It is very sad talking to Israelis in Western settings who seem to be developing an almost unconscious belief that confession of Israeli wrongdoing is their ticket to acceptance and protection from attack. They invite the morally sadistic crowd to challenge them on “the atrocious things my government does to Palestinians,” sometimes establishing their moral innocence before anyone has accused them. They never speak about Jewish suffering caused by Palestinians.
I wonder if there is something post-traumatic in this from October 7. And then the secondary trauma of finding out that your Western allies, instead of supporting you, accuse you. Well in that case - I am safer if I condemn my own side first.
And maybe there is tertiary trauma as well - when you look at the mind of the society capable of conceiving, planning, enacting and enjoying the atrocities of October 7, maybe it is safer to deny the realisation that they may not be presumed capable of any genuine resolution, occupation or no occupation.
Maybe that possibility is too frightening to contemplate. Because if the obstacle were just an atrocious Israeli government you can just have an election and fix it. It is more frightening to think that the conditions necessary for the hoped-for resolution may themselves be absent.
So the confession may accomplish two things at once: -If I condemn Israel, perhaps you will accept me. And: - If Israel is principally to blame, then perhaps the problem remains soluble.
Both offer relief from something much more unbearable.
Jewish antizionism is predicated on several things, the most egregious is that for some reason Israel is supposed to be perfect or they cant abide its existence. These are the same imbeciles that reject the American founding fathers ideals because they owned slaves (admittedly not a good look). Truth of the matter it is not an question of educating them what being Jewish is all about. They don't care. It's not as if the education isn't out there for them to grab ahold of if they wanted it. They want to be part of the cool kids table and don't care who they betray to get there. Jews have always had traitors among them. Now is no different.
Why do you exclude the Jews who criticize the actions of other Jews and the Israeli government? They are also in the same category. They think by merging into the diaspora in which they live they will escape the hatred of the goyim. These Jew hating Jews have done this for centuries to our historical detriment. As to the Jews in Israel who march against a government which gained power by popular vote, their egos have also caused the destruction of Israel for 5000 years. Jews just don’t understand we have to be united to survive. Even then our survival is precarious!
Interesting theory, with significant merit. I'm thinking that in the case of most Israel-hating Jews, the answer leans more toward Stockholm Syndrome. "I'm not one of THOSE Jews...Kill them, not me!" Add to that a significant dose of Leftist/Socialist/Marxist indoctrination. Many of the meshugganahs truly believe in the Fundamental Transformation of the world into a Socialist "Utopia", and they have been convinced by their Marxist betters that those stubborn Israelis are standing in the way of this false paradise.
Either way, we ignore their presence at our peril. Their irrational position as Israel-haters is held up as "evidence" against Israel, which cannot be tolerated.
Jewish communities in the diaspora may distance themselves from the State of Israel as much as they please, but this will not lessen the hostility from their host countries towards them.
Historical and contemporary data show that integration has rarely been a permanent shield against antisemitism.
The pattern of expulsion, social rejection, and persistent hostility is a core theme in Jewish history.
[1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
The Pattern of Historical Expulsions
When crises arose, host nations frequently scapegoated Jewish communities, regardless of how integrated they were. Notable examples include:
[1, 6, 7]
The Roman Conquest (132–136 CE): Severe displacement and mass enslavement followed the Bar Kokhba revolt, shattering Judea's population. [8]
Medieval Europe: King Edward I expelled all Jews from England in 1290, followed by similar decrees in France (1306) and various Holy Roman Empire territories. [9, 10]
The Spanish Inquisition (1492): King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella forced the Jewish population to choose between conversion to Christianity or permanent exile. [9]
The Arab World and Iran (Post-1948): Following the creation of Israel, over 850,000 Jews were systematically expelled or forced to flee from countries like Iraq, Egypt, Yemen, and Morocco, losing their citizenship and assets. [11, 12]
Contemporary Antisemitism
The challenges facing diaspora communities remain acute today, with security experts tracking a severe global resurgence in hostile acts:
[13, 14, 15, 16]
Record Physical Violence: Major safety monitors, including the Tel Aviv University Annual Antisemitism Report, documented record levels of severe violence globally. [13, 17]
The J7 Coalition Findings: The J7 Task Force Against Antisemitism—which monitors the largest diaspora populations across nations like the US, UK, Canada, France, and Germany—reported over 23,000 antisemitic incidents, labeling the current climate a "new normal" for Jewish communities. [18]
Persistent Conspiracy Theories: Modern digital platforms continue to amplify centuries-old tropes, ranging from economic control lies to the minimization of historical atrocities. [2, 19] [20, 21]
Jon Leibowitz Stewart. The respect and admiration he got in the comments from his lefty and Muslim viewers for "destroying" pro Israel John Fetterman in their recent interview...priceless in his mind. The "anti Zionist' Jews have bigger numbers and subs on Youtube than the "pro Zionist" ones. The echo chamber wouldn't appreciate that.
Most of the Jews who are vehemently hating Israel, and claiming to be anti-Zionists that I know grew up in secular homes where the old Communist ideology is still a thing, or are truly self-hating, taught by a parent or other family members to despise Jews because of their own troubles growing up inside Jewish communities in Canada.
What is “not a good look“ changes overtime and as a result of intellectual and social evolution. To condemn the things of the past at the time they were acceptable is to condemn yourself for future generations. It is history without context, which is nothing more than mental masturbation and rubbish! It is a lazy way of thinking. No insult intended to the writer. By making the comment about slavery in a parenthetical sense, all the writer does is make the very point he condemns.
I always thought it has to do with elevating ones own moral stature . If you are Jewish AND antizionist you get extra points because you do it AS A JEW . How objective , how non -tribal.
All expressed from the safe glamorous distance of Hollywood award shows , podcasts and talk shows or the more austere intellectual version of sterile lecture halls and libraries and book shops .
This war is a huge projectionwall for moral posturing
Our Amidah prayer contains a plea to Hashem to protect us from Jew-hating Jews. It would seem Josh is explaining a recurring challenge in our people's history. Remember Am, "united we stand, divided we fall".
Damn Jews. Why can't they be like the Scots. No particularism there. Or the Ukrainians. No particularism there. Or like the Chinese. Certainly no particularism there. Unlike the Jews, they are all paragons of universal democracy that Jews should emulate by abandoning the particularity, that is their religion, their nationality, their country, their history, their culture, and their civilization.
The anti-Zionist Jews, the self-erasing Jews refuse to face the reality on the ground. Hamas specifically targeted and massacred an entirely apolitical group of people: the youth at the Nova music festival and the communities in the nearby kibbutzim, all of whom wanted nothing more than to live in peace with their neighbors.
I find this to be one one of Joshua's most profound, beautiful essays. It captures essential traits of those Jews who seek to distance themselves from Israel, to see themselves and - they hope - to have the non-Jewish world to see them, as the "good kind" of Jews.
These are human traits - the desire to fit in, to be accepted by others, to take the path of least resistance, to be spared the complexities of intimate relationships. Yet such Jews also deny foundational elements of their 3,500-year lineage, and most appear lazily to accept propaganda rather than taking on the harder work of educating themselves regarding history and facts. They are analogous to neighborhood residents who would have a beautiful community center condemned on the basis of a few broken windows and sections of peeling paint, rather than supporting a communal effort to make the needed repairs.
None of this is new. In 1930s Germany, a small minority of Jews supported the Hitler and the Nazis Party, calling themselves the Association of German National Jews (Verband nationaldeutscher Juden). They were fully assimilated Germans who rejected Jewish "internationalism," Zionism, and immigration by eastern European Jews.
Their posture notwithstanding, most of them and their families were murdered in the Holocaust.
In short, the difference between cowardice and courage.
How many of those anti Zionist Jews would cleave to that position if it was unpopular? Overt antisemitism has become mainstream since October 7 but passive antisemitism was present for decades earlier, especially in academia, cultural institutions and nonprofits, sectors that used to have significant Jewish participation.
That became the canary in the coal mine, telling cowards to run away from their Jewish identity for safety's sake. October 7 arrived and found these Jews ready to make themselves useful.
A nauseating contrast with the courage, civic responsibility and self-sacrifice shown by Israelis of all walks of life after Oct 7, including the more than 30 Israeli Arabs who lost their lives on Oct 7, many while saving other Israelis.
The phrase "Israel does not represent me" could not be more apt.
It is very sad talking to Israelis in Western settings who seem to be developing an almost unconscious belief that confession of Israeli wrongdoing is their ticket to acceptance and protection from attack. They invite the morally sadistic crowd to challenge them on “the atrocious things my government does to Palestinians,” sometimes establishing their moral innocence before anyone has accused them. They never speak about Jewish suffering caused by Palestinians.
I wonder if there is something post-traumatic in this from October 7. And then the secondary trauma of finding out that your Western allies, instead of supporting you, accuse you. Well in that case - I am safer if I condemn my own side first.
And maybe there is tertiary trauma as well - when you look at the mind of the society capable of conceiving, planning, enacting and enjoying the atrocities of October 7, maybe it is safer to deny the realisation that they may not be presumed capable of any genuine resolution, occupation or no occupation.
Maybe that possibility is too frightening to contemplate. Because if the obstacle were just an atrocious Israeli government you can just have an election and fix it. It is more frightening to think that the conditions necessary for the hoped-for resolution may themselves be absent.
So the confession may accomplish two things at once: -If I condemn Israel, perhaps you will accept me. And: - If Israel is principally to blame, then perhaps the problem remains soluble.
Both offer relief from something much more unbearable.
Jewish antizionism is predicated on several things, the most egregious is that for some reason Israel is supposed to be perfect or they cant abide its existence. These are the same imbeciles that reject the American founding fathers ideals because they owned slaves (admittedly not a good look). Truth of the matter it is not an question of educating them what being Jewish is all about. They don't care. It's not as if the education isn't out there for them to grab ahold of if they wanted it. They want to be part of the cool kids table and don't care who they betray to get there. Jews have always had traitors among them. Now is no different.
The problem with these Jews who want a seat at the table is that, yes you get your spot at the table, but you are the meal.
100%!!!!!
Why do you exclude the Jews who criticize the actions of other Jews and the Israeli government? They are also in the same category. They think by merging into the diaspora in which they live they will escape the hatred of the goyim. These Jew hating Jews have done this for centuries to our historical detriment. As to the Jews in Israel who march against a government which gained power by popular vote, their egos have also caused the destruction of Israel for 5000 years. Jews just don’t understand we have to be united to survive. Even then our survival is precarious!
Interesting theory, with significant merit. I'm thinking that in the case of most Israel-hating Jews, the answer leans more toward Stockholm Syndrome. "I'm not one of THOSE Jews...Kill them, not me!" Add to that a significant dose of Leftist/Socialist/Marxist indoctrination. Many of the meshugganahs truly believe in the Fundamental Transformation of the world into a Socialist "Utopia", and they have been convinced by their Marxist betters that those stubborn Israelis are standing in the way of this false paradise.
Either way, we ignore their presence at our peril. Their irrational position as Israel-haters is held up as "evidence" against Israel, which cannot be tolerated.
Thank you Joshua.
Jewish communities in the diaspora may distance themselves from the State of Israel as much as they please, but this will not lessen the hostility from their host countries towards them.
Historical and contemporary data show that integration has rarely been a permanent shield against antisemitism.
The pattern of expulsion, social rejection, and persistent hostility is a core theme in Jewish history.
[1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
The Pattern of Historical Expulsions
When crises arose, host nations frequently scapegoated Jewish communities, regardless of how integrated they were. Notable examples include:
[1, 6, 7]
The Roman Conquest (132–136 CE): Severe displacement and mass enslavement followed the Bar Kokhba revolt, shattering Judea's population. [8]
Medieval Europe: King Edward I expelled all Jews from England in 1290, followed by similar decrees in France (1306) and various Holy Roman Empire territories. [9, 10]
The Spanish Inquisition (1492): King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella forced the Jewish population to choose between conversion to Christianity or permanent exile. [9]
The Arab World and Iran (Post-1948): Following the creation of Israel, over 850,000 Jews were systematically expelled or forced to flee from countries like Iraq, Egypt, Yemen, and Morocco, losing their citizenship and assets. [11, 12]
Contemporary Antisemitism
The challenges facing diaspora communities remain acute today, with security experts tracking a severe global resurgence in hostile acts:
[13, 14, 15, 16]
Record Physical Violence: Major safety monitors, including the Tel Aviv University Annual Antisemitism Report, documented record levels of severe violence globally. [13, 17]
The J7 Coalition Findings: The J7 Task Force Against Antisemitism—which monitors the largest diaspora populations across nations like the US, UK, Canada, France, and Germany—reported over 23,000 antisemitic incidents, labeling the current climate a "new normal" for Jewish communities. [18]
Persistent Conspiracy Theories: Modern digital platforms continue to amplify centuries-old tropes, ranging from economic control lies to the minimization of historical atrocities. [2, 19] [20, 21]
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org
[2] https://www.ushmm.org
[3] https://www.youtube.com
[4] https://www.facebook.com
[5] https://www.youtube.com
[6] https://www.mercazusa.org
[7] https://www.facebook.com
[8] https://en.wikipedia.org
[9] https://www.britannica.com
[10] https://www.ebsco.com
[11] https://www.worldjewishcongress.org
[12] https://www.facebook.com
[13] https://english.tau.ac.il
[14] https://ict.org.il
[15] https://www.nytimes.com
[16] https://inner.org
[17] https://www.gov.il
[18] https://www.dw.com
[19] https://www.facebook.com
[20] https://www.reddit.com
[21] https://www.historytoday.com
💖💔⭐ Beautiful, Josh!
Jon Leibowitz Stewart. The respect and admiration he got in the comments from his lefty and Muslim viewers for "destroying" pro Israel John Fetterman in their recent interview...priceless in his mind. The "anti Zionist' Jews have bigger numbers and subs on Youtube than the "pro Zionist" ones. The echo chamber wouldn't appreciate that.
Most of the Jews who are vehemently hating Israel, and claiming to be anti-Zionists that I know grew up in secular homes where the old Communist ideology is still a thing, or are truly self-hating, taught by a parent or other family members to despise Jews because of their own troubles growing up inside Jewish communities in Canada.
What is “not a good look“ changes overtime and as a result of intellectual and social evolution. To condemn the things of the past at the time they were acceptable is to condemn yourself for future generations. It is history without context, which is nothing more than mental masturbation and rubbish! It is a lazy way of thinking. No insult intended to the writer. By making the comment about slavery in a parenthetical sense, all the writer does is make the very point he condemns.
I always thought it has to do with elevating ones own moral stature . If you are Jewish AND antizionist you get extra points because you do it AS A JEW . How objective , how non -tribal.
All expressed from the safe glamorous distance of Hollywood award shows , podcasts and talk shows or the more austere intellectual version of sterile lecture halls and libraries and book shops .
This war is a huge projectionwall for moral posturing
Our Amidah prayer contains a plea to Hashem to protect us from Jew-hating Jews. It would seem Josh is explaining a recurring challenge in our people's history. Remember Am, "united we stand, divided we fall".
"Jewish particularism and universal democracy"
Damn Jews. Why can't they be like the Scots. No particularism there. Or the Ukrainians. No particularism there. Or like the Chinese. Certainly no particularism there. Unlike the Jews, they are all paragons of universal democracy that Jews should emulate by abandoning the particularity, that is their religion, their nationality, their country, their history, their culture, and their civilization.
The anti-Zionist Jews, the self-erasing Jews refuse to face the reality on the ground. Hamas specifically targeted and massacred an entirely apolitical group of people: the youth at the Nova music festival and the communities in the nearby kibbutzim, all of whom wanted nothing more than to live in peace with their neighbors.
I find this to be one one of Joshua's most profound, beautiful essays. It captures essential traits of those Jews who seek to distance themselves from Israel, to see themselves and - they hope - to have the non-Jewish world to see them, as the "good kind" of Jews.
These are human traits - the desire to fit in, to be accepted by others, to take the path of least resistance, to be spared the complexities of intimate relationships. Yet such Jews also deny foundational elements of their 3,500-year lineage, and most appear lazily to accept propaganda rather than taking on the harder work of educating themselves regarding history and facts. They are analogous to neighborhood residents who would have a beautiful community center condemned on the basis of a few broken windows and sections of peeling paint, rather than supporting a communal effort to make the needed repairs.
None of this is new. In 1930s Germany, a small minority of Jews supported the Hitler and the Nazis Party, calling themselves the Association of German National Jews (Verband nationaldeutscher Juden). They were fully assimilated Germans who rejected Jewish "internationalism," Zionism, and immigration by eastern European Jews.
Their posture notwithstanding, most of them and their families were murdered in the Holocaust.
In short, the difference between cowardice and courage.
How many of those anti Zionist Jews would cleave to that position if it was unpopular? Overt antisemitism has become mainstream since October 7 but passive antisemitism was present for decades earlier, especially in academia, cultural institutions and nonprofits, sectors that used to have significant Jewish participation.
That became the canary in the coal mine, telling cowards to run away from their Jewish identity for safety's sake. October 7 arrived and found these Jews ready to make themselves useful.
A nauseating contrast with the courage, civic responsibility and self-sacrifice shown by Israelis of all walks of life after Oct 7, including the more than 30 Israeli Arabs who lost their lives on Oct 7, many while saving other Israelis.
The phrase "Israel does not represent me" could not be more apt.
I’m unable to not see Peter Beinart in this picture.