r/JewsOfConscience • u/ContentChecker 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/lolilololoko Non-Jewish Ally Oct 28 '24

Shalom to my Jewish brothers and sisters. Where some of you here former zionists? Where there any specific situations that helped you break free from Zionism?

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u/myownpersonallab Jewish Anti-Zionist Oct 28 '24

I was. It takes years to break free because it's brainwashing steeped in fear and trauma. I spoke with Palestinians who, in their infinite love and wisdom, had a dialogue with me even when I was Zionist. I learned more about their experience and eventually I realized Zionism didn't make any sense. And that in no world would I want my safety to be built on the pain and genocide of others. I am not suggesting every Zionist is worth dialoguing with, but there ARE some who can come out of it because they are only in it because it was what they were taught. I think not having a holier-than-thou complex is important. Surely there are problematic things we all learned from our parents and communities that we have to undo.

The number one reason it took me so long to come out of it (other than the fact that brainwashing takes years to undo) was seeing actual antisemitism. And specifically, seeing people who were pro-Palestine defending or downplaying actual antisemitism. Or seeing these people stay silent when Jews were being targeted by white supremacists. This all triggered the generational trauma and reactivated the fear that I won't be safe because my family legitimately was not safe. The leftist call that we want a world safe for everyone never felt like it applied to me because I was Jewish. Being anti-Zionist did not stop people from excluding me from th eneed for safety. Even as an Arab Jew.

Best way to keep Jews Zionist is to not stop antisemitism in its tracks. NEVER let it in your spaces. Defend Jews from antisemitism when it is actual antisemitism. Because with real antisemitism, Zionists have something to scare us with. And fear overrides logic. I am willing to bet thousands that there are very few Jews who have ever seen a non-Jew care about antisemitism because they cared about us (rather than, for example, Evangelicals "caring" about it to use the Holocaust as an abortion comparison or use the Zionist project for their colonial aims).