Identity is indubitably a huge part of who we are. It has influenced both the communication and, unfortunately, violence of the past, present and future.
I grew up in a community where casual bigotry was disseminated to me. I’m sure that bigotry was perpetuated in yours too, though we’re both allowed to be proud of our cultures. Due to this, I became disillusioned and alienated from everything: my immigrant parents’ culture, my school’s culture and the culture displayed through technology. I didn’t belong and I had to filter through everything and find my own identity separate from these; an identity where I can truly be myself.
My alienation and loneliness due to a combination of bullying against my race, not going outside much out of insecurity and unchecked Internet addiction and simply not having many opportunities to talk to others made me open-minded. It made me want to advocate for others who are oppressed and hurt like me. It sickens me that multiple modern genocides are being brushed to the side in most media and in society. It makes me wonder if the genocides and crimes against humanity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, Palestine and other places would still be brushed off if they were all white.
In the era of trans-Atlantic slavery where some of my ancestors were exploited there were anti-abolitionists, non-abolitionists and abolitionists. Likewise, there are Zionists, non-Zionists and those in support of Palestinian liberation respectively.
Zionism and Judaism are not the same. Zionism is incredibly nationalistic and pro-ethnostate. Every time somebody conflates anti-Zionist and pro-Palestinian rhetoric to antisemitism, real instances of antisemitism become unfairly trivialized. The Jewish community as a whole shouldn’t be conflated for Zionist nationalists, just like how all Hindus, as I grew up, shouldn’t be conflated to Hindutva fascists. It’s incredibly bigoted and unfair to those whose politics are decided for them because of the religion they follow.
Me being transgender has nothing to do with the genocide in Gaza. Maybe it influenced my thought process, as I find saccharine pinkwashing to be a disgusting and shallow technique to gain support for one’s cause, but I know better than to think that every person of a religion believes in the same politics.
My advice to readers is to leave behind the focus on your identity and objectively study the violent and oppressive history of Israel (not to be confused with Judaism). In history, we learn what we should and shouldn’t do. Ignoring a genocide in the excuse of the culture you are proud of, to put it lightly, spits in the face of those hurt and killed by any genocide sponsored by nationalism.
Just so we get this straight. Zionism is ethnonationalist, but Palestinian liberation is something else? If you find ethnonationalism so distasteful you might want to reconsider your choice to be an ethnonationalist advocate for Palestine.
Striving for a single, secular, democratic state from the river to the sea where Palestinains, Jews, and all others live in complete equality is not an ethnonationalist project. Israel, on the other hand, has ethnonationalism enshrined in its basic law (effectively the constitution) in the “Nation-State Law”.
Israel is a single, secular, democratic state from the river to the sea where Palestinians, Jews, Druze, Christians, and others live in complete equality…
How many Jews live in Gaza? How many Jews are in Hamas? How many Arabs live in Israel? How many Arabs are in the Knesset?
Hamas and Hezbollah have the stated goal of eradicating Israel, not ushering in secular democracy. The PA negotiated (in bad faith) for an independent state, not a single binational state. The secular and democratic “one state solution” has no working precedent in the Middle East, and more importantly, no one advocating for it at the negotiating table. It also conveniently ignores the Jewish nakba (the expulsion of one million Jews from the Arab world) and the reality of apartheid for Jews living as dhimmi under the ottomans, including in Palestine.
When addressing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it’s important to recognize that while Zionism is indeed a political ideology, it has deep roots in Jewish history, long before even the Holocaust. The modern political Zionist movement began in the 1880s in response to increasing persecution and the rise of European nationalism. But the Jewish longing for Eretz Israel, the historic homeland, goes back thousands of years, since Jews were first exiled from the Levant by early colonizing powers (Babylonians, Romans, Arabs, etc.,). For many Jews, Zionism represents not just a reaction to recent persecution, but the fulfillment of an ancient cultural and spiritual connection to the land. That is not to say this is a religious philosophy of promised land or anything like that; Jews as an ethnic group continue to pass down oral history from their ancestors in ancient Israel.
This does not negate the legitimate concerns about the treatment of Palestinians or the moral complexities of the situation, but it provides crucial context. The Zionist movement, for many Jews, represents a way to reclaim a sense of safety and self-determination after centuries of statelessness, exile, and discrimination. Even so, that historical connection doesn’t mean every Jewish person supports the policies of the Israeli government, just as you wisely noted that religion and political ideology aren’t always the same.
I also agree that conflating anti-Zionism with antisemitism can be problematic. However, it’s essential to understand that for many Jews, Zionism and Jewish identity are deeply intertwined. The concern is that rhetoric opposing Israel or Zionism often taps into or amplifies longstanding antisemitic tropes, further marginalizing a community that has faced prejudice for millennia. This is where the tension often lies.
Like you, many people advocate for Palestinian liberation without necessarily being antisemitic. But it’s important to be mindful of how certain critiques may resonate differently within the Jewish community, especially when they seem to deny or undermine the Jewish people’s historic connection to the land. It’s crucial that we hold space for the pain and suffering of both Palestinians and Jews, without dismissing the identities and histories that matter so deeply to them.
Your point about studying history objectively is vital. Both the Israeli and Palestinian people have deep-rooted narratives and traumas, and any path forward must honor that complexity while striving for peace, justice, and mutual dignity. It’s about finding ways to support liberation and human rights for all without erasing or ignoring the historical context that shapes the conflict.
Are Culture Shock’s negative pieces about Jews only published on Jewish holidays?
https://dcbias.wordpress.com/2024/10/06/culture-shock-a-jewish-festival-special/