An article by Alain Alameddine and Seth Morrison on the Middle East Monitor, also in Hebrew on the One Democratic State Initiative's website

Seventy-six years of occupation, ethnic cleansing and settler-colonization, leading up to today's genocide in Gaza, cannot disappear overnight. In light of this, does the historical Palestinian and antizionist Jewish vision for a single democratic state where Palestinians and previous Israelis coexist make any sense? How would such a state guarantee the security of its citizens—Wouldn't previous oppressors and victims be at each others' throats?

Zionism claims that Jews have always been and will always be persecuted. Accordingly it presents a model for a state exclusive to Jews as the only solution, and promotes this apartheid throughout the world, by taking advantage of the long history of European antisemitism to encourage Jewish immigration to Palestine to leave their societies, cleansing non-Jews from Palestine using different means of violence, and even supporting similar identitarian projects in Algeria, Sudan, Lebanon, Syria and other countries. In other words, Zionism claims that violence is inherent to having different identities and that separation is the only solution. The Palestinian liberation movement on the other hand has historically declared that violence in the region is the outcome of an oppressive settler colonial project, and that dismantling it is the solution.

Who is right? Could a democratic state guarantee peace and security for all of its citizens? And what do historical cases of colonization and decolonization have to teach us?

Dismantling colonial relations of power, establishing the legitimacy of the democratic state

In Ghassan Kanafani's "Returning to Haifa", the Palestinian child raised by Israeli settlers ended up joining the occupation forces. One could also easily imagine a settlers' son raised by Palestinians joining the resistance. This shows that violence, both the occupiers' and the occupied's, is the result of a political structure rather than of any inherent qualities. The fact that over 90% of Jewish Israelis side with the genocide in Gaza and that most Palestinians side with armed resistance is the result of colonial relations of power that were imposed by a colonial state. In other words, the role of the decolonial democratic state is not to "inherit" a cohesive society but to build and develop cohesion within it. In the word of Fanon, "decolonization brings a natural rhythm into existence … Decolonization is the veritable creation of new men". This required understanding how the settler state has imposed colonial relations of power and then determining what policies will dismantle them. The democratic state is a democratizing state.

For example, the state will grant Palestinians the rights that the Zionist state had deprived them, particularly the right of return and the right to compensation, without being unjust to Jews. It will implement a model that would be fair to all, regardless of their socioeconomic status. It will abrogate racist laws such as the Basic Law or Citizenship Law, ensuring that all are totally equal before the Law, and will criminalize political Zionism and all kinds of settler colonial ideologies. Instead of having different school curricula for Jews and non-Jews, it will unify the curriculum; and will make sure that universal civic values replace Zionist values in it. At the socio economic level, it will establish a comprehensive safety net with universal free education, universal health care and full equality in hiring and wages, closing today's income, poverty and education gaps. Previous war crimes will also have to be investigated, although the mechanisms will need to be determined by the future citizens of that state—both Palestinians and their Israeli partners.

The state will also have the monopoly of violence, which includes disarming segments of the population that are currently armed. And to quote Ner Kitri in his article "The transition from a Jewish state to true democracy will benefit all", it will use this monopoly to "protect its citizens’ lives rather than colonial privileges". Finally, the state will commit not to use its armed forces for expansionist purposes as Israel historically has. As in the cases of Kenya, South Africa and Algeria which we will discuss in more details below, deportation will not be on the table. Israelis who feel a genuine connection to the land (be it for religious, cultural or other reasons) will enjoy life as equals in a dezionized Palestine, while those who choose to leave will be able to do so peacefully.

By eliminating colonial privileges while guaranteeing rights to all, the new Palestinian state will establish and solidify its legitimacy in the eyes of its society. Crucially, instead of legitimizing its existence on the basis of representing sectarian interests, it will do so on the basis of its functional capacity to administer the affairs of its society and to guarantee its citizens' rights—rights that Israel denies Palestinians and failed to deliver to Jews. This change—this decolonization, in the fullest sense of the word—will signal a rupture with Zionism and the global colonial project. The result will be a society where tribal identities will melt away and whose citizens will not merely "coexist" but actually live together, the two previous demographic groups forming a single "mosaic of life" as Ilan Pappe expressed it.

This said—is this a realistic vision of what could happen? What does the history of Palestine, as well as historical cases of decolonization, have to teach us?

Violence under colonization and after it: Historical examples

Palestine has always been the home of Christians, Muslims, Jews, Bahai and observers of many different religions who lived together in peace. Before colonial Zionists, Palestine welcomed non-Palestinians such as Kurds, Armenians, Circassians and European Jews. For example, Zionist education initiative "TBTN" indicates that there was an "important and vital Jewish community in Gaza during the early Muslim period", and that "the Jewish community experienced a period of prosperity under Ottoman rule". TBTN explains this peace was disturbed on two occasions: First in 1799, when Jews fled Gaza ahead of Napoleon's invasion of Palestine, "marking the temporary end of a Jewish presence in the area." These Gazans returned in the 19th century and "the city was again an important Jewish center". This ended in the 1920s when, following the mass migration of Jews to Palestine and Balfour's promise to establish "a national home for Jews in Palestine", riots started throughout Palestine and Gazan Jews fled once again. In both cases, violence was the result of European colonial interference, not of inherent religious or cultural differences. As expressed in the Palestinian letter "To Our Other", "it is Zionism that has stood in the way of life, common life, on the basis of freedom and fairness".

Some recognize the above and understand that Jews and Palestinians can coexist in a dezionized land, but fear that in this specific case—over 76 years of oppression—it will prove impossible for previous oppressors and victims to live together. Obviously, feelings of supremacy on one hand and of revenge on the other are to be expected. Interestingly, historical cases of decolonization seem to reveal a pattern: When the balance of forces tips in favor of the indigenous, a transition that is more or less rough happens, a large number of settlers leave, those willing to let go of colonial privileges remain in peace. In other words, history shows that although the process of liberation can be violent, the liberation actually ends, not increases, violence between previous enemies.

Kenya is one such example. The Mau Mau uprising, which began in the early 1950s, was a significant and violent resistance movement against British colonial rule. After years of unrest and increasing pressure, the British government was forced to negotiate the independence of Kenya with the native liberation movement. The new state promoted a policy of forgiveness and reassured settlers that they could stay and contribute as equals. Many settlers left, fearing reprisals. Those who stayed did have to relinquish privileges, particularly in terms of land and resource redistribution, but there were zero cases of large-scale revenge.

The Évian accords that ended the French colonization of Algeria stated that Europeans could depart, remain as foreigners, or take Algerian citizenship. In his article "The liberation of Palestine and the fate of the Israelis", Eitan Bronstein Aparicio explains that following the announcement "a violent terrorist organization named OAS (Organisation Armée Secrète or “Secret Army Organization”) emerged and caused many casualties, mainly Algerians but also anti-colonial French, in an attempt to prevent the liberation of Algeria". This violence subsided within two months. After which, Eitan continues, "Most [settlers] chose to leave Algeria. They ran away in panic, out of fear of the day their domination would be over. But in fact, there was no real existential threat to them. They left because they were captive in their own colonial identity. In other words, they could not imagine a situation in which they would live in equality with the Algerians. And they paid a huge price for being uprooted from their home due to their own occupier mentality … [While] 200,000 French decided to stay and live in the liberated Algeria. From their testimonies, we learn that they saw Algeria as their home, and they had no reason to leave."

The end of apartheid in South Africa followed the same pattern. The negotiations between the apartheid government and the African National Congress (ANC) were accompanied by considerable violence and unrest, including clashes between rival political groups, police crackdowns, and incidents like the Boipatong massacre and the assassination of Chris Hani, a prominent ANC leader. The first democratic elections, however, were marked by a high turnout. The government enacted decolonial policies such as Black Economic Empowerment and land reforms that stripped settlers of a number of their privileges, and settlers who chose to remain as citizens did so peacefully. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission also provided an interesting model, investigating past abuses and allowing perpetrators of human rights violations who provided full disclosure of their actions and demonstrated that their crimes were politically motivated (Truth) could apply for amnesty (Reconciliation), thus judging the colonial political program that had caused the crimes rather than the human tools it had used to do so.

Other cases of decolonization seem to follow the same pattern, showing that what we need to fear is not the dismantling of the colonial Israel state or the establishment of a democratic Palestinian state, but the unfolding of the transitionary period between them. This danger can be brought to a minimum, or even averted by learning from and improving on the South Africa and Kenya models, when the Palestinian liberation movement and their Israeli partners for decolonization and peace work together on it. The colonized have made it clear, decade after decade, that a democratic state is what we want to see from the river to the sea. They must work to make this vision even clearer to both friend and foe. We invite our other—today's colonizers—to "upgrade from settlers to citizens", as our Israeli comrade Ner Kitri beautifully expressed, and to join us in our common fight for freedom for all.

"[We were led] to believe we could not live without the nation-state, lest we not only be denied its privileges but also find ourselves dispossessed in the way of the permanent minority. The nation made the immigrant a settler and the settler a perpetrator. The nation made the local a native and the native a perpetrator, too. In this new history, everyone is colonized—settler and native, perpetrator and victim, majority and minority. Once we learn this history, we might prefer to be survivors instead." — "Neither Settler Nor Native", Mahmood Mamdani

Alain Alameddine is a decolonial praxicist with a focus on Palestine and the Sham region and a coordinator at the One Democratic State Initiative. He is happy to be reached at alain.a@odsi.co.

Seth Morrison is an American, Jewish antizionist activist supporting pro-Palestine organizations including Jewish Voice for Peace. Organizational information for identification only. He writes in his personal capacity. [sethmorrison30@gmail.com](mailto:sethmorrison30@gmail.com)

In the “land of the free” I cannot find any streaming service that will allow me to watch a film that has won awards for best international film of the year. Make this make sense? How might an American watch this?

I swear more than half the times I’ve mentioned being Sephardic & anti-zionist online there has been a zionist responding like “UMMM DO YOU KNOW WHAT THEYD DO TO YOU WHERE YOU CAME FROM THEYD BURN YOU ALIVE” like??

Looking back at this genocide this past year, it's just horrible how so many preventable measures against this massacre have been sidelined. Leaving aside the geopolitical agendas, the corporate interests, etc., do these people, who are preventing the ceasefires, suppressing free speech within campuses, and giving weapons to Israel, along many other bullshit, sincerely, honestly believe they're doing all of these to guarantee the safety of the Jews? Even at the expense of the actual Jews themselves, including Holocaust survivors, who are also facing repression by the Zionists?

Would these people really have the honesty, & the transparency, to tell a Jewish person in their face, who disagrees with this genocide, that all of these actions are for their own safety?

I find their type of Hasbara to be particularly dangerous because they weaponize their identities as Jews of Color and dress up their propaganda in the language of social justice, portraying Zionism as “decolonization” movement to appeal to young progressive Jews (and others) to prevent them from defecting to anti-Zionism. Also Debbie does a lot of historical revisionism about Jewish diaspora history and denigrates diaspora Jews which pisses me off to no end, and Jews deserve to learn diaspora history from a leftist and anti-Zionist lens. Would anyone be interested in starting this?

I don’t really know other Jewish people other than my family and their friends back home and they’re pretty right wing, but I’m pretty sure even my ‘liberal’ sister is a Zionist. I’m just too ashamed to ask her.

I live in a Christian right wing area now also so the few Jews who do live here are most likely pro-israel as well as the Christians. I do have a good group of friends around me who support me and obviously know where my heart lies, but I just feel so shameful about being Jewish honestly at the moment. I know almost everyone around me assumes I must be israeli/pro israel and that that’s synonymous with Jewish.

I did light my menorah because it felt important to power through and defy my shame but it’s just been a tough night. I hope others are enjoying the holidays though and are surrounded by like minded people this season.

What do you all think of the liberal centrist part Yesh Atid and the leftist Hadash party, which allies itself with the Arab Ta'al party? Shouldn't the pro-palestinian groups form strategic relationships with these parties, and generally, the people who want peace from the inside of Israel? I feel like a lot of pro-palestinian groups can be quite reductionist. I understand that many are staunchly and uncompromisingly against the existence of Israel entirely. I just feel like things would be vastly improved at least if these groups worked together.

I don't know much about these political parties and would really love to hear about how they are perceived and any facts or opinions people have on them.

Happy Hanukkah to all who are celebrating!

I’d also love to hear more about how you’re celebrating, and, as a bit of a foodie, I’m intrigued by all the different kinds of food you’re eating as part of your celebrations.

:)

Hello friends! Some of you may remember this post I made a few weeks ago after I had the privilege of speaking at an event celebrating Palestinian culture.

Today, I had the chance to deliver this sermon at the synagogue I attend (a Canadian, Conservative and Zionist congregation).

Shabbat Shalom

This week's parsha, Vayeshev, continues one of the grand narratives of the book of Bereishit, the story of a man--Abraham--who started a family that became a tribe, and that tribe which would go on through the other sifrei Torah, the books of Shemot and beyond, to become a nation.

The stories in Bereishit, and particularly in Vayeshev, reveal the complexity of familial relations. This week's story starts with Jacob playing favourites amongst his sons for reasons we can understand from the stories we heard in previous weeks. And then we see the devastating impacts of that favouritism on the family: rupture, resentment, and murderous rage. And yet, despite the pain and trauma that arises from Jacob's blatant favouritism, the Torah does not condemn Jacob. We later come to see that the familial rupture caused by Jacob's favouritism is the foundation for the salvation and sustenance of B'nei Israel. Had Joseph not been cast into the pit and sold to the Midianites, the nation of our heritage may never have come to exist.

In a discussion of Vayeshev, the late Rabbi Jonathan Sacks quotes from The Laws of Repentance, one of the great works of the sage Maimonides: "Therefore we should see ourselves throughout the year as if our deeds and those of the world are evenly poised between good and bad, so that our next act may change both the balance of our lives and that of the world." Rabbi Sacks goes on to explain that although Reuben's intervention to save Joseph was less effective than he had intended--a Midrash says, "Had Reuben known that the Holy One blessed be He would write about him, “When Reuben heard this, he saved him,” he would have lifted Joseph bodily onto his shoulders and taken him back to his father."--Reuben's intervention serves to show us that the long-term impacts of our actions can be more significant than we would ever think.

It's clear that Reuben's intervention saved Joseph in the short term, and played a vital role in the long term survival of his people--our people. I would also argue that Reuben's intervention saved his other brothers in the short term. Joseph may have been a brother from another mother, but he was still family. Jacob's grief when he thought that Joseph had been torn apart by wild animals is heartbreaking enough; imagine the horror if his sons had returned with Joseph's coat and their hands soaked in Joseph's blood.

I invite you to think about this idea: when members of a family decide to enact their worst impulses--even if we can understand where those impulses come from--it is so important for someone within the family to say, "no, this isn't who we are, this isn't what we want to become."

And here my remarks to you today are going to take a hard left turn. Those of you who know a bit about me and my politics will understand why I use that turn of phrase and may have some idea of where I'm headed.

I'm going to start with a comparison that may seem kind of contrived and superficial, but bear with me. I recently had the pleasure of attending a Palestinian cultural night, and there I learned about their style of embroidery known as tatreez. If you've ever seen a Palestinian woman dressed in a traditional thawb you'll be familiar with the vibrant colours and intricate patterns of tatreez, not unlike the coat of many colours that Joseph wore.

And yes, here I am suggesting that we the Jewish people are to Palestinians as the sons of Leah, Bilhah and Zilpah were to Joseph, son of Rachel. Our lineages are not identical, but there is much that we share in terms of heritage and culture. Obviously we both have a profound connection to the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. We Jewish people have a history of being subjected to the whims of imperial powers, of being colonized and expelled, and in that way our past resembles the Palestinian present. We honour the memories and stories of figures who resisted colonial forces: Hanukkah is right around the corner and we celebrate the story of the Maccabees. Other figures of resistance that have a prominent place in Jewish lore are the martyrs of Masada, and those of the Bar Kochba rebellion. And on a completely different note I can also point out that we share with the Palestinians a commitment to literacy and learning, with literacy rates in the West Bank and Gaza of nearly 98% (as of 2022).

I understand why, in this post-October 7 world, it may be hard--impossible even--for some of us to see ourselves and Palestinians as part of the same family. I acknowledge the historical traumas inflicted on our people, the raw and open psychological wounds from seeing people like us treated brutally and cruelly, and the grief we share knowing that there are still people held captive by those who we can't trust to see us as kin. These undeniable realities may mean that Palestinians can only appear to some of us as mortal enemies and as an existential threat. I will say that the Palestinians I've had a chance to speak to face-to-face have been nothing but welcoming and gracious when I approach them with a spirit of brotherly love, but just because that is the right path for me doesn't mean that everyone else needs to follow in my footsteps.

To any of you who aren't ready to embrace Palestinians as family, please indulge me in suggesting another way that you can make a difference and give life to the words of Maimonides "that our next act may change both the balance of our lives and that of the world." You may know people whose sense of pain and hate is so strong that it leads them to engage in or to rationalize the unconscionable. I probably can't reach those people; once they get a sense of my perspective, they will label me and write me off as a traitor, a Hamas supporter, a useful idiot, a self-hating Jew. But some of you may be able to reach them, and save them as Reuben saved his brothers from the consequences of their worst impulses. You may find yourself in places, whether physical or virtual, where others in our Jewish family feel entitled to celebrate and encourage ongoing devastations and injustices being inflicted on Palestinians, most of whom are innocent of any wrongdoing. If and when you see that, I ask--no I beg of you-- that you please use your voice to remind our brothers and sisters of the 13 attributes of Hashem's mercy:

Adonai, Adonai, el rachum ve-chanun, erech apayim ve-rav chesed ve-emet, notzer chesed la-alafim, noseh avon vafeshah ve-chata'ah ve-nakeh.

My Lord! My Lord! God of compassion and grace. Slow to anger and full of lovingkindness and truth. Bestowing kindness to thousands of generations. Forgiving transgression, iniquity and sin. Granting of pardons.

We may find that like Reuben in this week's parsha, our attempts to intervene are less immediately effective than we would like, but with the passage of time we may discover that they are actually more impactful than we ever would have thought possible. I truly believe, and I hope you will take some time to consider, that our collective safety as Jews, here in the diaspora and especially in Israel, will only be secured when we find true and lasting ways of living those attributes of mercy, b'tselem elohim*,* in the image of god, in relation to Palestinians.

Thank you for bearing with me for this long. I'm going to wrap up right away.

Some of you may be familiar with the late Canadian writer and broadcaster, Stuart McLean, and his Dave and Morley stories from his radio show, The Vinyl Cafe. For those of you who don't know, The Vinyl Cafe is also the name of the independent record store that Dave runs in the stories, and it has one of the greatest and most memorable slogans I've ever encountered: "We may not be big, but we're small."

I think the same can also be said of us here in this congregation, in this community. Like Dave as proprietor of The Vinyl Cafe, we understand that our success is not measured in growth and size, it's measured in the depth of connections we forge among ourselves and with the wider community. Now more than ever, those connections are so important. We can use those deep connections to bring people together and call for peace. If we don't, the consequences for ourselves here and especially for our family in Israel could be dire. And here I do want to emphasize that while I've mostly spoken about family in a more metaphorical sense, when I talk about family in Israel I also mean it literally, as many of you know.

Every week during this service we say a prayer for peace, and I think it is worth dwelling on this line from that prayer: "We have not come into being to hate or to destroy, we have come into being to praise, to labour and to love." And it is with that spirit of love for this local community, the global Jewish community, the Palestinians who have held my outstretched hand, and the human family that we are all a part of, that I leave you with these two statements: Shabbat Shalom, and Free Palestine.

It was actually received pretty well.

Curious for the range of thoughts and reactions.

The Netanyahu government is chastising the Roman Catholic Pope – who is, to be sure, the head of a problematic and historically anti-semitic institution – but who is also an eighty-eight year old Christian priest who has actual responsibility for actual congregants in the Gaza strip and West Bank – for saying the following words:

"Yesterday the [Latin] Patriarch [of Jerusalem] was not allowed into Gaza, as had been promised; and yesterday children were bombed. This is cruelty. This is not war. I wanted to tell you this because it touches my heart." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6I2Lr_8lFc&t=706s

See The Jerusalem Post, Dec. 25, 2024, "Vatican ambassador called by Israeli Foreign Ministry over Pope's comments on Israel"

Sorry I've missed so many other of your holidays, and sorry about it being early, but I wanted to go ahead and say happy Hanukkah to all of you right now before I end up busy or distracted. I wanted to thank all of you here for your patience, your kindness and your willingness to educate others. I grieve for those of you who have had to cut off community or family, and who have had to witness so much harm being done in your name. You are all such amazingly strong people to cling fast to your beliefs when it would be so much more comfortable and easy to sit the fence and say nothing, and your virtue and empathy puts my ancestors who participated in things they shouldn't have to shame. You all inspire me to be a better person, and I thank you all for being here. I hope that maybe this time next year we will see Palestine is closer to freedom, even if that is a big hope. Thank you all.

This is a bit of a random question, but what are some good content creators that educate about or gives updates on the current Israel-Palestine war? In particular, content creators on YouTube. Videos about the history behind this war will be appreciated as well. I would like to educate myself on this war more. I have learned about some things through social media and friend's of mine, but not a lot.

Edit: Thank you all for the answers! I'll be sure to check them out soon.

It's this time of the year again, and I already know how many zionists are going off about how chanukah is a zionist holiday. No matter how you want to spin it, chanukah does, in a major way, celebrate jewish nationalism, and through it a foundation of a Jewish state in Palestine. That is undeniable. But, is chanukah really the zionist hero story that people make it out to be? I'm not quite convinced.

(disclaimer, I'm not a historian or rabbi or anything, this post's source is mostly just wikipedia)

For anyone unaware in this sub, this is how the story of chanukah is generally taught in jewish schools:

• The selucid greek king antiochus iv came to rule over Judea
• He outlawed judaism and all jewish practice, desecrated the temple, and many jews became hellenized
• A revolt started when a kohen (jewish priest) named matityahu refused to make an offering (or something) to greek gods
• Led by his son, judah the maccabee, the rebels won the war and established a Jewish state: the hasmonean kingdom
• When they came to reestablish the desecrated temple, they could only find one day's worth of ritually pure oil for the menorah, but it miraculously lasted for 8 days - enough to procure more oil

Nothing above is outright false (except for maybe that last point, depending on your faith or lack thereof). But there is more context to this story that is usually missing. Additionally, chanukah is the only holiday that is never mentioned in the tanakh. The records that serve as its source, 1 & 2 maccabees, aren't considered canon, and chanukah is never mentioned in the talmud with the exception of a few pages in masechet shabbat. Contrast this with purim, the other holiday established in a similar manner, which gets an entire masechet of mishnah and gemarah, and a canonical book in the tanach. What is going on here?

Background

First of all, we need to look more into the historical events of the time period. Antiochus iv did outlaw judaism and jewish practice, but not initially. At first, it seems he just left the jews alone and did not enforce hellenization, many jews became hellenized by choice. It was only after a sequence of events that led antiochus to believe a revolt would occur that he began his crackdown - which, ironically, is exactly what led to the revolt.

Also, many of the people the maccabees fought against were themselves hellenized jews. In this regard, the hasmonean revolt can also be understood as a civil war between jews with occasional greek intervention. Additionally, the maccabees reached a deal with the greeks to allow judaism in the kingdom again, but the revolt still continued until a jewish kingdom was fully established. The maccabees wanted to enforce judaism in this state - apparently even forcibly circumcising boys in some of their guerrilla campaigns. This sentiment remained after their victory, with the hasmoneans oppressing Jews they felt weren't sufficiently "anti-greek."

As such, this war can be understood as more of a battle between two extreme jewish factions - one which was complicit in greek oppression and colonization, and one which was an unavoidable response, in a battle over the identity of the jewish people.

In any case, the maccabees ended up winning the war. However, the varied takeaways from this victory are reflected in the writings surrounding it. For example, maccabees 1, which was apparently written by a judean eyewitness of the nascent hasmonean kingdom, glorifies the battles and the purging of all things greek from the new kingdom. In contrast, maccabees 2 (which is apparently not a sequel) was written by an egyptian diaspora Jew, and seems to have a more religious focus, treating acts of peace and cooperation with the greeks more positively than maccabees 1. Quoting from wikipedia here:

In 2 Maccabees, intended for an audience of Egyptian Jews who still lived under Greek rule, peaceful coexistence was possible, but misunderstandings or troublemakers forced the Jews into defensive action.

This portrays the new hasmonean kingdom not as an ideal, but as an unavoidable result of the oppression. Yet, chanukah became a holiday celebrated by diasproa jews as well, with the main theme being of Jewish unity rather than ethno-nationalism.

Which begs the question: why do we still celebrate it?

The miracle of the oil

The chanukah story has inspired other Jewish revolts later in history, most notably the revolt against the Roman empire which led to the second diaspora, and the bar kokhba revolt which came around 70 years later - all of which failed. Ironically, the Roman empire aligned itelf with the hasmoneans during their revolt since they knew it would weaken the greeks, only to bring an end to the kingdom by colonizing it later.

I believe that the rabbis of the time, who were the "authors" of the mishnah and gemara, purposefully chose to obscure chanukah by not canonizing the books of maccabees and by largely omitting it in the mishnah and gemara. Of the 3ish pages in the gemara about chanukah, the vast majority is about the miracle of the oil and the laws for lighting chanukah candles, with a mere 3 lines deicated to the historical story. The gemara also seems to be the original source of the story of the miracle of the oil.

I believe that the rabbis of the time wanted to discourage nationalism, but since they couldn't eradicate the already well-established holiday, they attempted to change its focus from the war to this miracle of the oil.

I also believe the nature of the miracle of the oil has significance here. Something meant to last one day, lasted for 8 - longer than it should have, but not enough to be a permanent solution. The hasmonean revolt did bring about a Jewish state that lasted for around a century. This was more successful than the other revolts, and lasted longer than it should have, but at the end of the day, it only led to a second diaspora. This is why ultimately, all the ritual actions we do on chanukah relate to the candles - we celebrate Jewish unity and victory, but the essence of the holiday is the candles. Remember that any success from nationalism will also soon melt away.

Conclusion

Despite the temporary success of the hasmoneans, they did not fix the root problem facing Jews wordwide. I see many parralells with the current state of Israel, which has also been around for nearly a century. Reading about how the hasmonean kingdom aligned itself with the romans reminded me of how Israel currently promotes far-right politicians throughout Europe. Reading about the hasmonean persecution of jews they deemed not "anti-greek" enough reminded me of how Israel has treated Jews that don't fit the narrative. This is the very thing the sages were trying to warn us about.

So yes, on a surface level, celebrating chanukah seems to be about celebrating Jewish nationalism. But I think the real meaning behind this holiday is to show us that although nationalism is appealing, it's only a temporary solution. The real path to Jewish liberation lies in doykait, embracing the diaspora, while at the same time not forgetting our Jewish identity lest we become complicit in the very systems that oppress us like the hellenized Jews did.

This is really just a long ramble based on cherry-picked unreliable sources. It could also just be a terminal case of mental gymnastics. But it's what I'll be thinking of when I light the candles tonight.

Chag sameach everyone 🕎

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!

Following October 7, Hamas stated on several occasions that it does not target civilians in general and that it did not target civilians on October 7 in particular. For example, the "Our Narrative" document in particular states:

"Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on Oct. 7 targeted the Israeli military sites, and sought to arrest the enemy’s soldiers to pressure on the Israeli authorities to release the thousands of Palestinians held in Israeli jails through a prisoners exchange deal. Therefore, the operation focused on destroying the Israeli army’s Gaza Division, the Israeli military sites stationed near the Israeli settlements around Gaza.

Avoiding harm to civilians, especially children, women and elderly people is a religious and moral commitment by all the Al-Qassam Brigades’ fighters. We reiterate that the Palestinian resistance was fully disciplined and committed to the Islamic values during the operation and that the Palestinian fighters only targeted the occupation soldiers and those who carried weapons against our people. In the meantime, the Palestinian fighters were keen to avoid harming civilians despite the fact that the resistance does not possess precise weapons. In addition, if there was any case of targeting civilians; it happened accidently and in the course of the confrontation with the occupation forces."

My question to Jewish allies is: Did you hear such statements? And either way, do you tend to believe them? I would also love to hear what you think of it in more details in the comments.

(Ops: This is more of a "discussion" but since the tag is for flaired users only, I didn't use it).

I ordered a $6 kids book just thinking it’d gloss over the major points. I’m not religious at all but I enjoy the cultural aspect of lighting the candles and I wanted to teach my kid the history. But this book had a lot of info about the Greeks and the violence and I’m like 🤷🏼‍♀️ why is that necessary? I found another at Barnes and noble today and it was great it just said the Jews chased the mean soldiers away, great. But then it went in depth into “on the first night we get this kind of gift and we eat this food” and stuff and we don’t do all that.

I just want a short illustrated story about how the oil lasted 8 days.