r/JewsOfConscience • u/BowBeforeBroccoli • Dec 17 '23
Creative Anti-Zionist Jewish Anarchist flag I made :)
/gallery/16i04uy16
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u/JZcomedy Jewish Dec 17 '23
Looks cool as shit but for me personally it’s too anarchist. I think anti-Zionism isn’t as radical as that but if you wanna fly it I’ll gladly salute
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u/BowBeforeBroccoli Dec 17 '23
that’s very fair! i’m a libertarian socialist myself so it definitely had that influence but there are other anti-zionist flags i’ve seen and have ideas for myself that aren’t as radical
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u/wampuswrangler Jewish Communist Dec 17 '23
Well it's supposed to be an anarchist flag, so too anarchist seems appropriate. I don't think they're implying that anti-zionism is an anarchist idea. Just that this is a flag for antizionist Jewish anarchists, like myself.
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u/Remarkable_Jury_9652 Anti-Zionist Dec 18 '23
That’s amazing, though I would prefer a synthesist anarchist flag. I don’t know how much variation there is in Jewish anarchism(for all I know anarcho-communism can be the only current in Jewish anarchism), but I think it will be better to show all of the anarchist colors(leaving out “anarcho”-capitalism of course)in one flag
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u/douglasstoll Reconstructionist Dec 19 '23
This almost slaps, and I love the look and the effort. I've actually been daydreaming a similar flag, but with one big difference.
Do you the history of the so-called Magen David? The Seal of Solomon that it is based on is an ancient mystical, alchemical, and 'magical' symbol that isn't uniquely Jewish and is shared between a number of ancient traditions and perspectives. Nothing wrong with that at all. But it never really started to become 'the' symbol of Judaism until the 1897 First Zionist Congress, when it was selected specifically because it was non-religious. It evolved over a short time to become a Jewish counterpart to the Christian cross placed on the graves of slain soldiers in the first World War.
Growing up I felt a great deal of comfort and wonder at its elegance, the two intersecting equilateral triangles. I felt empowered by its reclamation after its horrible use in the Shoah. I used to draw it on everything, heck before I knew better I used to design tattoos with it as a feature 🙄😅. But now that I know history, modern and contemporary, now that I know how the symbol of the "Star of David" has been used, I fear very much that it will be seen in future history as a symbol akin to the appropriated swastika of the NSDAP.
There are two Jewish symbols much, much older than the so-called Magen David, one of which is shared with other cultures and one of which is uniquely, deeply, and religiously Jewish; respectively the Tree of Life and the temple menorah. These are the symbols I wear now, proudly, to be visibly Jewish in this current world.
I am also, like you, the libertarian socialist flavor of anarchist! Hi comrade! ☺️♥️🖤❤️🖤
I think this flag with a golden temple menorah as the center symbol would be more Jewish and more, uh, I still bristle at "antizionist" even if its accurate but "opposed to the ethnonationalist settler-colonial project of Zionism" is too much of a mouthful so I guess it'll have to do.
Hope these thoughts are welcome and that I didn't spew too much. שלום!
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Dec 17 '23
[deleted]
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u/BowBeforeBroccoli Dec 17 '23
i see your concern but i disagree, the diagonal bisection is a very common motif seen across libertarian socialist, anti-fascist, anarchist, and protest flags. Many other flags incorporate a similar “bisected element over bisected flag” style which i took inspiration from
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u/rveb Dec 18 '23
I like the message but colors and design are reading more fascist than anti-fascist.
I’d use a blue thats a little darker than Israeli blue and make the star yellow instead of white. Or no star of David at all. Something that will show visually you are wanting a better solution than Zionism. A diagonal line through the star is very easy to interpret as anti semitic as you know that is the first place they go in this topic
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u/BowBeforeBroccoli Dec 19 '23
I understand your concern but i suggest googling or otherwise searching “antifascist flag” and clicking images. The colour scheme used here has a historical basis, as does the diagonal bisection as I mentioned in another comment. I appreciate the concern and the suggestions though!
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u/rveb Dec 19 '23
Yea you know how Fox has turned “antifa” into some mythical terrorist gang though right? It’s not helped by the bad branding 😅
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u/BowBeforeBroccoli Dec 19 '23
i mean the branding isnt “bad” those colours and the design basis for the design that’d later become antifascist action pre-date the nazis. fox news will spin literally anything that doesnt align with their views as terroristic or fascist or otherwise. I mean they call biden a communist. If we kept changing every single time that fox news would allege something there wouldnt be any branding
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u/AlphaCentauri10 Anti-Zionist 9d ago
I'm not gonna lie, I'm a Muslim Arab and the star of David used to trigger me, for reasons I think you all understand, but this is called reclaiming the Star of David from Zionists, and I like it. Respect!
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u/BowBeforeBroccoli 9d ago
i understand what you mean. i destain the fact that israel has turned the star of david into a hateful symbol in the minds of some, as its always been a symbol of just judaism and jews. i wear mine proudly all the time but its sad i have to think about how others may view it so i make sure to also wear a palestine flag somewhere else on my person so they know i'm not wearing it for a zionist reason. sad how a relatively neutral symbol of identity has been twisted by a terroristic rogue state. i'm glad i could offer you more in the way of an alternative view and i hope you have a lovely day 🩷🙏
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u/AlphaCentauri10 Anti-Zionist 9d ago
Just like how Isis highjacked the black flag of the Prophet Muhammad, I live in Tunisia and normal Muslim people always associate that flag with Isis. And I think the same idea applies to the Celtic Cross used by White Supremacists (I'm not very educated on the subject but it could be thr case).
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u/BowBeforeBroccoli 9d ago
yeah that was something i also had to learn. it leads to misunderstandings such as when muslim students at my uni (florida) protested with palestine flags and flag with a shahada but those who are unfamiliar thought it was isis or the taliban, so i, a jew ironically, had to explain muslim flags to christians haha. as for the celtic cross, i'm not irish and i havent done much research on it so i cant speak on that.
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u/AlphaCentauri10 Anti-Zionist 9d ago
No matter how religious I am I would NEVER wave the black Shahada flag in any european country, not even in my country, it would always give a bad sign, I personally think it's unnecessary and stupid, that's my personal take. In Italy I was part of a Muslim Youth Association, I 'd rather wave the Symbol of that association to say "We are part of this too" rather than a flag already made controversial.
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u/reddit1337420 Dec 18 '23
Anarchy has negative connotations. Pls dont associate it with Anti-zionism
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u/Jinshu_Daishi Dec 18 '23
We are on a leftist subreddit, anarchism doesn't have negative connotations here.
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u/Remarkable_Jury_9652 Anti-Zionist Dec 18 '23
What? Anarchism is just the rejection of hierarchy(state, authority, capitalism, ect). There is different forms of anarchism but all of them are against hierarchy and are anti-capitalist.
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u/BowBeforeBroccoli Dec 18 '23
this isnt the flag of anti-zionism it is a flag of anti-zionism. plus, as the other commenter said, this is a left leaning subreddit
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u/OrphanedInStoryville Dec 19 '23
Hey I know you’re getting downvoted but I think it’s unfair. I’m anarchist myself but before I knew what it really meant I too thought it was just about punk rock kids mad at society doing graffiti. Of all the political philosophies out there, Anarchism may have the worst PR of all of them. But it basically just boils down to more freedom, both from government power AND from corporate power. If you want to learn more this essay called Are You An Anarchist? The Answer May Surprise You is a great place to start
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u/douglasstoll Reconstructionist Dec 19 '23
Because of this comment I changed my downvote. Thanks for reminding me.
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u/Blochkato Jewish Anti-Zionist Dec 17 '23
So fucking based