Ido, I agree with your article, but I would take it a step further.
The irony is that while much of this activism may do very little to change reality in Gaza, it does have enormous consequences here in the West.
It influences elections. It pressures politicians. It shapes public opinion. It affects universities, media coverage, corporate policies, and cultural attitudes. In that sense, it is far more successful than many of us would like to admit.
Part of the reason is exactly what you describe. The keffiyeh has become fashionable. It has become a symbol that allows people to signal virtue, belonging, and identity. For many young people, it looks rebellious, compassionate, and socially approved all at the same time.
When I was young, people wore bell bottoms because they were cool. Today, some people wear a keffiyeh for the same reason. The difference is that this particular fashion statement carries political consequences.
That's why I think many of us underestimate it. We look at a protest, a hashtag, a scarf, or an encampment and say, "What did it accomplish?" But the cumulative effect is enormous. It normalizes ideas. It recruits supporters. It creates social pressure. It influences institutions. And eventually it influences policy.
In that sense, our opponents have run a remarkably successful propaganda campaign. They have managed to turn a political cause into a cultural identity and a fashion statement at the same time.
What is our equivalent? What is our slogan? What is our symbol? What is our cultural movement? We don't seem to have one. We don't market our story. We don't package our ideas. We don't make Jewish pride, Zionism, or support for Israel something people feel excited to display publicly.
Meanwhile, the other side understands the power of symbols, slogans, fashion, and social pressure.
And that is why they are destroying us in the propaganda war.
You’re right as someone with Muslim relatives who are like young like Gen Z like me so many of them wore the keffiyah on their graduation ceremony too as a cord. It’s terrible. I’m so glad I had the most basic graduation look but a cute coastal decorated hat. The keffiyah just feels so performative bc we all know the Israelites existed in the region way before the Bedouin arabs.
“I wore a Star of David for the first time the day after October 7, 2023. I am still wearing it — not because God told me to, but because my people were under attack and I needed the world around me to know whose side I am on.”
This all true, but at the end of the day, we have to accept the fact that Jew hatred has not waned. It’s still here and always will be, and the current expression of it is just the same old reality of feeding a big lie and experiencing the outcome. Bottom line, we know who we are, we know our incredible history, we have real roots and purpose for which we should all be very proud and grateful. We go on with real life and hold our heads high. This is our best weapon against the haters.
The keffiyeh is the new swastika. I so love little Jewish girls wearing keffiyehs on campuses and in big city marches. So brave. I often wonder if mommy and daddy approve ( maybe they even have their own , in stylish colors if course). Anyone see the intergenerational foursome with their keffiyehs and cute sunglasses posing outside the Park Slope ( slop) food coop?
It also helps that they rarely encounter anyone who thinks differently, and if they do, that person is quickly morally mobbed and defenstrated.
My friends and I are far from college kids (50s), but when I tell them things that contradict the sacred edicts of the NY Times they first act shocked and confused. It's really a form of fundamentalism and any word, phrase or fact that doesn't obey the narrative and its dogma strikes them as both threatening and impossible.
The internet, the phones, and social media have hijacked and reprogrammed almost every Western brain, with people barely noticing and resting assured that at least everyone they know has had the same digital lobotomy.
Leftwing people identify and fight for the poor and disinfranchised ... Israel is a victim - here - of their own success.... And those Pro Palestine people have been lied to and have no memory.
Zionism is the movement for the Jewish People’s national self-determination in their ancestral homeland.
Zionism stands as a remarkable example of decolonization, in which an oppressed and exiled people returned to their ancestral homeland, revived their ancient language, and built a vibrant democracy.
Abraham, our Patriarch, was a Zionist
Genesis makes it clear that Zionism is central to Abraham’s new religious mission.
Abraham becomes a Jew and a Zionist at the same time. The first command he receives is “Go from your country [lech lecha], your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.” Abraham’s religious journey begins with a pilgrimage to Israel. Israel is an ever-present theme in the text; when Abraham and Sarah abandon Israel in search of food, it is seen by some, such as the Ramban, as a “major sin.” Their entire lives focus on the dream of building a nation in the land. When Sarah dies, the Bible depicts the intense effort Abraham makes to bury her in Israel. As Ibn Ezra notes, the purchase of a burial plot for her marks the beginning of the future Jewish state.
Genesis makes it clear that Zionism is central to Abraham’s new religious mission.
Yes, they wrapped their heads in keffiyehs. However, the brains inside the heads functioned only to control locomotion, speech, and many other biological functions, but these brains were devoid of thinking ability.
I don't know if the Park Slope Coop knows that the Israeli food companies that they boycotted are JOINT ventures with Palestinians
The VERY THING we all are hoping can be built to create lasting peace for both communities has been boycotted in a performative statement of "solidarity". More ignorance and more posturing.
Claiming to want peace, solidarity, 2 states etc is just either an illusion or a way to mask hatred (from the hater him/herself and others), but mostly a syrupy lie that the Islamo-Left uses to pacify its useful idiots. Anti-Zionism has only ever meant one and the same thing: the destruction of Israel.
You can either cheer 10/7 and chant "From the River to the Sea" and "Globalize the Intifada" or be for peaceful coexistence. You can't do both.
The photo, which I’ve seen before, is the perfect example of what the self-serving, self-obsessed, ignorant useful idiots are all about. Another good article. Thank you.
Also the fact that the tent cities on each campus were all the same tents made me tink it was funded by some NGO or foreign entity (Qatar?). That the scenic design that goes with the costuming.
50 years ago, having long hair was staking a generational, cultural and yes, fashion claim ...for a guy...natural and untamed unpermed for a girl.....more than it was political....anti Vietnam war sentiment grew....until even Walter Cronkite was distancing himself. Today's cosplaying fedayeen think this is a link to previous youth engagement with social causes? It's a sign as you write of their profound ignorance and their arrogance. American patriotism wasn't very large in my psyche until 9/11. It is now. I've always been Zionist. So recent events can only deepen it. The hostility to Jews as Jews, Israelis as Israelis only confirms it. when I see East Asian faces...young women...with the pal table cloth, I wonder what they are doing on behalf of freedom in China, the oppression the "genocide" of the Tibetans...and so on. Trans Jew was weariing free Palestine buttons....what does "she" know, after Oct. 7th. No, this level of hate and violence and ignorance has nothing in common with protesting the Vietnam war....and it's a sign of hate ...a repugnant sign......not virtue.
Before dawn I voice the names of my dear friends whose llast name is Singer. They came each summer to visit with their kin who were the mainstay of my congregation. All are sleeping in the dust and all our cemeteries in the North Country of Upstate New York desecrated, the last one buried lived to 106 years, I am not there anymore, the antisemitism saturates the soil.
I want you to know their names and isomhow you are connected with them .. to know, they are in my minyan of invisiblity,
as I read your words I pray they are listening and soon meet me at the gates.
Max, Suzannw & Alex Singer זייל
All btilliant writers.
Thank you for being in being of flesh and blood in this world and keeping the light of our people before our eyes.
"There is a behavioral psychology term for what happens when someone posts a hashtag, buys a symbol, or joins an encampment and then considers themselves done.
It is called moral licensing."
Back in the day, it used to be called "virtue signaling" and "moral grandstanding." Very accurate description of the phenomenon.
The term "license" referred to in the article also applies to the distinction between Free Speech and Licentious Speech, also known as the distinction between Protected Speech and Criminal Speech.
"The demands were nearly identical at every campus"
You don't get such high degree of uniformity unless it is well coordinated and funded by organizations centralizing their operations.
“ 'Anti-Zionism' is not a political position"
Correct. It is a cover for publicly expressing Jew-hatred without fear of any social or legal repercussions, something the protesters would never dare do if they wanted to openly vent their misogyny or hatred of Blacks.
"Zionism, the actual thing underneath the word the internet spent years turning into a slur, is not a theology. It is a declaration."
Zionism is not a political movement. That is a late 19C development. It is the longing of an indigenous people for their ancestral homeland when they have been conquered, exiled, colonized, their lands settled by the invaders, and they, the natives, often confined to Jew-Bantustans in their own country.
Worth improving, I'm sure, but there's a TON of money going into anti-Israel propaganda in K-12 curricula and college chairs and ME Studies dept's, and buying tents for campus occupiers. It's coming in through the transnational elite's foundations and NGO's, and Chinese millionaires, and Qatar. Where is our pressure campaign to get it stopped? Maybe existing Jewish organizations could raise their voices about this, lead groups to pressure politicians. But religious congregations have a role too. Form a group to examine your local public school's social studies curricula, and then attend subsequent local school board meetings to discuss it.
Ido, I agree with your article, but I would take it a step further.
The irony is that while much of this activism may do very little to change reality in Gaza, it does have enormous consequences here in the West.
It influences elections. It pressures politicians. It shapes public opinion. It affects universities, media coverage, corporate policies, and cultural attitudes. In that sense, it is far more successful than many of us would like to admit.
Part of the reason is exactly what you describe. The keffiyeh has become fashionable. It has become a symbol that allows people to signal virtue, belonging, and identity. For many young people, it looks rebellious, compassionate, and socially approved all at the same time.
When I was young, people wore bell bottoms because they were cool. Today, some people wear a keffiyeh for the same reason. The difference is that this particular fashion statement carries political consequences.
That's why I think many of us underestimate it. We look at a protest, a hashtag, a scarf, or an encampment and say, "What did it accomplish?" But the cumulative effect is enormous. It normalizes ideas. It recruits supporters. It creates social pressure. It influences institutions. And eventually it influences policy.
In that sense, our opponents have run a remarkably successful propaganda campaign. They have managed to turn a political cause into a cultural identity and a fashion statement at the same time.
What is our equivalent? What is our slogan? What is our symbol? What is our cultural movement? We don't seem to have one. We don't market our story. We don't package our ideas. We don't make Jewish pride, Zionism, or support for Israel something people feel excited to display publicly.
Meanwhile, the other side understands the power of symbols, slogans, fashion, and social pressure.
And that is why they are destroying us in the propaganda war.
You’re right as someone with Muslim relatives who are like young like Gen Z like me so many of them wore the keffiyah on their graduation ceremony too as a cord. It’s terrible. I’m so glad I had the most basic graduation look but a cute coastal decorated hat. The keffiyah just feels so performative bc we all know the Israelites existed in the region way before the Bedouin arabs.
You are one of the bright hopes for our future. Always be well and always be true to yourself. Best to you always.
Thank you so much! Words like this give me strength and courage to keep speaking the truth 💙🤍
❤️
“I wore a Star of David for the first time the day after October 7, 2023. I am still wearing it — not because God told me to, but because my people were under attack and I needed the world around me to know whose side I am on.”
Ditto.
And I'm sure it leaves you with such a good feeling inside. Best always.
This all true, but at the end of the day, we have to accept the fact that Jew hatred has not waned. It’s still here and always will be, and the current expression of it is just the same old reality of feeding a big lie and experiencing the outcome. Bottom line, we know who we are, we know our incredible history, we have real roots and purpose for which we should all be very proud and grateful. We go on with real life and hold our heads high. This is our best weapon against the haters.
100% correct, but at the same time, there are many things that we need to improve on beginning with our bloated Jewish organizations.
The keffiyeh is the new swastika. I so love little Jewish girls wearing keffiyehs on campuses and in big city marches. So brave. I often wonder if mommy and daddy approve ( maybe they even have their own , in stylish colors if course). Anyone see the intergenerational foursome with their keffiyehs and cute sunglasses posing outside the Park Slope ( slop) food coop?
It's all very disgusting.
Absolutely. They should be ashamed but they're too stupid and egotistical to know it. They'll trip over their hypocrisy yet 🤬
The self-aggrandizing narcissism wrapped in moral superiority gives them a cloak of untouchability, or so they believe.
It also helps that they rarely encounter anyone who thinks differently, and if they do, that person is quickly morally mobbed and defenstrated.
My friends and I are far from college kids (50s), but when I tell them things that contradict the sacred edicts of the NY Times they first act shocked and confused. It's really a form of fundamentalism and any word, phrase or fact that doesn't obey the narrative and its dogma strikes them as both threatening and impossible.
The internet, the phones, and social media have hijacked and reprogrammed almost every Western brain, with people barely noticing and resting assured that at least everyone they know has had the same digital lobotomy.
Leftwing people identify and fight for the poor and disinfranchised ... Israel is a victim - here - of their own success.... And those Pro Palestine people have been lied to and have no memory.
Brilliant expose! Thank you! And glad you are wearing your Star of David. We do the same. The Lord bless you!
Thank you for reading!
Zionism is the movement for the Jewish People’s national self-determination in their ancestral homeland.
Zionism stands as a remarkable example of decolonization, in which an oppressed and exiled people returned to their ancestral homeland, revived their ancient language, and built a vibrant democracy.
Abraham, our Patriarch, was a Zionist
Genesis makes it clear that Zionism is central to Abraham’s new religious mission.
Abraham becomes a Jew and a Zionist at the same time. The first command he receives is “Go from your country [lech lecha], your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.” Abraham’s religious journey begins with a pilgrimage to Israel. Israel is an ever-present theme in the text; when Abraham and Sarah abandon Israel in search of food, it is seen by some, such as the Ramban, as a “major sin.” Their entire lives focus on the dream of building a nation in the land. When Sarah dies, the Bible depicts the intense effort Abraham makes to bury her in Israel. As Ibn Ezra notes, the purchase of a burial plot for her marks the beginning of the future Jewish state.
Genesis makes it clear that Zionism is central to Abraham’s new religious mission.
Where were the flotillas for the hostages?
Yes, they wrapped their heads in keffiyehs. However, the brains inside the heads functioned only to control locomotion, speech, and many other biological functions, but these brains were devoid of thinking ability.
This is the best article Ive seen about the keffiyeh Karen phenomenon. Scarves are easier to wear than klan hoods
"easier to wear than Klan hoods"--Brilliant post!
Watch Bill Maher
I don't know if the Park Slope Coop knows that the Israeli food companies that they boycotted are JOINT ventures with Palestinians
The VERY THING we all are hoping can be built to create lasting peace for both communities has been boycotted in a performative statement of "solidarity". More ignorance and more posturing.
Claiming to want peace, solidarity, 2 states etc is just either an illusion or a way to mask hatred (from the hater him/herself and others), but mostly a syrupy lie that the Islamo-Left uses to pacify its useful idiots. Anti-Zionism has only ever meant one and the same thing: the destruction of Israel.
You can either cheer 10/7 and chant "From the River to the Sea" and "Globalize the Intifada" or be for peaceful coexistence. You can't do both.
The photo, which I’ve seen before, is the perfect example of what the self-serving, self-obsessed, ignorant useful idiots are all about. Another good article. Thank you.
Watching my liberal friends take up this cosplaying in the wake of 10/7 has been infuriating and heartbreaking.
Also the fact that the tent cities on each campus were all the same tents made me tink it was funded by some NGO or foreign entity (Qatar?). That the scenic design that goes with the costuming.
50 years ago, having long hair was staking a generational, cultural and yes, fashion claim ...for a guy...natural and untamed unpermed for a girl.....more than it was political....anti Vietnam war sentiment grew....until even Walter Cronkite was distancing himself. Today's cosplaying fedayeen think this is a link to previous youth engagement with social causes? It's a sign as you write of their profound ignorance and their arrogance. American patriotism wasn't very large in my psyche until 9/11. It is now. I've always been Zionist. So recent events can only deepen it. The hostility to Jews as Jews, Israelis as Israelis only confirms it. when I see East Asian faces...young women...with the pal table cloth, I wonder what they are doing on behalf of freedom in China, the oppression the "genocide" of the Tibetans...and so on. Trans Jew was weariing free Palestine buttons....what does "she" know, after Oct. 7th. No, this level of hate and violence and ignorance has nothing in common with protesting the Vietnam war....and it's a sign of hate ...a repugnant sign......not virtue.
Brilliant.
Before dawn I voice the names of my dear friends whose llast name is Singer. They came each summer to visit with their kin who were the mainstay of my congregation. All are sleeping in the dust and all our cemeteries in the North Country of Upstate New York desecrated, the last one buried lived to 106 years, I am not there anymore, the antisemitism saturates the soil.
I want you to know their names and isomhow you are connected with them .. to know, they are in my minyan of invisiblity,
as I read your words I pray they are listening and soon meet me at the gates.
Max, Suzannw & Alex Singer זייל
All btilliant writers.
Thank you for being in being of flesh and blood in this world and keeping the light of our people before our eyes.
✍🏻RL
"There is a behavioral psychology term for what happens when someone posts a hashtag, buys a symbol, or joins an encampment and then considers themselves done.
It is called moral licensing."
Back in the day, it used to be called "virtue signaling" and "moral grandstanding." Very accurate description of the phenomenon.
The term "license" referred to in the article also applies to the distinction between Free Speech and Licentious Speech, also known as the distinction between Protected Speech and Criminal Speech.
"The demands were nearly identical at every campus"
You don't get such high degree of uniformity unless it is well coordinated and funded by organizations centralizing their operations.
“ 'Anti-Zionism' is not a political position"
Correct. It is a cover for publicly expressing Jew-hatred without fear of any social or legal repercussions, something the protesters would never dare do if they wanted to openly vent their misogyny or hatred of Blacks.
"Zionism, the actual thing underneath the word the internet spent years turning into a slur, is not a theology. It is a declaration."
Zionism is not a political movement. That is a late 19C development. It is the longing of an indigenous people for their ancestral homeland when they have been conquered, exiled, colonized, their lands settled by the invaders, and they, the natives, often confined to Jew-Bantustans in their own country.
Worth improving, I'm sure, but there's a TON of money going into anti-Israel propaganda in K-12 curricula and college chairs and ME Studies dept's, and buying tents for campus occupiers. It's coming in through the transnational elite's foundations and NGO's, and Chinese millionaires, and Qatar. Where is our pressure campaign to get it stopped? Maybe existing Jewish organizations could raise their voices about this, lead groups to pressure politicians. But religious congregations have a role too. Form a group to examine your local public school's social studies curricula, and then attend subsequent local school board meetings to discuss it.