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American Jews, of which I am one, really have deal better with the fact that some people are arguing in bad faith on all sides of the Israel argument.Permalink On twitter.com
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If you're not Jewish, imagine how you've felt talking about race, politics & media since 2017, spread it across your entire life, add the stress of explaining that you don't support Trump to a foreign friend and you'll have some idea of how it feels for Jews to talk about IsraelPermalink On twitter.com
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And if you're white, add to that feeling the idea that in every conversation about Israel you're forced to wonder if the person on the other side of the argument is actually thinking that they wish your entire family line didn't exist.On twitter.com
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Generally, most Jewish people I've known feel arguments about Israel are an existential level issue very different from standard nationalism arguments and considering the West's reaction to this era's outbreak of Nazi-style entities I'd be hard pressed to disagree.Permalink On twitter.com
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But that really doesn't excuse how knee jerk Jewish entities can be about Israel discussions. Especially considering the country has been run by someone a lot like Trump for a while now.Permalink On twitter.com
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There's a lot of legit criticism to levy at how Israel is being run. But if you want to get into that argument you have to be aware Jews' baseline support comes from the stance that there are no other countries that would be eternally willing to unconditionally defend Jews...Permalink On twitter.com
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And that this decade has mostly proven that thesis out. So that's the stakes most Jewish people are working from in these conversations. Just a good thing to be aware of and to understand the actual issues here.Permalink On twitter.com
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I also wonder how much of this dialog problem is emerging from a particular level of antisemitism being baseline across the world...Permalink On twitter.com
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Like people say things to me sometimes that are clearly antisemitic, but also just 'what people say' that are clearly emerging from an education problem. The correct response there isn't to attack them but to talk about it. That's emotional labor not expected of everyone, but...Permalink On twitter.com
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... yelling at those people as a default isn't going to actually solve anything. In college I both had handouts so people could minimize their labor in confrontation and ran training for those who wanted to put the labor in...Permalink On twitter.com
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But also the training had to give people tools to see when people weren't arguing in good faith and when it wasn't worth it to engage, because you were arguing with someone who assigned you zero value as a human.Permalink On twitter.com
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I think people are also confused because antisemitism isn't aligned with a political affiliation. I met neo-Nazis just as 'real' in antiwar marches as the ones who marched with tiki torches. There is both the racism of outright hate and that of double standards on both sides.Permalink On twitter.com
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This is hardest to parse in the boycott movement because boycotting a country with human rights abuses is, in theory, viable activism. But...Permalink On twitter.com
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... why boycott just one country if that is your concern? Shouldn't such a movement be holistic? & as a movement shouldn't it be responsible for expelling antisemitic members? (yes and yes). The current boycott movement fails these tests, which is why some Jews dismiss itPermalink On twitter.com
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But, if you're willing to dismiss the current boycott movement on antisemitism for failing to put the safety of humans or equality of standards at the core of its organization (I am) then how can you defend the American Israel lobby? It fails those tests. So I don't.Permalink On twitter.com
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The unfortunate truth is AIPAC's willingness to throw any type of considerations about racism, hate & inequality out the door as long as a candidate unequivocally supports Israel is damaging to their cause, to American Jews and in general. Their support for Trump? Unforgivable.Permalink On twitter.com
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The point of this thread is that both critics and those criticized when it comes to Israel deserve more detailed examination than they usually get. Also, maybe don't go around asking your Jewish friends to 'defend Israel' if you're not interested in going into a long discussion.Permalink On twitter.com
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Also, Netanyahu is a shmuck, one better off in jail then in power and yeah, that's a big complicating factor in any discussion about Israel. Because, like in the US, it really makes things difficult when your leader is the opposite of what you consider your national ideals.Permalink On twitter.com
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The thing is, this is a big discussion that should happen, but there's a *lot* of reading in that 90% of the people who talk about this need to do.Permalink On twitter.com
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But yeah, if you're not Jewish and you want to talk with people about Israel: 1. listen 2. be willing to allow people to say they don't want to talk about it. 3. Realize that many Jews see the alternative as relying people and countries that prefer they didn't exist.Permalink On twitter.com
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*relying onPermalink On twitter.com
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If you are Jewish and you want to talk about this: 1. Don't assume anyone knows anything. 2. Don't assume people are being racist off the bat. 3. If you want to talk about double standards you have to prepare by understanding what the optimal version of the standard is.Permalink On twitter.com
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Some good reference material for Jewish and non Jewish people alike: Chronotope/1095137839984054272Permalink On twitter.com
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I highly recommend you read both of those links if American - Israel policy is something you care to discuss, but that's just the starting point. And be kind, because these things are a process and no one, including me, is perfect with this.Permalink On twitter.com
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That said: if the person turns out to be a Nazi, you know what to do.Permalink On twitter.com
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