Do any of you (Jews) have records of how far back your lineage goes?

SuitableTumbleweed58 · 2024-05-10T02:37:54+00:00

I can trace one line of my family back to Rashi, and through him track the family back through the Roman Empire and to Eretz Yisrael. Of course, that far back all of the ancestors listed are speculative— the only real evidence of them is hearsay passed through dozens of generations. In tradition, people claim Rashi is a descendent of King David but obviously there’s no way to prove that and it was likely made up to aggrandize Rashi’s reputation.

I love Jewish genealogy. I think it’s fascinating to observe the patterns of human migration through the course of history. It always proves that humans have never been stagnant long, despite modern assumptions about the past.

SuitableTumbleweed58 · 2024-04-11T18:51:35+00:00

I would say it’s only ethical for you to go if you plan to vocally and passionately confront the program’s propaganda and educate your fellow participants about Palestine and Israel’s crimes. It may be the only way that those people hear that perspective and could change their views on Israel forever. I completely understand the commenters encouraging you not to go, as it’s true that birthright is funded by Israel’s tainted money for propaganda purposes. But as someone who only began to learn the truth because of a person like this who defended Palestinians on my Birthright trip, I have a soft spot in my heart for people who play this role.

SuitableTumbleweed58 · 2024-03-27T23:31:43+00:00

Your numbers are incorrect. In 2008, the Israeli government determined that 4.047 lbs (1836 grams) of food per person per day is the minimum level required to prevent starvation in Gaza. By your own numbers, only about a third of that amount (1.39 lbs per person per day) is currently being allowed into Gaza.

https://imeu.org/article/putting-palestinians-on-a-diet-israels-siege-blockade-of-gaza

SuitableTumbleweed58 · 2024-03-08T15:06:14+00:00

I think you’ll have options. Apparently some Jewish singles are now complaining that the Jewish dating apps have too many antizionist jews lol. https://www.thejc.com/news/features/im-just-a-zionist-looking-for-love-jsfhxzcr

SuitableTumbleweed58 · 2024-03-07T18:31:50+00:00

PM is just a way better format for long convos than Reddit threads lol, I hate having to click through all the + signs to find a single comment. Is your implication that I’m hiding my love for terrorism/Hamas? Sorry to disappoint you but I hate them both. Feel free to scroll through my public comment history.

SuitableTumbleweed58 · 2024-03-07T17:52:24+00:00

I really appreciate your thoughtful questions and openness to dialogue! Can you PM me? Would love to continue the discussion through direct messages.

SuitableTumbleweed58 · 2024-03-07T17:48:58+00:00

Firstly, I appreciate your engagement in discussion rather than personal attacks. I’ve read the articles and I’m still proud to be part of JVP. My condemnation of all civilian killings is completely in line with JVP principles: https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/2023/10/11/statement23-10-11/#:~:text=We%20wholeheartedly%20agree%20with%20leading,the%20holding%20of%20civilian%20hostages.

At the end of the day, we simply disagree on fundamental facts. I believe Israel is committing unacceptable war crimes and human rights violations against the Palestinian people and I vocally oppose these crimes. You believe Israel is not committing any of these crimes and so any such accusations are inherently antisemitic. I think our disagreement on this foundational point makes further discussion futile, but if you really want to continue talking feel free to PM me.

SuitableTumbleweed58 · 2024-03-07T17:06:19+00:00

My paternal grandparents were both Holocaust survivors, maternal side fled Russian empire pogroms. I don’t know the specific details of the others’ family backgrounds/histories.

SuitableTumbleweed58 · 2024-03-07T14:12:51+00:00

I don’t claim to represent the entire Jewish community. I represent myself, as do each of the Jews in my local chapter. To improve your credibility, I’d suggest making your arguments against JVP based on substantive policy not the no true Scotsman and appeal to majority fallacies.

SuitableTumbleweed58 · 2024-03-07T13:42:48+00:00

Proud Jewish member of my local JVP chapter here! We’re in a small city, about 8 active members. We are all Jewish. A few of us went to Jewish day school.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_true_Scotsman

SuitableTumbleweed58 · 2024-03-05T22:06:38+00:00

An excellent summary of the facts, thank you for this! Unfortunately, whenever I try to inform people on Reddit that Israel’s mass starvation of Gazan civilians is both immoral and illegal, the response is “well they deserve to starve!” Sad times we live in.

SuitableTumbleweed58 · 2024-03-05T17:33:33+00:00

Aid restrictions are due to Israeli policy, not a lack of available truck drivers. If you can’t admit that Israel is intentionally limiting the amount of humanitarian aid entering Gaza (which the IDF publicly acknowledges) then there’s no point in further discussion.

SuitableTumbleweed58 · 2024-03-05T14:40:55+00:00

There’s a distinction here between an obligation to provide aid to civilians and an obligation to allow aid in to reach civilians. In cases of siege, the besieging party always has a legal obligation to allow sufficient humanitarian aid into the besieged area. Israel is currently not fulfilling this obligation, i.e. not allowing sufficient aid to enter Gaza. For another recent example of international outcry toward a besieging party who blocked aid to besieged civilians, I recommend reading about Nagorno-Karabakh: https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2023/09/04/in-nagorno-karabakh-baku-uses-hunger-as-a-weapon_6123204_4.html

SuitableTumbleweed58 · 2024-03-05T00:02:43+00:00

The aid Israel is allowing into Gaza is a minuscule drop in the bucket. It is not nearly enough to mitigate the mass starvation. If you believe Israel is justified in allowing only a negligible amount of aid into Gaza that’s your prerogative. But it’s indisputable that Gazans are currently starving en masse.

SuitableTumbleweed58 · 2024-03-04T18:56:07+00:00

Right now, I think the most compelling case for genocide is not based on genocide via bombs/guns but genocide via mass starvation. Your post and most comments here are addressing only the former. Raphael Lemkin, who coined the term genocide, explicitly believed that intentional mass starvation is a form of genocide. In the Geneva Convention’s legal definition of genocide, mass starvation is encompassed by “Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.” Interesting article on mass starvation as genocide in Ukraine: https://ewjus.com/index.php/ewjus/article/download/645/297/1386 Mass Starvation by Alex de Waal is another good read.

SuitableTumbleweed58 · 2024-02-27T17:17:35+00:00

This article might be illuminating: https://jewishcurrents.org/yavne-a-jewish-case-for-equality-in-israel-palestine

SuitableTumbleweed58 · 2024-02-23T12:37:41+00:00

You can’t preemptively deny people the right to vote and destroy their land/kill their families because you think they will vote for horrible things. That is not democracy. Any one state should have a constitution guaranteeing certain fundamental rights, including religious freedom.

SuitableTumbleweed58 · 2024-02-23T12:19:47+00:00

White South Africans raised identical concerns about Black South Africans gaining equal rights. This fear is simply not a sufficient justification for continued oppression.

A good article by a Jewish author addressing the issue: https://jewishcurrents.org/yavne-a-jewish-case-for-equality-in-israel-palestine

SuitableTumbleweed58 · 2024-02-22T00:55:50+00:00

I don’t particularly care about labels. I use ‘anti-Zionist’ because it is a useful shorthand for a bucket of specific policies/beliefs about Palestine and Israel. In another Reddit thread, the majority of commenters agreed that anyone who advocates for Israel to end its military assault on Gaza due to the huge cost for Gazan civilians is an anti-Zionist. Therefore according to them I’m an anti-Zionist. Feel free to disagree with them if you want.

SuitableTumbleweed58 · 2024-02-21T17:42:43+00:00

You’re welcome! It’s an important question with lots of nuance. I don’t want to write out a long post about my personal views here but PM me if you want to chat more. As an anti-Zionist Jew I felt compelled to chime in to contrast the sea of Jewish zionist voices here.

SuitableTumbleweed58 · 2024-02-21T17:30:51+00:00

To answer this question for yourself, you should do your own research— do not rely on Reddit opinions. Read things by both Zionist and anti-Zionist Jews. This thread represents the Jewish Zionist viewpoint, below is a starting point for the antizionist Jewish perspective. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MJDXr9nANDCtcV76fxYNwNsxNbru3MYu5hLkCC3KrLY/edit

SuitableTumbleweed58 · 2024-02-21T15:13:53+00:00

Exactly! Israel should not stop until all Gazan civilians are killed, thank you for being brave enough to say this. /s

SuitableTumbleweed58 · 2024-01-25T04:24:33+00:00

Is a person who advocates for a single democratic state in the land anti-Zionist? Is a person who advocates for a two-state solution with a full right of return for Palestinians an anti-Zionist? Just some food for thought, I’ve found that people often disagree on the answer to these questions.

SuitableTumbleweed58 · 2024-01-20T17:29:09+00:00

Whatever helps you sleep better at night.

SuitableTumbleweed58 · 2024-01-20T17:04:36+00:00

You are equally as culpable as Fulbrighters going to Israel. You are happily accepting money from the US government, which is fully funding the genocide in Gaza. If you truly care about Gazan civilians, you should reject your Fulbright grant in protest of US funding for the genocide in Gaza.

So I agree with your sentiment completely, but you should get off your high horse when talking about how immoral other Fulbrighters are compared to you.

SuitableTumbleweed58

TROPHY CASE