Anti-racism and Israel

[snarkybando]

This makes me extremely, extremely uncomfortable, even angry. I'm a fairly secular Jew, I want Israel to move back to the green line, give the Palestinians a state, phase out the land part of the right of return (like Iceland's), and secularize to some extent before the Haredi take over and make Israel into a Jewish Saudi Arabia

Comments

[venat]

Oh, good. I'm glad I wasn't the only one who found that post a little disconcerting, and I basically agree with everything you said.

As a Jew I feel like if I say anything to the contrary on the matter, I'm automatically pegged as a supporter of Israeli OPPRESHUN and dismissed. It's a sensitive topic to be sure, but, like you said, it's not as black and white as some people make it out to be. I'm ALWAYS concerned that whenever I take issue with some of the anti-racism posts if (subconsciously) it's my upper-middle-class, white background talking. I like to think that it isn't.

[rowena742]

As a Jew I feel like if I say anything to the contrary on the matter, I'm automatically pegged as a supporter of Israeli OPPRESHUN and dismissed.

I stay away from posts on the subject for the same reason. I'm glad there are people out there brave enough to talk about it in an evenhanded fashion.

[charles_rb]

My only link to Judaism comes from a great-grandfather wot I have never met, and I still looked at that link and went "WTF". I'm not sure what they actually think they're going to achieve - nor how "Jews aren't all white BUT SUPPORT FOR ISRAEL IS WHITE SUPREMACISM!" is logical at all.

On the plus side, they're only bothering to do this in the US and Canada. Europe escapes!

[livias_fiction]

That example with the obnoxious orangemen (of which a lot of my family happens to come from), the actions of one of my relatives back in northern ireland was the reason my family's over here in the US because of the "obnoxious orange" mentality. carving up the countries with a butcher's knife by imperialists was meant to inspire these rivalries to weaken the indigenous people--but sometimes that backfires. horribly. just ask algeria, afrikaners, and the folks in question--the middle east.

[charles_rb]

Actually, carving up Ireland into Republic and Northern was done mainly because Britain wanted to keep Belfast (which was an economic centre at the time) and the six counties were predominantly Protestant & didn't want to be in a majority-Catholic nation due to Fear of the laws being papal. Enough of the Republicans were willing to sign up to this to get the Irish Free State (and enough weren't to start the Civil War among said Republicans).

Now Belfast STOPPED being a big economic centre until recently and there's been decades of sectarian violence only recently ended (mostly), this decision looks FUCKING DUMB. Ahhh, the Empire...