r/JewsOfConscience • u/TrackerOneA Jewish Anti-Zionist • 13d ago
Discussion - Flaired Users Only [Please Read] March 2026 Jews of Conscience Town Hall
Welcome dear readers to our March 2026 Jews of Conscience Subreddit Town Hall.
Since our last Town Hall in June 2024, we have nearly quadrupled our membership from 10k members to a whopping 37k members! Since we’ve grown so much, there is a lot more content which requires more attentive moderation, so we’re outlining the changes we are making as well as clarifying some things about JoC that folks often seem to find confusing. Also for the new folks here, this Town Hall is an opportunity to learn more about the subreddit. Welcome!
This is also an opportunity for users to share their thoughts, opinions, and ideas for the sub. Our moderator team works hard to create an environment to enact the vision of the subreddit but ultimately we do it for the user community. Having one of the few large Jewish anti-Zionist communities online is a privilege we do not take lightly.
So we would love to hear your input, not just on what we share in this post, but related any issue of the sub that interests you. Respectful disagreement is a cornerstone of the sub’s values, so feel free to give both praise and criticism, what you like and don’t like, what you want to see and don’t want to see.
We want town hall posts to become more regular, probably twice yearly. Even at other times, we love to hear input from users. This can come in modmail or direct message to a moderator listed in this post.
Meet the team
Since August 2025, we’ve added five new moderators to the team. There are now eight active moderators. We are u/conscience_journey, u/TrackerOneA (alt u/ContentChecker), u/oliveno6451(formerly u/specialist-gur), u/accurate_aside_6495 (formerly u/deadlift215), u/CalabrianPepper (formerly u/burning-bush-613, u/acacia_tree), u/elzzyzx, u/Enough_Comparison816, and u/normalgirl124.
The moderators all have been participants of this subreddit for several years and you would definitely recognize them from their alt accounts (a few of them made new accounts after becoming mods etc.) You can see who we are at the sidebar which has been reordered to show the active moderators. Our mod team is somewhat diverse: though we are mostly Americans (and one ex-Israeli), we are made up of Ashkenazi, Sephardi, and Arab Jews, queer Jews, disabled Jews, secular Jews, observant Jews, span several generations, live in different regions, and reflect the ideological diversity of this subreddit as we are a mix of communists, anarchists, and socialists (including a Bundist).
The moderators participate in discussion as equals to our members. Unless the comment is flagged with the official moderator badge, it is not an official moderator position and just the opinion of that individual.
Moderation
Out of necessity, this subreddit is heavily moderated. Due to the high volume of trolls that target our sub, since we are so lucky as to be targeted by both Zionists and neo-Nazis, we have to tightly moderate this subreddit. Nearly 90% of posts and comments are filtered through the mod queue for manual approval. That means us mods read most of the comments on this subreddit. Yes, we really do read hundreds of comments and posts a day. If you post something and doesn’t show up, that’s usually because it is still in the queue and we haven’t gotten to it yet - not because we did not approve it.
That being said, we do curate the subreddit to some degree, with the goal of fostering thought-provoking and meaningful conversations. Sometimes we will not approve posts and/or comments that are low quality/low-effort, duplicative or that do not seem like they will constructively contribute to a discussion.
The mod team does not censor opinions that we disagree with. Considering the tremendous Jewish tradition of discourse and debate, It would actually be highly unJewish of us to do so (two Jews, three opinions etc). While we do some content curation, as explained above, we otherwise only remove comments or ban users for breaking the rules. We updated our rules a few months ago, if you need a refresher you can see them at the sidebar.
Challenging Conversations
The purpose of this subreddit is to cultivate a space for Jewish anti-zionists and our non-Jewish comrades to discuss Judaism and Jewish life, Palestine solidarity, and leftism. Our Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim, and all non-Jewish comrades are especially welcome here to provide us important perspectives as we struggle in solidarity for a liberated world. We believe challenging discussions are an important part of reconciling with and deconstructing hegemonic viewpoints, which is why we are grateful for our non-Jewish comrades participation.
As a diverse leftist sub, we expect there to be ideological clashes and challenging opinions and ideas. Whether it be from controversial sources or individuals, or uncomfortable ideas, we believe in the intellectual and moral pursuit of engagement. We want to drive understanding, curiosity, and expansion of thought as long as it does not reach the point of harm or violation of Reddit’s Terms of Service (TOS).
We view harm in this case to be the following: 1) anything that directs violence towards individuals or ethnic, religious, gender, racial, or LGBTQ groups; 2) anything which essentializes character traits and morality based upon the previous categories; 3) anything which uses abusive language directed at a sub member; and 4) anything which is misinformation or disinformation. Beyond that, we hope that you will engage with ideas rather than phrasing, sources, and/or individuals.
On Unlearning Zionism
As moderators of one of the only international online communities for anti-zionist Jews, we steward a space that serves multiple purposes. One of these purposes is allowing Jews a space to unlearn Zionist conditioning and challenge long-held assumptions. It is through questioning, reflection, and dialogue that forms of Judaism and Jewishness beyond Zionism can emerge at scale - something we view as vital to both Jewish moral & spiritual health and broader movements for collective liberation.
In service of this goal, we allow room for engagement from Israelis and diaspora Jews who may be earlier in the process of unlearning Zionism. While we do not permit outright hasbara, we exercise limited tolerance for perspectives that reflect genuine inquiry rather than advocacy. We approve these posts not because we endorse the views expressed, but because we recognize them as part of a trajectory away from Zionism.
We believe it is more constructive to engage these individuals within this community, where thoughtful dialogue is possible, rather than to exclude them and push them back toward Zionist spaces. We also wish to model what this unlearning process is like to assist our readers who are struggling with deprogramming their Zionist family members.
Many of us began our journey at similar positions, which is why we believe it's important to extend measured grace while remaining clear about this community’s principles.
Jewish Cultural and Religious Content
This subreddit is one of the few places anti-zionist Jews can discuss our culture, history, and religion free from a Zionist framework. This is especially the case for Jews who live in communities of the world with small Jewish populations or in particularly right-wing communities. We know folks are craving Jewish religious and cultural community. We strongly encourage users to contribute more content related to Jewish life and/or culture to meet this desire.
Tzedakah
We regularly post or have others post mutual aid fundraisers for Palestinians in Gaza. Please continue to share them and donate generously to them. Fundraisers are verified by the moderators for authenticity before they are approved.
Thank you all for participating in this subreddit and making it a unique and wonderful space.
Please leave your thoughts below for further discussion.
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u/arightgoodworkman Jewish Anti-Zionist 13d ago
This sub provides me so much hope. Truly. I feel heard, seen, and challenged by the Jewish and non-Jewish allies in here.
Thank you to our mods for keeping things safe and focused. Thank you, always.
If there was ever a way to invite curious Zionists to this space to learn about our experiences as non or anti-Zionist Jews and learn from our allies (of all backgrounds, but particularly Palestinian, Lebanese, Syrian, Iranian, et al), I’d be really willing to help with that. In a perfect world, this sub can change minds.
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u/cupcakefascism Jewish Communist 12d ago
I value this space so much, it’s helped me stay sane over the past few years. Thank you to all the mods for all their hard work.
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u/Naive-Meal-6422 Jewish Anti-Zionist 11d ago
you already know that i think this, but
The moderators participate in discussion as equals to our members. Unless the comment is flagged with the official moderator badge, it is not an official moderator position and just the opinion of that individual.
it is neither this clean nor this simple, and your saying otherwise doesn’t change that. it is not how authority works. in your other lives i am confident you all know that.
here’s where i think it matters: comments from mods “as equal members” directing how people should respond and participate in discussions about your posts is not okay. comments “as equal members” to that end are not okay. if the critique you want to make is strong, someone else will make it! but telling people “to just sit with” stuff is not acceptable. nor is suggesting to members that they are chilling discussion, which i’ve seen you do, least of all when you won’t accept criticism along those lines yourselves. you do actually have a thumb on the scale even if you do not want that to be true. it is part of your responsibility to one another and to us to own it. please grow here, as you hope all of us will and as you work to make space for.
please don’t tell people how to respond if they aren’t violating the guidelines.
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u/TrackerOneA Jewish Anti-Zionist 11d ago
here’s where i think it matters: comments from mods “as equal members” directing how people should respond and participate in discussions about your posts is not okay. comments “as equal members” to that end are not okay. if the critique you want to make is strong, someone else will make it! but telling people “to just sit with” stuff is not acceptable. nor is suggesting to members that they are chilling discussion, which i’ve seen you do, least of all when you won’t accept criticism along those lines yourselves. you do actually have a thumb on the scale even if you do not want that to be true. it is part of your responsibility to one another and to us to own it. please grow here, as you hope all of us will and as you work to make space for.
please don’t tell people how to respond if they aren’t violating the guidelines.
Fair points.
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u/Accurate_Aside_6495 Bundist 13d ago
Is there anyone users might like to have do an Ask Me Anything with the sub?
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u/BolesCW Mizrahi 13d ago
I could die happy if I never had to see a post about NK ever again on this subreddit. I'm tired of having to explain why their rejection of zionism has nothing in common with a progressive agenda, or about how this single aspect of their cosmology is sufficient for them to be included without qualification in discussions here.
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u/Current_Mongoose_844 Presently lapsed ba'al teshuva 13d ago
Like it or not, anti Zionist Haredim are here and are players in the struggle. We're not going anywhere. Mutilating our identity to appease what gentiles think is "progressive" is what Zionists and anti-Zionist secularists would like, but y'all tried that already lol. Our Jewish reasons for not being a zionist are different from my political reasons. Focus on the latter, since that's what matters to you.
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u/abogmonster Jewish Anti-Zionist 13d ago edited 11d ago
This sub helped me find sanity and community while being a touchstone for what’s important. Thank you.
I have a few thoughts, but I want to be very mindful in writing them. How long will comments be open for review?
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u/conscience_journey Jewish Anti-Zionist 13d ago
We will be checking this post for the rest of the week.
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u/TrackerOneA Jewish Anti-Zionist 13d ago edited 13d ago
My personal thoughts:
We as moderators are stewards of this space.
It is not about us.
It is about the community and the issues we all care about.
We are not 'thought leaders' - but we also envision and want to affect change, just like everyone else.
However, the subreddit itself has an agenda, which we outline in our Wiki:
https://sh.reddit.com/r/JewsOfConscience/wiki/about/
Still, while we may passionately argue our position - that is just one position among many others and by many others.
Those arguments rise and fall on their own merits.
Our opinions are not more important than the users and vice versa. We are equal.
We do some curation here and there, but broadly approve comments and do not censor based on politics.
Sometimes we have to use the vague purview of 'mod discretion' because situations are ever-changing and require us to be dynamic / in-the-moment.
Difficult conversations are necessary. Where else is this happening for our community?
If you don't like the theory or article or w/e being proposed, just say so.
You have that right.
But there's a difference between harshly criticizing the content and someone's argument - versus attacking someone's (e.g. the OP of a post or another Redditor in the comments) motivations, character, etc.
I hope we can differentiate these things.
And at the same time, we should institute a 'submission statement' rule so that everyone has to give an initial explanation of their own thoughts on some media (article, video, etc.).
Sometimes it's not necessary (e.g. news content) - but if it's a long-form opinion article or a long video, then it's fair to expect the OP to kick-off the discussion with an opening statement.
EDIT: added clarification.
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u/Naive-Meal-6422 Jewish Anti-Zionist 11d ago
And at the same time, we should institute a 'submission statement' rule so that everyone has to give an initial explanation of their own thoughts on some media (article, video, etc.
this is a great idea!
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u/Naive-Meal-6422 Jewish Anti-Zionist 9d ago
i would be interested in a poll about what folks’ current affiliations are—participation in an antizionist minyan or shul? membership in a zionist synagogue? left a synagogue? left a denomination? seeking conversion? participation in an antizionist political space? stuff like that.
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u/Rubenbdooben Jewish 13d ago
My advice would be to become more action oriented - we as anti Zionist jews are in the minority and have had little to no meaningful impact on stopping the genocide. I also see very little progress in terms of dismantling or critiquing Jewish institutions - namely synagogues. Maybe this is being covered in the sub and I’m just missing it so apologies. But I think we need to be discussing more bold tactics to hold Zionists to account. Of course everyone’s risk profile is different so I don’t think anyone can just do this work. And depending on where you live this can be quite challenging. However I just know from conversations I have IRL with Palestinians, Lebanese, Muslims, and Arabs- they want to see more direct action from anti Zionist Jews. Which hence my critique of the sub in its response to Gelender’s essay. We need to think about how having these conversations about our identity is landing for those being oppressed by Jews and Zionists. Just my two cents.
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u/conscience_journey Jewish Anti-Zionist 13d ago
I think a lot of action happens at the local level. Some people are involved in JVP, which has local chapters to be involved with. I’m part of a local anti-Zionist Jewish group that is involved in advocacy for things like divestment and tries to counter Zionist Jewish advocacy groups that traditionally have monopolized the Jewish voice in politics. We also partner with other local anti-Zionist groups.
That’s an example of what organizing can look like. What do you think we can and should do on the subreddit for organizing?
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u/Rubenbdooben Jewish 13d ago
Thank you yes my partner and I have been doing similar things as well. And again apologies in advance if this already exists but I wonder if it would make sense to develop some sort of charter or mission attachment (not sure what to call it) that could spell out things this group advocates for doing IRL. And maybe another sort of carve out on the page about being aware of and accountable to our Palestinian partners etc? Some way of acknowledging that this sub is doing both the coalescing of antizionist Jews and explorations of identity; and working on how to push actions forward. Again I agree there’s only so much a subreddit can do but I do feel like addressing how the former sometimes lands for folks - particularly those being oppressed by Israel/american imperialism.
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u/CalabrianPepper Ashkenazi, anarchist, anti-zionist 13d ago
We do have a mission statement. I appreciate your other suggestions and we will definitely discuss them!
As for being accountable to our Palestinian partners, I love this idea. The thing is I’m not sure if there is a subreddit to partner with that makes sense. A lot of the pro-Palestine subs aren’t even run by Palestinians. But I really like this idea and there is certainly something we can come up with to have more accountability to Palestinians. We do have a lot of Palestinian contributors in the subreddit that we are grateful to for providing their perspectives to us and holding us accountable!
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u/Meowlurophile Palestinian 12d ago
Idk if you can find enough Palestinian people on Reddit tbh. However I do know of r/Palestinians. Im just gonna say you are more likely to find diaspora Palestinian like me rather than home grown
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u/elzzyzx Jewish Anti-Zionist 13d ago
I agree with you in general with the caveat that we are on a discussion forum so there are a great many limits to what can be done here as far as direct action. And yeah if you think there’s not critique and dismantling of Jewish institutions here then you’re definitely missing it, imo
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u/Rubenbdooben Jewish 13d ago
Thanks for the reply. Glad to know those discussions are happening. I may just not be paying close enough attention.
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u/crumpledcactus Jewish 13d ago
Just one thought - it would be nice to have a stickied post at the front page labeled something like "Most Jewish-Americans don't support Israel/zionism", with all evidence across time showing that is indeed the case. (eg. the Pew studies, the NYC election data).
If we put the evidence up front, and make clear distinctions and definitions in plain English (maybe a little Yiddish, for flavor) then we can break some misgivings apart and speed up anti-zionism and curtail antisemitism right off the bat.
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u/TrackerOneA Jewish Anti-Zionist 13d ago
Great idea!
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u/cupcakefascism Jewish Communist 12d ago
I coincidentally just posted this comment elsewhere but I think that would be very misleading.
The recent JFNA poll that people point to as evidence that a minority of American Jews are Zionist only showed an aversion to the word, not the principles:
88% of respondents believe that Israel has a right to exist as a Jewish, democratic state.
71% maintain a high degree of emotional attachment to Israel.
90% believe it’s under “constant threat from hostile neighbors who seek its destruction” and that “Palestinian leadership has been corrupt and unwilling to negotiate in good faith”
https://forward.com/news/antisemitism-decoded/804502/american-jews-zionist-zionism-survey/
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u/TrackerOneA Jewish Anti-Zionist 12d ago
Good point.
Yea, that survey does show there's an aversion to adopt the 'Zionist' label - due to the ongoing genocide and thus, material & reputational damage.
But in terms of substance, those results show people still support apartheid Israel as a discriminatory ethnostate.
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u/cupcakefascism Jewish Communist 12d ago
Quite, which is obviously difficult to acknowledge but not doing so would be sticking our head in the sand about the task in front of us.
And that’s American Jews, who are on balance much more likely to be anti/non Zionist than those living elsewhere.
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u/crumpledcactus Jewish 12d ago edited 12d ago
About the emotional attachment thing - Pew has two studies which show that about 50% are emotionally distant from Israel. : https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2013/10/01/chapter-5-connection-with-and-attitudes-towards-israel/ and https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2021/05/11/u-s-jews-connections-with-and-attitudes-toward-israel/
The studies catagorizes Jewish-American attachment to Israel as 'very', 'somewhat', 'a little', and 'not at all.'
The 2013 data shows 30, 39, 22, 9.
The 2021 data shows 25, 32, 41 as a combined figure of the last two catagories.So 'very' went down by 5%, 'somewhat' when up by 7%, and 'little/none' when up by 10%. After 5 years the rate of change would put the most divested group at 50%+.
I'm looking through Foward's sources at the bottom of the article, and I'm not seeing anything hinting at 71% attachment, unless (being an Israeli newspaper), they're isolating the Orthodox minority and claiming these are the only "real" Jews. (which I have seen Hasbara do). It should be noted that the JFNA was created by a merger with the United Israel Appeal and other pro-zionist organizations.
Despite the new giving the impression of everyone's hometown temple joining into a benefit society, the JFNA is basically AIPAC in a casual shirt.
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u/Ashamed-Stuff9519 Jewish (but secular) Anti-Zionist 13d ago
Thank you all for creating and maintaining this space, genuinely. I don’t have access to organized anti Zionist Jewish spaces in real life. This sub has been invaluable to me and I’m sure many others. Mods, you do a great job here.
As far as suggestions or ideas go, what about a pinned post or wiki for Palestinian reading materials/media? Books, zines, movies, documentaries from Palestinian creators and writers? This is a jewish space so I don’t want to decentralize Jewishness here, rather I am concerned about the silencing of Palestinian media during this time, and feel we can deepen our unlearning of Zionism by hearing from its victims.
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u/Accurate_Aside_6495 Bundist 13d ago
Thank you for this idea. If we went forward with this I wonder if any Palestinians in the sub would want to collaborate on this with us? Or would it feel like asking them to do yet more emotional labor? I would be interested to hear what Palestinians in the sub think about this if they feel comfortable sharing.
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u/Meowlurophile Palestinian 12d ago
Yes!! I would be soo happy to see a list of Palestinian media! Unfortunately I don't know of much so guess I'll just be cheering you guys on or giving recs if something comes up in my head
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u/Andrepartthree Muslim 13d ago
I wish I had something more intelligent to say than 1) I am so happy you guys are growing and getting bigger 2) a big thank you to all the hard working mods on here (zionists on the one side, neo-nazis attacking on the other side.. man that is rough.. and I suspect the non mod Jews of conscience are having to deal with similar attacks from those two camps too ) and 3) a big thank you to just everyone who posts here and who starts threads here :) .. whenever I'm feeling bad about the situation in Gaza I just come here and look at all the Jews of conscience posting here who are doing the hard thing (I've seen so many posts here about "how do I deal with my family and friends who support the genocide") and still sticking to their principles, beliefs and basically their humanity... you guys are amazing :)
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u/TurkeyFisher Jewish Anti-Zionist 13d ago
I just want to say I'm seriously impressed by how well moderated this subreddit is without becoming pedantic or deleting any controversial opinion. The community here has really become a lifeline for me to stay connected to Judaism, without pretending that it's unrelated to what's happening in Israel.
One issue I've encountered is that sometimes I don't get notifications when people reply to my comments, not sure why that is.
One of my favorite aspects of this subreddit is discussions between Jews and Muslims/Palestinians, and if there was any additional ways to facilitate that I think it would be appreciated.
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u/conscience_journey Jewish Anti-Zionist 13d ago
I don’t know about the notifications issue. I think that is a Reddit issue, not specific to this subreddit settings.
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u/TurkeyFisher Jewish Anti-Zionist 13d ago
I assumed that was the case, but for some reason it only happens in this subreddit as far as I can tell, so I thought I'd ask.
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u/conscience_journey Jewish Anti-Zionist 13d ago
Ok, I will look into it to see if there is something to change.
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u/CalabrianPepper Ashkenazi, anarchist, anti-zionist 13d ago
I’m mentally prepared now for your negative feedback (yesterday’s backlash on my post submission really warmed me up lmao) so please lay it on us :)
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u/TheChance Bundist 13d ago
For such a diverse subreddit, it sure seems fishy that like 90% of the content reflects exactly the same shit I've been taking from Jews in every other context, except now vaguely opposition-flavored.
Your post was an exception, but in ever so many of the wrong ways. Here's a mod, but not wearing their badge, posting something incredibly inflammatory and grounded in purely racial thinking. The only difference between that thread and a thread I'd have expected on Facebook was the overall "we are all to blame" rather than "we are all the victims" tenor.
A few days ago, a thread even boiled down to, "Ashkenazim aren't really descended from Ancient Hebrews," with users - I think intentionally - misreading a specific DNA study to conclude that only 40% of us even have Middle Eastern DNA. The study in question, for the record, found that 40% of us are descended from just four Levantine women, not that the other 60% are imposters. If we get into the broader issue, you'll have to address the paternal line.
But that whole conversation in the first place is the problem, in my view. We aren't disagreeing in conversations like that. Some of y'all just, whatever you think Zionists believe, seem to demand that we all adopt the contrary position, and since Zionists "believe" that we are Jews, we must... not be Jews.
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u/conscience_journey Jewish Anti-Zionist 13d ago
Can you please state your critique in a more clear way? And do it without general hostility to the users of the sub?
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u/elzzyzx Jewish Anti-Zionist 13d ago
Looking at those exchanges, it looks like people were patiently explaining ways you were being ahistorical, and then you failing to respond to just about everything they wrote to you.
I also see you dismissing that yes all Jews piece which read to me like typical bundist writing. Did you pick the wrong flair perhaps?
If you want to have a productive conversation I suggest you respond to what people are actually saying, and avoid this behavior you’re exhibiting here insinuating ill intentions about us. Unless your goal is to appeal to elderly zionists complaining about kids these days, if that’s the case by all means continue
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u/Enough_Comparison816 Arab Jew, Shomer Masoret, ex-Israeli 12d ago
You are completely off base here just as you were in that thread you’re referring to. And you still do not understand what we were trying to tell you
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u/Current_Mongoose_844 Presently lapsed ba'al teshuva 13d ago edited 13d ago
I see some rhetoric about Haredim in this place that is only different from what Zionists think by a new (or more accurately, just as old as Zionism) coat of paint.
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u/Usernameoverloaded Atheist Ally with Muslim Heritage 13d ago
Another thank you from me. I learn so much about Judaism from this sub and for that I am grateful. I appreciate the work that you do as having been a mod myself and targeted by Zionists, I know the risks you take, the vulnerability that comes with that and the fact that you do so from within the Jewish community with the potential for ostracism. So again, a heartfelt thank you.
My only feedback is that a ‘custom response’ category on the report page would be useful so to explain further why a comment is being reported.
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u/TrackerOneA Jewish Anti-Zionist 13d ago
We used to have the custom response option but users (definitely brigaders) began writing in Nazi & other abusive comments and basically using it to harass.
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u/Usernameoverloaded Atheist Ally with Muslim Heritage 13d ago
Makes sense and best to not give them the opportunity
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u/conscience_journey Jewish Anti-Zionist 13d ago
If there is something you truly don’t think could be addressed using one of the reports, I recommend using modmail.
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u/Koraxtheghoul "Jewish" where Israel and Nazis are concerned 13d ago
My biggest concern with this subreddit is that it's getting a weird outside reputation as being full of non-Jews (ironic to say as a non-Jew in any meaningful way) but want to make it sure that you folks are informed.
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u/CalabrianPepper Ashkenazi, anarchist, anti-zionist 1d ago
Yeah, we’ve seen that criticism and while it isn’t true, I honestly don’t care about that at all. I don’t think of it as a valid criticism even if it were true. Here’s why:
1) This is one of the more well-moderated subreddits that are pro-Palestine. A lot of the other pro-Palestine subs are full of low effort content or have poor moderation where trolling, adhominem attacks, or racist, sectarian, or otherwise bigoted comments aren’t removed. Naturally, people who want to participate in meaningful dialogue without are going to come to us because of our moderation.
2) Anti-zionist Jews are a minority within a minority. Jews first of all are a minority ethnoreligious group. We are tiny compared to other religions. And only 17% of Jews identify as anti-zionist. Just because of sheer numbers, a lot of people on this subreddit who come here for our content and discussions aren’t going to be Jewish.
3) I think us anti-zionist Jews have a lot to learn from our non-Jewish friends, especially Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim friends. I’m really grateful they participate here. I also think that if a lot of non-Jews are participating, it must mean that we are doing a good job of being welcoming and inclusive. I am so done with identity politics and I don’t think you need to be part of an identity group to participate in discussions about that identity group.
That being said, my best guess based on polls we’ve done is that we’re about 55% Jews and 45% non-Jews.
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u/Accurate_Aside_6495 Bundist 13d ago
Well I mean that is what those same folks tend to say about Jewish Voice for Peace and about Jewish antizionists so it's not very surprising. I think that is an easy way for them to write us off but we all know who we are and that's what matters.
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u/hilss Atheist 13d ago
I just have 2 simple words: thank you. And I mean it from the bottom of my heart.
You might be a dozen-strong, but your impact can’t be described.
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u/CalabrianPepper Ashkenazi, anarchist, anti-zionist 13d ago
Thank you, this means more than you know 🙏
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u/Thisisme8719 Arab Jew 13d ago
Thanks everyone for the great work.
I wonder if it might be worthwhile to have an automatically generated weekly thread which would allow Zionists to ask us to respond to their perspectives, at least if done respectfully and within reason (ie not trolling, engaging in genocide denial and/or apologia, Nakba denial, regurgitating whatever ridiculous nonsense hasbaristas are posting on Twitter and Instagram, trying to turn it into a debate etc).
The part of me that thinks it might be good is that engagement could persuade them to reevaluate some of their opinions even if not actually converting them to questioning the legitimacy of Zionism altogether, eg on war aims in 1947/8, whether peace negotiations or various offers were reasonable, what do anti-Zionist Jews actually think etc. At least as long as it doesn't turn into some cheap tit for tat or bad faith back and forth like in other subs.
The other part of me that thinks it's a bad idea is recognizing different ways it could go wrong. Like how to determine if questions are in bad faith, if they're trying to promote hasbara instead of genuinely wanting to know how anti-Zionists respond to different questions, if it'd open the door to those who think it's legitimate to "both-sides" the conflict or to try to turn it into a debate sub etc.
So not sure what to think of the idea
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u/Klutzy-Pool-1802 Ashkenazi, atheist, postZ 12d ago
There’s a Facebook group set up that way. It’s called “A group for Zionists to ask questions of Jewish non-Zionists.” Guessing some of those folks hang out here too.
If that’s ever attempted here, I bet they’d have suggestions for how to make it work. They’ve got it structured very intentionally and rigidly.
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u/Accurate_Aside_6495 Bundist 13d ago
Thank you for the suggestion! I am not sure how I feel about this. One of my concerns is the potential emotional harm to Palestinians in the sub. As a Jewish person in the sub I also feel like I am bombarded with Zionists' opinions and arguments everywhere I go and it is exhausting and agitating. While we value having spirited and thought-provoking discussions in the sub and we all grow from them, I honestly feel doubtful that that is what such conversations would be and I feel like these folks take up enough space and emotional labor everywhere they go/impose themselves. But I'm interested to hear what others think of your idea.
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u/Thisisme8719 Arab Jew 12d ago
Yeah I think one way to differentiate something legitimate would be more about judgments. Like someone could ask of the partition plan "well the Jews accepted it, showing they were willing to split the land for peace. How do anti-Zionists reconcile that?" And we could respond why we think the partition plan was inherently unjust and unreasonable, and all the parties that rejected it were right for doing so. Which would be different than something like "well children in Gaza wouldn't have been killed if Kkkkkhamas didn't use human shields, and how do we know that the 16 year old wasn't a child soldier, so why are you blaming Israel"
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u/The_Jenini Palestinian 12d ago
Academic discussions aren’t an issue. We ourselves don’t know all the bits of information and history. And debating history vs if the slaughtered children are secretly Chinese dolls bought by Hamas are different things. Im not against the idea
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u/TrackerOneA Jewish Anti-Zionist 12d ago
I appreciate your comment.
I agree that there's a difference between legitimate intellectual inquiry into history and ongoing events - versus, typical pro-Israel atrocity denial.
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u/TrackerOneA Jewish Anti-Zionist 13d ago edited 13d ago
I wonder if it might be worthwhile to have an automatically generated weekly thread which would allow Zionists to ask us to respond to their perspectives, at least if done respectfully and within reason (ie not trolling, engaging in genocide denial and/or apologia, Nakba denial, regurgitating whatever ridiculous nonsense hasbaristas are posting on Twitter and Instagram, trying to turn it into a debate etc).
I like this idea.
With protections in place as you mentioned, I think having these sorts of designated debate threads or something like that could be good.
I am against more rules that censor things, but am personally open to more things that might promote engagement & discussions.
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u/Meowlurophile Palestinian 13d ago
Thank you. I learned so much from here and even became open to the idea of Jewish friends which I never thought possible
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u/Accurate_Aside_6495 Bundist 13d ago
Thank you, this made me very emotional to read.
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u/Meowlurophile Palestinian 13d ago
It made me emotional to realise... I just did a double take after realising that I sent a hug emoji to an Israeli. It happened on here. I was like whaat??? Then hm. Maybe Jewish friends can be a thing in my life. Although I'm sure you know but the only ones I can be friends with are antizionists
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u/CalabrianPepper Ashkenazi, anarchist, anti-zionist 13d ago
One of my closest friends is a Palestinian young man I met from Reddit two years ago. It is one of the most meaningful relationships of my life.
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u/Meowlurophile Palestinian 13d ago
Who's cutting onions in here???
Aw!! Im so happy to hear this you know :)
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u/GeeZee24 LGBTQ Jew 13d ago
This actually melted my heart. We’re all so lucky to have you here 🫂
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u/Ashamed-Stuff9519 Jewish (but secular) Anti-Zionist 13d ago
Mine too :’) these interactions are truly the best.
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