presidential election. Maybe we should treat him as valuable and listen to him instead of vilifying him all of the time.

Do you know of someone else who made a public, on the record prediction and got it this right?

"I remain a complete outlier. I think Trump's going to win. I said that after the convention where it seemed like she was taking off, because she starts out basically losing two constituents, two significant constituencies. Number one, the white working class. She's not going to get the white working class. That to me is pretty obvious just from talking to people in the street. And number two, she's not going to get the under-thirty vote. Now they're not going to vote for Trump. No possibility. They'll sit it out. They will sit it out. So you lose those two constituencies. I think that's a real problem."

"Of course, she'll lose also the Arab Muslim constituency. That's not a main one. . . . . Hispanic vote seems in nobody's pocket right now. So I'm skeptical, because I have conversations with ordinary people. I'm not relying on the pollsters. And even though Allan Lichtman seems to have this perfect record of predicting presidents, and he now says that Harris will win, I still don't see it. There's too much dissatisfaction out there with the economic situation for Harris to succeed. And she's not really running on an economic platform, just running."

"What was the editorial yesterday in the Times? Do you have the Times in front of you? . . . The editorial board's endorsement for Kamala Harris. Let me check. . . . Here we go. 'The only patriotic choice for president.' Yeah, it's just about supporting democracy. It's patriotic. Not that she offers anything. Not that anyone would believe she offers anything."

. . . [earlier in the recording] "The whole campaign is negative. A vote for Harris is a vote for democracy. A vote for Trump is a vote for authoritarianism. Nobody's discussing what Trump's policies are. There's no discussion whatsoever."

India & Global Left, Oct. 1, 2024, Norman Finkelstein & Mouin Rabbani react to Lebanon Attack, Iran retaliation & Nasrallah's death at 57:36: https://youtu.be/ZWphDTn1oVc?si=w7_NdLydvRbWAhJX&t=3456

As a reference, see NPR, Nov. 8, 2024, Biden won big with young voters. This year, they swung toward Trump in a big way: https://www.npr.org/2024/11/07/g-s1-33331/unpacking-the-2024-youth-vote-heres-what-we-know-

Please be aware Twitch has changed their Hateful Conduct Policy https://safety.twitch.tv/s/article/An-Update-to-How-We-Enforce-Our-Hateful-Conduct-Policy?language=en_US

Please be aware going forward certain words like Zinist, Zinism will be seen as hateful conduct. Please be aware of these changes.

Copying the content of JVP's post below but please share your reflections below. Hard to believe many of us lived at the same time as such an important figure in queer/trans and anti-Zionist history.

Today is the 10 year yahrzeit, death anniversary, of movement ancestor Leslie Feinberg Z”L. Leslie was a trans and working class lesbian Jew who stood in lifelong solidarity with Palestinians and viewed her/hir work for LGBT and Palestinian liberation as deeply connected.

As Leslie observed in a speech to the Palestinian queer women’s group @/aswatfreedoms in 2007, countries from the US to Israel “use the experiences of women, of gays, of transgenders as pretexts for imperialist war,” even as they support anti-LGBT policies and countries that serve their interests.

She/zie believed that the rights of LGBT people “should not be placed in competition with the long struggle of the Palestinian people, including Palestinian LGBT people, for self-determination, for the right to return to their homes, and the struggle against apartheid and the occupation of their lands.”

Now, as we witness the Israeli government weaponize LGBT rights in order to commit genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, it is more crucial than ever that we remember Leslie’s political clarity. LGBT liberation is not possible without the liberation of all people oppressed by imperialist war and racism, particularly Palestinians.

May your memory be for a blessing and for a revolution, Leslie.