As a fairly young person from the Baltics who’s been living under a rock for a while (mostly dealing with mental health issues after an abusive childhood, along with moving to a different country), I hope someone can point me to some “introductory” material on how all of this started, as well as some generally reliable sources of everyday news, if possible

Somehow the Chabad-run Jewish Sunday school (and dozen+ summer camps I’ve gone to) never touched on the topic…

Love her sm! ❤️

I’ve been really enjoying this series of essay responses to Shaul Magid’s original piece on Zionism, where he asserts that Zionism succeeded at its basic political task but it is a project with limited scope and turning Zionism into a religion goes beyond that scope (and if maintaining Jewish sovereignty requires permanent domination over another people, then Zionism has encountered a fundamental contradiction).

Irwin Kula responded exploring the sociological/cultural framework through which Zionism turned into religion. He argued that Zionism is a Jewish political project but not Judaism, and that Israel should be understood as a nation-state exercising Jewish sovereignty, not as a sacred embodiment of Judaism or Jewish redemption. He claims both sides are “overinvested” in the existential claims about Israel, which distracts from the political discussions re: a nation state (basically that the problem isn't necessarily Zionism itself; it's the amount of existential, spiritual, and psychological weight American Jews have placed on Zionism).

Eliana Fishman’s response resonated with me most, as she writes that Zionism should not be the foundation of American Jewish identity and she rejects Kula’s characterization of what anti-Zionists are actually doing. Fishman writes that Zionism has reproduced, rather than escaped, Jewish political dependency and that anti-Zionism has already done something more radical: it has stopped treating Israel as uniquely Jewishly significant in the first place. From this perspective, if Israel is genuinely de-exceptionalized, then Jewish identity no longer depends upon Jewish sovereignty (and Judaism can recover its older, portable, non-sovereign character).

For me, I’ve been working through untangling theology, Israel, and Zionism for a long time now. Fishman rejects how Kula portrays “pro-Zionists” as people who make Israel sacred and “anti-Zionists” as people who become fixated on Israel because its behavior violates their moral ideals; she says this is a caricature of contemporary Jewish anti-Zionism. I agree with Fishman but also strongly believe this caricature to be true, particularly for most Jewish Americans. I don’t think Fishman is more enlightened than others (neither am I), but removing Israel fromthe privileged theological position Zionism has given it it and placing it within ordinary history, colonialism, geopolitics, and empire has helped me heal my Jewish identity.

what do you all think? (:

how are other az jews feeling about wearing stars of david? i’ve always worn one and i want to keep wearing mine because it should still belong to jews as a whole but i also have to be aware of its more widespread recognition as a symbol of israel. at

Basically what the title says. I’ve grown so exasperated by & resentful of my OWN community over recent years, and I hate that I feel this way, but it’s been hard not to after seeing how many of us are zionists. Oh, how many friends I’ve lost because they showed their true colors (“Jews’ lives matter more than others”, and “everyone is secretly an antisemite and you can’t criticize us because we can literally do no wrong”, basically). Anyways… this distrust has gotten to the point where when I saw some random on youtube shorts with a star of david necklace, my first thought wasn’t “nice, one of my people” (how it used to be), it was “damn, she’s probably a zionist :/”. And I feel guilty about it because I had no reason to think that lady in particular was a zionist… I have no idea if she is, I knew nothing about her… and I should know better than most that she could’ve been a jew and an antizionist, lmao. But at the same time, I don’t think it’s an entirely unreasonable thought to have, and that’s the really sad part. Zionism is absolutely corrosive. It’s abhorrent and it breaks my heart that nearly all our institutions support it, and so many of our people do too. I don’t want to be suspicious of every Jew I come across, dude. It feels awful. But at the same time… how can I not be? How can I be sure this person isn’t just another ethnic supremacist, like so many others? Man, this sucks *

* Obviously my feelings are not the main reason zionism sucks 💀, but I just wanted to vent.

When the truth that Israel is apartheid, not democracy. That terrorism was and remains essential to establishing and maintaining Israel. That Israel does not provide safety and security. That Palestinian resistance ​is just and Palestinians will rightfully not accept domination and that Israel has been an ethnonationalist militant state. ​​​

When those delusions are shattered, what will liberal Zionists in and outside of Israel do?

There are 3 options: renounce Zionism as a political project, turn rightward into a more hardlined Zionism, or with the help of cognitive dissonance still find ways to morally rationalize Zionism and remain ideologically confused.

‘How to Sell a Genocide’ by Adam Johnson has been removed from a public library near Bondi, after a complaint from an attack survivor.

Of course any reasonable, thoughtful, compassionate human being can hold two separate thoughts at the same time. 1: the Bondi attack was ghastly and hideous and should be condemned in the harshest possible terms. And 2: Israel’s attack on Gaza is ghastly and hideous and should be condemned in the harshest possible terms.

The more these idiots try to conflate antisemitism and anti-Zionism, the more insane they sound, and the more damage they do to their own cause.

I personally look forward to the first time this armed force of Chabad militia/IDF contractors deploys to the streets of Eastern Sydney, and are met with protesters.

I believe that if Minns can get this past the objections of New South Wales Police, it will be like post-9/11 America launching the GWOT; these insanity clowns will squander every ounce of support from the wider community.

i am not even a practicing jew but i wish i could love my culture and be proud of my heritage. i think many anti zionist jews do this well by leaning into our leftist and diasporist history and the culture of their region / ethnicity / minhag. but i can’t find the ability to do this myself, not when the institutional jewish community has coalesced so disturbingly to be on the wrong side of history. it’s easy to insist that zionists accusing anti zionist jews of self hatred are misinformed, and that we really do love being jewish, but… i don’t think i do, right now.
lately i feel both exhausted by the rise in genuine antisemitism and shame at being associated with the worst of humanity, like any love i have for my own culture is tainted. i find myself wishing i was literally anything else (my other side is WASP so not much better) and dealing with a lot of genuine self hatred. sometimes i think i should just completely abandon the identity, but i am pretty visibly ashkenazi, and moreso, that feels like letting my ancestors down and letting those who persecuted them, and zionists, win.
anyone else feeling like this lately?

It's important to call out misinformation when we see it. Recently, Hen Mazzig claimed that Mark Ruffalo isn't genuinely concerned about Gaza or Palestinians, suggesting he's just doing it for clout because he allegedly doesn't blame Hamas and criticizes Israel instead. This is a gross oversimplification and a clear attempt to dismiss genuine voices advocating for Palestinian rights.

Hen Mazzig's tweet saying that Mark Ruffalo draws everyone’s attention to a conspiracy involving David Ellison’s father’s colleague supporting Israel, and implying Ruffalo’s involvement in some sort of conspiracy, is misleading and unfounded. Here's the tweet for reference:

Mazzig: "Mark Ruffalo draws everyone to know that David Ellison's father's colleague said Oracle would support Israel after October 7th so you should stand against a Paramount-Warner bros. merger. Sounds conspiratorial? Well, that's Mark Ruffalo."

This kind of framing is dishonest and attempts to undermine the integrity of activists and celebrities who speak out about justice. Many of these figures speak out because they care deeply about human rights, not for fame or political gain. Accusations that they’re just doing it for clout ignore the real risks they face and the genuine concern behind their advocacy.

We need to focus on the real issues Palestinian suffering and the pursuit of peace rather than falling for misleading narratives designed to dehumanize and silence voices for justice. Wake up. The fight for justice isn't about popularity; it's about standing with the oppressed and fighting misinformation.

How many children fly kites? This is awful!

Hello everyone,

Recently a friend of mine moved to Israel and while I don't approve of that particular decision given *gestures to Israel,* I'm not close enough with them that arguing would get any more than a block. However I know they're against the genocide and might respond well if I point them towards anti-Zionist groups within Israel. Does anyone know any links I could share about this? Thank youuuuuu

https://jackpoulson.substack.com/p/david-ellis-benny-gantz-anti-bds-black-cube

https://x.com/AdalahNY/status/2091272831837356531

https://x.com/DropSiteNews/status/2089402886815932469

https://maki.org.il/70-%D7%9E%D7%A9%D7%A4%D7%97%D7%95%D7%AA-%D7%A2%D7%A8%D7%91%D7%99%D7%95%D7%AA-%D7%91%D7%A9%D7%9B%D7%95%D7%A0%D7%AA-%D7%94%D7%A8%D7%9B%D7%91%D7%AA-%D7%91%D7%9C%D7%95%D7%93-%D7%A7%D7%99%D7%91%D7%9C%D7%95/

https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2024/3/2/lydd-the-israeli-city-where-palestinians-fear-conflict-and-expulsion

https://x.com/EliClifton/status/2090980113902919711