r/JewsOfConscience Jewish Anti-Zionist Oct 27 '24

Discussion Cultural exchange with /r/Arabs!

Hi everyone,

Today we will be having a cultural exchange with r/Arabs - beginning at 8AM EST, but extending for about 2 days so feel free to post your questions/comments over the course of that time-frame.

The exchange will work similarly to an AMA, except users from their sub will be asking us questions in this thread for anyone to answer, and users from our sub can go to a thread there to ask questions and get answers from their users!

To participate in the exchange, see the following thread in /r/Arabs:

https://old.reddit.com/r/arabs/comments/1gd9eb3/cultural_exchange_rjewsofconscience/

Big thanks to the mods over at /r/Arabs for reaching out to us with this awesome idea! Thanks to MoC for posting the original post.

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u/historyhoneybee Oct 27 '24

First of all, I appreciate you all so much. I can't imagine how much courage it takes to stand up for what's right even when other people in your community are against you. Your solidarity and activism has given me so much hope for the world and a future where everyone is safe and liberated.

How has the Jewish anti Zionist community changed over time? Has there been an increase in anti Zionism in the last year and what did anti Zionism look like before October 7?

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u/Saul_the_Raccoon Conservadox & Marxist Oct 27 '24

I was a wishy-washy "both sides"-er until after October 7th. I put a lot of effort into trying to defend any aspect of the Zionist project but every time I thought I found solid footing it turned to sand and flowed away.

I felt like I was being pulled apart the first week after the 7th, and even told someone who asked my opinion that I know I was being lied to, but not by whom. Over the past year, I've recognized that the people lying to me -- gaslighting me, really, and us by extension, and I mean it in the original sense of the word and not its pop-psych jargon -- were the Zionists. I had to recognize that Zionism was avodah zara, that it was not a complement to Judaism but was an alien and hostile occupying force, and the degree to which all Jewish institutions have been annexed by Zionism.

I can't speak from the inside of anti-Zionism before October 7th, but from the outside it previously looked like anti-Zionism tended to coincide with a rejection of Judaism -- JVPers seemed particularly set on anything that paganized traditional Jewish practice. Since then it feels to me like there's been an upswelling of anti-Zionist Jewry who oppose Zionism because of Judaism rather than despite it.

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u/conscience_journey Jewish Anti-Zionist Oct 28 '24

Could you give an example of the “paganized” beliefs, as you saw it?

I know for me, I was disengaged with my Jewishness because I didn’t want to confront Zionism. Once I accepted my anti-Zionism it let me engage deeper with my Jewishness, and I have been learning and practicing more since.

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u/Saul_the_Raccoon Conservadox & Marxist Oct 28 '24

My favorite one so far has been the fermentation mikveh.