TL;DR: antizionist Jews must continue to fight back and speak up or I don’t believe the arguments of well intentioned non-jews will be enough to curb this wave of antisemitism.

The truth of the matter is that outside of places like nyc or LA the average person has a very low chance of ever interacting with a Jewish person and an even lower chance that they realize the person they just talked to is Jewish. A lot of us come from very secular backgrounds and don’t wear the garb outside of synagogue.

I volunteered with an organization in higschool that went to schools around the area and presented Judaism to students who have never met a Jew. There are a lot of such schools in my area (an area with a relatively big Jewish population) and not just the christian ones. IIRC Israel was not part of our normal lesson plan but it was something that often came up when students asked questions. Of course the 2010/2011 rhetoric/narrative resulted in many of my co-volunteers proliferating the conflation between Israel and Judaism.

Growing up in the Jewish community it’s what we were taught. That Israel was our greatest victory, our birthright and true homeland. But I remember the first time I went there in 2011 I saw shit that never sat right with me. I didn’t know how to describe it at the time but I certainty know now: apartheid. When I returned 3 years later on a “birthright” program I noticed it again. The way the former IDF “guards” on our trip referred to Palestinians was downright sickening. I could see that they were hurt by friends lost to military conflict but their rhetoric left no room for empathy, not for the children and not for civilians. It was simply “they support Hamas and therefore they made their bed.”

Anyway all that rambling to say: Jews will need to advocate for themselves just like I did in high school but this time for antizionism. That’s not to say we should be alone in this. I’m fairly confident anyone who knows me well enough would speak up against the conflation between Judaism and zionism. They know where I stand and so does my family. But many people in the world will only ever see the ghouls on TV and twitter and think that’s all there is to it.

It’s been ramping up the last few months but we must continue to not be silent and complicit in this genocide. I saw a great interview on the daily show recently where John Stewart interviewed an anti-zionist Jew. There it was, two Jews explaining their denouncement of israel, how israel’s actions spit in the face of Judaism and the victims of the holocaust. That’s what we need, more conversation and explanation so people understand that we were sold propaganda but regardless many of us are not blind to the atrocities.

This Saturday we’re going to my partners friends house for a BBQ and I’m planning to take the hosts aside to talk on this very subject. None in that friend group (including my partner) had ever met a Jew before I came into the picture, but (I hope) getting to know me has expanded their perspective of my people and allowed them to feel more confident in their antizionism.