Just curious. If real, would love to read it.

A makeshift bed on a pickup truck next to a mother recounting her ordeal of being displaced from Jabalia with her injured son and family. The boy, suffering from injuries sustained during the Nabulsi roundabout massacre, required urgent blood transfusions at Kamal Adwan Hospital. However, they were forced to evacuate following leaflets dropped by occupation forces planes, urging everyone to leave Jabalia and surrounding areas. The mother, struggling with her son's partial paralysis and inadequate medical facilities in North Gaza, expresses a desperate wish for peace

https://reddit.com/link/1cpw7wo/video/d7yfjnfiawzc1/player

Apologize for a bit of a long post: two of my Israeli cousins came to visit us here in Canada. We had a very heated discussion about Israel/Palestine. We agreed on some points, but had some divergences as well. There are a few arguments that they made which I didn't quite know how to respond to, so I'm posting here to have your input and see what you think:

1. The current military intervention of Israel in Gaza is not a genocide since the military actions taken are not congruent with genocidal intent. The current death toll is 30-40k, depending on sources of estimates. Considering that more than 100k bombs were dropped, most of which are smaller diameter bombs (less than 1000lb), this is indicative of a precision bombing campaign. To prove that the precision bombing campaign is genocidal you would need to prove that the official orders from air force command had the distinct intent of killing as much civilians as possible, as opposed to targeting suspected combatants, which doesn't line up with the munitions used or casualties. However, you could argue that some of the strikes constitute war crimes as the vetting of a valid target in a densely populated environment is difficult and could easily violate rule 14 of the IHL. I agree with the last part at minimum.
2. "From the river to the sea!" is a problematic slogan. I argued that the origins of this slogan predate Hamas, and they agreed on that, but said that just like the swastika predates Nazis and was co-opted by them afterwards, the slogan was co-opted by Hamas (and Ironically, a variation of it used by the far-right Israeli Likud as well) - so in that sense, the slogan carries genocidal baggage and is problematic, whichever camp you're in.
3. A ceasefire doesn't create a better political reality for Israel or Palestine. My position on this is that a ceasefire would

3.A stop the immediate humanitarian crisis in Gaza

3.B Give Israel some hope of normalizing relations with the rest of the arab world, which Israel needs for a better long-term geopolitical future.

3.C Provide a better basis for any kind of negotiations for a two state solution.

Their counter-arguments are that:

3.A With Hamas still undefeated Gaza would revert to a totalitarian regime and could repeat Oct 7 in X years. The situation would stay unchanged, both for Israelis and for Palestinians. You need a regime change for Palestinians to have any hope in the future.

3.B Defeating Hamas would make normalization with arab countries opposed to Iran easier, since you would be achieving one of their political goals.

3.C Negotiation with Hamas is impossible therefore see point 3.A.

If you've read this far, thank you for taking the time and looking forward to your input.

Family is finally agreeing to watch it with me - looks like it’s no longer available for rental on the website.

I cannot host a screener at $250 price tag, which appears to be the only remaining option besides attending a screener in person.

If anyone has access can you DM me? Thanks!

I've been trying my g-ddamn best to keep it together these past few months. Set the destructive feelings aside, focus on activism, build community, stay strong. Today was the second Eurovision demonstration in Malmö, I'm there as usual, together with lots of brilliant people I'm so proud to be demonstrating and organizing with. We did something good today.

Then, on my way home, at the train station. I'm carrying my big sign that very clearly identifies me as a Jew for Palestine, it's too big to carry by my side so I figure I might as well hold it up proper. A kid and his friends notice me, barely teenagers really, and just before the train pulls up he's worked up enough courage to approach me. He asks, "So, your sign, you're Jewish then?" and I say yep, I am. He thanks me for coming to the demonstration. He's Palestinian, and he needs me to know he doesn't hate me, he doesn't hate any Jews. He respects all religions, Jewish people aren't any different, it's zionism that they hate- I tell him I know, of course I know. That he shouldn't have to convince anyone of that, he does not owe anyone that disclaimer. I pat my phone, tell him I've got the number of four Palestinians just in Malmö alone who gave me their numbers when they heard I'm Jewish, just in case I need someone to accompany me anywhere. He insists. It takes a few rounds back and forth before he's satisfied that he's gotten the message through and relaxes, goes back to his friends to board the train.

When these kids got off the train, I started crying, just a little, in the otherwise empty train car.

I'm not the kind of person who'll let antisemitism and other dubious shit slide to focus on the bigger picture, I'll be the killjoy and take the bitter fight when it presents itself in antizionist discussions. I don't make excuses for gentiles just 'cause they're antizionists, I just try my damndest not to let it get to me or affect my support for the cause. But the Palestinians, and all the weaponized accusations of antisemitism. We live in a world where a kid whose people are living through a genocide, who's just been at a march protesting that a colonizer state is bombing his country en masse, is put in a position where he feels that he has to explain that he and his people don't hate us, that he so urgently needs to let a stranger know the Palestinians don't hate Jews... It fucks me up. It breaks my damn heart. A world that holds a kid responsible to answer for these twisted accusations. I want to apologize to him for the world that has done this to him, but I know it's not my place.

I don't have anything more with this one. No questions for you all, no news, just sharing a piece of my grief right now, as an antizionist Jew. I'm gonna get it together again in a bit, and then it's back to activism again.

To be clear, I am not saying all leftists must vote for Biden or that stopping one shipment of arms this late in the game in any way makes up for the level of support he has been giving the Israeli destruction of Gaza over the past few months. But nevertheless, seeing the way that the pro-Zionist lobby in America and Israel has reacted to him conditioning a small amount of military aid has been the finest moment of his presidency.

Here's AIPAC calling Biden's decision "dangerous."

Here's Democratic Majority for Israel, who try to knock out any less-than-pro-Israel Democratic member of Congress, complaining.

Here's actual genocidal fascist Itamar Ben-Giver saying that Hamas loves Biden.

Of course, the entire GOP is calling him evil, including Trump going full anti-Semitic and saying that Jews who vote for Biden should be ashamed.

It seems like Biden's announcement that he's conditioning aid is likely too little too late and won't even stop the IDF from leveling Rafah, but this week, I kinda have to smile at how mad he's made many of my least favorite people on the planet.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/urgent-plea-of-our-sisters-brothers-in-humanity

The money is going to help evacuate a Palestinian family of 13, including a mother who desperately needs medical care.

Either local activism or online (living near Chapel Hill and Duke and keeping up with briefings from organizers)

This week's Torah portion expresses a series of commandments in the style of a sermon, with the repeated refrain "I am HASHEM". We read about how to treat one another as well as Israelite sexual morality.

So what do you think of these chapters? What do you make of the commandment to "love your neighbor as yourself", or anything else in this bit?

I've read an account from a zionist who say that when they went to a pro-palestinian seder they were met with anti-semitic dog-whistles by the few gentiles who were invited, along with claims that they were met with silence at the mention of the hostages and "open contempt when people merely brought up the difficult connection they had with israel and their family."

And today I came across an article from ynetnews (a news source which is very biased towards Israel) which interviews a zionist student at the Geneva school of diplomacy who claims that at their university, the campus protestors were waving flags displaying swastikas and singing songs celebrating the rapes of jewish women.

While I believe that accounts of antisemitism should be taken seriously and if the accounts I mentioned are true, they absolutely aren't OK, you can't deny that they present a very biased image towards the campus protests.

The pro-Israel media wants the public to think that every student protesting and standing in liberation with Palestine is a "bloodthirsty antisemite" to justify the violent crackdowns and delegitimize their cause.

Personally, I feel skeptical towards the account from ynetnews because it seems to confirm all the worst hasbara talking-points about pro-Palestinian protestors, and especially because of knowing how accusations of rape have been used as propaganda and how many Israeli witnesses of atrocities including sexual violence have been proven to be unreliable.

For those who have done real-life activism for Palestine and went to protests, have you encountered any antisemitism from your fellow non-jewish protesters and what do you think of the narrative painting all student protestors as violent antisemites?

On one hand, I feel like it can easily come off as performative. But Torah teaches us that the tzitzis themselves are a remind of the mitzvot, how we as Jews should act in this world. So it seems like a protest would be a very appropriate place to wear one. It’s also a symbol that my presence at the rally is deeply rooted in my Judaism. This one will be for a Nakba Day rally and march tomorrow.

I’d love to hear some other opinions. Especially those of you who don’t agree with wearing a tallit to a rally

Newly translated from the NYC Yiddish press

https://jewishcurrents.org/yiddish-anarchists-break-over-palestine-1929

When strangers reside with you in your land, you shall not wrong them.

The strangers who reside with you shall be to you as your citizens; you shall love each one as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I יהוה am your God.

You shall faithfully observe all My laws and all My regulations, lest the land to which I bring you to settle in spew you out.

I am looking for an accessible book to send to a family member who recently sent me "Israel the most misunderstood country". They told me I could send them a book in return and I was hoping I could find a book that was interesting to read and accessible for a layperson. Hoping if possible to find a book that would be a good intro without overwhelming them and having them stop reading or shut down but I understand the reality of things makes that difficult.

Its Shabbat! Share how you are planning on resting and celebrating.

Shabbat shalom!

I’m really curious to know if that is still practiced today.

I have a long time friend from college that has seemingly become very Jewish since college. She messaged me about the Israel and Palestinian conflict and I started conversation with I don’t think it’s a good idea to discuss because she won’t like my opinion. Anything I said against Israel was anti-Semitic. I’m an evil Jew hater because I think Israel used disproportionate force in response to Hamas attack. It’s not a fair discussion.

I tried to send her this page to distract her from the constant bombardment of texts on me. (No offense). She told me she hates non-zionists. But she did say she was also against the wall.

I guess my comment isn’t a question other than curious if Jewish Americans really believe Israel hasn’t done wrong and if you all think it’s anti-Semitic to think both Israel and Hamas have done wrong but Israel’s response was disproportionate.

I wrote this email yesterday and have received a lot of acclaim for it and wanted to share it here. Some peers organized a walk out for my school (we are clinical psychology doctoral students) and then we got an email from admin talking about how there has been antisemitism and I felt it was important to speak out and differentiate antisemitism from antizionism. I hope that my words are inspirational for you. Here it is below

Dear F23 Cohort,

Firstly, I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to *organizers names* for organizing the walkout and teach-in. I am deeply grateful that action is being taken, and it gives me hope to see members of our community coming together in solidarity and advocating for others.

As a Jewish individual deeply rooted in my community and traditions, it pains me to witness the conflation of my religion and culture with the actions of a far-right militarized nationalist state. My Judaism is founded on principles of justice, compassion, and empathy, and it is in direct opposition to the atrocities committed by the government of Israel.

Criticism of the oppressive policies and actions of this regime is not synonymous with antisemitism; rather, it reflects a commitment to upholding universal human rights and opposing injustice in all its forms. The recent emails circulating reflect these values of care and concern for others, and I find them empowering.

Jewish values also include the imperative to speak up against injustice, and I see these emails and organization efforts as a manifestation of that ethos.

Having participated in various protests and rallies, including those at *college campus*, I have seen no evidence of antisemitism in these spaces. Genuine criticism of the Israeli government does not translate to blaming Jewish individuals, which would indeed be antisemitic. It's crucial for us all to differentiate between legitimate critique and discrimination. 

The suffering endured by Palestinians, with millions displaced, tens of thousands killed, and countless others experiencing unimaginable hardship, is a humanitarian crisis that cannot be ignored. As someone committed to my Jewish values, I find such suffering intolerable and commend those who speak out against these injustices.

As aspiring clinicians, it's imperative that we recognize and address the trauma inflicted upon individuals and communities. Amplifying the voices of the marginalized and advocating for justice are integral parts of our role in society.

To my fellow Jewish peers, I understand the apprehension surrounding discussions of Palestinian liberation. However, it's essential to challenge the narratives we've been fed and empathize with the plight of the Palestinian people. Imagine how it would feel if the roles were reversed. True empathy is foundational to our work as therapists.

When we say 'never again,' it means never again for ANYONE. My Judaism is a core part of my identity, and I cannot stay silent when so much harm is being inflicted in the name of a Jewish state. I appreciate each of the individuals who have spoken up about the atrocities that the state of Israel is committing.

Let us strive to create a world where justice, compassion, and empathy prevail. I look forward to tomorrow's event. Be well.