There is nothing quite like Jewish double standards.
The virtues of free speech are suddenly so celebrated, when the speech in question threatens us Jews.
Please consider supporting our mission to help everyone better understand and become smarter about the Jewish world. A gift of any amount helps keep our platform free and zero-advertising for all.
This is an essay written by Zach Ross and Joshua Hoffman. You can also listen to the podcast version of this essay on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify.
It’s “we’re not antisemitic, only anti-Zionist” — but also “How dare there be an ad featured during the Super Bowl that calls out Jewish hate?”
It’s “Israelis are settlers and colonizers” — but the Muslims built a mosque on top of the most holy Jewish site that dates back thousands of years.
It’s “not all Palestinians are Hamas” — but “all Israelis are white settler colonialists.”
It’s “donate to Gaza relief fund” — but also “don’t ask us where the $40 billion in aid went over the last 20 years.”
It’s “stop all government support for Israel” which in part funds the Iron Dome that exists to protect millions of lives — but “save the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees” which breeds terrorists and exists to perpetuate war.
It’s “resistance by any means necessary” for Palestinians — but “genocide,” “ethnic cleansing” and “colonialism” when Jews defend themselves.
It’s the woke Left calling for “ceasefire now” — but Hamas breaking the last two ceasefires because they do not actually want one.
It’s “Palestinians have the right to self-determination” — but “Zionism, the self-determination for Jews, is racist.”
It’s “Israeli war crimes” — but more than 8,000 rockets that Palestinian terrorists have indiscriminately fired at Israeli citizens since the start of this war.
It’s “context matters” for Palestinians — but “thousands of years of Jewish history is going too far back.”
It’s “don’t stop talking about Palestinians” — but Jews talking about their suffering are “playing the victim.”
It’s “Oh no, Gaza will be occupied by Israel!” — but people were already saying that Gaza was occupied by Israel.
It’s “Palestinians holding onto their land for 75 years is resilience” — but Jews holding onto their land for 3,700 years is “religious extremism” and “made-up history.”
It’s “we want a Palestine that is free for Jews and Arabs” — but also “the only Jews that live on Palestinian land are held captive in dungeons, who we will only release for thousands of Palestinians that tried to kill Jews.”
It’s “the October 7th massacre didn’t happen” — but also “October 7th is what decolonization looks like, and it is the most inspiring day in Palestinian history.”
It’s “men, women, and children weren’t kidnapped” — but also “look how well they were treated in Hamas captivity.”
It’s “there are no hostages, that’s Zionist propaganda” — but also “Israel doesn’t care about the hostages, they probably killed them all with their bombs.”
It’s “Israel is an illegitimate state” — but China herds innocent Uyghurs into internment camps, Syria drops sarin gas on its own people, Iran hangs homosexuals, and Qatar practices modern-day slavery.
It’s “Israel is intentionally bombing innocent Palestinians” — but also “Israel is dropping leaflets and calling us to tell us to evacuate with only one or two days’ notice.”
It’s “I don’t believe Israeli state propaganda” — but sharing posts from Al Jazeera, Russia Today, and Iran’s Press TV.
It’s “Gaza is an open-air prison” — but also Israelis have “pulverized” the strip’s “cultural riches and municipal institutions.”1
It’s “Palestinians have nowhere to go” — but also “Palestinians will never, ever abandon their land or continue to be ethnically cleansed.”
It’s “Jews are white settler colonizers who have no history in this land” — but also “Palestinians are ancient Jews that converted to Islam 1,300 years ago.”
It’s “Israel cannot go into Rafah by any means to rescue hostages” — but “Hamas can held hostages in civilians homes all around the Gaza Strip.”
It’s “artists for ceasefire” — but no “artists for hostage release.”
It’s “Israelis are their government” despite continuous protests against the government — but “Palestinians aren’t Hamas” despite the majority of them supporting Hamas and no real protests against the terror group.
It’s “ceasefire now” for Palestinians — but “globalize the intifada” for Jews.
It’s “Israel is collectively punishing everyone in Gaza” — but “boycott all Israeli business, including the ones involved in Palestinian advocacy or employing Palestinian workers” and “while we’re at it, let’s go and boycott and vandalize Jewish-owned businesses across the Diaspora.”
It’s believing the numbers stated by a terrorist organization — but not believing Jewish eyewitnesses.
It’s “give the Palestinians back their land” — but Israel gave Gaza to the Palestinians in 2005 and they turned it into an Islamic jihad fortress equipped with more kilometers of underground terror tunnels than the London Underground and Paris Metro, combined.
It’s Russia starting a war, kidnapping children, allying with Iran, and Gen Z goes bonkers — but also Palestinian terrorists starting a war, kidnapping children, allying with Iran, and Gen Z is suddenly enchanted by Islam.
It’s “revitalize” the profoundly kleptocratic and corrupt Palestinian Authority — but also “get rid of Netanyahu’s government.”
It’s “sanctions against violent settlers” — but there are far more terror attacks by Palestinians against Jews, financially incentivized by both Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, yet these violent Palestinians go unsanctioned.
It’s “the humanitarian crisis in Gaza” — but also hundreds of mosques, hospitals, and schools throughout the strip that are packed with weapons and military equipment, while leading to vast networks of underground terror tunnels.
It’s “let’s return to the 1967 borders” — but Gaza was under Egyptian control and the West Bank was part of Jordan prior to the 1967 Six-Day War, and neither Egypt nor Jordan wants anything to do with the Palestinians.
It’s “wars destroy” — but also let’s keep Hamas, the world’s fifth-most active terror group, in power.
It’s “we need the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages” — but also “I keep the Israeli hostages dog tag necklace in the right pocket of my coat” where no one can see it.
It’s “dirty water” and “landslide” when Israel floods Gaza’s terror tunnels with water — but no one made a peep when Egypt did the same thing in 2015.
It’s “Islamophobia” — but also a religion whose followers admit they want to kill Jews, yet you have a phobia if you don’t want to be killed.
It’s Jews and Muslims can live safely together in Israel — but Jews and Muslims cannot live safely together in the Palestinian territories, or in Arab countries.
It’s “Israel has no right to exist” — but the 49 Muslim-majority countries that expelled their Jews are totally fine.
It’s “Palestinians and all their descendants are still refugees, even the ones in the Palestinian territories” — but no other refugee group in the world has that special designation.
It’s “apartheid” for Israel which has more than two million Arab citizens — but “no comment” on Judenrein (German for “free of Jews”) throughout the Middle East and North Africa.
It’s “the poor women and children of Gaza” — but “let’s not talk about the Israeli women being raped and a one-year-old toddler still in Palestinian captivity.”
It’s “never again” — but “stop talking about the Holocaust.”
It’s “free the Palestinian ‘hostages’ who are actually terrorists in Israeli jails” — but “let’s tear down the posters and deny the existence of the actual Israeli hostages.”
It’s “kudos for fighting for your rights” regarding LGBTQ people outside of Israel — but so-called “pinkwashing” inside of Israel.
It’s “the two-state solution” when Palestinians have never come to the table with serious intentions — but “Israel should make peace” when Palestinians are never prodded to take the first step or make a meaningful offer.
It’s Israelis “living on stolen land” — but millions of other people “living on stolen land” their entire lives, yet never being called out for it.
It’s “Say no to war!” — but a ceasefire would, for the time being, allow Palestinian terrorists to regroup and reload, enabling them to commit more unimaginable war crimes against both innocent Palestinians and Israelis.
It’s “prove it” for the Israeli women who were raped — but “Oh my goodness, Palestinian terrorists being detained in their underwear, what a genocide!”
It’s “I know so much about the Israel-Palestinian conflict” — but also “Fatah? What’s that?”
And, it’s “right of return” for all Palestinian refugees — but “go back to where you came from” for Jewish ones.
“I Am Gaza City’s Mayor. Our Lives and Culture Are in Rubble.” The New York Times.
 | A guest post by
|
Brilliant article about the Jewish double standard. Unfortunately, those who hate the Jews will believe none of it. Thank you Zach and Joshua for an incredible piece of writing.
Perfect, just perfect! This sort of piece is just so useful for those of us who live outside Israel in a sometimes hostile environment and try carefully and sensitively to write as far as we can in sympathy and support for our Jewish friends and Israel. Thank you.