good morning from the sun

What is antisemitism?

"Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities." IHRA, International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance

Antisemitism is spelled as one word, without the dash, as it is not bigotry against all Semites (Arabs + Jews), it is solely about Jews.

Is antisemitism the same as antizionism?

The 3-Ds of antisemitism are Demonization, Delegitimization and Double-Standards. If your criticism of Israel doesn't apply to any other country, if the way you talk about Israelis doesn't match how you talk about Russians, Iranians, Chinese, etc. then it is antisemitism.

What antisemitism is not

Criticism of Israel on its own (i.e. crimes, gov't, policies)

Palestinian self-determination

Palestinian flags, pride, culture

Criticism of religious Judaism (i.e. trauma, harm)

Is accusing Arabs/Muslims of antisemitism racist/Islamophobic?

It is racist to accuse Arabs of being de facto antisemites.

It is racist to presume Arabs are all Muslim as well.

It is not racist to acknowledge that Islam is foundationally taken from Jewish texts and histories, which have been misinterpreted and abused to justify antisemitic violence. It is not racist to hold Islam accountable for the imperialism that pervades its evangelical arm.

Just like it isn't racist to do the same for Christianity. And we hold this standard for Judaism as well. Just like it isn't antisemitic to criticize the harms that Jewish religion has caused for others (such as LGBT), it isn't Islamophobic to do the same. This post by @dancinbutterfly explains it so succinctly:

How prevalent is antisemitism?

It's baked-in to two of the world's major religions, Christianity and Islam. Unfortunately that means antisemitism is the de facto sentiment of a majority of the world's population. Antisemitism is one of the oldest, longest hatreds. That means we are often subjected to historical revisionism, such as denying the severity of the Holocaust, or publishing encyclopedias, textbooks, as "information" with clearly antisemitic content pasted over real events. 

A good example is a look at the Wikipedia article for what Zionism is. This clearly shows that Wikipedia is being subjected to antisemitic historical revisionism and vandalism.

What is the alt-left?

We will use the BITE model for indoctrination as popularized by Steven Hassan in Combating Cult Mind Control. BITE stands for Behavior, Information, Thought, Emotion. The most common form of indoctrination is called a thought-terminating cliche, or a fallacy-fallacy.

For example:

P1: "Israel is committing genocide!"

P2: "How many people have Russia killed so far"

P1: "500,000"

P2: "Do you think Russia is committing genocide?

Should we eject Putin from the UNSC?"

P1: "That's whataboutism!"

Resist this "whatabousim" idea, as it is designed to terminate all objections to clear hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is different than whataboutism, because it is a double standard, one of the 3-Ds of antisemitism.

So what is Zionism?

Zionism is the acknowledgment that Jews are the indigenous population of Israel, who have a right to self-determination in their homeland. Zionism is extremely broad. Some people don't even require Israel to be the Jewish country (their goal is simply safety and community for Jews world-wide, in Some Place), but this is a more secular argument.

Some people believe Zionism is only applicable to Jews (i.e. you cannot call yourself a Zionist if you are not a Jew), others are OK with goyim using the term as well. You'll have to feel that out, as both sides of the equation have a right to exist. Personally I use Zionism in as broad a definition as possible, so it does include non-Jews, with the exception of Messianic Christians, and evangelical hoo-hah.

When you're discussing Zionism with a Jew, especially as a non-Jew, you need to listen to what they describe Zionism as. It is de-legitimizing (another of the 3-Ds) to claim that Jews can't be trusted to point out antisemitic rhetoric. Jews define antisemitism, and we define Zionism. They are words about us, for us. 

In some cases people will say wrong dumb shit, so refer back to the first part of what antisemitism isn't. E.g. if someone (even a fellow Jew) says holding a Palestinian flag is antisemitic, they are actually being antisemitic themselves.

Is goy a slur?

No, in fact the term "gentile" was popularized by the KKK. Gentile is based off of a Christian scholar's interpretation of the term goy (Saint Jerome). Goy simply means "nations", as in non-Jewish people. Goyim/goy is not a slur. Some people might use it derogatorily, the same way Black people might speak negatively about white folks who have been racist to them.

It's still not a slur. We prefer to use goy because it is our word, we like it, and it doesn't have a history of being lobbed at us by mask-wearing wizard KKK freaks. Terms like "zio", "zionazi" etc are also slurs developed by David Duke.

You're a conservative who believes in prison abolition and social justice blah khadl blargo de glarm hlblehgah?

Conservative Judaism is a progressive, egalitarian denomination of Judaism. We believe in conserving the spirit of the Torah, but produce adaptive Responsa as we gain more scientific and social understanding. it is not Republican/political conservatism.

Why do you post all these gibberish asks by idiots?

That's actually the reason I am here! To do outreach to people who are brainrotted. I was an extreme kid. I was indoctrinated into a violent armed gang at age 8, and we had a lot of the same ideology.

Violence is cool, and our enemies should die and be hurt, brutality should be rewarded, etc. I want to dismantle this pipeline. I want to use my experiences to be a force for good, because that gives meaning to my life.

But I get that it's annoying to constantly read bullshit, so you don't have to follow me!

Is Israel committing genocide?

I've decided to update this conclusively to no. There is no genocide in history that has ever ended with the genocidal party negotiating a peace deal and releasing thousands of terrorists and criminals in exchange for 20 civilian hostages.

All genocides that have ever occurred in human history only ended when the genocidal party was militarily defeated or when they completed their goal of extermination.

Palestinians are not exterminated and Israel was not defeated, they voluntarily withdrew after the return of our hostages. Genocidal rhetoric is not genocide. Speech is not genocide. Crazy Kahanist far right religious extremists spewing gibberish is not genocide.

War crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed. Genocide is a war crime. Not all war crimes are genocide. If future evidence is shown that Israel violated the Genocide Convention as it was written on October 7th 2023 then I will change this answer to yes.

As it stands, the answer is no.

What are your political beliefs?

I identify as Jewish, politically and consider partisan politics to be goyische and not something that has any bearing on me, my people, or holds any interest in my wellbeing as a Jewish person. Kol Yisrael Arevim Ze Bazeh - All Jews Are Responsible For One Another. I am a religious Jew, so I believe in a rational application of halacha as ordered through Conservative responsa, updating with the times to ensure the least amount of harm possible.

I'm an "anarchist-lite," and boy howdy does that piss a lot of people off. What it means is that I believe in some foundational anarchist principles such as mutual aid and tight-knit, clustered communities. Agriculture civilized us, but it's also based on slavery, which is the core rot of our society as a human species. We only have empathy for 200 people max, governing millions of people, a majority of them are outside that empathy sphere.

Unfortunately, reversing this would cause more suffering, so I don't believe in dismantling our society or returning to stateless communities. Instead, I believe that there ought to be leadership based on the principle of consensus, and particularly tribal leadership styles where elders and respected teachers come together to argue and discuss.

I think humans ought to live in smaller communities based on ideology, and free immigration/emigration should be encouraged to avoid Westermarcking (i.e. kibbutzim kids). But obviously that is theoretical and not actionable.

As it stands, I believe in electing fair representatives who prioritize indigenous people (including Jews first and foremost as they are my tribe), Black people, LGBT, disabled people, and marginalized people in general.

I believe that money ruined our species and I think money is a bullshit, made-up concept and that people should not need to be forced into making a living to get paper so that they can eat food and have a house. This is ridiculous. Jobs and capitalism are inherently eugenicist and anti-disabled, if you can't "produce" then you're a worthless piece of shit, and that's dumb as fuck.

This ties in with my stance about AI. I support Universal Basic Income and price controls on companies so they can't out-price the UBI.

I support A Land For All when it comes to Israel/Palestine as it has bipartisan support in Israel which means it is the most likely solution to actually gain traction. I consider myself a pragmatic progressive, and have some right-leaning and some left-leaning beliefs.

I believe in freedom of speech, the right to self-defense, and self-determination in one's ancestral homeland. I believe in Land Back, but not in a violent decolonization. I center indigenous people and Jewish allies in my politics including the Minceir, Druze, Persian (and other ethnic minority) Iranians, Roma, Hindus, etc.

I oppose religious fascism (Islamism, Christofascism, etc). I believe it is possible for Muslims and Christians to be allies to Jews but that this allyship involves listening critically, and not speaking over Jewish people or rushing to say "I wouldn't do that!" or whatever else. Christianity and Islam are inherently colonial ideologies and if you are not willing to hold your beliefs accountable for that, then we will not get along.

Why do you choose to live in Canada?

If I could make aliyah, I absolutely would. I am far too poor and disabled as it is. Give me a million dollars and I'll happily emigrate.

Have you got a job yet?

Writing I <3 Weemie in your diary every day doesn't count as a hobby :-)

You're ugly.