This article published by The Guardian on Saturday https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2024/oct/05/israel-gaza-october-7-memorials

“A year later, memorials to the 7 October attacks use art, virtual reality and dark tourism to stir support for limitless violence. But there is a different way to remember.”

What. The. Fuck. How is this unnoticed? I would love to see them try to publish “How Blacks use slavery as a weapon” and “How the LGBT movement uses discrimination as a weapon” without public outcry.

Am I overreacting? My friend asked me what a Zionist was and I was compiling definitions when I saw this.

I know Wikipedia is not a “real” source; but it was insulting to realize again how deeply these barriers to truth are littered everywhere. Genuinely curious people who may be casually googling one of the most basic concepts are already met with this bs.

Hello, everyone.

I feel so lonely.

I woke up today, saw the news, and thought that maybe now the Dutch people (and not only them) would understand everything, that they would feel ashamed for allowing a repeat of the tragedy of Kristallnacht against the Jews. I went to subreddit related to Netherlands and saw morning posts about the sea at dawn and other peaceful things. Nothing about the pogrom. I wrote a post, and you know what? It was silently deleted. I didn’t even get a notification saying my post violated any subreddit rules - it was just deleted without a word.

I am a Russian Jew. I fled Russia because of the war, found a job in Israel, and then lost it again because of the war in Israel. Now I am here alone in Portugal, where there are very few Jews, and I have nothing. I’m just waiting for a temporary residence permit and trying not to go crazy from the news and from my current life.

I used to communicate mostly with Russian speakers, as Russian is my native language, but none of them have reached out to me about what happened in Amsterdam. Nobody cares. The Dutch don’t seem to care either. They go to the Anne Frank museum, but they don’t understand that if the state of Israel had existed THEN, Anne would still be alive. The world doesn’t like living Jews, they like dead Jews.

I’ve decided that from now on, I only want to communicate and make friends with Jews, regardless of what language they speak, where they’re from, or what their views are. We need to stick together, because the world is hostile to us.

P.S. Look at the photo shoot my friend did for me in Israel… wasn’t it great?

Am Israel Chai.

“Right now, liberal Zionists are wedged between an Israeli right destroying a country we love and an American left anti-war movement full of antisemitism and conspiracy theories. Netanyahu is working to scuttle a hostage deal amid rising settler violence and the largest Israeli seizure of West Bank land in decades. At the same time, groups like the Palestinian Youth Movement, the Party for Socialism and Liberation and Within Our Lifetime deny or defend Oct. 7 as resistance, while the broader left dismisses antisemitism as a moral panic.”

Looking back on the year since the brutal 10/7 attacks by Hamas on Israel, one thing, perhaps above all else, has been made crystal clear: the political left has an anti-Semitism problem. This piece offers not just an unflinching view at how ugly things are today, it also seeks to answer the question of how we got to such a place. When it comes to the world’s oldest hatred, nothing is ever really new

https://americandreaming.substack.com/p/a-year-of-leftist-anti-semitism

He makes some important points, imo.

Anti-Zionism threatens the Jewish people in three ways. First, its vision of the dismantling of a Jewish state would existentially threaten Israel’s 7 million Jews. To conclude, after October 7, 2023 – when we experienced a pre-enactment of the consequences of the anti-Zionist plan – that Israelis can survive in the Middle East without the protection of national sovereignty and an army defies reason.

Antizionism is either outright support for genocide, or delusion - and it doesn't actually matter which one of them.

According to the anti-Zionist variation of supersessionism, sinful Israel has ceded its story to the Palestinians, who are, in effect, the new Jews, both as victims and as rightful heirs to the Holy Land. We are not only colonialists in our land but, in our story, imposters who must be expelled from both. In their fallen state, Jews have even forfeited the Holocaust; in this retelling, Gaza becomes the “Gaza Ghetto.” When a swastika is painted on the façade of a synagogue, it is no longer clear whether the perpetrators are far-rightists celebrating Nazism or far-leftists branding Jews as the new Nazis.

Those are very common, and very antisemitic, tropes that we shouldn't tolerate.

Astonishingly, the current rise in attacks on Jews coincides with the greatest mass slaughter of Israelis in a century of conflict between Arabs and Jews. The global assault emerged with the first reports of the Hamas massacre – before Israel’s counter-offensive even began. Antisemitism is a response not only to Jewish power, real or exaggerated but also to Jewish vulnerability; a successful attack on Jews rouses the antisemitic appetite.

These people are preying on weakness.

The British Jewish writer David Hirsh argues that the term “anti-Zionism” should be treated like “anti-Semitism,” removing the hyphen and lowercasing the “z.” Similar to the absence of meaning in “Semitism,” he notes “Zionism” for radical progressives is a fantasy construct, a demonic ideology with no resemblance to its actual nature.

Very true.

The graduation featured Palestinian speakers and students boasting about how they spend more time protesting in the “Gaza encampments” at UMich

https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/article-830230

"US Jewish teens more likely to criticize Israel, sympathize with Hamas, than their peers elsewhere"

from the article:

Jewish teens in the United States are significantly more likely to hold critical views of Israel and sympathize with Hamas compared to their peers in other countries, according to a newly released survey from Mosaic United, conducted with the Diaspora Affairs and Combatting Antisemitism Ministry.

According to the findings, 37% of American Jewish teens expressed sympathy for Hamas, a stark contrast of more than five times as many as the 7% of Jewish teens globally. Similarly, 42% of US Jewish teens believe Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, almost five times as many as the 9% of their international counterparts.

...

Among those with a strong Jewish background, only 6% sympathized with Hamas, compared to 65% of teens with little to no Jewish educational experiences.

As for the last quoted part, the article does not seem to give numbers on how many have a "strong Jewish background" or how that is defined exactly (other than "Jewish educational experiences"). Again, the article says 5 times as many American Jewish teens expressed anti-Israel sentiment versus globally.

The USA has been a critical existential ally of Israel, if not possibly 1 of the few countries like that. While Israel did survive and thrive post-ww2 without the USA, and while Israel does have relations/trade with countries, those original conditions have changed significantly over time, other countries are not even close to being as powerful an ally as the USA, and 'critical existential ally' is a realistic description now.

//// opinion ////

First: Israel and the Jewish Diaspora have had an allied relationship for years. However, there is no option for an actual tangible connection other than Aliyah. Immigrating to Israel is sometimes not a good option for people, for others it seems nice upfront but then the reality of challenges (mainly economic but also social) sets in. Many Olim leave Israel (despite efforts to get them to stay), as do many born-Israelis who expat away. There are some Israeli visa options for people to stay in Israel (try before buy, etc), but these are limited time and provide no long-term connection or recognition. Some countries have a lifetime diaspora card that can be issued and which grants some formal status within the country, however Israel has no such card (again, the b-1 visa is temporary).

Second: The Jewish Diaspora is more centralized now (post ww2) than at any time in well over a millenium. The long history of Antisemitic purges tells us that a plan b country is not enough, rather plan c d e f g etc etc could be needed in unforeseen circumstances. However, no effort or resources have gone into getting consideration for Jews in the citizenship processes of various countries (particularly countries that could be making reparations to the global Jewish community for that country's historical oppression of Jews), in order for those countries to make honest attempts to rebuild their Jewish populations. The current rise in Antisemitism in Europe is an example of how only focusing on the ww2 German regime symbolism has given many European countries a convenient way to avoid actually addressing their own long history of Antisemitism (pre-ww2 going back centuries). Without this historical context, non-Jews struggle to understand the reasons why Israel exists and why it has to defend itself as seriously as it does. Without consideration of the long history of Antisemitism, then there is no reparations for this, and then there is no sacrifice or contribution, and then there is no actual understanding. Hence the situation will then get worse and worse uncontrollably. The analogy of how Native Americans were treated, until reparations began to be made to them, by the USA government, is analogous.

My very opinionated opinion which is more so just wandering thoughts: Post-ww2, when European borders were more flexible to whatever the USA needed at that time, both Spain (which was still under Fascist dictatorship at that time) and Germany could have been somehow influenced to donate some land for additional Jewish countries (given the significant historical purges in both Spain and Germany).

//// end opinion ////

The title sounds obvious but it’s a great (and brutal) critique of his actions

From Ha'aretz correspondent Ben Samuels: "Trump on the one-year anniversary of the October 7 attack: "Israel has to do one thing. They have to get smart about Trump, because they don’t back me. I did more for Israel than anybody. I did more for the Jewish people than anybody. It’s not reciprocal"

I think this speaks for itself.

Practice self-care and remember that the enemy of my enemy is not my friend.

EDIT: Additional link with additional info and context of Trump's remarks (made during an interview with Hugh Hewitt)

EDIT2: Courtesy of Aaron Rupar, we have an audio clip!

No elaboration necessary - he says all that needed to be said……

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/07/opinion/college-protests-war-israel.html?unlocked_article_code=1.qU0.nt_u.DWoiyfD8Iw9T&smid=url-share

I recommend reading the whole thing, but here’s snippets that I think capture the gist.

How can this be, that nearly nine months have passed for [the hostages] in this hell? Surely Israel would have secured their release by now. The government is meant to keep its citizens safe. Why, then, has no hostage deal been reached?

The answer is simple. There is one man preventing 120 families from being reunited and from bringing their loved ones home to proper burial. That man is indicted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. We need the leadership of American Jewish institutions, including the Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish Committee and UJA Federation of New York, to pressure him directly and forcefully to make a deal.

…

We are stuck between two villainous leaders, neither of whom act in the interest of the people they are meant to represent. One is a bitter enemy from whom we have no expectations — Yahya Sinwar, leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The other we will hold accountable when this is all over. He knows that the longer this war drags on, the weaker Israel’s national resilience becomes. He just doesn’t care.

We, the families of the hostages, want a hostage release deal. We know full well that a deal — and a cessation of military hostilities — is the only way to get everyone back home. Every moment in captivity is a game of Russian roulette with the odds stacked against you.

…

There is a hostage release deal on the table. Netanyahu won’t take it unless there is massive pressure placed on him which would leave him no choice.

For that, we need your help. Let go of the notion that supporting Israel means supporting Netanyahu. That’s a despicable lie he sold you. Supporting Israel means doing right by its people, and that above all means rescuing hostages.

ADL, AJC, UJA Federation of New York — you are some of the biggest Jewish American institutions. We’re calling on you to help us get our families back. They are suffering unspeakable torture at the hands of monsters. Help us save them by publicly supporting this deal. Pressure your elected officials to directly call out Netanyahu’s sacrifice of our loved ones for his political future, and pressure him to take this deal.

The article says he’s aligned with the Hamasniks, but it’s buried in the article, and not the headline. A new election would be in 80 days. Is that soon enough to limit the damage? How does a wackadoodle like him get in this position?

I wrote this blog about my experience working with interfaith couples, planning and officiating their weddings - and about the shift in thinking that brought me to this work.

As one of the few rabbis in Canada who will work with an interfaith couple under the chuppah, I want to talk about the reasons for doing so, and about the ways that we are building the Jewish future through engagement.

Thanks for reading and sharing. I welcome your thoughts!

https://micahstreiffer.com/2024/07/19/embracing-interfaith-wedding-couples-building-the-jewish-future/

https://time.com/6989720/israel-hamas-war-ben-stiller-essay/