#**jew

יידיש איז נישט קיין פראבלעם!

Because you asked nicely, and politely, and not in a demanding way, I will answer this rather than just deleting the message (as I normally do) and messaging someone to yell incoherently in annoyance about being asked this at all on a random Friday. So here is my answer:

My perspective, as a Jewish person, is that there is no reason to ask me this question when I have never talked about my POV on this issue on my blog, and that in itself is me saying “I do not want to talk about Israel-Palestine with strangers and/or non-Jews/non-Palestinians.” My perspective, as a Jewish person, is that being asked this question, even politely, is a signal that I have strayed somewhere that I am not fully welcome or safe, because my safety or allowance of existence within that space depends more on my being a Good Jew(TM) than just being a human being.

If you are Palestinian, Jewish, or Israeli, then message me off anon and I will probably talk to you about it privately, but given that I talk about most political issues publicly EXCEPT this one BECAUSE any answer that I give endangers me as a Jewish person existing in public space... if you are not Palestinian, not Jewish, and not Israeli, then assume I do not have any interest in discussing I/P with you. My overarching interest in Israel-Palestine as a public discussion is using it as a way to gauge my own personal safety in whatever arena in which it is being publicly discussed.

I do not live in Israel, I do not hold Israeli citizenship, and I have never visited Israel.

I am an American Ashkenazi Jew whose only connection to Israel is through family, and that means that I shouldn’t have to publicly address my thoughts on Israel any more than I should have to address my thoughts on Romania or Transylvania or Poland, which are other countries to which I’ve never been, don’t hold citizenship, and am only connected to through family.

I think that a very, very large number of non-Palestinian, non-Israeli, non-Jewish leftists use the question of “what are your thoughts on Israel-Palestine” as a way to decide whether Jewish leftists, and Jewish people in general, deserve their protection as a member of a marginalized, vulnerable group, and that they don’t require the same interrogation of members of any other marginalized, vulnerable group. If you aren’t messaging American-Russian Tumblr users to ask for their thoughts on Chechnya, or American-Chinese Tumblr users to ask for their thoughts on Uyghurs, or American-Myanma Tumblr users to ask for their thoughts on the Rohingya, then I think you should question whether you have an implicit bias against Jews that makes you view your right to judge or validate/invalidate Jewish-Americans Tumblr users’ thoughts on Israel-Palestine.

I’m not a politician. I’m not a cultural figure. I’m not someone with any ability or authority to have an impact on Israel or Palestine in any way, whatsoever, in even a tiny way. The fact that you expect me to have an opinion or feeling about Israel more than I do any other foreign country that I’m not from and don’t live in is, in itself, an assumption about my politics/lifestyle/background/loyalties as a Jewish-American.

Whichever evil genius idiot created the B'nai Mitzvot Mix of "Starships" that changes "higher than a motherfucker" to "chai just like your mother+father" is...

we’re not a separate, predatory species that you lock in a cage and taunt with meat on sticks for sport. “jew-baiting” is NOT what this tactic is called. it is antisemitism.

When you encounter discussion of Trump’s tactics, call them what they are. They’re antisemitic. He’s an antisemite.