"Ask A Jew" Wednesday

[u/AutoModerator]

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/Specialist-Gur → u/[deleted]]

That’s a great question! And I feel like it’s similar to in this space!

Arabs and all ally’s are welcome in these spaces but probably should not be leading the conversation on messaging as far as it relates to Jewish issues specifically. And when topics discussing antisemtism arise, obviously listen more than speak. If someone calls you out for a “microaggession” that would be a great opportunity for conversation and mutual engagement!

And it’s a two way street. JVP wants to hear about what is imoortant to being a good ally for Palestine! So it’s good to share thoughts on what they could be doing better in that regard too!

[u/sudo_apt-get_intrnet → u/[deleted]]

I think there needs to be a balancing act.

On one hand, allies are great, and support is great! Educating people is a useful endeavor, and boosting a message via bodies is really helpful!

On the other hand, I think its way too easy to backfire. The point of an organization like JVP/this sub/similar orgs is not just to generically show support for Palestine. It is also to show that there is Jewish support for Palestine. If the organization that has Jewish in its name isn't majority Jewish then it becomes way easier to dismiss it entirely ("see? They say they're Jewish but the majority aren't! They're lying and only pretending to be Jewish!"), and it then becomes easier to dismiss other, similar organizations.

Not only that, but another point of Jewish pro-palestine orgs is to encourage otherwise non-activist antigenocide Jews to participate in activism, especially those worried about antisemitism (real or imagined) from non-Jewish antigenocide protestors. Once you hit a critical mass of non-Jews in the org, especially in leadership positions, it becomes significantly harder for the remaining Jews to actually police antisemitic microaggressions. I know the one time I tried to participate in a JVP activity I quickly got hit with some casual antisemitism by a gentile and have never went back because of it, and similar things happen in this sub that make me debate continuing to participate (though thanks to the magic of the format they quickly get called out).

TLDR: Its hard to do right inherently, and comes with a lot of drawbacks, but allyship and companionship are still important.

[u/Saul_al-Rakoun → u/sudo_apt-get_intrnet]

The one that I love are the people insisting that we don't have a special connection to the problem, or that we somehow benefit from Zionism as opposed to having our own institutions occupied by the Zionists. And that in all cases we must center Palestinian voices because blah-blah-social-justice-jargon-bullshit.

[u/Popular-Flatworm-196 → u/[deleted]]

My two cents as a "patrilineal" (don't get me started on my feelings about being told I don't count), nonreligious Jew: I was in a JVP virtual meeting and a Palestinian stepped up (figuratively) to speak. I was very moved by what he said. When Isr*el's favorite narrative is Jews and Arabs hate each other, I feel so much gratitude for allyship and comraderie in spaces like those.

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