The Fiction Treehouse

Yes, she mocks rape victims. She threatens litigation against the mildest criticism against her. She has created an LGB group to make it so very clear that trans people are not welcome where she gives money. She is the funding behind Scotland saying trans women aren't legally women. The list goes on.

But. I promise you, 99% of the people around you don't know she's done any of this because they aren't following her social media or stories about her. To them, she is just the author of those fun wizard books. You gotta talk about how she's SO WEIRD and ISN'T IT SAD.

You need to tell the normies how she uses the funds from all her payout agreements for ALL Harry Potter licensing, including the re-release of these movies.

"It's so fucking weird. It's so fucking off-putting. It's so fucking sad." Say that over and over. Don't try to tie it into larger ideas. This is not how people will listen. "Isn't it just fucking sad she has all this money that could go to literacy or scholarships, and she's using it to attack people who are just living their lives? What a weird fucking choice."

We need to out-Morbius Morbius in terms of this tanking, and the way you do that is talk to normies about how fucking WEIRD and RUDE she is. How ODD that the second Fantastic Beasts movie gave a "actually, fascism isn't too bad" vibe all the way through and especially at the end. How she has complained that the child actors from those movies particularly don't agree with her views on trans people and that she's publicly said that's why she wanted a new show.

What a WEIRD thing to say about child actors you worked with over a decade ago. It's so WEIRD she would care that those child actors have different opinions than her. It's really SAD she apparently has no hobbies except posting on social media about how she hates trans people. A beloved author who could be using her name to raise money for animal rescues and homeless people and all sorts of really great causes that could improve people's lives, and she's out here doing THIS? It just bums me out. I just can't support someone who uses their money to harass and harm other people like this. I don't know WHY she acts like this or WHY she's chosen to make it her whole personality, but it just makes it really hard for me to want to support any Harry Potter stuff, even when I loved it so much. Knowing any money made from that franchise goes into her pocket to just pour out onto orgs and laws that tell adults they can't just live their lives and be left alone is WEIRD.

And then say what you're gonna be doing instead. You know, I'm going to go and find some new fantasy books at the library. I'm going to boardgame day down at the game store. I'm going to a stitching group. I'm going to host a 1980s fantasy fest at my place; do you have any favorites you recommend? We should have a film fest where we watch all the movies that scared the shit out of us as kids.

"because of The Curse?"

So, it has recently come to my understanding that saying you’re ‘anti Zionist’ often makes Jewish people feel unsafe. My friends have been saying they’re anti Zionist since a bit after the war started. And I didn’t really have the care to understand what that meant back when it first started, unfortunately. Now I’ve learned a little more, and though I seem to keep getting conflicting definitions on what Zionism is, I’ve stopped identifying that way myself for the time being. Because while I consider myself to be on the Palestinian side of this war due to what’s happening to the civilians, I still never want to make a Jewish person feel unsafe around me, because I know that being Jewish does not mean you want all Palestinians to die (heck even a lot of people I know who aren’t Jewish are really mean towards the Palestinians), and I know that antisemitism exists and that you all deserve to feel safe too.

But, I don’t know how to show Jewish people that I’m safe while also showing Palestinian people that I’m safe. I don’t want anyone to feel like they will be hurt around me, because I don’t want to hurt anyone, especially not just for who they were born being. So, I was wondering if you have any advice on how to be a safe person for both people?

Again, if I got anything wrong, I’m so sorry, and will do my best to learn if I did. I really hope you have a good day! <3

Because I believe you’re asking in good faith, I wanted to take the time to give you a proper answer despite the fact that I will get harassed for it (we’ll come back to this later).

First of all, thank you for asking questions and attempting to understand the nuances surrounding this. It’s really scary to realize you don’t know something or might have been wrong about something.

Do self proclaimed anti-Zionists make me feel unsafe? Yes.

I’ll explain why. You wrote:

“Now I’ve learned a little more, and though I seem to keep getting conflicting definitions on what Zionism is, I’ve stopped identifying that way myself for the time being.”

And you absolutely hit the nail on the head with this. So I guess let’s address elephant in the room.

“Morton Kosher Salt, are you a Zionist?”

That all depends on what definition you’re using.

The current Wikipedia definition is:

Zionism[a] is an ethnocultural nationalist[1] movement that emerged in late 19th-century Europe to establish and support a Jewish homeland through colonization in the region of Palestine,[2] which roughly corresponds to the Land of Israel in Judaism—itself central to Jewish history.[3] Zionists wanted to create a Jewish state in Palestine with as much land, as many Jews, and as few Palestinian Arabs as possible.[4][5][disputed – discuss] Zionism was the main force behind the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, and remains the country's dominant ideology today.

This is not the definition held by most Jews however. This definition was added in February 2024. You might see that [disputed – discuss] tag. That’s because this was added to discredit Zionism. The Wikipedia definition in 2022 for example was this:

Zionism (Hebrew צִיוֹנוּת Tsiyyonut [tsijo’nut] after Zion) is a nationalist[fn 1] movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to the Land of Israel, the region of Palestine, Canaan, or the Holy Land, on the basis of a long, Jewish connection and attachment to that land.[3][4][5]

I’ve seen people argue that the new definition, not created by Jews, is still true because “anyone can edit Wikipedia so if it was wrong it would be changed”, however certain articles, such as that one, require you to have an account over 1 month old and with over 500 confirmed edits to touch. But still, you would think it would have been changed.

On Wikipedia there’s a group that’s been dubbed the “Gang of 40”. This is a group of about 3 dozen editors who have made around one million edits 10,000 articles related to Israel. This small group has rewritten history on a site that many people use as their first and only source for information. When this was revealed, Wikipedia began to investigate.

In March 2025, they locked the page to any and all edits for at least 12 months. As of now, I believe the page is still locked. This whole time it’s been locked with the incorrect definition while they try to decide if that’s a false definition spreading hate.

So Jews who have understood Zionism for years and been identifying as Zionists are now being told by people who only learned about Zionism post October 7th that they hate Arabs and Palestinians. And those Jews are asking “Wait, what do Palestinians and Arabs have to do with Zionism?”

So am I a Zionist?

I believe in the Jewish right to self determination in our ancestral homeland.

I do not believe this excludes anyone else from their right to self determination.

I do not believe Palestinians deserve to be hurt or suffer.

I do not support Netanyahu and believe he needs to be out of office and tried for his various crimes.

I do not support many of the actions of the current Israeli government. I think there are some serious issues that need to be addressed.

I believe Israel has a right to exist.

Yes, I am a Zionist.

All of these things can be true, because at its base Zionism is:

“The belief that Jews have a right to self determination in their ancestral homeland”

That’s it. That’s the core of Zionism.

So yes, you can absolutely be Pro-Palestinian. However, when you call yourself and Anti-Zionist, what many Jews will hear is:

“I don’t want you to be safe, and your safety means less to me than looking good”

Because Anti-Zionism has been being used as a socially acceptable way to launder antisemitism. Yesterday I saw an Anti-Zionist comedian complaining online about an interaction he had with an Israeli, and he made a joke that Israelis are stingy with money. I scrolled about 100 comments before closing out but about 30% of them were essentially “Haha good joke!”. At least 5 were versions of “The Austrian painter had the right idea”. The rest were a combination of “It was promised to them 3000 years ago”, “You can identify them by their nose”, “Don’t let them near your wells”, and “Haha, yeah they really are like that, that’s why I don’t trust them”. Of the comments that specified an ethnicity at all, maybe 40% said “Israelis”, the rest just said “Jews”.

So when you call yourself an Anti-Zionist, this is company we have to assume you’re keeping. There’s also the issue that questioning the Anti-Zionist movement is seen as betrayal worthy of cutting ties in some cases. Given that you’ve asked on anon, I’m going to assume you’re afraid of backlash from friends and strangers, backlash for accidentally being antisemitic (don’t worry, you’re not being antisemitic right now), or both, so I think you already understand this. At the beginning I mentioned I will be harassed for posting by internet strangers who have convinced themselves that telling me I personally kill Palestinian babies (actual ask I’ve received), will somehow save the world. Not help Palestinians mind you, that’s not the goal. Their goal is be a hero, Palestine is just a means to an end.

So finally, in response to your question on how to show both Jewish people and Palestinians you’re safe.

My first suggestion is to not say you’re on a “side” of the war. Unless you’re in one of the armies, you’re not on a side. I understand you don’t mean harm by saying it, but saying that makes it feel like a spectator sport. War is awful, people die on both sides, the people who survive will never be the same. When the subject of the war comes up in conversation I tense up, but I hear someone say something like “Wars are always horrible” or “It’s a complex/nuanced situation” I immediately let out a sigh of relief. It immediately tells me ‘This is someone who isn’t swallowing propaganda without even chewing. They see both Israelis and Palestinians as people”.

If you don’t want to be lumped in with the people using Anti-Zionism to be antisemitic, don’t label yourself as anything. Your label is meaningless, your actions are important.

To help Jews specifically, call out antisemitism when you see it, loudly. Read up on antisemitic stereotypes and dog whistles, don’t allow Nazis at your table.

To help Palestinians donate if you can, but make sure sure it’s through a legitimate charity organization. Do not donate to individuals on Tumblr or GoFundMe, these are 100% scams run by people in other countries (GoFundMe doesn’t even support the sending of funds to Palestine). Also be cautious of which charities you’re donating to. Multiple major organizations have now been found to be funneling funds directly to Hamas.

But all in all just treat us both like human beings. Ask questions to understand. And if someone says they don’t want to talk about it, just move on and talk about something else. Sometimes I feel the safest around people who don’t talk about the conflict at all. You don’t need to be a saint, just be a friend.

Example: the latest round of Fauci hearings. Let's go through years of documents to find an example of something less than ideal, claim it's an actual crime, and harass the guy over it.

(nitpicking SWANA is not the issue, although the term seems to be deployed here instead of MENA very intentionally, as part of the effort to erase Israelis).

tabletmag:

The media is at it again, and the latest NY Mag is way worse than it looks. Naturally, we read the main articles so you don’t have to.

Yes, these are real.

I don’t know how we’re supposed to combat this or impress upon non-Jewish audiences how completely bonkers, frighteningly discriminatory, and nefariously antisemitic and xenophobic a piece like this. its entire purpose isn’t to uplift anyone, it is to cast suspicion upon and attempt to ostracize and force out and culturally erase one specific people.

“the Jews are not a part of us. no matter where they live, they are foreigners. unwelcome. inhuman. invaders. their existence victimizes ours. they have no culture, unlike us. they are puerile and violent. they are thieves. they have no food that isn’t stolen. they create no meaningful art. they don’t contribute, they just leech off of the rest of us. we are subjected to them and forced to do business with them, and it’s harmful to our morals and our society. we must not normalize tolerating them.”