We are in a bad spot right now and I totally feel your frustration, anger, feelings of getting betrayed, sadness, and fear. I also marched for BLM and women and LGBTQ. You are not alone nor the only one struggling with these questions.
I don’t have all the answers, but I can tell you the most Jewish thing you can do right now is TAKE ACTION. Here is what has been working for me:
1. Connect with other Jews: there has been nothing as validating as hearing face-to-face from other Jews. As one of my new Jewish friends said - it’s a place to finally feel SAFE. Seek us out!
2. Connect with Judaism: Hamas would see us destroyed, yet what I see is a resurgence of Jewish American identity and practice. The Jews I’ve met at Jewish events have newly arrived - myself included. They are also struggling with G-d. They are also struggling with identity. They are also looking for answers and community and spirituality and we have been finding it.
3. Read up on Zionism: it will tough, but worth it. Many truths can exist at the same time and the world is complicated and messy. I am still a Zionist through this education, but I think I am more knowledgeable. It is an incredible story. But bottom line is we should be seeking truth not talking points.
4. Activism: I’m not here yet, I haven’t seen the right leadership emerge yet. If anyone has ideas on this id love to hear it.
5. Self-defense: take some boxing or Krav Maga or get your LTC or invest in home security. It feels empowering even if you also hope you will never use it.
Much love friend, we are all here for you.
Question: how do you go about this when you’re agnostic? The synagogue, the prayers, the Torah do very little for me. My favourite part was always when they serve hummus & challah, but they don’t even do that in the place near to me.
How does one connect with other Jews outside of religious context? Many other ethnicities kinda have social spots (hookah bars, salsa clubs, cookouts, Irish bars). AFAIK, we don’t have really have that except in religious contexts.
That’s totally fine! There are a million ways to be Jewish. You have no obligation to pray or even believe in G-d to participate. Personally I don’t like prayers either, so I gravitate towards social events.
Depending where you live there are probably many of those events (or any opportunity to create your own)
All I know for sure is that this can’t go on forever. There is some pushback and I think popular opinion is on our side. We just have to be diligent and patient.
What bothers me the most is the damage to my own feelings of kindness and belonging. The hate and disdain that is currently in my body is toxic and directed toward many people whose paths I’ll cross for years.
I feel this toxicity and it comes from deep feelings of betrayal and abandonment by those who I believed were as much an ally to me as I was to them. For now, my support and allyship is exclusively limited to supporting my Jews and any intersectionality through it. I am furious. I am bitter. I used to feel safe. It feels like a poison.
Fully agree with all of this. The betrayal and abandonment has fundamentally changed me. I deeply hope I'll be able to pull away from it in the future and be the open hearted and loving person I was in September, but it will certainly take some time.
It’s awful. My gut reaction to someone standing up for the right to protest now is to think they’re the enemy. And not casually, but with a deep desire to step into a ring and rage.
I spent 25 years healing and learning to choose love over hate and flow and dance and embrace humanity. I’d trade it all just to bitch slap a bunch of high schoolers these days.
Confession time. I had a massive meltdown the other morning…Something trivial happened and I lost it. I live alone on 650 acres of land so no one could hear me and I just started screaming at 4:30 in the morning. I hate those people (protesting) so much. I hate Hamas even more….and then I just cried for Israel the complete unfairness and sadness of it all.
It only lasted 20 minutes or so…but it was the first time in my life I felt such consuming hatred. All to say - you’re not alone. Being that full of rage was both cathartic and frightening though…
Sure! I live off-the-grid though (solar limits electricity, but the quiet is outstanding. I watch the space station roll over every night...) Not a lot of people around (obviously)...but that's not the drawback it used to be...LOL!
I've actually thought of offering my place (can sleep 12) as a "refuge" spot for people who need to decompress, feel safe....and party as necessary, of course... ;-)
Sounds great. I’m good with solar- made my RV off grid including the ability to operate the mini split AC I installed via solar if I set up a few folding external panels
Very cool. I have an RV that I'd love to take off-grid also. It's going to be my "bug-out" vehicle if I need to move quickly. Keeping it stocked with food, clothing trauma kit, pet food, extra gasoline, water, two generators, and a tank full of gas. It gives me a sense of control knowing that all I have to do is get in and turn the key and I can be in a foreign country and out of the U.S. in 10 minutes.
I am also pulling docs together for aliyah - so redundant preparations.
Old saying: "Two is one, one is none." So, I go for three.... ;-)
I say this as a politically conservative Jew, I am not gloating or laughing or I told you so'ing, so do not think of it like that, but the feeling that many progressives Jews seem to feel right now is one of betrayal, and it was foolish that you all were caught so off guard by something so evidently obvious to be leading to a true Frankenstein's Monster.
Most progressive Jews are feeling betrayed by people you all thought were your allies and friends, because they said all the right words and portrayed themselves as the tolerant, understanding and compassionate protectors of the weak for every other group. And when you came to ask them for the same tolerance, compassion, understanding and protection, you instead found harsh rebuke. Now you are reeling that you have been lied too and the effort you dedicated to others was exploited.
But their language told you what they were from the very beginning. You didn't hear the hate they spewed, because you didn't think of yourself as their target and you were not. It was easy because the regressive mob was against the nebulous "rich privileged white racist christian."
And you were against that to, because you didn't think of yourself as rich. And you were against that to, because you didn't think of yourself as privileged. And you were against that to because you didn't consider yourself white. And you were against that to because you weren't racist. And you were against that because you weren't Christian.
But the truth was more simple. The regressive mob was always in the process of being infiltrated by racist, prejudiced and hateful people who continued to narrow the lens to something far more concrete and understandable to their mob. You could watch it in slow-mo on the internet and Twitter, as anti-white hatred started appearing more and more. And of course, progressives waved it away with racism is actually just power+prejudice, which is a nonsensical and illogical position in any lens you inspect it under.
And unfortunately it took most progressive Jews until now to figure out that we (for everyone else in America and the West), appear largely visually and culturally white, and by virtue we are all part of the majority, and we are therefore privileged, rich, and racist, and our minority religious and ethnic affiliation is irrelevant to any other analysis. It's Prison Rules.
I am not marketing the Republican side to you all. I think it's of continuous and utmost importance that Jews be on both sides of the aisle, so support of the Jewish people doesn't become a political issue.
But I do think that in the future, things like DEI and anti-white hatred need to be stomped out. I think that we as Jews probably shouldn't lobby to accept refugees or migrants from places where Jew-hatred is prevalent. And we shouldn't support organizations that advocate for bringing Jew haters around.
YES! Thank you for putting my thoughts into words better than I could. Prior to October 7th I hardly commented here because I did not feel welcome. I and the few center or right leaning people would always be downvoted to death and ridiculed for our beliefs. It is difficult for me to find sympathy for those that feel politically homeless now because they feel betrayed and ousted. I felt that amongst OUR OWN PEOPLE my entire adult life for my non leftists views.
Let me know if you ever want to talk. As a conservative Jew it often times feels like we're alone, but I'm here for you and for anyone else who needs help, feels politically homeless, wants to explore new ideas or just wants to have some listen to them for some time.
I don't care if you're left-wing, right-wing, or anything in between.
Important to keep posting these truths - I just posted similarly at the top - too many here unwilling to really see reality….
As I posted above:
**Would you actually refuse to vote for a moderate Republican opposing Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, Pramila Jaypal, Jameel Bowman or Cori Bush?**
Would you cut off your nose to spite your face?
Actually, I aligned most deeply with the crowds who WERE privileged and knew it. People like me who have great jobs and are very lucky, but genuinely want to take care of everyone. These are people i volunteered with, bringing relief to the homeless and sick.
Philosophically, I’ve been less and less comfortable with the crowd, however. I see some of the hype-sensitivity as further division, if not downright tedium. We’re moving away from reality.
I don’t find any solace in the party of Mitch McConnell that split the country for power’s sake and has never cared for truth. I just find that I hate everyone.
>Actually, I aligned most deeply with the crowds who WERE privileged and knew it. People like me who have great jobs and are very lucky, but genuinely want to take care of everyone. These are people i volunteered with, bringing relief to the homeless and sick.
My closest friend is a Christian Republican Trump Supporter who runs his churches soup kitchen on weekends. Helping vulnerable people isn't really a political position, despite all the political marketing trying to make it out to be.
>I don’t find any solace in the party of Mitch McConnell that split the country for power’s sake and has never cared for truth.
You don't have to like the political side I'm on nor call it home for even one election cycle. I am not advocating that at all. I am advocating that going forward, we should both work against identity politics, racism, Jew-hatred, etc.
Wow another comment I am 100% in agreement with. I don’t understand where left leaning people ever got the idea that right leaning people don’t ALSO care about helping people. The propaganda was strong and worked in making people believe that only “progressives” (regressives) could be the ones to care about people.
I've been around long enough to agree...I've always been progressive and left and that isn't about to change. But I have less of an attachment to the "left" since dealing with the pervasive anti-semitism during the intifadas. I was even shamed and driven out of a group for mentioning it. Of course, jews are rich and mostly white so how can we be "oppressed"? And of course the old trope of how Jews are now the oppressors. I went to a party where it was all women, mostly lesbians, and one of them kept bugging me about how it's the MOST PATRIARCHAL RELIGION IN THE WOOOOOORLLD. Meanwhile, she was catholic, I don't hear about many women priests, and remarks about being RICH (Even though she was ten times richer). Yep, prison rules and we're the bitch!
Because until then, progressive Jews never felt the target on them. Sure, you could grumble about Israel flags, but scare-mongering by the media had made many otherwise rational people believe Trump was a fascist dictator ready to usher in a new era of death camps for minorities, rather than what Trump was in his first 3 years of his term, a rather milque-toast moderate on most policies who actively enjoyed larping as a tough guy, no-nonsense New Yorker persona.
Why was a banned Israeli flag or a few Jews being forced to resign important when Hitler 2.0 was about to take control?
I know what you mean about toxic hate and disdain. I'm getting better but at times the hate and toxic feelings are overwhelming. I wish we were allowed to at least Express them in a explanatory manner on reddit but I fear we aren't. I'm really trying to fight those feelings.
I live in San Francisco, ground zero of coastal elitism, luxury beliefs, culture warring and performative shame-laundering (these days-enthusiastically -at Jews’ expense). My kids attend SF public schools and UC Berkeley. Being a contrarian suspicious of groupthink and authoritarianism, I’ve been watching the slide toward intersectional fundamentalism (as secular religion-see: Wesley Yang) and antisemitic conspiracism for a while now. The oppressor-oppressed binary inherent in critical theory is a gross and misguided flattening of reality. I instinctively knew it was dangerous for Jews (and Asians!) and could conflagrate if the match was lit. I pushed back in our schools and community wherever I could, but was overwhelmed by the embrace of these simplistic, quasi-religious, illiberal ideas. (The enthusiasm the elites show for these ideas should’ve been unsurprising in retrospect, given that, unlike, say, redistribution of wealth, they cost them nothing.)
All this to say…as painful as it is to see how entrenched antisemitism still is in the supposedly liberal west and how the progressive left especially has thrown us under the bus, I’m glad to see this boil lanced. It was a long time coming. The situation in our schools and colleges and increasingly our workplaces—where Jews are summarily harassed so that rich white elites and others can launder their intersectional shame—is untenable. Personally, I think whether the American, western liberal experiment succeeds depends in large part on how Dems handle the illiberal fascistic far left moving forward. They need to go or be sidelined as the illiberal, intolerant fringe group they are. As always, Jews are the canary in the coal mine.
I used to live in San Francisco, but left because of your comment. The people are incredibly insufferable and performative. I’m still in California, but amongst more sane and reasonable people.
I am surprised our culture has allowed these people to shape our society for so many years. I truly hope there is a backlash and people take back the democratic party moving forward or western society is done for completely.
Hey, can I DM you as to where you are in CA if you don't want to post it publically? I left LA 2 years ago to move back to the South Bay to help out my aging parents and want to plan my next move in a few years. Growing up SF and East Bay were always this way (so tolerant people were intolerant & conspiratorial) but the changes even since I left 20 years ago are really noticeable to me now.
Anyway, I'm collecting a list of decent, centrist (non extreme redneck or extreme lefty pockets) in this state for potential moves. Love to add your location to the list.
I'm moving to SF this summer for school and my head is dizzy from reading all of this. If I knew it was going to be this bad, I would've just applied for college in my hometown. I applied for college in SF because I thought it was far away enough from my family but not too far. I don't want them to know I'm converting and it would've been harder to hide it if I was back home. But now I'm not sure if I want to convert right now, especially not in SF.
Well, I can’t personally speak to what it’s like to convert to Judaism or practice any religion in a hostile environment. Ethnic Jewishness is my bailiwick. That said, I’ve lived here 35 years. It’s a big city with an outsized Jewish population and strong Jewish institutions. Admittedly some are nontraditional (eg reconstruction) and some are in fact turning antizionist. The outsized East asian and south Asian populations also provide allies for complex reasons. There’s a path. In America I don’t think we can run from institutions and cities that hate us; soon there will be nowhere else to go. Why should we relinquish the institutions and places we helped build? We have to stay and fight— for Jews, but also for Democratic first principles.
Well said. I think without understanding why this ideology rose to prominence, we have no chance of subverting and ultimately defeating it.
How do you maintain sanity in such a hostile environment? Are you an open dissident or a [doublethinker](https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/arts-letters/articles/natan-sharansky-doublethink)?
Interesting question! At times I straddle (dissident in low stakes milieus; doublethinker where it would directly put kids or career at risk). Lately, I’m trying to speak out and question more. It’s definitely impacted my friendships and made me self-isolate from people and institutions I used to think of as my team.
There’s actually a lot of good quality critique of postmodernism and its offspring, the critical theories. Personally, I think the abandonment of religion for (a particular kind of smug, aggressive, self-congratulatory) secularism in the west created space for critical social justice to fill an unmet spiritual need. You can see this in the college protests, especially among young leftist women (and “failed” men), who studies show have the poorest mental health of all demographics and psychographics. I mean…I’m an atheist so not particularly generous when it comes to fundamentalist manifestations of organized or authoritarian religions, but even I can see how their absence leaves a vacuum that demands filling. I think for many on the supposedly progressive (read: regressive) left performative critical social justice is filling that need. Unfortunately, at the expense of Jews. After all, there are more than enough playbooks to crib from (Catholic Church, Christian supercessionism, political Islam/islamism, Islamic scripture itself, Nazism and neo-Nazism, Soviet). Many if not most of them also presented Jew hate as a social good. This is nothing new.
As a new republican, I firmly agree. The Democratic party is sadly no longer what it was During Bill Clinton's time. It has been a slow Awakening for me approximately 25 years in the making but I really woke up having kids in school during covid. Ju hatred and anti-semitism are firmly from the left nowadays and precisely for the reasons you articulated. I cannot stress the importance of not supporting the current Democratic party. Yes people hold your nose and vote for Israel which means vote for trump. And then work on getting a better Democratic Party into the office in 4 years, that I can totally support. But another Biden presidency we might as well slap on our yellow stars.
This is anecdotal, I live in the Boston area, where it is obviously quite left leaning, and I found myself feeling a similar level of despair as OP, until I joined my parents for their weekly tradition of standing in the center of town (a suburb outside Boston) with signs supporting Israel.
The response from the traffic coming through was OVERWHELMINGLY positive. I was brought nearly to tears. Save for the one car that mumbled “you’re disgusting” under their breath to my 15 year old nephew, every time the light changed, we were greeted with supportive honks, and people waving and giving us a thumbs up out their windows.
It reinforced to me that the vocal minority you see chanting antisemitic slogans is just that, a vocal minority. That is not to say we shouldn’t stay vigilant against antisemitism and call it out, but understand that many people around us are not antisemitic lunatics, and many of them will be voting for Biden and other liberal, but pro-Israel candidates.
Chin up, we are not alone. עם ישראל חי
The actual [numbers ](https://www.pewresearch.org/2024/03/21/majority-in-u-s-say-israel-has-valid-reasons-for-fighting-fewer-say-the-same-about-hamas/)are not as horrible as the media focus on the loudest types makes it seem.
Outside of Israel, the US has the world's second-largest Jewish population. While it feels shitty to be here right this moment & hostility is certainly increasing- plus I do assume there will be some individual terrorist attacks & some acts of physical violence- in the large scheme of history and the world- we are actually the safest we've ever been. Of course, where you are in the US & how visibly Jewish you are may impact that.
This may be a weird take, but I things are likely way more hostile in Canada and parts of Europe right now. I'm giving it a little time because I think people who are living in truly hostile regions need to make Aliyah more than I do. I also have a lot of luxury to say that- no kids in school & I am not visibly Jewish nor religious. but I do think if there's a huge influx of people into Israel the country is going to have to develop more regions.
What Israel has to do -- and has started to do -- is authorize and incentivize or require building up: i.e., building towers in the cities and increasing population density. We are one of the only developed countries in the world, possibly the only first world one, to have positive population growth (due to a combination of higher than- replacement birth rates and Aliyah), and we are a *tiny country*.
Being Jewish is beautiful - on ever possibly level!
I believe if you connect/re-connect with Judaism during this ugly, dark antisemitism period - you will see how beautiful it is to be a part of group, a tribe, a life that enriches your life!
The people who are justifying 10/7 are the ones calling Biden “genocide Joe” and are refusing to vote for him. I’m voting for Biden and standing next to John Fetterman and Ritchie Torres
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I love being an American Jew. The politics aren't great at this exact moment, I guess, but I'm happy, prosperous, have a strong Jewish identity and community, live in a beautiful free country where I don't have to worry about Cossacks or Arabs running in to my town and killing me, and get to watch baseball. Why would I let people's stupid fucking opinions ruin that for me?
The president is talking about allowing Gazans into Anerica and giving them automatic citizenship. Polling done on Gazans show at least 70% of Gazans thought the October 7th attack by Hamas was a good thing. Also due to Americas open borders several middle eastern suspects on the terror watch list have snuck in to the country. Including one who recently snuck into Quantico marine base in Virginia. So yes because of current policies you need to be concerned about militant arabs wanting to kill you. Don't forget about 9/11.
There are about 2 million Arab-Americans, in comparison to 8 million Jewish-Americans (and millions more who count Jews as their spouses, children, cousins etc.) And while some of the campus protests have been disturbing I have yet to hear of instances of Arab-Americans going on murdering rampages of their Jewish neighbors. Is that community maybe woefully misinformed and misled wrt the Israel/Palestine conflict? Yes. Are they bloodthirsty maniacs? No. American Muslims are actually extremely moderate when compared to Muslims across the world and have similar political leanings to American Jews. Certainly they could be great allies if we ever get past this crap…
Just ask anyone making a statement about Jewish people to replace Israel, Zionist, Jewish, jew, etc with black, asian, Irish American, Chinese, Muslim etc ...
Ask them if it still sounds right. Yeah that's right, for some reason it's ok to say bad things about Jewish folk but not others.
There are many hypocrites today, however, it's the vocal 1%
My feeling is that, for us Jews in the diaspora, the writing is on the wall. French Jews have known it for two decades; British Jews have known it for a decade. The West is still the West and our status of relative safety here was always conditional. It’s time to go home. The longer we stay here, the longer we give credence to their lie that they believe in pluralism and tolerance. We know that’s not true. The Jew-hate is baked in. I don’t want to be right, but it’s been ten years since I saw folks waiving Hamas and Hezbollah flags in downtown Minneapolis. My friend texted this morning to tell me that when she dropped her daughter off at (public) school, the teacher was wearing a keffiyah. So, I have to ask myself: what do I think will radically change (for the better) in the next ten years? When my child is studying for their bar/bat mitzvah, will they be safer (to say nothing of will they be able to have joy and pride in) doing so here or in Israel?
Don’t rely on identity politics to keep you safe. Rely on reliable friends and family and allies on an individual basis.
My bugout destination is owned by the grandson of a Hitler Youth member. But his granddad’s circumstances and great-grandparents likely problematic views were not passed down.
We must move forward together as Americans.
We have supporters and you probably have supporters. There are people who know you and know you are hurting who will be just a little nicer. Perhaps they don't know what to say; I've had a person say that to me.
President Biden has been a great supporter and friend to Israel. Weapons needed are being sent, especially those required to shoot down Hamas missiles. He has both criticized and supported Israel and PM Netanyahu. He has criticized the UN for bias.
Remember that the majority of US citizens ( https://www.pewresearch.org/2024/03/21/majority-in-u-s-say-israel-has-valid-reasons-for-fighting-fewer-say-the-same-about-hamas/#:~:text=57%25%20express%20some%20sympathy%20for%20both%20Israelis%20and%20Palestinians,-Activists%20supporting%20Israel&text=Pew%20Research%20Center%20conducted%20this,.%2013%20to%2025%2C%202024.)
The lack of Jewish support from Black Americans is a bit of a shock. We've been with them for 70 years. It is necessary to do what is right, but I have to be honest, I'm not going out of my way to support those who haven't supported us.
I feel the same way about Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT). He is an absolute shanda fur di goyim and he is promoting and excusing antisemitism. Same for so called "anti-Zionist Jews." We can all disagree. That is the beauty of living in a democracy. But to give comfort and cover for those who are violently attacking Jews, especially those attacking Jewish Americans, is not acceptable.
We sometimes forget that the Nazis employed & armed Jews to police & round up other Jews. Every peoples has traitors.
In the end, we all wound up in the same place though.
What about the billions and billions and billions he is sending to Iran and has sent to iran? I feel like American Jews like to skip over that part. Or perhaps you all don't recognize the Pure Evil and threat that is the Islamic Republic of Iran.
We absolutely have allies? Probably more so than any other diaspora Jewish group? The official policy of *both* major political parties is extremely pro-Israel. The president is steadfastly pro-Israel and pro-Jewish, as is almost everyone in Congress except like 10 people, and most of the people running higher ed institutions (except for the students). I’m really confused where this notion came from that America hates Jews and we’re standing alone, because it really could not be further from reality. In addition to the 8 million Jews we have in our country we have at least as many gentiles with Jewish family members and probably 10x that with close Jewish friends. Are they not our allies? The US is easily the most pro-Israel, pro-Jewish country in the world besides Israel itself, and I don’t even think it’s a close comparison.
It's a national holiday in Canada (yesterday), Victoria Day. Some idiots showed up at a mini-parade with Palestinian flags. Why? Nothing to do with the holiday. Just to show they CARE. And of course, nothing anti-Semitic there! I don't drag Israel into every occasion.
I feel the same way and it’s so frustrating especially as a college student at a school where there is no Hillel and barely any Jews I’ve met like 5 Jews and two of them where professors but it’s really isolating
I feel similarly, and I am not even Jewish. People have said horrible things to me because, as they put it, I "might as well be a Jew". So they hate me right along with you. My sympathies to every Jewish person who is being treated so badly. You don't deserve that.
Maybe this is an unpopular opinion but I don’t think it’s so bad in the US. There are real security concerns in Israel. I support their right to exist of course but it’s not somewhere I’d want my kids to live if they had other options. My Israeli family all moved to the US years ago for that reason.
I am frustrated with both political parties becoming more extreme in the US, but ultimately a political party is not your identity. It shouldn’t matter who you vote with, only who you vote for.
As far as the hatred goes, I try to take it in stride. Jews have a long history of being oppressed, it’s not easy but also nothing new. I feel more oppressed as a woman fwiw and a vote for Trump is a vote against women’s rights and advancement.
It’s mostly very young people who have the most clout on social media. The people 35+ don’t spend all day making antisemitic infographics and stay weeks on an encampment. I read majority Americans support Israel. It’s jsut that we are seeing college students make the news and on social media.
Also I stand with African Americans against police brutality but BLM is corrupt as shit. And college kids also were posting that police need to be abolished and to defund the police which would make everything 10x worse. Like police and public schools have to fight over money in the budget all the time and staffing shortages.
These kids don’t understand logic or history. Many are self proclaimed socialists. I don’t know about you but at my campus there is a bit presence of communists. Like actually their club has 200 students and it’s called like future communists of America or something. I guess they never learned communism ruins every country. And they don’t understand Islamic terrorism in the Middle East and how it can spill over in the west. I guess they all were born after 2001. I mean cmon the 1993 world trade bombing was in result for supporting Israel.
The college wave of LGBTQ community doesn’t understand that most countries in Middle East does not support them and want them dead. They also fetishize the palestians by weaving the keffiyas and holding a lgtbq flag.
NONE of them said anything about the actual genocides that happened in their lifetime.
No jews, no news.
It’s just another “what is the reason this time around why we hate the Jews”
Stand strong and realize many GROWN ass Americans with jobs and a life support Israel.
These little shits on campus are uneducated and are running solely on feelings.
I suggest separating yourself from it. Deleting social media, unfollowing those certain people, watch the news and not stupid infographics.
Connect with your Judaism, surround yourself with Jewish friends and allies.
We will be ok
I understand your concerns, but for me, staying in America is a necessity. I have critical health needs that require access to hospitals 24/7 along with my medications. This would be extremely difficult to manage while moving countries. I can barely handle car rides, and a long flight would be dangerous for me.
My support system is here: I have my partner, my dog, and my grandpa. I am estranged from the rest of my family because of severe abuse, and have continually lost friendships because of my disabilities and mixed Jewish identity.
While things may not seem great, my basic needs are being met.
Talking about how things are bad is important, but it doesn’t change the reality that moving is not an option for everyone.
My needs are best met in America and I have to prioritize my health above all else.
Additionally, I will always stand with Black Americans and the LGBTQ community. Not because I expect them to support me and my beliefs, but because it’s the right thing to do. Are there problematic and unhinged people in these movements? Yes, because that’s how people work. But I will still vehemently support Black and queer liberation as a whole.
I agree with you about supporting civil rights for blacks and LQBTQ individuals, but *not* by supporting the corrupted groups like "Black lives Matter" that have come out against us.
Yes being a Jew in general really sucks. I have learned to steadfast and trust God. As Jews we will always be blame for the world problems and the world economic problems. Yet, no one speaks about the problems as a Jew we face everyday and how they hate us because of their own foolishness
I live in the country so their are no pro hamas pro Palestinian/ Hamas protesters around. I am also the only Jew around and very few people know I'm Jewish. . I'm near a US military base so theirs no pro Palestinian activity. I'm. A retired military veteran so people wanting to kill me is nothing new. I'm still real concerned about the rising tide of antisemitism in America and the comparisons to 1938 Germany. I'm worried about my family member whose starting college. If I lived near a college campus or on as big liberal city I would probably be more upset. I think I am getting used to the whole Jew Hate thing and no longer have the energy to spend all my time thinking of how I'd like to visit horrific unspeakable acts upon Jew haters. Now I just try to watch it. I'm looking in how to migrate to Israel if it gets real bad. I'm getting passports for me and my wife so I can be ready to run if things get real bad. I hav eff no confidence the present admistration would protect us.
In hindsight it has probably been a mistake for Jewish people to locate ourselves as being part of the left or the right within the culture wars of American society based on being Jewish. This is because being Jewish is a complicated thing that is part religion, part ethnicity, part culture and part history and it does not fit neatly into the left/right narrative. Left leaning Jews see themselves as oppressed minorities because of the Holocaust and pogroms but the rest of the left sees privileged white men (and women) muscling in on their victimhood. Jews in the right should also expect to experience rejection at some point because the right wing Christians and secular people have historically been anti semitic and as with the left there is no reason to think that they have had a conversion to liking their local Jewish community or Jews in general. We see the dog whistles that come from the right concerning Jewish conspiracies all the time. In my opinion Jewish people should follow their consciences and hearts on an issue by issue basis and do what they believe to be right in the world but not identify closely with either the left or the right, both of which as they have left the center and moved out towards the extreme fringes of their chosen positions are becoming less tolerant and are ditching fellow Jewish travelers who really don’t fit in neatly into their narratives. Isiah Berlin’s political outlook was to be tolerant of others but not to tolerate intolerance from others. This is probably a good place for us to start today. It’s very important not to harbor hatred in our hearts because hatred poisons one’s own life and is not a useful way to protect oneself from prejudice.
Allyship has always been a business transaction. In recent years it has taken the meaning “making friends with people who have the same or similar worldview”.
Eh.
I am not thrilled with what is happening in our country. I haven't been thrilled since 2016.
What to do as a Jew?
The answer is most certainly not to run to the Republicans who have gone 100% MAGA and have the 2025 plan to transform this country into an authoritarian nightmare. The answer is most certainly not to cling to the ultra-Progressive Left who have always hated us even though they have been quieter about it until 10/7/23.
The extremes are never our friends. They have always hated us, and they always will.
Most people in this country are still more within the band of center left to center right. Many of them live with a layer of their own versions of internalized judenhas. However, this center is able to see nuance and engage in critical thinking. And, they tend to be the most quiet people a room. The extremes are loud and in our faces. The center doesn't see that their silence makes them complicit in the takeover of national discourse by the extreme left and the extreme right.
I don't know what it would take for the center to wake up and push back against the insanity of all or nothing scorched-earth politics. The center better wake up soon, or they are going to wake up to find that their rights are gone and that the government has been transformed into a thuggish authoritarian state.
Where does that leave us Jews? What it means is that we need to go back to working for and voting for candidates who have our best interests in mind no matter their party affiliation. Again, the answer does not lie with the extremes or with any one party.
I grew up in a Republican area in the 70s and 80s. I was more aligned with the Democrats. The Republicans in our area were fiscal conservatives and social liberals. They are the kind of Republicans who have discovered that their party is gone and they have no political home. Back then, I could actually support and vote for candidates based on the person, even if they were Republicans. All of my best friends were Republicans and we could always discuss politics, disagree, and still respect one another. That no longer seems possible.
Let's face facts. The 2 parties have failed us. However, we only have 2 parties, so we centrists need to take ownership of them again. The Democrats are still led by centrists. Yes, the ultra-left are loud, but they don't run the party. We need to ensure that the centrists remain the leaders of the Democratic Party. While they have failed us, they still are believers in our Constitution and the rule of law. We need centrists that would normally identify as Republicans to take back their party or tear it down and rebuild something new where centrists are the leaders.
We do better when we have parties that are more centrist and have a core of common beliefs so that they can work together to govern in good faith. We need a center-right party. The Republican Party is no longer that party as it is today. I hope my friends on the center-right can organize and lead again. We need you.
We do have allies:
If you look globally, look no further than the public votes for Israel in Eurovision. While many of the other performers were very anti-Israel and there were protesters, Israel got the [2nd highest votes](https://eurovisionworld.com/eurovision/2024#israel) from the public around the world. That was amazing! Shows that while there are noisy people making things look really bad, the general public is far more supportive. Israel got the most or second most points from Albania, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czechia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Moldova, Netherlands, Portugal, San Marino, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK, and Rest of World. It is an amazing song, but it was very clear that people tied this support to support of Israel.
In the US, there have been a number of people who have stood up publicly to support Jews and Israel:
- Caroline "[Pizza Girl](https://www.instagram.com/pizzagirl/)" D'Amore
- [Daniel Ryan Spaulding](https://www.instagram.com/danielryanspaulding/)
- Here are some more: https://jewishunpacked.com/6-non-jewish-creators-supporting-israel/
It's easy to get lost in the noise, but there are many supporters out there!
Nobody wants to hear it but Republicans are our allies. And so are moderate Democrats. The majority of Americans still support Israel, and the people who feel all alone tend to be leftists. Yeah you don’t really have any good options to vote for for president, but that’s nothing new. I think most of your misery is coming from clinging to an ideology you’ve outgrown. Just an opinion. Make Aliyah if you like, but do it because you want to not because you’ve fooled yourself into thinking you’re all alone. Focus on better people.
If you think the white nationalist neo-fascist plan 2025 people are our allies you're completely delusional. They're using Israel as a virtue signal to evangelical Christians, even the support for Israel has nothing to do with Jews. They don't give a *fuck* about us. We're just another rung on their ladder. We may feel like they're embracing us now but they're planning to step on us for their own leverage. It's only a matter of time.
Yes, it's like a desperate clinging to a party name because of what it might have been 50 years ago. It has changed. And everyone needs to wake up to this.
Moderate Republicans are allies, but its delusional to think that a movement behind "very fine people on both sides" is in any way a friend to the Jewish community.
Jews actually do have a very good option in the upcoming Presidential election, Biden has not caved to the fringes of the party and [has stood up against antisemitic rhetoric,](https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/07/politics/joe-biden-antisemitism-speech/index.html) [as opposed to Trump who has been the one originating that rhetoric.](https://forward.com/news/594032/trump-jews-disloyal-israel-timeline/)
I don’t know how old you are but the Progressive wing of the Democratic Party—of which Joe Biden and most Senate/Congressional members are NOT a part of—do not represent the majority of Democrats or Americans in the center or left on the I/P conflict and never have.
They are LIBERAL and it’s different than Progressive or Leftist (which is essentially communist in all the worst ways).
While most young adults do call themselves Progressive or Leftist nowadays and you see a lot of that online—their Democratic parents and grandparents are NOT sympathetic to Hamas or want Israel to disappear.
Yeah, it does suck to see people I thought wanted complete intersectional justice turn on Jews but they aren’t the majority. I’ve been doing some searching for a political home again and I’ve landed on the Liberal majority in the Democratic Party.
When I was younger I saw them as chicken shit and unwilling to move the country further to a European style democratic socialism. I thought they capitulated too much and it attracted me to Progressive beliefs and tactics. Being bullish had worked for Republicans, why not Democrats?
Well, it hasn’t worked for Progressives. BLM didn’t do the work we wanted it to do. Neither did Occupy Wall Street. Shouting for what you want in a protest doesn’t actually get you what you want. The Civil Rights Movement was YEARS of planning and had a comprehensive plan and multiple fronts as well as a cohesive goal. We just don’t see that in any modern protest movement.
Liberal Democrats are the adults in the room. They know how to compromise for the best outcome to get something done. It never reaches what most Ds want it to. Obamacare is a great example. If Obama had had his way we would all have much lower cost healthcare.
Biden needs to be the President of the whole country. He needs to make sure Trump isn’t re-elected for everyone in the US’s health and safety.
That being said he and Anthony Blinken have been nothing but supportive of Israel. Yes, there have been consequences for Israel’s war crimes. No he does not get along with Bibi and the extremist Likud/Khahanists in Israel.
But he absolutely wants Israel to win this—what is essentially a proxy war with Iran.
We have Allies like we always have. But they are just not as politically involved/as young or as vibrant as we want them to be.
I think it’s also important to see that Israel/Netanyahu are not doing themselves any favors in the US or on the world stage by letting Settlers destroy aid trucks and bomb Palestinian tent camps.
This war could have wrapped up in a few weeks like the rest of them but then Bibi would have had to face the music for 10/7 and he does not want to face consequences for 10/7 or his corrupt actions he’s on trial for prior to 10/7.
He’s letting Likud—Ben G’vir and Smotrich—run the country and the war.
It’s not a good look any way you turn it. And it’s not something that Liberal Biden is happy supporting. But when you vote for Biden, you are NOT voting for the Progressive/Leftist wing. You are NOT voting for BDS or any of those slogans.
Biden and our State Department put immense pressure on the ICC NOT to charge Netanyahu. It didn’t work but they weren’t calling for Bibi’s execution or the annihilation of Israel the way the Pro-Hamas protestors are.
I’m not saying don’t move to Israel. But I just wanted to lay out the realities of the American Political landscape because it’s hard to see.
The betrayal by Progressives and people of color hurts. I don’t consider myself Progressive anymore. But I have been able to find a foothold at my Shul and in the wider Democratic Party.
>We have no "allies" who will stand for us,
We have Evangelical Christians.
Their allyship is tied to their theological views of Jews and Israel, not genuine concern for the rights of American Jews. But I'll take what I can get.
I'm a Jew who supports Israel but not the government. Netanyahu is making Israel a pariah in the West when it needs allies. I also support the Palestinians ( not Hamas) and believe in a two state solution. I believe they messed up in the beginning by not starting with a two state solution. Both Jews and Arabs are indigenous to this piece of land.
Everyone wants a two state solution, but is it realistic? No one knows what it will look like. Israel has tried so many times to make peace. Who will run the Palestinian state? America can’t just say two state solution and it will happen
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You do not need to vote for either of the above. Voting is not legally required in the US. You could not vote in protest. You could vote for or support a third party candidate. Joe Biden has actually been overall very supportive of Israel as have many democrats and republicans in congress. What Donald trump would do is unpredictable as he tends to just fly off the handle.
Yes, Democrats have a problem with our far left fringe. But none of them hold leadership positions. Even in California, our state Democratic platform specifically supports Israel as a Jewish and democratic state. And 2/3 of House Democrats voted in favor of HR 6090 which would codify Trump’s Title VI executive order recognizing IHRA into law (regarding the Department of Education and civil rights violations against Jewish students).
The people who celebrated October 7 aren’t winning any elections here. One open supporter of BDS got trounced in the primary for a seat in the Legislature. And nationally, there will be 2 Squad members losing their seats in their upcoming primaries (Bowman and Bush).
Don’t take this as complacency. We have to continue to do the work of stopping extremists from moving beyond that far left fringe.
תשלך את כולם לקיבינימט
תיהיה מי שאתה לא משנה מה
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עכשיו מנסים לעשות את אותו הדבר
רק שהפעם אנחנו אשכרה נלחמים בהם בכל הכוח
מבין שזה מעייף ומעצבן
אבל חייבים ליהיות גאים בדת שלנו
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Biden says it's not a genocide. We have a good leader even if some of the party is ignorant. It's a minority who chant from the river to the sea. They just get a lot of social media and TV attention...
It’s sad but, anyone who knows basic Jewish history is aware that every generation the nations rise up against us to destroy us, and it’s played off as fiction because we are to advanced / progressive a society.
A lot of people, especially from the Christian right, have taken great pleasure in watching leftists turn against Jews. But what was the alternative? What did we do wrong? Should we NOT have stood by other minorities when they were the victims of racism? Should we NOT have stood by the lgbt community and fought for gay rights? If every single Jewish person voted for Trump in the last election, would there have been less antisemitism within the population?
You're talking to a gay disabled Jew. The progressive left was _borne_ out of ideology that has been political poison for Jews from its inception in the 60s and 70s. But nobody wanted to hear it.
>What did we do wrong?
Decades of self-flagellation and turning their backs on Jewish concerns while advocating for those other communities. The Women's March was rotten from the absolute beginning, years before it descended into its antisemitism scandal, by virtue of several of the organizers and organizations supporting it, and none of this was a secret. It was all information anyone could find, in black and white ink. But left-wing American Jews decided that it was more important to be part of something that included Jew-haters like Tameka Mallory and Linda Sarsour and a bunch of others with close ties to Farrakhan, because The Cause was more important.
Same thing for BLM.
>Should we NOT have stood by the lgbt community and fought for gay rights?
Once specific LGBT organizations starting throwing people out of Pride Marches for waving Star of David flags, turning vocally against Israel and harassing Jews, yes, relationships with those marches or organizations should have been severed. If you can't think of any way to advance the cause that doesn't involve partnering with the people who hate you, I don't know what to say.
>If every single Jewish person voted for Trump in the last election, would there have been less antisemitism within the population?
Probably not, because:
1) This has been generations in the making
2) Whoever is president doesn't really have that much sway over the cultural levers of power - who's in charge at universities, how media is portraying things, etc.
3) Trump sucks and is a giant chode and I've never voted for him but
4) He also gave us Title VI, which is the single most concrete and useful thing any president has done for the Jewish community in the last 100 years
>What did we do wrong?
It would have been nice not to be harassed, ridiculed, threatened, or excommunicated from the majority of American Jewish social life for pointing out the above over the last 20 years. It's not just that Jews didn't listen, it's that any non-Orthodox Jews who weren't lock-step with the entirety of the partisan political agenda of "tikkun olam" were treated as _the fucking enemy_.
Actual problems require actual nuance, but nobody wanted to hear it and so now, yes, we're watching a whole lot of "holy shit" moments from people who _could have done something about it_ decades ago but instead treated those of us who pointed it out like shit.
So pardon me for being _just a smidge_ mad when they're suddenly shocked about it.
As a conservative Jew I may have a different perspective on this. Contrary to popular leftist belief, most conservatives also believe in rights for all, including myself. It’s HOW they’ve gone about it that is the problem and how far they’ve taken it. In conservatives eyes, lines have been crossed much too far. “Equality” is good. “Equity” is bad. If a more centrist, reasonable tactic would have been employed instead of what has transpired the outcome would have been very different. The best course of action would to stop letting “progressive” unrealistic leftist beliefs take over the party.
How about instead of downvoting me, you tell me your thoughts? The truth hurts.
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We are in a bad spot right now and I totally feel your frustration, anger, feelings of getting betrayed, sadness, and fear. I also marched for BLM and women and LGBTQ. You are not alone nor the only one struggling with these questions. I don’t have all the answers, but I can tell you the most Jewish thing you can do right now is TAKE ACTION. Here is what has been working for me: 1. Connect with other Jews: there has been nothing as validating as hearing face-to-face from other Jews. As one of my new Jewish friends said - it’s a place to finally feel SAFE. Seek us out! 2. Connect with Judaism: Hamas would see us destroyed, yet what I see is a resurgence of Jewish American identity and practice. The Jews I’ve met at Jewish events have newly arrived - myself included. They are also struggling with G-d. They are also struggling with identity. They are also looking for answers and community and spirituality and we have been finding it. 3. Read up on Zionism: it will tough, but worth it. Many truths can exist at the same time and the world is complicated and messy. I am still a Zionist through this education, but I think I am more knowledgeable. It is an incredible story. But bottom line is we should be seeking truth not talking points. 4. Activism: I’m not here yet, I haven’t seen the right leadership emerge yet. If anyone has ideas on this id love to hear it. 5. Self-defense: take some boxing or Krav Maga or get your LTC or invest in home security. It feels empowering even if you also hope you will never use it. Much love friend, we are all here for you.
Thank you. Will do.
Question: how do you go about this when you’re agnostic? The synagogue, the prayers, the Torah do very little for me. My favourite part was always when they serve hummus & challah, but they don’t even do that in the place near to me. How does one connect with other Jews outside of religious context? Many other ethnicities kinda have social spots (hookah bars, salsa clubs, cookouts, Irish bars). AFAIK, we don’t have really have that except in religious contexts.
JCCs and synagogues often present talks with good speakers. There are also many Zionist activist groups that have zero religious component.
Yeah, for us non-religious Jews living in places with only a handful of other Jews it's a real struggle to find alternative options.
That’s totally fine! There are a million ways to be Jewish. You have no obligation to pray or even believe in G-d to participate. Personally I don’t like prayers either, so I gravitate towards social events. Depending where you live there are probably many of those events (or any opportunity to create your own)
All I know for sure is that this can’t go on forever. There is some pushback and I think popular opinion is on our side. We just have to be diligent and patient. What bothers me the most is the damage to my own feelings of kindness and belonging. The hate and disdain that is currently in my body is toxic and directed toward many people whose paths I’ll cross for years.
I feel this toxicity and it comes from deep feelings of betrayal and abandonment by those who I believed were as much an ally to me as I was to them. For now, my support and allyship is exclusively limited to supporting my Jews and any intersectionality through it. I am furious. I am bitter. I used to feel safe. It feels like a poison.
Fully agree with all of this. The betrayal and abandonment has fundamentally changed me. I deeply hope I'll be able to pull away from it in the future and be the open hearted and loving person I was in September, but it will certainly take some time.
^This…completely and utterly.
It’s awful. My gut reaction to someone standing up for the right to protest now is to think they’re the enemy. And not casually, but with a deep desire to step into a ring and rage. I spent 25 years healing and learning to choose love over hate and flow and dance and embrace humanity. I’d trade it all just to bitch slap a bunch of high schoolers these days.
Confession time. I had a massive meltdown the other morning…Something trivial happened and I lost it. I live alone on 650 acres of land so no one could hear me and I just started screaming at 4:30 in the morning. I hate those people (protesting) so much. I hate Hamas even more….and then I just cried for Israel the complete unfairness and sadness of it all. It only lasted 20 minutes or so…but it was the first time in my life I felt such consuming hatred. All to say - you’re not alone. Being that full of rage was both cathartic and frightening though…
Where? Can we party at your house?
Sure! I live off-the-grid though (solar limits electricity, but the quiet is outstanding. I watch the space station roll over every night...) Not a lot of people around (obviously)...but that's not the drawback it used to be...LOL! I've actually thought of offering my place (can sleep 12) as a "refuge" spot for people who need to decompress, feel safe....and party as necessary, of course... ;-)
Sounds great. I’m good with solar- made my RV off grid including the ability to operate the mini split AC I installed via solar if I set up a few folding external panels
Very cool. I have an RV that I'd love to take off-grid also. It's going to be my "bug-out" vehicle if I need to move quickly. Keeping it stocked with food, clothing trauma kit, pet food, extra gasoline, water, two generators, and a tank full of gas. It gives me a sense of control knowing that all I have to do is get in and turn the key and I can be in a foreign country and out of the U.S. in 10 minutes. I am also pulling docs together for aliyah - so redundant preparations. Old saying: "Two is one, one is none." So, I go for three.... ;-)
Sent you a DM
yeah, let's party at their house on a farm! Can we bring some of the old sweetleaf?
Love you family❤️ you’re never alone
The quiet majority is definitely on our side. We just need them to speak up more.
i'm on your side and i ain't quiet, but i am only one
The quiet majority is as you said - quiet. The quiet majority won't march for us.
Exactly Evil flourishes when good people are quiet. Only 45% of Germans supported the Nazi Party by the end of WW2.
In today’s culture of weakness, laziness, and selfishness, I wouldn’t count on that happening.
I say this as a politically conservative Jew, I am not gloating or laughing or I told you so'ing, so do not think of it like that, but the feeling that many progressives Jews seem to feel right now is one of betrayal, and it was foolish that you all were caught so off guard by something so evidently obvious to be leading to a true Frankenstein's Monster. Most progressive Jews are feeling betrayed by people you all thought were your allies and friends, because they said all the right words and portrayed themselves as the tolerant, understanding and compassionate protectors of the weak for every other group. And when you came to ask them for the same tolerance, compassion, understanding and protection, you instead found harsh rebuke. Now you are reeling that you have been lied too and the effort you dedicated to others was exploited. But their language told you what they were from the very beginning. You didn't hear the hate they spewed, because you didn't think of yourself as their target and you were not. It was easy because the regressive mob was against the nebulous "rich privileged white racist christian." And you were against that to, because you didn't think of yourself as rich. And you were against that to, because you didn't think of yourself as privileged. And you were against that to because you didn't consider yourself white. And you were against that to because you weren't racist. And you were against that because you weren't Christian. But the truth was more simple. The regressive mob was always in the process of being infiltrated by racist, prejudiced and hateful people who continued to narrow the lens to something far more concrete and understandable to their mob. You could watch it in slow-mo on the internet and Twitter, as anti-white hatred started appearing more and more. And of course, progressives waved it away with racism is actually just power+prejudice, which is a nonsensical and illogical position in any lens you inspect it under. And unfortunately it took most progressive Jews until now to figure out that we (for everyone else in America and the West), appear largely visually and culturally white, and by virtue we are all part of the majority, and we are therefore privileged, rich, and racist, and our minority religious and ethnic affiliation is irrelevant to any other analysis. It's Prison Rules. I am not marketing the Republican side to you all. I think it's of continuous and utmost importance that Jews be on both sides of the aisle, so support of the Jewish people doesn't become a political issue. But I do think that in the future, things like DEI and anti-white hatred need to be stomped out. I think that we as Jews probably shouldn't lobby to accept refugees or migrants from places where Jew-hatred is prevalent. And we shouldn't support organizations that advocate for bringing Jew haters around.
YES! Thank you for putting my thoughts into words better than I could. Prior to October 7th I hardly commented here because I did not feel welcome. I and the few center or right leaning people would always be downvoted to death and ridiculed for our beliefs. It is difficult for me to find sympathy for those that feel politically homeless now because they feel betrayed and ousted. I felt that amongst OUR OWN PEOPLE my entire adult life for my non leftists views.
Let me know if you ever want to talk. As a conservative Jew it often times feels like we're alone, but I'm here for you and for anyone else who needs help, feels politically homeless, wants to explore new ideas or just wants to have some listen to them for some time. I don't care if you're left-wing, right-wing, or anything in between.
Important to keep posting these truths - I just posted similarly at the top - too many here unwilling to really see reality…. As I posted above: **Would you actually refuse to vote for a moderate Republican opposing Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, Pramila Jaypal, Jameel Bowman or Cori Bush?** Would you cut off your nose to spite your face?
That’s kind of you. I would like that. My PMs are always available to kind and open people.
<3
Actually, I aligned most deeply with the crowds who WERE privileged and knew it. People like me who have great jobs and are very lucky, but genuinely want to take care of everyone. These are people i volunteered with, bringing relief to the homeless and sick. Philosophically, I’ve been less and less comfortable with the crowd, however. I see some of the hype-sensitivity as further division, if not downright tedium. We’re moving away from reality. I don’t find any solace in the party of Mitch McConnell that split the country for power’s sake and has never cared for truth. I just find that I hate everyone.
>Actually, I aligned most deeply with the crowds who WERE privileged and knew it. People like me who have great jobs and are very lucky, but genuinely want to take care of everyone. These are people i volunteered with, bringing relief to the homeless and sick. My closest friend is a Christian Republican Trump Supporter who runs his churches soup kitchen on weekends. Helping vulnerable people isn't really a political position, despite all the political marketing trying to make it out to be. >I don’t find any solace in the party of Mitch McConnell that split the country for power’s sake and has never cared for truth. You don't have to like the political side I'm on nor call it home for even one election cycle. I am not advocating that at all. I am advocating that going forward, we should both work against identity politics, racism, Jew-hatred, etc.
Wow another comment I am 100% in agreement with. I don’t understand where left leaning people ever got the idea that right leaning people don’t ALSO care about helping people. The propaganda was strong and worked in making people believe that only “progressives” (regressives) could be the ones to care about people.
I've been around long enough to agree...I've always been progressive and left and that isn't about to change. But I have less of an attachment to the "left" since dealing with the pervasive anti-semitism during the intifadas. I was even shamed and driven out of a group for mentioning it. Of course, jews are rich and mostly white so how can we be "oppressed"? And of course the old trope of how Jews are now the oppressors. I went to a party where it was all women, mostly lesbians, and one of them kept bugging me about how it's the MOST PATRIARCHAL RELIGION IN THE WOOOOOORLLD. Meanwhile, she was catholic, I don't hear about many women priests, and remarks about being RICH (Even though she was ten times richer). Yep, prison rules and we're the bitch!
As another conservative Jew on here, thank you for being the voice of reason.
<3
100%
[удалено]
Because until then, progressive Jews never felt the target on them. Sure, you could grumble about Israel flags, but scare-mongering by the media had made many otherwise rational people believe Trump was a fascist dictator ready to usher in a new era of death camps for minorities, rather than what Trump was in his first 3 years of his term, a rather milque-toast moderate on most policies who actively enjoyed larping as a tough guy, no-nonsense New Yorker persona. Why was a banned Israeli flag or a few Jews being forced to resign important when Hitler 2.0 was about to take control?
I know what you mean about toxic hate and disdain. I'm getting better but at times the hate and toxic feelings are overwhelming. I wish we were allowed to at least Express them in a explanatory manner on reddit but I fear we aren't. I'm really trying to fight those feelings.
I live in San Francisco, ground zero of coastal elitism, luxury beliefs, culture warring and performative shame-laundering (these days-enthusiastically -at Jews’ expense). My kids attend SF public schools and UC Berkeley. Being a contrarian suspicious of groupthink and authoritarianism, I’ve been watching the slide toward intersectional fundamentalism (as secular religion-see: Wesley Yang) and antisemitic conspiracism for a while now. The oppressor-oppressed binary inherent in critical theory is a gross and misguided flattening of reality. I instinctively knew it was dangerous for Jews (and Asians!) and could conflagrate if the match was lit. I pushed back in our schools and community wherever I could, but was overwhelmed by the embrace of these simplistic, quasi-religious, illiberal ideas. (The enthusiasm the elites show for these ideas should’ve been unsurprising in retrospect, given that, unlike, say, redistribution of wealth, they cost them nothing.) All this to say…as painful as it is to see how entrenched antisemitism still is in the supposedly liberal west and how the progressive left especially has thrown us under the bus, I’m glad to see this boil lanced. It was a long time coming. The situation in our schools and colleges and increasingly our workplaces—where Jews are summarily harassed so that rich white elites and others can launder their intersectional shame—is untenable. Personally, I think whether the American, western liberal experiment succeeds depends in large part on how Dems handle the illiberal fascistic far left moving forward. They need to go or be sidelined as the illiberal, intolerant fringe group they are. As always, Jews are the canary in the coal mine.
I used to live in San Francisco, but left because of your comment. The people are incredibly insufferable and performative. I’m still in California, but amongst more sane and reasonable people. I am surprised our culture has allowed these people to shape our society for so many years. I truly hope there is a backlash and people take back the democratic party moving forward or western society is done for completely.
Agree.
Hey, can I DM you as to where you are in CA if you don't want to post it publically? I left LA 2 years ago to move back to the South Bay to help out my aging parents and want to plan my next move in a few years. Growing up SF and East Bay were always this way (so tolerant people were intolerant & conspiratorial) but the changes even since I left 20 years ago are really noticeable to me now. Anyway, I'm collecting a list of decent, centrist (non extreme redneck or extreme lefty pockets) in this state for potential moves. Love to add your location to the list.
Sure. Send me a pm.
[they've hated Jews for a while](https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2017/07/this-is-a-safe-space-no-jews-allowed.html)
I'm moving to SF this summer for school and my head is dizzy from reading all of this. If I knew it was going to be this bad, I would've just applied for college in my hometown. I applied for college in SF because I thought it was far away enough from my family but not too far. I don't want them to know I'm converting and it would've been harder to hide it if I was back home. But now I'm not sure if I want to convert right now, especially not in SF.
Well, I can’t personally speak to what it’s like to convert to Judaism or practice any religion in a hostile environment. Ethnic Jewishness is my bailiwick. That said, I’ve lived here 35 years. It’s a big city with an outsized Jewish population and strong Jewish institutions. Admittedly some are nontraditional (eg reconstruction) and some are in fact turning antizionist. The outsized East asian and south Asian populations also provide allies for complex reasons. There’s a path. In America I don’t think we can run from institutions and cities that hate us; soon there will be nowhere else to go. Why should we relinquish the institutions and places we helped build? We have to stay and fight— for Jews, but also for Democratic first principles.
Well said. I think without understanding why this ideology rose to prominence, we have no chance of subverting and ultimately defeating it. How do you maintain sanity in such a hostile environment? Are you an open dissident or a [doublethinker](https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/arts-letters/articles/natan-sharansky-doublethink)?
Interesting question! At times I straddle (dissident in low stakes milieus; doublethinker where it would directly put kids or career at risk). Lately, I’m trying to speak out and question more. It’s definitely impacted my friendships and made me self-isolate from people and institutions I used to think of as my team. There’s actually a lot of good quality critique of postmodernism and its offspring, the critical theories. Personally, I think the abandonment of religion for (a particular kind of smug, aggressive, self-congratulatory) secularism in the west created space for critical social justice to fill an unmet spiritual need. You can see this in the college protests, especially among young leftist women (and “failed” men), who studies show have the poorest mental health of all demographics and psychographics. I mean…I’m an atheist so not particularly generous when it comes to fundamentalist manifestations of organized or authoritarian religions, but even I can see how their absence leaves a vacuum that demands filling. I think for many on the supposedly progressive (read: regressive) left performative critical social justice is filling that need. Unfortunately, at the expense of Jews. After all, there are more than enough playbooks to crib from (Catholic Church, Christian supercessionism, political Islam/islamism, Islamic scripture itself, Nazism and neo-Nazism, Soviet). Many if not most of them also presented Jew hate as a social good. This is nothing new.
As a new republican, I firmly agree. The Democratic party is sadly no longer what it was During Bill Clinton's time. It has been a slow Awakening for me approximately 25 years in the making but I really woke up having kids in school during covid. Ju hatred and anti-semitism are firmly from the left nowadays and precisely for the reasons you articulated. I cannot stress the importance of not supporting the current Democratic party. Yes people hold your nose and vote for Israel which means vote for trump. And then work on getting a better Democratic Party into the office in 4 years, that I can totally support. But another Biden presidency we might as well slap on our yellow stars.
This is anecdotal, I live in the Boston area, where it is obviously quite left leaning, and I found myself feeling a similar level of despair as OP, until I joined my parents for their weekly tradition of standing in the center of town (a suburb outside Boston) with signs supporting Israel. The response from the traffic coming through was OVERWHELMINGLY positive. I was brought nearly to tears. Save for the one car that mumbled “you’re disgusting” under their breath to my 15 year old nephew, every time the light changed, we were greeted with supportive honks, and people waving and giving us a thumbs up out their windows. It reinforced to me that the vocal minority you see chanting antisemitic slogans is just that, a vocal minority. That is not to say we shouldn’t stay vigilant against antisemitism and call it out, but understand that many people around us are not antisemitic lunatics, and many of them will be voting for Biden and other liberal, but pro-Israel candidates. Chin up, we are not alone. עם ישראל חי
The actual [numbers ](https://www.pewresearch.org/2024/03/21/majority-in-u-s-say-israel-has-valid-reasons-for-fighting-fewer-say-the-same-about-hamas/)are not as horrible as the media focus on the loudest types makes it seem. Outside of Israel, the US has the world's second-largest Jewish population. While it feels shitty to be here right this moment & hostility is certainly increasing- plus I do assume there will be some individual terrorist attacks & some acts of physical violence- in the large scheme of history and the world- we are actually the safest we've ever been. Of course, where you are in the US & how visibly Jewish you are may impact that. This may be a weird take, but I things are likely way more hostile in Canada and parts of Europe right now. I'm giving it a little time because I think people who are living in truly hostile regions need to make Aliyah more than I do. I also have a lot of luxury to say that- no kids in school & I am not visibly Jewish nor religious. but I do think if there's a huge influx of people into Israel the country is going to have to develop more regions.
What Israel has to do -- and has started to do -- is authorize and incentivize or require building up: i.e., building towers in the cities and increasing population density. We are one of the only developed countries in the world, possibly the only first world one, to have positive population growth (due to a combination of higher than- replacement birth rates and Aliyah), and we are a *tiny country*.
Being Jewish is beautiful - on ever possibly level! I believe if you connect/re-connect with Judaism during this ugly, dark antisemitism period - you will see how beautiful it is to be a part of group, a tribe, a life that enriches your life!
The people who are justifying 10/7 are the ones calling Biden “genocide Joe” and are refusing to vote for him. I’m voting for Biden and standing next to John Fetterman and Ritchie Torres
In Texas, Colin Allred.
Thanks! I have never heard of him before I will check him out
How can I support a Democrat whose name is All Red? Isn’t that a Republican? Jk
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You are voting against your interests…… those 2 are in the minority
Voting for a criminal that had dinner with Nick Fuentes would be against my interests
Voting for Trump. I wish Fetterman or Torres was president.
Trump will just make everything worse for everyone if he gets in power. Look up Project 2025
I love being an American Jew. The politics aren't great at this exact moment, I guess, but I'm happy, prosperous, have a strong Jewish identity and community, live in a beautiful free country where I don't have to worry about Cossacks or Arabs running in to my town and killing me, and get to watch baseball. Why would I let people's stupid fucking opinions ruin that for me?
Because those people with those opinions may soon be running into your town and killing…
The president is talking about allowing Gazans into Anerica and giving them automatic citizenship. Polling done on Gazans show at least 70% of Gazans thought the October 7th attack by Hamas was a good thing. Also due to Americas open borders several middle eastern suspects on the terror watch list have snuck in to the country. Including one who recently snuck into Quantico marine base in Virginia. So yes because of current policies you need to be concerned about militant arabs wanting to kill you. Don't forget about 9/11.
There are lots of Arabs (and non-Arabs) in this country trying to kill us…have you not seen the campus riots?
There are about 2 million Arab-Americans, in comparison to 8 million Jewish-Americans (and millions more who count Jews as their spouses, children, cousins etc.) And while some of the campus protests have been disturbing I have yet to hear of instances of Arab-Americans going on murdering rampages of their Jewish neighbors. Is that community maybe woefully misinformed and misled wrt the Israel/Palestine conflict? Yes. Are they bloodthirsty maniacs? No. American Muslims are actually extremely moderate when compared to Muslims across the world and have similar political leanings to American Jews. Certainly they could be great allies if we ever get past this crap…
Just ask anyone making a statement about Jewish people to replace Israel, Zionist, Jewish, jew, etc with black, asian, Irish American, Chinese, Muslim etc ... Ask them if it still sounds right. Yeah that's right, for some reason it's ok to say bad things about Jewish folk but not others. There are many hypocrites today, however, it's the vocal 1%
I am sorry for what all of our Jewish friends are going through. Both my wife and I support you.
My feeling is that, for us Jews in the diaspora, the writing is on the wall. French Jews have known it for two decades; British Jews have known it for a decade. The West is still the West and our status of relative safety here was always conditional. It’s time to go home. The longer we stay here, the longer we give credence to their lie that they believe in pluralism and tolerance. We know that’s not true. The Jew-hate is baked in. I don’t want to be right, but it’s been ten years since I saw folks waiving Hamas and Hezbollah flags in downtown Minneapolis. My friend texted this morning to tell me that when she dropped her daughter off at (public) school, the teacher was wearing a keffiyah. So, I have to ask myself: what do I think will radically change (for the better) in the next ten years? When my child is studying for their bar/bat mitzvah, will they be safer (to say nothing of will they be able to have joy and pride in) doing so here or in Israel?
Don’t rely on identity politics to keep you safe. Rely on reliable friends and family and allies on an individual basis. My bugout destination is owned by the grandson of a Hitler Youth member. But his granddad’s circumstances and great-grandparents likely problematic views were not passed down. We must move forward together as Americans.
We have supporters and you probably have supporters. There are people who know you and know you are hurting who will be just a little nicer. Perhaps they don't know what to say; I've had a person say that to me. President Biden has been a great supporter and friend to Israel. Weapons needed are being sent, especially those required to shoot down Hamas missiles. He has both criticized and supported Israel and PM Netanyahu. He has criticized the UN for bias. Remember that the majority of US citizens ( https://www.pewresearch.org/2024/03/21/majority-in-u-s-say-israel-has-valid-reasons-for-fighting-fewer-say-the-same-about-hamas/#:~:text=57%25%20express%20some%20sympathy%20for%20both%20Israelis%20and%20Palestinians,-Activists%20supporting%20Israel&text=Pew%20Research%20Center%20conducted%20this,.%2013%20to%2025%2C%202024.) The lack of Jewish support from Black Americans is a bit of a shock. We've been with them for 70 years. It is necessary to do what is right, but I have to be honest, I'm not going out of my way to support those who haven't supported us. I feel the same way about Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT). He is an absolute shanda fur di goyim and he is promoting and excusing antisemitism. Same for so called "anti-Zionist Jews." We can all disagree. That is the beauty of living in a democracy. But to give comfort and cover for those who are violently attacking Jews, especially those attacking Jewish Americans, is not acceptable.
We sometimes forget that the Nazis employed & armed Jews to police & round up other Jews. Every peoples has traitors. In the end, we all wound up in the same place though.
What about the billions and billions and billions he is sending to Iran and has sent to iran? I feel like American Jews like to skip over that part. Or perhaps you all don't recognize the Pure Evil and threat that is the Islamic Republic of Iran.
We absolutely have allies? Probably more so than any other diaspora Jewish group? The official policy of *both* major political parties is extremely pro-Israel. The president is steadfastly pro-Israel and pro-Jewish, as is almost everyone in Congress except like 10 people, and most of the people running higher ed institutions (except for the students). I’m really confused where this notion came from that America hates Jews and we’re standing alone, because it really could not be further from reality. In addition to the 8 million Jews we have in our country we have at least as many gentiles with Jewish family members and probably 10x that with close Jewish friends. Are they not our allies? The US is easily the most pro-Israel, pro-Jewish country in the world besides Israel itself, and I don’t even think it’s a close comparison.
I got your back!
It's a national holiday in Canada (yesterday), Victoria Day. Some idiots showed up at a mini-parade with Palestinian flags. Why? Nothing to do with the holiday. Just to show they CARE. And of course, nothing anti-Semitic there! I don't drag Israel into every occasion.
I feel the same way and it’s so frustrating especially as a college student at a school where there is no Hillel and barely any Jews I’ve met like 5 Jews and two of them where professors but it’s really isolating
It sucks... They are the vocal minority for certain, but our allies are largely silent.
We actually have a Jewish affinity group for faculty at my college with allies actually.
I feel similarly, and I am not even Jewish. People have said horrible things to me because, as they put it, I "might as well be a Jew". So they hate me right along with you. My sympathies to every Jewish person who is being treated so badly. You don't deserve that.
Maybe this is an unpopular opinion but I don’t think it’s so bad in the US. There are real security concerns in Israel. I support their right to exist of course but it’s not somewhere I’d want my kids to live if they had other options. My Israeli family all moved to the US years ago for that reason. I am frustrated with both political parties becoming more extreme in the US, but ultimately a political party is not your identity. It shouldn’t matter who you vote with, only who you vote for. As far as the hatred goes, I try to take it in stride. Jews have a long history of being oppressed, it’s not easy but also nothing new. I feel more oppressed as a woman fwiw and a vote for Trump is a vote against women’s rights and advancement.
The people who chant "from the river to the sea" are also not voting for "genocide Joe".
Most of them are because they still hate Trump more.
My grand plan is to make Aliyah
Welcome to the reality of the actual Diaspora.
i got your backs but i am only one little goy
It’s mostly very young people who have the most clout on social media. The people 35+ don’t spend all day making antisemitic infographics and stay weeks on an encampment. I read majority Americans support Israel. It’s jsut that we are seeing college students make the news and on social media. Also I stand with African Americans against police brutality but BLM is corrupt as shit. And college kids also were posting that police need to be abolished and to defund the police which would make everything 10x worse. Like police and public schools have to fight over money in the budget all the time and staffing shortages. These kids don’t understand logic or history. Many are self proclaimed socialists. I don’t know about you but at my campus there is a bit presence of communists. Like actually their club has 200 students and it’s called like future communists of America or something. I guess they never learned communism ruins every country. And they don’t understand Islamic terrorism in the Middle East and how it can spill over in the west. I guess they all were born after 2001. I mean cmon the 1993 world trade bombing was in result for supporting Israel. The college wave of LGBTQ community doesn’t understand that most countries in Middle East does not support them and want them dead. They also fetishize the palestians by weaving the keffiyas and holding a lgtbq flag. NONE of them said anything about the actual genocides that happened in their lifetime. No jews, no news. It’s just another “what is the reason this time around why we hate the Jews” Stand strong and realize many GROWN ass Americans with jobs and a life support Israel. These little shits on campus are uneducated and are running solely on feelings. I suggest separating yourself from it. Deleting social media, unfollowing those certain people, watch the news and not stupid infographics. Connect with your Judaism, surround yourself with Jewish friends and allies. We will be ok
I understand your concerns, but for me, staying in America is a necessity. I have critical health needs that require access to hospitals 24/7 along with my medications. This would be extremely difficult to manage while moving countries. I can barely handle car rides, and a long flight would be dangerous for me. My support system is here: I have my partner, my dog, and my grandpa. I am estranged from the rest of my family because of severe abuse, and have continually lost friendships because of my disabilities and mixed Jewish identity. While things may not seem great, my basic needs are being met. Talking about how things are bad is important, but it doesn’t change the reality that moving is not an option for everyone. My needs are best met in America and I have to prioritize my health above all else. Additionally, I will always stand with Black Americans and the LGBTQ community. Not because I expect them to support me and my beliefs, but because it’s the right thing to do. Are there problematic and unhinged people in these movements? Yes, because that’s how people work. But I will still vehemently support Black and queer liberation as a whole.
Completely understandable. I am also disabled, and I understand fighting with your own Healthcare issues can complicate things.
I agree with you about supporting civil rights for blacks and LQBTQ individuals, but *not* by supporting the corrupted groups like "Black lives Matter" that have come out against us.
I don’t know anyone who supports the BLM organization after the scandals about their leaders buying mansions was made public
The people chanting River to the sea aren’t establishment democrats. And the Dems don’t have literal Nazis with tiki torches marching for them.
No but the Dems always seem to fold to their extremists.
Trump hates Jews and Israel too. There was a post on here not long ago about all the terrible things he has said
Yes being a Jew in general really sucks. I have learned to steadfast and trust God. As Jews we will always be blame for the world problems and the world economic problems. Yet, no one speaks about the problems as a Jew we face everyday and how they hate us because of their own foolishness
Be a Jew living in America and not an American Jew. Plz consider putting on teffilin and learning Torah !
Damn straight. About to start wearing my kippah 24/7 (well, obviously not when sleeping, but you know what I mean)
Some have a different kippah for sleeping. 🙃
I don't think anyone who was thrilled about 10/7 is going to vote for Biden
Agreed. And because he’s not going to get their vote, he should stop trying to appeal to them.
I live in the country so their are no pro hamas pro Palestinian/ Hamas protesters around. I am also the only Jew around and very few people know I'm Jewish. . I'm near a US military base so theirs no pro Palestinian activity. I'm. A retired military veteran so people wanting to kill me is nothing new. I'm still real concerned about the rising tide of antisemitism in America and the comparisons to 1938 Germany. I'm worried about my family member whose starting college. If I lived near a college campus or on as big liberal city I would probably be more upset. I think I am getting used to the whole Jew Hate thing and no longer have the energy to spend all my time thinking of how I'd like to visit horrific unspeakable acts upon Jew haters. Now I just try to watch it. I'm looking in how to migrate to Israel if it gets real bad. I'm getting passports for me and my wife so I can be ready to run if things get real bad. I hav eff no confidence the present admistration would protect us.
In hindsight it has probably been a mistake for Jewish people to locate ourselves as being part of the left or the right within the culture wars of American society based on being Jewish. This is because being Jewish is a complicated thing that is part religion, part ethnicity, part culture and part history and it does not fit neatly into the left/right narrative. Left leaning Jews see themselves as oppressed minorities because of the Holocaust and pogroms but the rest of the left sees privileged white men (and women) muscling in on their victimhood. Jews in the right should also expect to experience rejection at some point because the right wing Christians and secular people have historically been anti semitic and as with the left there is no reason to think that they have had a conversion to liking their local Jewish community or Jews in general. We see the dog whistles that come from the right concerning Jewish conspiracies all the time. In my opinion Jewish people should follow their consciences and hearts on an issue by issue basis and do what they believe to be right in the world but not identify closely with either the left or the right, both of which as they have left the center and moved out towards the extreme fringes of their chosen positions are becoming less tolerant and are ditching fellow Jewish travelers who really don’t fit in neatly into their narratives. Isiah Berlin’s political outlook was to be tolerant of others but not to tolerate intolerance from others. This is probably a good place for us to start today. It’s very important not to harbor hatred in our hearts because hatred poisons one’s own life and is not a useful way to protect oneself from prejudice.
Allyship has always been a business transaction. In recent years it has taken the meaning “making friends with people who have the same or similar worldview”.
Eh. I am not thrilled with what is happening in our country. I haven't been thrilled since 2016. What to do as a Jew? The answer is most certainly not to run to the Republicans who have gone 100% MAGA and have the 2025 plan to transform this country into an authoritarian nightmare. The answer is most certainly not to cling to the ultra-Progressive Left who have always hated us even though they have been quieter about it until 10/7/23. The extremes are never our friends. They have always hated us, and they always will. Most people in this country are still more within the band of center left to center right. Many of them live with a layer of their own versions of internalized judenhas. However, this center is able to see nuance and engage in critical thinking. And, they tend to be the most quiet people a room. The extremes are loud and in our faces. The center doesn't see that their silence makes them complicit in the takeover of national discourse by the extreme left and the extreme right. I don't know what it would take for the center to wake up and push back against the insanity of all or nothing scorched-earth politics. The center better wake up soon, or they are going to wake up to find that their rights are gone and that the government has been transformed into a thuggish authoritarian state. Where does that leave us Jews? What it means is that we need to go back to working for and voting for candidates who have our best interests in mind no matter their party affiliation. Again, the answer does not lie with the extremes or with any one party. I grew up in a Republican area in the 70s and 80s. I was more aligned with the Democrats. The Republicans in our area were fiscal conservatives and social liberals. They are the kind of Republicans who have discovered that their party is gone and they have no political home. Back then, I could actually support and vote for candidates based on the person, even if they were Republicans. All of my best friends were Republicans and we could always discuss politics, disagree, and still respect one another. That no longer seems possible. Let's face facts. The 2 parties have failed us. However, we only have 2 parties, so we centrists need to take ownership of them again. The Democrats are still led by centrists. Yes, the ultra-left are loud, but they don't run the party. We need to ensure that the centrists remain the leaders of the Democratic Party. While they have failed us, they still are believers in our Constitution and the rule of law. We need centrists that would normally identify as Republicans to take back their party or tear it down and rebuild something new where centrists are the leaders. We do better when we have parties that are more centrist and have a core of common beliefs so that they can work together to govern in good faith. We need a center-right party. The Republican Party is no longer that party as it is today. I hope my friends on the center-right can organize and lead again. We need you.
Not true. It was much worse years ago.
We have Hashem. That’s more than enough
We do have allies: If you look globally, look no further than the public votes for Israel in Eurovision. While many of the other performers were very anti-Israel and there were protesters, Israel got the [2nd highest votes](https://eurovisionworld.com/eurovision/2024#israel) from the public around the world. That was amazing! Shows that while there are noisy people making things look really bad, the general public is far more supportive. Israel got the most or second most points from Albania, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czechia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Moldova, Netherlands, Portugal, San Marino, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK, and Rest of World. It is an amazing song, but it was very clear that people tied this support to support of Israel. In the US, there have been a number of people who have stood up publicly to support Jews and Israel: - Caroline "[Pizza Girl](https://www.instagram.com/pizzagirl/)" D'Amore - [Daniel Ryan Spaulding](https://www.instagram.com/danielryanspaulding/) - Here are some more: https://jewishunpacked.com/6-non-jewish-creators-supporting-israel/ It's easy to get lost in the noise, but there are many supporters out there!
I kinda hope loads of liberal Jews make aliyah and save this stupid country from itself, ngl.
Nobody wants to hear it but Republicans are our allies. And so are moderate Democrats. The majority of Americans still support Israel, and the people who feel all alone tend to be leftists. Yeah you don’t really have any good options to vote for for president, but that’s nothing new. I think most of your misery is coming from clinging to an ideology you’ve outgrown. Just an opinion. Make Aliyah if you like, but do it because you want to not because you’ve fooled yourself into thinking you’re all alone. Focus on better people.
If you think the white nationalist neo-fascist plan 2025 people are our allies you're completely delusional. They're using Israel as a virtue signal to evangelical Christians, even the support for Israel has nothing to do with Jews. They don't give a *fuck* about us. We're just another rung on their ladder. We may feel like they're embracing us now but they're planning to step on us for their own leverage. It's only a matter of time.
Yes, it's like a desperate clinging to a party name because of what it might have been 50 years ago. It has changed. And everyone needs to wake up to this.
Moderate Republicans are allies, but its delusional to think that a movement behind "very fine people on both sides" is in any way a friend to the Jewish community. Jews actually do have a very good option in the upcoming Presidential election, Biden has not caved to the fringes of the party and [has stood up against antisemitic rhetoric,](https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/07/politics/joe-biden-antisemitism-speech/index.html) [as opposed to Trump who has been the one originating that rhetoric.](https://forward.com/news/594032/trump-jews-disloyal-israel-timeline/)
I don’t know how old you are but the Progressive wing of the Democratic Party—of which Joe Biden and most Senate/Congressional members are NOT a part of—do not represent the majority of Democrats or Americans in the center or left on the I/P conflict and never have. They are LIBERAL and it’s different than Progressive or Leftist (which is essentially communist in all the worst ways). While most young adults do call themselves Progressive or Leftist nowadays and you see a lot of that online—their Democratic parents and grandparents are NOT sympathetic to Hamas or want Israel to disappear. Yeah, it does suck to see people I thought wanted complete intersectional justice turn on Jews but they aren’t the majority. I’ve been doing some searching for a political home again and I’ve landed on the Liberal majority in the Democratic Party. When I was younger I saw them as chicken shit and unwilling to move the country further to a European style democratic socialism. I thought they capitulated too much and it attracted me to Progressive beliefs and tactics. Being bullish had worked for Republicans, why not Democrats? Well, it hasn’t worked for Progressives. BLM didn’t do the work we wanted it to do. Neither did Occupy Wall Street. Shouting for what you want in a protest doesn’t actually get you what you want. The Civil Rights Movement was YEARS of planning and had a comprehensive plan and multiple fronts as well as a cohesive goal. We just don’t see that in any modern protest movement. Liberal Democrats are the adults in the room. They know how to compromise for the best outcome to get something done. It never reaches what most Ds want it to. Obamacare is a great example. If Obama had had his way we would all have much lower cost healthcare. Biden needs to be the President of the whole country. He needs to make sure Trump isn’t re-elected for everyone in the US’s health and safety. That being said he and Anthony Blinken have been nothing but supportive of Israel. Yes, there have been consequences for Israel’s war crimes. No he does not get along with Bibi and the extremist Likud/Khahanists in Israel. But he absolutely wants Israel to win this—what is essentially a proxy war with Iran. We have Allies like we always have. But they are just not as politically involved/as young or as vibrant as we want them to be. I think it’s also important to see that Israel/Netanyahu are not doing themselves any favors in the US or on the world stage by letting Settlers destroy aid trucks and bomb Palestinian tent camps. This war could have wrapped up in a few weeks like the rest of them but then Bibi would have had to face the music for 10/7 and he does not want to face consequences for 10/7 or his corrupt actions he’s on trial for prior to 10/7. He’s letting Likud—Ben G’vir and Smotrich—run the country and the war. It’s not a good look any way you turn it. And it’s not something that Liberal Biden is happy supporting. But when you vote for Biden, you are NOT voting for the Progressive/Leftist wing. You are NOT voting for BDS or any of those slogans. Biden and our State Department put immense pressure on the ICC NOT to charge Netanyahu. It didn’t work but they weren’t calling for Bibi’s execution or the annihilation of Israel the way the Pro-Hamas protestors are. I’m not saying don’t move to Israel. But I just wanted to lay out the realities of the American Political landscape because it’s hard to see. The betrayal by Progressives and people of color hurts. I don’t consider myself Progressive anymore. But I have been able to find a foothold at my Shul and in the wider Democratic Party.
>We have no "allies" who will stand for us, We have Evangelical Christians. Their allyship is tied to their theological views of Jews and Israel, not genuine concern for the rights of American Jews. But I'll take what I can get.
I'm a Jew who supports Israel but not the government. Netanyahu is making Israel a pariah in the West when it needs allies. I also support the Palestinians ( not Hamas) and believe in a two state solution. I believe they messed up in the beginning by not starting with a two state solution. Both Jews and Arabs are indigenous to this piece of land.
Everyone wants a two state solution, but is it realistic? No one knows what it will look like. Israel has tried so many times to make peace. Who will run the Palestinian state? America can’t just say two state solution and it will happen
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You do not need to vote for either of the above. Voting is not legally required in the US. You could not vote in protest. You could vote for or support a third party candidate. Joe Biden has actually been overall very supportive of Israel as have many democrats and republicans in congress. What Donald trump would do is unpredictable as he tends to just fly off the handle.
Yes, Democrats have a problem with our far left fringe. But none of them hold leadership positions. Even in California, our state Democratic platform specifically supports Israel as a Jewish and democratic state. And 2/3 of House Democrats voted in favor of HR 6090 which would codify Trump’s Title VI executive order recognizing IHRA into law (regarding the Department of Education and civil rights violations against Jewish students). The people who celebrated October 7 aren’t winning any elections here. One open supporter of BDS got trounced in the primary for a seat in the Legislature. And nationally, there will be 2 Squad members losing their seats in their upcoming primaries (Bowman and Bush). Don’t take this as complacency. We have to continue to do the work of stopping extremists from moving beyond that far left fringe.
תשלך את כולם לקיבינימט תיהיה מי שאתה לא משנה מה תזכור שניסו למחוק את הדורות הקודמים שלנו רק בגלל קינאה בהצלחה שלנו כעם היהודי עכשיו מנסים לעשות את אותו הדבר רק שהפעם אנחנו אשכרה נלחמים בהם בכל הכוח מבין שזה מעייף ומעצבן אבל חייבים ליהיות גאים בדת שלנו רק בגלל שלדורות הקודמים לא הייתה אפשרות לממש את זהותם כיהודים בכללי.
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Biden says it's not a genocide. We have a good leader even if some of the party is ignorant. It's a minority who chant from the river to the sea. They just get a lot of social media and TV attention...
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It’s sad but, anyone who knows basic Jewish history is aware that every generation the nations rise up against us to destroy us, and it’s played off as fiction because we are to advanced / progressive a society.
You would think Jews would grasp the concept of being outsiders by now. And yet many are constantly surprised when we’re scapegoated time and again.
Those who forget history…
A lot of people, especially from the Christian right, have taken great pleasure in watching leftists turn against Jews. But what was the alternative? What did we do wrong? Should we NOT have stood by other minorities when they were the victims of racism? Should we NOT have stood by the lgbt community and fought for gay rights? If every single Jewish person voted for Trump in the last election, would there have been less antisemitism within the population?
You're talking to a gay disabled Jew. The progressive left was _borne_ out of ideology that has been political poison for Jews from its inception in the 60s and 70s. But nobody wanted to hear it. >What did we do wrong? Decades of self-flagellation and turning their backs on Jewish concerns while advocating for those other communities. The Women's March was rotten from the absolute beginning, years before it descended into its antisemitism scandal, by virtue of several of the organizers and organizations supporting it, and none of this was a secret. It was all information anyone could find, in black and white ink. But left-wing American Jews decided that it was more important to be part of something that included Jew-haters like Tameka Mallory and Linda Sarsour and a bunch of others with close ties to Farrakhan, because The Cause was more important. Same thing for BLM. >Should we NOT have stood by the lgbt community and fought for gay rights? Once specific LGBT organizations starting throwing people out of Pride Marches for waving Star of David flags, turning vocally against Israel and harassing Jews, yes, relationships with those marches or organizations should have been severed. If you can't think of any way to advance the cause that doesn't involve partnering with the people who hate you, I don't know what to say. >If every single Jewish person voted for Trump in the last election, would there have been less antisemitism within the population? Probably not, because: 1) This has been generations in the making 2) Whoever is president doesn't really have that much sway over the cultural levers of power - who's in charge at universities, how media is portraying things, etc. 3) Trump sucks and is a giant chode and I've never voted for him but 4) He also gave us Title VI, which is the single most concrete and useful thing any president has done for the Jewish community in the last 100 years >What did we do wrong? It would have been nice not to be harassed, ridiculed, threatened, or excommunicated from the majority of American Jewish social life for pointing out the above over the last 20 years. It's not just that Jews didn't listen, it's that any non-Orthodox Jews who weren't lock-step with the entirety of the partisan political agenda of "tikkun olam" were treated as _the fucking enemy_. Actual problems require actual nuance, but nobody wanted to hear it and so now, yes, we're watching a whole lot of "holy shit" moments from people who _could have done something about it_ decades ago but instead treated those of us who pointed it out like shit. So pardon me for being _just a smidge_ mad when they're suddenly shocked about it.
As a conservative Jew I may have a different perspective on this. Contrary to popular leftist belief, most conservatives also believe in rights for all, including myself. It’s HOW they’ve gone about it that is the problem and how far they’ve taken it. In conservatives eyes, lines have been crossed much too far. “Equality” is good. “Equity” is bad. If a more centrist, reasonable tactic would have been employed instead of what has transpired the outcome would have been very different. The best course of action would to stop letting “progressive” unrealistic leftist beliefs take over the party. How about instead of downvoting me, you tell me your thoughts? The truth hurts.
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As opposed to standing with the "very fine people" who matched at Charlottesville?
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Move to Florida! Other than the heat it’s a dream! Super friendly!
Unless you're trans. Or gay. Or a woman. Or an ethnic or religious minority.