#leftist jews

[tikkunolamresistance]

From “The Holocaust Industry” by Norman Finkelstein. A highly recommended read.

The AJC (American Jewish Committee) and ADL (Anti-Defamation League) would offer up files on alleged Jewish subversives— or, Jewish political opposition who aligned with Leftism— to US government agencies. In direct fashion with the United States’ McCarthy era of anti-Communist fear-mongering, Leftist Jews were uprooted and eliminated with support of Right-Wing Jewry. Due to the United States’ alignment with a barely de-Nazified Germany in opposition to the growing Soviet Union, Leftism and Communism on the home front had to be eliminated somehow… and that included within Jewish communities.

Finkelstein goes on to discuss how Jewish elites** needed to align themselves with US interests not only for survival, but for assimilation and safety from being once again deemed “untrustworthy aliens” that had led to the Nazi Holocaust. With the Communist the main enemy of the United States— the ideological juxtaposition— Jewish elites did not shy from selling out their own for favouring from the United States. Align with the Communists? That’s a one way ticket to another Shoah.

The Rosenbergs, were Jewish Communists spied for the Soviet Union. As Paul Von Blum wrote for truthdig: “Both were convincted of conspiracy to commit espionage— not espionage and certainly not treason, though these are the charges that stuck win the minds of millions of uninformed Americans. They were tried before Judge Irving Kaufman of the U.S. District Court. The prosecutorial team was headed by Irving Saypol and included the loathsome Roy Cohn (later chief counsel to Sen. Joseph McCarthy and attorney to Donald Trump). Conspicuously, all of the prosecution team and the judge were Jews, an attempt to avoid charges of state anti-Semitism. But it is difficult to avoid that allegation in light of the way of anti-Semitism and anti-communism were entwined in the early postwar decades.” I highly urge reading this article on McCarthyism and the Rosenberg’s, it’s wonderfully written piece. The United States was drenched in fear being face to face with an enemy that challenged their very existence; the weakness of Capitalism showing, the rising Red Scare and unity of the People vs the State. The Rosenbergs were put to death as an example, to show what is not Jewish— an ideological framework for what would soon be an eventual catalyst for Zionism, “the Right Jews”. The Jews that point their guns at the United States enemies, the Jews that wont wave a red flag and find liberation within the people. The United States only want Jews that conform.

The Rosenbergs were stripped of their Jewishness purely for being Leftists. And this removal of Jewish identity in association with Leftism stands today— Pro-Palestinian, anti-Zionist Jews are “not really Jewish”. Our existences erased and challenged, because we oppose Facism itself. History is a flat circle, with anti-Communism at it’s core, and Capitalism pulling the strings. Jewish-American State allyship is a one-sided relationship purely to preserve the Capitalist interests of the United States: destroying Jewish communities, religious and spiritual practices and our instinctive desire for a better world. Zionism and Right Wing ideologies have infected Judaism and Jewish peoplehood, and it is a truth that must be accepted, acknowledged, and then something must be done about it. Because we are raised to believe otherwise. And that is the problem.

Zionism is not Judaism, and antisemitism is interwoven with anti-Communism. It is the final wake up call that the West are trying to silence.

** For context, Finkelstein uses “American Jewish elites” to refer to ‘individuals prominent in the organizational and cultural life of the mainstream Jewish community.” This is not an antisemitic trope, elites is often coined to denote a figure in a position of power or influence. There are, will be and has been Jewish people in positions of power, exploitation and privilege.

[curhartwrites]

Poem for 5 Av, 5783

I believe in Zion, not as a distant nation where cypress trees grow between red rocks, but as a community garden in Philly. Children eat fruit that has ripened in the sun. Old men with stooped shoulders advise each other on the best way to keep bugs from their squash vines. On Sundays we pass between the rows, pulling weeds, and we know each other's names. Avodah is the dirt in the creases of our palms. We carry it onto the train in the treads of our shoes. We track it into the house.

I believe in Zion, not as a piece of land for purchase or plunder, but as the taste of stuffed cabbage. Zion is the Jewish body well fed. Zion is bread and honey in the Jewish stomach. Zion is kugel and shakshuka and Ethiopian lentils and pierogi and dolmades, and it is all here at the same table. We are all here at the same table, laughing with our mouths full. There is enough for all of us. We bring leftovers home to our neighbors who have never eaten tabouleh before. Try some. If you like it, you can have the whole bowl.

I believe in Zion, not as another stone in the foundation of my people's temple made unclean by bloodshed, but as a city where no one is homeless. Let the orache overgrow the Wall and all its names. Let its roots pry up the stones. I will be here in Zion when we turn the luxury apartments into community housing. I will be here in Zion when there is Narcan at every library.

I believe in Zion, not as a country I could pay to visit with a phrasebook and camera, but as a hope I am building with my two Jewish hands; not a place that was promised to us by G-d, but as a promise we make to each other. I promise you can crash on my couch if you need to. I promise I'll come with you. I promise there is enough for all of us. I promise I will lie when the cops ask me where you are. I promise there is a future with us in it, and we are okay, even though we still say Kaddish for our friends and the words are still as bitter. I promise you don't have to say them alone.

[rebelwheelssoapbox]

A Good Jew (a poem)

A Good Jew by Michele Kaplan / Rebelwheels NYC

Pt 1 Wednesday, Los Angeles, white supremacists same old rhetoric spewing, lies antisemitic, oozing, while, Zionist Jews in Israel, play theft again, in Palestine, these, violence unjust and I feel fucked up, unsure, walking this high wire, delicately balancing poorly stacked and trembling plates & china of various sizes pondering what is my place, my lane, my right, my responsibility in this As an activist, a person of Jewish ancestry, this history that I awkwardly dance with awkwardly unsolicited two cents, as people tell me how I should be. If I am to be “a good jew” (if I am not to cause harm) as if speaking out against the occupation, especially during attacks from anti-Semites - causes harm has me questioning if and how and when I should speak? this identity, that I don't  list in my bio, for it would somehow feel fake as if I somehow haven't earned enough points to declare it, and yet whip out strategically, like a card in my wallet when it comes to politics for I know of it's value, of it's weight & and at times privilege Dear Senator, I write to you as a Jewish constituent. It's been decades but I remember going with my mother temple too warm, small child drowsy, rabbi speaking, drones on and on, slow near monotone, and I am, disconnected from the meaning, not understanding, attending out of some weird obligation, expectation that somehow came with my birth, and why? forget that it was often in another language that I did not understand (nor yet appreciate) sometimes I'd drift off day dreaming, mid sermon, of those after service cookies served in the basement that never really felt worth it nor were they ever that good. and yet every Thursday night on repeat I remember, small child, inquisitive, inquiring But if god is everywhere, why do we have to pray in temple? For I was told that good Jews go, that god favors those, who attend but the women in the two back rows, always gossiping I said even if they're not even paying attention? Yes, even if someone prays in the forest sincerely, he is less favored? Yes and it didn't make sense Don't ask so many questions. Why can't you be more like your peers? Who ask nothing (they are good) and although still a child, it all just felt like bullshit that Jewish was just this thing you go along with without really knowing why & so by 13 “I did my time” and got out. L'Chaim. Pt 2 I recall, late teens, paternal, grandparent's Oldsmobile (boxy with no power steering), grandfather (typically passive) parked in the jersey driveway when the Queen Matriarch (my grandmother) turns to me, asking if I was yet dating, and I was, but she said “Well, when you're serious, he'll be Jewish.” For years I'd always inquire “Why?” “It's tradition” without fail she replied “But why is it tradition?” but tradition, presented as infallible and was not to be questioned. (why must you ask so many questions) until one day, 19 years, late teens, backseat. Oldsmobile, boxy with no power steering, in frustration “But why. is it. tradition?!” This expectation to follow without reason And she, rooted in Zionism & trauma (and the intersections of) said OK, you're old enough to know... Spoke of my duty as a “pure blooded” Jewish woman a what? To marry, to mate with a pure blooded Jewish man and your pure blooded – she said again – Jewish children will be part of a collective army, so when – not if but when the next Holocaust comes, this time, we. will. be, ready... Stunned and silent but with the blaring awareness that pure blooded was a term was Hitler had used against us and what the fuck? But at the time I dared not utter a word because she was the queen matriarch, and respect, an elder with a free pass And I dared not utter a word  because the women in my family were raised to be subservient to the men, who were then underfoot to The Queen (this also never made sense) I dared not utter a word because we had led very different lives not that this justified what I was hearing but I, who never had to escape by night, by boat, as a child from Russia so what right did I have to speak my mind? To tell her how to deal with her trauma? (a word that was never used, but influenced most things in my family) I remember at the party DJ playing Hava Nagila (mandatory but welcomed) and everyone danced, loose & drunk-like, floppy though sober but not my grandmother. She, who moved with intention and purpose. With pride like a form of protest. In ways I did not comprehend at 13, why so serious (for no one really talked about the past, and you knew not to ask questions) but in that moment, she danced for all the times in Russia, she and her family could not Their culture, their religion, their existence, persecuted to no end I wish I was told more as a child, so I too would not have taken it for granted. Pt 3 I don't remember ever hearing the word Palestine in Hebrew School. Nor seeing it on the maps they had us color in as kids But as I got older, I learned of it's existence, And the actual history, the hypocrisy, falsely justified as if those who were oppressed, could never become the oppressors. As if our history justified it all – it does not. I saw Zionists twist the term anti-Semite to mean anyone who criticized the occupation, even when valid, watering down the meaning of the word I saw a video of Palestinian people who could not even wave their own flag without persecution. and I could not help but to notice the similarities I saw Zionism exploiting the trauma of the holocaust, perpetually jabbing the wound, insisting “you need this to keep you safe!” but always failing to do so. And when I spoke up, making art and poetry that points this out. I was yelled at, all caps, put down told to not ask so many questions, that I am bad, a self hating Jew but I am not & nor am I alone I've marched with Jewish groups protesting conservative Zionists who had teamed up with white supremacists on the topic of Israel – and what?! I've met Jewish activists in solidarity with Palestine, who cry out “not in my name” taking a stand because “If Not Now, When?” teaching the history of Jewish rebellion & good good trouble I've seen protest signs carried that read “Zionism is not Judaism” (because that needs to be said) I've seen temples, boldly religious but not as in controlling, oppressive - restricted as in joyous, inclusive, ask the questions! as in love, community, as in growth, as in connection, this that was healing this that I wish younger me could have seen because then I would have known there were other people like me because then I could have separated the wisdom from the trauma and acknowledged and learned from both and Jewish would've been in my bio along with Queer and Disabled and writer and nerd and all the things I declare with pride. Monday, New York City, white supremacists same old rhetoric, spewing, lies antisemitic oozing, while Zionist Jews in Israel, play theft again, in Palestine,

may it be known & without apology - these, violence unjust

author’s note: this has been on my mind for awhile. may this poem be as healing to others who don’t quite fit into the mainstream, as it was for me.

[hazel2468]

Seems like a good time to remind people that the phrase "from the river to the sea" - while apparently popular on this hellsite, is basically a call for the total eradication of not just the Israeli state (and by that I don't mean the government, I mean EVERYTHING) but of every Jew in that area.

SO. If I see it on your blog? Bye. I do not trust you to have anything even remotely approaching a nuanced take to this fucking tragedy.

[hilacopter]

conflating diaspora jews with the actions of the israeli government is not okay, yes, but have you considered it's not okay to conflate israeli jews with them either

[starlight-bread-blog]

Leftists: Everyone is a little bigoted. Bigotry is deeply integrated into our society. Everyone picks up on it. You have to actively unlearn it. Check your bias. Your intentions might be good, but you're not immune to bigotry learnt since childhood. Even if you're an activist already. Even if you have friends from the minority. Listen to marginalized voices. Take the critisism. This is the only way to overcome our internalized prejudices.

Jews: Hey so–

Leftists: ZIONIST!!

[lem0nademouth]

if Jews don’t feel safe in the environment you’ve created, you’ve created an antisemitic environment. i don’t get why that’s a hard concept to internalize and comprehend.

[xclowniex]

Leftists: it's wrong, bad and transphobic to call a trans person the wrong pronouns or gendered terms if they are a bad person. Them being a bad person has nothing to do with them being trans. By using the wrong pronouns you are saying that in your eyes, the validity of their transness is based on their character and tying their transness to their political or moral opinion.

Also leftists: Unless you are a "good jew" who meets their quota of pro Palestine posts, being antisemitic is fine and good. All (((zionists))) deserve to recieve antisemitism. Any jew who calls out antisemitism is lying about said thing being antisemitic and is an Israeli spy who eats babies. Someone's Jewishness is inherently tied to their view on Israel.

[jewelleria]

“But there are nuances to sadistic barbarity against Jews, we are told, and sometimes gang-raping Jewish women is actually a movement for human rights. It hardly seems fair to call people anti-Semitic if they want only half of the world’s Jews to die. The phrase “Globalize the Intifada,” currently chanted at universities across America, perhaps widens the net a tiny bit—but really, who can say? Even the phrase “Gas the Jews,” chanted at a rally organized by NYU students and faculty, is so very ambiguous. How dare those whiny Jews presume to know what’s in other people’s hearts? It remains unclear why anti-Semitism should matter only when it is lethal, or if so, how many unambiguously anti-Semitic murders would be necessary for anti-Semitism to be happening outside whiny Jews’ heads. A realistic estimate might be 6 million. Even then, Jews have had to spend the past 80 years collecting documentation to prove it.”

— Dara Horn, Why the Most Educated People in America Fall For Anti-Semitic Lies

[wiisagi-maiingan]

Also, I really wish I didn't have to say this, but antisemitism against Zionists isn't okay either. The problem with being antisemitic isn't that you might be harassing a "good" Jew, it's that antisemitism is wrong no matter who it's aimed at.

You cannot justify bigotry as long as it's aimed at "bad" people. The fact that many of the people I see arguing against this simple statement are the same ones who call out transphobes for misgendering "bad" trans people just shows how little society as a whole actually sees Jews as people.

[that-rad-jewish-girl]

If your activism involves defacing a Holocaust memorial, you are not, in fact, “just anti-Zionist”.

[avi-on-jumblr]

i am so fucking infuriated that the same leftists who have been posting the protocols, and reblogging news literally direct from hamas, are now acting all righteous because they get to call out j.k rowling for her latest bout of transphobic antisemitism. they feel so good that they're "standing up for victims of the holocaust", while they've spent the past six months weaponizing the holocaust to attack jews.

if you're only calling it out when the poster is a terf or right-wing bigot posting misinformation on twitter, but not when jews are being stabbed in the streets, then congratulations, your activism is worthless! you can stop trying to convince yourself you would have been against the holocaust when you've been dead fucking silent about the jews who are dying now.

[nonbinary-vents]

There’s been a distinct shift in how leftist Jew haters are starting to express their Jew hatred and it’s… very back to the old days, to put it lightly. It’s two specific things that I’ve seen. The more moderate stance of ‘it’s so terrible that the bad Jews are playing into Jew hating canards, how dare they!!’ which, just… ugh. And then you have the extremes, the ones who say ‘yeah, I hate Jews, but it’s their fault because of them being the scum of humanity’, it’s the ‘Hitler hated Jews for shit they didn’t do but I hate Jews for shit they did do!’ (a direct quote taken from someone who I can only describe as completely deranged)

And, honestly, seeing this shift has kind of broken me

At this point, there is no denial left. There is no going back. The pretences are starting to be dropped, people are becoming more and more comfortable with their Jew hatred being about Jews, and they’ve realised that it’s acceptable to say that out loud. All they need to do is say it’s our fault, and they get a free pass. We are fully back in the nineteenth century, all we’re missing is the ‘no dogs, no Jews’ signs (oh wait— what’s that about a bar in America banning all (((Zionists)))?) and the pogroms that go with it (oh no, what’s that about Russia, Dagestan, an airport, and a hotel?). We’re back in mid twentieth century Iran, where Jews are stuck between a country not yet legally aggressive to us, and all of the people in said country who want us dead

I don’t think things in the west are at the level of nineteenth century Europe yet, just in the style. But I’m also smart, I’m also connected to my history. My safta left Iran in 1951, at the age of ten, because her family saw what was happening. Ninety thousand other Jews in Iran saw it too. They caught on and they left. And then two decades later the revolution happened, and now our family can’t even visit without being executed. Many Jews have convinced themselves that we’ve assimilated, that were just like everyone else, that were safe. But we’re not safe. We are a people who have been persecuted and expelled and massacred for over two thousand years, it’s not going to suddenly stop now. And now that the people who are supposed to be fighting to keep us safe have started killing us, we have nobody but each other

I don’t think everyone should pack up and leave their countries right now. But I do think you should have a suitcase ready

[hilacopter]

JEWISH CONVERTS (YES THOSE IN PROGRESS ALSO) AREN'T "racefaking jewish" YOU STUPID FUCKING ASSHOLES

[bill-the-dog-for-the-check]

I don't think I can say this with enough emphasis--if you are not Jewish, you don't get to decide what is and is not antisemitic.

There's no ambiguity here. Zero. I am sick and tired of being lectured at by goyim about how, 'oh, ackhtually, your explanation of how my words are antisemitic is off! You're trying to stop the discussion by being inflammatory!'

Or to be told that I am cheapening the term antisemitism, and that people used to react to it before October 7th, but now they're numb to it, which is just what happens you start using serious accusations for political means!

It's... genuinely astonishing to me. I'm consistently amazed by the arrogance, audacity, and disrespect it takes for you guys to lecture Jews on what antisemitism is.

Have any of you goyim experienced antisemitism firsthand? Is it your people who's experienced antisemitism for 3000 years? Is it you who has family members rescued by Schindler? Was it your ancestors who fled from constant, unending pogroms in with nothing but the clothes on their backs? Have you ever had someone tell lies to your friend about you sexually harassing people because you're a Jew? Have you ever had to sit and think whether you should mark down that you're Jewish on a job application? Have you ever felt unsafe and compelled to take off your Star of David because you've been afraid you'd be attacked? Have you ever had to worry about a professor who constantly brings up the war in class marking your assignment down because it talks about Israel being a democracy? Have you ever had the feeling of acid being splashed on your soul when you see antisemitic comments? The ice water rushing down your spine when someone is antisemitic to your face, and you feel the weight of 3 millennia of oppression bearing down on you?

No? Not you?

Then sit your ass down, and frankly, shut the fuck up.

[arunswild]

no, I'm sorry, the jewish people do not owe you an apology for existing or for having a homeland, you owe us one for being a racist loser

:)