r/JewsOfConscience • u/Roy4Pris Zionism is a waste of Judaism • Sep 07 '24

News Jake Tapper tweets that people protesting his colleague Dana Bash are antisemitic. Max Blumenthal absolutely eviscerates him in response

https://x.com/MaxBlumenthal/status/1832196541735657532
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u/kimonoko Reconstructionist Sep 07 '24

This particular exchange to one side, it depresses me that Max Blumenthal/GZ gets airtime in this sub. We've got to be more discerning than that, folks. We're not going to find liberation by allying with a guy who denies China's oppression of the Uyghurs, denies chemical attacks by Assad, and spreads misinformation in Russia's favor with regard to Ukraine (in addition to regularly appearing on RT).

Blumenthal is not our friend.

(Side note: honestly had no idea Dana Bash is Jewish.)

2

u/gmbxbndp Jewish Communist Sep 07 '24

Think of activism in the same way you think of your workplace: your co-workers' opinions outside of what it is you are assigned to do simply do not matter at all. When you show up for your shift at the factory, you don't refuse to work on the line because the worker next to you has ridiculous and harmful views on vaccination. You're there to make widgets, not to make friends. You don't have to like the guy to work with him. You can straight up hate him if you want to. But you're still going to work with him because that's the only way this job gets done.

When the concern is Israel/Palestine, a potential ally's views outside of that arena are wholly irrelevant. If you could generate a list of every single belief that you hold, I'm sure I would find all sorts that I object to, but if they have nothing to do with the task at hand, then arguing about them is a purely self-serving exercise.

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u/bearoscuro Non-Jewish Ally Sep 07 '24

I don't think that's a fair attitude to have... at a certain point, if people's views are repellent enough, they will drive away many more people who feel unsafe around them. It's not really fair for people affected by Assad's regime to have to be told "well, just suck it up." Blumenthal's statement is decent and he does have an ethical stance on Palestine, but that shouldn't absolve him from criticism for other stuff.