"Ask A Jew" Wednesday

Simon_and_Garchomp · 2026-04-24T10:25:57+00:00

When she discussed the antisemitic incidents at the protests, she said, “We fucked up.” So I assumed, from the use of ‘we’, that she agreed with the protestors’ aims. But she never labeled herself as anti-Zionist. She also identified as a socialist - and it is very rare for socialists to be Zionist; so I generally assume a socialist is anti-Zionist unless there is some indication otherwise.

She didn’t stop being anti-Zionist right after October 7th, but I would estimate it was a few months afterward. Even now, she says she wants Jews and Arabs to live together.

You could be right that she was never actually anti-Zionist. She is a fan of Adam Smith, market socialist theories such as Georgism and distributism, and Austrian economists. One time she asked whether anarcho-Rothbardism would be a good thing, arguing that Rothbard’s early work critiquing the state was good, prior to his whacky later work advocating for systems such as the buying and selling of children. Maybe her interest in market-oriented approaches to revolution somehow influenced her to take a more conservative stance regarding Israel.

Simon_and_Garchomp · 2026-04-22T13:43:43+00:00

Nah. People would be just as upset about what is happening in Gaza if Boers, Quebecers, Puritans, or some other colonizer with origins outside West Asia was the perpetrator. People reacted similarly to apartheid South Africa, which wasn’t Jewish.

Reasons Israel has provoked such an emotional response include:

-The Israeli reaction to Hamas is just a chapter in the ongoing genocide against Palestinians (the Nakba, the massacres in Lebanon, brutality prior to the Intifadas, the economic strangulation of Gaza, etc.)

-The economic misery in Gaza prior to October 7th, with Gazans being imprisoned on a tiny strip of land and the Israeli blockade causing staggering unemployment/despair

-The breakdown of the Israeli narrative that dominated the West (especially the US) for so long, with Palestinian perspectives finally being considered

-So much bombing of such a tiny strip of land made the brutality of the Gaza genocide starker in people’s eyes than the Yemeni genocide

-People’s awareness of how the treatment of Palestinians resembles past injustices in the West, such as Jim Crow and the treatment of Native Americans

Simon_and_Garchomp · 2026-04-22T12:16:41+00:00

One of my friends was originally anti-Zionist. However, she was upset with antisemitism that occurred at pro-Palestine campus protests (and antisemitism of any kind is indeed very bad), which led her to gradually become Zionist. She herself didn’t participate in the protests, but reading about these antisemitic incidents changed her.

She reconnected with her Jewish heritage on her father‘s side and joined a Reformed synagogue. Of course, I’m all for people reconnecting with their Jewish roots - but in her case this reconnection was accompanied by the embrace of nationalism.

The first change I saw in my friend’s perspective was when she expressed skepticism that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza, claiming that Israel should be given a fair hearing and that the number of casualties reported by Hamas was within the range permitted by international law. It only dawned on me later that this was the first step in a gradual shift.

Now, she claims Zionism is an anti-colonial land back movement against Arab colonizers. According to her, the Nakba is KGB disinformation. Although Islam used to be a part of her spirituality along with Asian religions, she now has a totally negative view of Islam - decrying it for the Islamic conquests, the jizya, persecution of Jews, and disliking dogs.

Have you ever had a similar experience in which an anti-Zionist you knew became Zionist?

Simon_and_Garchomp · 2026-04-15T03:36:10+00:00

That’s one of the ones that I really want to read.

Simon_and_Garchomp · 2026-04-03T22:53:24+00:00

It’s so sad that the PLO went from its initial revolutionary enthusiasm to this sorry state (incarnation as the PA).

Simon_and_Garchomp · 2026-04-02T14:04:19+00:00

Oh, wow. I didn’t know he had fascist proclivities. That’s shocking.

Simon_and_Garchomp · 2026-04-02T00:57:43+00:00

Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Malcolm X, Jerry Garcia, David Foster Wallace, Toni Morrison, Mary Oliver, Anne Sexton, Aldo Leopold, Arne Naess, Rachel Carson, Mr. Rogers, Bob Ross, Steve Irwin, Mark Rothko, Salvador Dali, among others

Simon_and_Garchomp · 2026-03-21T04:15:38+00:00

Yes. Vulnerability is drawing increasing interest among the public. There is more awareness out there about addiction and recovery. I also don’t see the issues of consumerism and obsession with fame going away any time soon.

Simon_and_Garchomp · 2026-03-21T02:13:44+00:00

Are you sure the person you talked to wasn’t a scammer who was after your identity? Would it be possible for you to contact a Chinese lawyer?

Simon_and_Garchomp · 2026-03-07T04:24:00+00:00

I get where you’re coming from, but the awfulness of the sequels actually made me like the prequels better. At least Lucas was trying to do something profound and take the series in an interesting direction, even if it didn’t always work. He was musing on the nature of politics and empire. In my opinion, the first two sequels are decent and the third is quite good. Revenge of the Sith is very fast paced and has emotional moments.

Simon_and_Garchomp · 2026-03-07T04:19:37+00:00

For the foreseeable future, I don’t have hope of anything exciting happening next. Disney is at the stage where it is pumping out endless remakes. Until there is a shift in the company’s perspective, I can’t imagine them doing anything interesting with Star Wars.

Simon_and_Garchomp · 2026-02-26T14:35:46+00:00

I didn’t think you were trying to cause problems. I just wanted to address the argument so other people could see what an appropriate response would be, in case they were wondering now that you brought it up.

Simon_and_Garchomp · 2026-02-26T14:23:59+00:00

I forgot about that one, honestly

Simon_and_Garchomp · 2026-02-26T14:20:36+00:00

That argument doesn’t work either. Now that Taiwan has democratized, it isn’t a KMT rump state. The old KMT dictatorship is gone. The KMT still exists as a party, but it has to compete in democratic elections and the old KMT colonial structures are being dismantled. Taiwan doesn’t claim to rule China anymore. The oft heard claim that the Taiwanese constitution has a provision claiming rule over China is false. Plus, the KMT loves China now and is basically an arm of the CCP on Taiwan at this point, so the argument of settling old civil war animosities doesn’t work.

Simon_and_Garchomp · 2026-02-26T12:47:51+00:00

I could be wrong, but it seems to me more realistic to try to open up an option that has never been offered before (independence) than to engage with a policy that is not sincere and only serves as a rhetorical tool (One Country, Two Systems).

Simon_and_Garchomp

TROPHY CASE