r/JewsOfConscience Aug 21 '24

AAJ "Ask A Jew" Wednesday

It's everyone's favorite day of the week, "Ask A (Anti-Zionist) Jew" Wednesday! Ask whatever you want to know, within the sub rules, notably that this is not a debate sub and do not import drama from other subreddits. That aside, have fun! We love to dialogue with our non-Jewish siblings.

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u/OrganicOverdose Non-Jewish Ally Aug 21 '24

I have sooooo many questions:

How do Anti-Zionist Jews honestly engage in situations where their Jewishness is called into question for being Anti-Zionist?

How does one effectively go against the grain when trapped in such a "conversation"?  

How does this affect religiosity? 

How well does Zionism really line up with Judaism for you? How does it make you feel?

How do you feel about non-Jewish people in general? Is there a fear there and has allyship helped? (I ask this because IMO Zionism leverages fear to a significant degree, and, as a "goy" ally with a superficial understanding of Judaism, I often feel like an unintended misstep is imminent due to ignorance, which simply reinforces the fear factor). 

What has changed for you all since October 7? 

What are the demographics in Anti-Zionist circles? I.e., Age, gender, secular/practicing, etc.

Finally, are you guys and girls ok and what can people do to support you?

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u/echtemendel Jewish Communist Aug 21 '24

I can of course only answer for myself. Please note that I'm a kind of Marxist/Leninist/whatever, which is reflected in my answers regarding religion and allyship. Also - feel free to ask any followup question you might have :)

How do Anti-Zionist Jews honestly engage in situations where their Jewishness is called into question for being Anti-Zionist?

With all seriousness: I tell them to go f**k themselves. I'm Jewish on both sides, and both sides come from Germany and Poland (complicated history there). They were all Holocaust victims, and only a handful of survivors. I don't need to prove my "Jewishness" to anyone.

How does one effectively go against the grain when trapped in such a "conversation"?

Not sure exactly what you mean, but I try to stay with the material facts and not be let astray by emotional manipulation. Settler colonialism is bad, period. Apartheid is bad, period. Ethnic cleansing and genocide are bad, period. Nothing which ever happened to Jews justify the colonialist theft of Palestine and the crimes committed against the Palestinian people.

How does this affect religiosity?

As an atheist I truly don't know, and tbh rather not bothered by it. There are both Zionist and anti-Zionist religious Jews so I guess like everything else with belief, it's pretty flexible to fit what you want to believe.

How well does Zionism really line up with Judaism for you? How does it make you feel?

I actually think it fits pretty well, and would fit well with any other religion - again, I see religion (and ideology in general) as subject to a group's material interests, and very rarely being a basic "truth" which dictates everything else. As an evidence, again - there are pro-Zionist and anti-Zionist Jews, Christians, Muslims, Hindus, you name it.

How do you feel about non-Jewish people in general? Is there a fear there and has allyship helped?

I don't feel any different towards non-Jewish people as I do towards Jewish people, except maybe I have some level of automatic "closeness" to other Jews which I don't with non-Jews, much in the same way I feel closer on some level to other Germans (being a German myself). I'm also not a huge fan of the "allyship" concept - while we're definitely not all equal in every struggle, I do believe that we should all act from a place of group interests (with the basic one being our class), and solidarity and joint struggle is 100% helpful for all.

What has changed for you all since October 7?

For me personally nothing much. I grew up in Israel and I've been saying for years that something like this is bound to happen if the core issue (settler colonialism) isn't resolved. And it's not like I'm some kind of a political genius, everyone in the non-Zionist left could see that something was coming (if not in the specific time and way it did). It's just the nature of indigenous reaction to a process of ethnic cleansing and expulsion, history showed it time and time again. Israel did become much more openly Fascist and genocidal of course, and I can feel it when I talk to Israelis today (in the rare occasion I do).

What are the demographics in Anti-Zionist circles? I.e., Age, gender, secular/practicing, etc.

Depends on the time and place, I guess. In Israel, for example, the vast majority of anti-Zionists are Palestinian citizens. There are very few anti-Zionist Jews there, I probably know most of them personally tbh.

Finally, are you guys and girls ok and what can people do to support you?

Thank you, but I don't think Jews need support at the moment, as such. The important thing is to support the Palestinian struggle for Liberation, and at the same time ensure no anti-Semites take advantage of it (which happens too often). For example, be active in Pro-Palestinian activities (best led by actual Palestinians) and help silence actual anti-Semitic voices which are intentional, while helping to educate the movement on the difference between Zionism and Judaism. I think that's the best think to do atm.

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u/OrganicOverdose Non-Jewish Ally Aug 21 '24

Thanks so much for your responses, mate. I had to flair up to post the question in the first place, and I also struggled with the whole "allyship" concept. But, this sub is called "Jews of Conscience", so that kind of does play a role here. I don't know. It felt weird to me too, but I went with it.

I think I hold a lot of the same views as you, based on your responses. 

In hindsight, maybe my final question was strangely trite or condescending, it wasn't the intention. It simply stemmed from the previous questions potentially having different answers, wherein others may actually be struggling if they are isolated from their community/family for their stance on this issue. Even for me, having this discussion with my non-Jewish friends and family has lead to some heated and difficult conversations. 

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u/echtemendel Jewish Communist Aug 21 '24

No worries, I understand completely :)