"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.

Please remember to pick an appropriate user-flair in order to participate! Thanks!

[u/BolesCW]

Sounds to me like you're struggling with the contradiction or tension of workplace solidarity (which is fundamentally internationalist) versus anti-imperialist prejudice. While there is a good chance this particular Israeli (your guess based on accent) is a staunch ethnosupremacist, you don't actually know that, do you? Substitute any other nationality/accent for Israeli and look at how problematic your statement is.

Here you go: "how do you deal with it when you find you need to work with someone with a redneck accent?"

Or "how do you deal with it when you find you need to work with someone with a South African accent?"

Or "how do you deal with it when you find you need to work with someone with a Cuban accent?"

[u/cupcakefascism → u/BolesCW]

Those examples aren’t comparable at all becauae there’s an incredibly high chance the Israeli has genocidal views and a very good chance they’ve actually served in the IDF terrorising Palestinians. That’s not the same for Southerners, South Africans or Cubans (??).

That doesn’t mean OP should go confront them, but it’s understandable for them to be ill at ease.

[u/BolesCW → u/cupcakefascism]

There's also an extremely high chance that an Israeli who is not currently in Israel is away precisely because of the genocidal actions of Netanyahoo, his enablers, and the IDF -- especially if they are within the age range of reservists. A pro-genocide Israeli like you describe would have every reason to return home to help perpetrate it. I don't know this person and therefore cannot ask them about it, so I prefer not to speculate on their views -- just as I would not automatically assume someone with a redneck accent is in the Klan, a person with a South African accent is a Boer nationalist, or a person with a Cuban accent is a counter-revolutionary. You don't know them either, and are therefore free to indulge your anti-imperialist prejudices as well as OP. Which you have.

[u/loselyconscious → u/BolesCW]

Most Israelis I know in the US are somewhere in between, very critical of Netenyahu and the war, but also react strongly to criticism that is not very tempered with statements about "Israel's right to exist." Definitely would not use the word genocide