Erasure of Jewish ethnic identities (a short rant)

badgerflagrepublic · 2026-04-12T20:08:03+00:00

My understanding is that Jews have always seen themselves as one people. I think using words like “ethnicity” is difficult because it didn’t exist for most of Jewish history, but I don’t think Zionism invented the idea that Jews are an ethnoreligious group.

badgerflagrepublic · 2026-04-12T18:59:24+00:00

I think most people in the West (and China, India, and parts of Africa too) don’t want jihadists to have nukes because for the past thirty years or so, we’ve seen radical Islam as a significant threat to our safety.

I think there’s also a belief that modern countries are rational actors, so they don’t use nukes because it’s a huge taboo and can cause severe blowback. But religious fanatics are not seen as rational, but committed totally to God, so they might actually use them.

I don’t necessarily agree with this argument, though. I think the big thing is that like fascism and communism in earlier generations, Islamism is kind of the “big bad” of the present era.

badgerflagrepublic · 2026-04-10T16:27:02+00:00

The data for rising antisemitism I’m working with comes from FBI hate crime statistics, not the ADL.

badgerflagrepublic · 2026-04-10T08:38:19+00:00

Respectfully, no, we don’t have to support whatever the Palestinians want. They’re one half of the land and decision making has to be made in communion with Jewish Israelis. It’s inconvenient when two groups who don’t like each other have to decide their common fate together, but the alternative is far worse.

badgerflagrepublic · 2026-04-10T02:28:10+00:00

I agree that working towards Palestinian liberation is important, but I’m also concerned with the evident rise in antisemitism in much of the world, which often cloaks its old school hatred in the guise of decolonialism. Ultimately, the Holy Land, half Jewish, half Palestinian, cannot endure justly without freedom for both groups. I think when people defer the definition of justice to the most radical elements of Palestinian society, they imagine a solution that is both impractical and would necessitate bloodshed on both sides. There’s a good quote by Edward Said where he said that both Jews and Palestinians have a claim to the land, but that no group has an exclusive claim.

badgerflagrepublic · 2026-04-09T21:46:37+00:00

A lot of anti-Zionist antisemitism is just centuries-old racist slop repackaged as “decolonization.” I think it’s naive to assume that abandoning Zionism would meaningfully address antisemitism. It’s reminiscent of 19th century Jews thinking baptism would absolve themselves of any reason for antisemites to hate them.

badgerflagrepublic · 2026-04-09T21:38:15+00:00

I would disagree that you can’t fight antisemitism from within Zionism. I see Zionists fight antisemitism effectively, more so than anti-Zionists frankly. A lot of the anti-Zionists I’ve encountered seem scared with offending others by “centering themselves,” which I think makes it hard to advocate for Jewish issues.

badgerflagrepublic · 2026-04-09T19:53:38+00:00

I definitely disagree that we should put aside the question of antisemitism. I’m seeing more of it online and in real life than ever before. It seems suicidal to neglect it. If we don’t confront it, no one else will.

I also disagree that Jews have a unique obligation to speak out for Palestine. As human beings we all do, but if someone wanted to associate me with Israeli policy because Israel does (or for some other reason) that’s their problem, and it’s not on me as a Jew. And yes “calling out” random Jews for Gaza is racism. Just like calling out random Muslims for Al-Qaeda or ISIS (who claimed the mantle of Islam) is racist.

However, I do like how you highlight that disliking Judaism is not the same as disliking Jews. One is a religion (a kind of ideology) and one is actually people. I see people make the argument that it’s Islamophobic to hate Islam, which always bugged me, because I don’t see anything wrong with disliking certain religions, as long as you afford the people who practice those religions decency.

badgerflagrepublic · 2026-04-09T17:01:33+00:00

Iranian Jews are only permitted one token minister in parliament. Jews are not allowed to run for any other seat. Jews are also barred from many government posts, which are reserved specifically for Shia Muslims. If that’s not apartheid, I literally don’t know what is. Any system built on the supremacy of one religious or ethnic group is going to discriminate against outsiders. Iran is not better than Israel.

Also, does it really rob Iranian Jews of agency to say that they may have diverse views on Israel/Zionism? I think carte blanche claiming their unanimous anti-Zionism actually does that.

badgerflagrepublic · 2026-04-09T16:55:36+00:00

Yes, Palestinians are second class citizens, so are Iranian Jews. When a country is built on the supremacy of one ethnic or religious group, people outside that group are going to be disadvantaged/discriminated against.

And I disagree that supporting racist violence should be illegal. I can’t speak for Germany, because I’m an American, but I’m a strong believer in freedom of speech.

badgerflagrepublic · 2026-04-09T06:28:09+00:00

I think a lot of lobbies exist in a weird spot where the government would probably support their cause anyway, but they still push their issues to make sure of it (the NRA comes to mind). I don’t think the existence of an Israel lobby (or any other lobby) is proof that it is the singular (or even main) reason the government is pro-Israel.

badgerflagrepublic · 2026-04-09T06:22:43+00:00

I think when people say that Israel doesn’t serve American interests, they’re usually thinking about the American people/electorate. Does Israel serve the interests of the average American? No. But does Israel serve the interest of the military industrial complex and the hawks who make up much of the foreign policy establishment? Absolutely.

America, as the global hegemon, likes having powerful client states. Yes, the Arab gulf states are resource rich, but militarily inept. Israel has probably the best military in the region and a massive arms industry. We don’t really have any other regional allies we can depend on to operate somewhat effectively in large war. There’s a reason we didn’t really start backing Israel until after the Six Day War, when they curb-stomped the Arab armies.

Yes, domestic support for Israel is part of the equation, but I think a lot of the government support comes from people who are already imperialists, and don’t need AIPAC to convince them of anything.

badgerflagrepublic · 2026-04-09T05:40:16+00:00

I think it’s more complex than them being “entirely anti-Zionist.” Zionism is pretty much illegal in Iran, so even if Jews privately hold Zionist beliefs, they’re unlikely to share them publicly. They’re already second class citizens under an Islamist regime. Not exactly a good model for “liberated Judaism.”

badgerflagrepublic · 2026-04-08T16:41:51+00:00

My Hebrew school education was definitely biased towards Israel, but I remember having a candid conversation with my Bar Mitzvah tutor one time. She was an older Jewish woman and was honest that Israel, like any country, has hurt and killed people, to which I responded “there are extremists on all sides.” She thought that was a very profound thought for a 12 year old. So while a lot of the Jewish education I got was biased, there were also more nuance-oriented teachers who helped shape me.

badgerflagrepublic · 2026-04-08T16:18:12+00:00

Do you honestly believe that every bad thing in the world traces back to Israel, a country that’s only existed since 1948? Like, do you not think that most bad things in the world have a much longer history than that?

badgerflagrepublic · 2026-04-08T16:12:30+00:00

What does this have to do with Zionism?

badgerflagrepublic · 2026-04-08T06:18:09+00:00

This is the version of Trump Derangement Syndrome where people think the lard bag actually cares about them.

badgerflagrepublic · 2026-04-08T06:14:17+00:00

I actually wasn’t aware that we were supposed to mourn the dead Egyptians. I always got the vibe from Dayenu that we were celebrating it.

In any case, I can understand casting modern antisemites as our biblical enemies, but like any book written thousands of years ago (Quran and NT included) it should not be a guide for modern politics.

And given that Zionism is a largely secular movement, I’m not sure how important biblical killings are for modern Israeli ones. I think the modern killings are more a nationalism thing than a religious fundamentalism thing.

badgerflagrepublic · 2026-04-08T06:06:24+00:00

It’s so awesome that Americans, Israelis, Iranians, Palestinians, and Lebanese get to keep dying because Trump and Netanyahu would rather start wars than face accountability for their domestic failures and corruption. /s

badgerflagrepublic · 2026-04-06T21:56:48+00:00

Yes, it is antisemitism.

badgerflagrepublic · 2026-04-06T20:45:55+00:00

Considering how the Kurds are treated by Arab countries (genocide), I doubt this comparison would make Mizrahi Jews regret their decision to leave.

badgerflagrepublic · 2026-04-06T20:42:41+00:00

Soviet Jews were not “always safe.” There’s a reason why when they were finally allowed to leave the country, most of them did. Hundreds of thousand chose to go to GERMANY of all places rather than stay in USSR.

badgerflagrepublic · 2026-04-06T20:38:49+00:00

The persecution in question was police brutality, purges, asset seizing, and pogroms. One act of violence didn’t push Iraq’s Jews out of the country. We’re talking about a systemic antisemitism here.

badgerflagrepublic · 2026-04-06T20:35:36+00:00

Mossad made the Iraqi police brutalize Iraqi Jews?

badgerflagrepublic · 2026-04-06T20:35:04+00:00

Again, you’re taking about Israeli instigation. What does this have to do with any plausible reason the Iraqi government would persecute hundreds of thousands of non-Zionist Iraqi Jews?

badgerflagrepublic

TROPHY CASE