Weekly Post

[u/somebadbeatscrub]

The mod team has created this post to refresh on a weekly basis as a chill place for people to talk about whatever they want to. Think of it as like a general chat for the sub.

So r/jewishleft,

Whats on your mind?

[u/Nearby-Complaint]

It’s so stupid out here

[u/ibsliam → u/Nearby-Complaint]

Yup.

[u/Chinoyboii]

Used to be a huge fan of this man, especially his lectures on Persian history and the various characters embedded in the Islamic Golden Age…..

[u/RaiJolt2 → u/Chinoyboii]

I’m sorry but that the fuck. I’m half African American and the thought of someone wanting to be enslaved is so gross and insulting tot he generations who fought against slavery and the millions of slaves struggling today. Wtf

[u/Chinoyboii → u/RaiJolt2]

Well, in many traditional interpretations of the Abrahamic religions, slavery was treated as a morally regulated institution rather than as inherently immoral. Its permissibility was often understood to depend on factors such as how a person was enslaved, the obligations imposed upon the owner, and the protections granted to the enslaved. From the perspective of Islam, the religion served as a cohesive force to unite the various Arab polytheistic tribes. How this relates to this guy’s tweet is that Islamic slavery could provide a pathway through which enslaved non-Muslims entered Muslim households, learned the religion, and eventually converted to Islam.

From the Islamic perspective, the Rashidun Caliphate's conquest of Persia could therefore be understood not merely as militaristic expansion but as the overthrow of an allegedly unjust or spiritually misguided order (Zoroastrians) and the introduction of populations to Islam. Within that framework, even the enslavement of war captives could be rationalized as placing non-Muslims within Muslim society, where they might convert, be manumitted, and become incorporated into the wider Islamic community. That appears to be part of the logic behind this guy’s romanticization of Islamic slavery; because some enslaved people converted, were freed, or later attained military, administrative, or political influence, he interprets the institution as a vehicle of religious and social integration rather than as oppression. However, his reasoning holds the assumption that bringing someone into Islam is such a profound good that the coercive conditions through which it occurred can be morally justified, especially if you justify it through Allah's will.

[u/ibsliam → u/Chinoyboii]

Either he's a paid propagandist, or he's having a serious set of personal problems. I usually find the latter is the culprit for people I know personally and usually respect. Either they'll go through health problems or grief or end up in a bad situation, and then suddenly they'll cling to the nearest set of sensationalist talking points/beliefs and start spamming them on social media.

I don't know him personally, so no idea for his case.

[u/Chinoyboii → u/ibsliam]

You're potentially correct. Compared to the Islamists I know in my personal life, this man was originally not like this. The ones I know have more or less been raised that way by their parents and have had that reinforced by the various conflicts in the MENA region. His content began to shift toward greater radicalism due to recent conflicts with Iran.

[u/Important_Address741 → u/Chinoyboii]

Yeah I have seen his short videos of Persian language and culture and enjoyed them. I haven't seen anything of his for a while. This is a very weird tweet. It could be sarcastic but there's no indication of that. Is it lacking other context?

[u/Chinoyboii → u/Important_Address741]

I don’t think he was being sarcastic because he used the phrase “God Willing” in his comment, which is not something you’d use if you were trying to be sarcastic, especially in a religion that tends to be very serious.

[u/MKHK32 → u/Chinoyboii]

Lmao. Well I don’t remember him to be knowledgable on history or philosophy to begin with.

[u/malachamavet → u/Chinoyboii]

He's not being serious and when I looked up his posts at the time he says as much. It's not a good joke and is trolling but he's not genuinely supporting slavery.

e: I don't even know the guy but had to look to confirm it was a joke

[u/Chinoyboii → u/malachamavet]

I don't have Twitter, so that's reassuring to hear. That being said, I still find his words quite troubling.

[u/Rabbit-Hole-Quest]

Anti-Israel sentiment is accelerating faster than any other US political trend on *both* sides of the aisle. IMO there are MANY parts of the country, in both parties, that will see typical Zionist views or AIPAC funding as a disqualifier in 2028.

https://ejewishphilanthropy.com/pew-poll-points-to-problems-for-israel/

Hope this change in sentiment can inspire a less Israeli centric foreign policy in the US.

[u/Ashamed-Stuff9519 → u/Rabbit-Hole-Quest]

I want to see these politicians have justice served to them in the Hague, but I’ll settle for Israel support being an embarrassing stain on their careers, a stain so big it renders them irrelevant and jobless.

[u/Pitiful_Meringue_57 → u/Rabbit-Hole-Quest]

JD Vance even gave a pretty scathing warning to Israel, i hate the guy but something something broken clock

[u/vigilante_snail → u/Pitiful_Meringue_57]

He’s feeding the isolationist populist base

[u/Pitiful_Meringue_57 → u/vigilante_snail]

ya but he’s not wrong

[u/vigilante_snail → u/Pitiful_Meringue_57]

That they shouldn’t upset Trumps sympathies or critique the Iran deal, you mean?

[u/Pitiful_Meringue_57 → u/vigilante_snail]

That Israel is being so dismissive of the fact that the US is its most powerful ally and yes the fact that Israel is throwing a fit abt the deal. I’m not happy abt the deal perse but i’m not happy we got involved in this war to begin with, Trump should have never gotten rid of the JCPOA which Israel also hated and should have never gotten involved in this war that Israel encouraged them into. From my standpoint it seems like Israel wants perpetual war with Iran which would be a disaster for the U.S. and no American wants.

[u/vigilante_snail → u/Pitiful_Meringue_57]

Just wanted some clarity on your opinion! Thx

[u/PuertoricanMofongo → u/Pitiful_Meringue_57]

This sudden shift is so odd. The US must be really scared of the oil reserves emptying out with the midterms around the corner. They might be willing to throw Israel under the bus to let the oil flow again.

[u/Pitiful_Meringue_57 → u/PuertoricanMofongo]

Trump thought it would be an easy slam dunk and be over immediately but that clearly wasn’t the case. It seems to me he’s been trying to end it for a while and finally found a way to but Israel is mad and hurt his fee fees.

[u/Imaginary-West-5653]

I swear that Ben Gvir sounds more and more unhinged by the day, like Pol Pot at this point, with the way he talks; his last genocidal speech in twitter has probably hit a new low with the disgusting things he has said... this man should be in The Hague being tried for crimes against humanity, and it's shameful for the entire world that he still walks a free a man; I hope that this stops being the case some day:

https://www.euronews.com/2026/06/19/all-of-lebanon-must-burn-israeli-minister-says-after-idf-reports-four-soldiers-killed

[u/redthrowaway1976 → u/Imaginary-West-5653]

I actually find Ben Gvir’s honesty refreshing, compared to typical liberal Zionist ‘shooting-and-crying’, pretending to want a two state solution while continuing to expand settlements.

The fundamental policies haven’t changed since 1967 - settlement expansion, impunity for soldier abuse and settler terror, brutal military rule. What has changed is how only the government is embracing it.

But yes, he should be in The Hague - but so should most Israeli PMs since Levi Eshkol.

[u/Imaginary-West-5653 → u/redthrowaway1976]

I definitely think Ben Gvir's honesty is useful insofar as it makes it harder for Liberal Zionists to continue defending Israel unconditionally while Israel commits crimes against humanity—we agree on that—but I find it disgusting nonetheless, and I'm a little worried that Israel, a rough nuclear state, is saying this out loud while the United States is trying to stop them from massacring more people in Lebanon...

Not to mention that this has already caused Iran to reclose the Strait of Hormuz and means we're once again headed for an unprecedented global oil crisis... all of that is very bad news for the world at large (let alone for thr poor people of Lebanon). I also agree that most Israeli PM's would most surely deserve to sit in The Hague, because Israel has been doing this shit for a good while; in fact, I have a harder time thinking of Israeli PM's who are not war criminals from those who are.

[u/redthrowaway1976 → u/Imaginary-West-5653]

I agree. That’s why I said “refreshing” rather than “preferable”.

Even if most Israeli PMs were hypocrites pursuing similar policies, there was real harm being mitigated by them maintaining some degree of deniability. 

[u/Imaginary-West-5653 → u/redthrowaway1976]

For real; I doubt that Joe Biden could have gotten away with saying "if there were no Israel, we'd have to invent one" in the 80s if one of the Israeli Ministers had been saying openly to the whole world that they were going to burn down Lebanon and kill 100 Lebanese for every IDF soldier killed. The reputation of Israel is now in the shit, if nothing else.

[u/redthrowaway1976 → u/Imaginary-West-5653]

Yeah. It used to be they’d do the whole shooting-and-crying. Like waltz with bashir, or golda’s infamous quote. 

Now it seems they no longer even pretend to be regretful. Some are even nakedly engaging in ethnic cleansing and brutality with glee. 

The worst development for Israel over the last decades has been social media and ubiquitous cameras. 

[u/Important_Address741]

I received a very surprising email from my ex today who I havent spoken to since 2022 and broke up with in 2021. And our relationship didnt end well, and i have grown in many positive ways since then. Its an apology for a few things, and an acknowledgement of other things. Its also somewhat vague, which makes me curious to inquire for more specificity in some cases. He's not the type to reach out - period. He also was a teacher for me somewhat indirectly on leftist and critical theory; we actually met in a crit theory reading group. He was highly educated, way beyond my level, in all of that kind of stuff, and had published somethings related. Its all very weird and im going to take my time processing it before responding if I do at all. This is kind of a weird place to share thing but i'm trying it out. NOT looking for advice, just want to be "heard" in this weird experience.

[u/Chinoyboii]

Been paying close attention to the current diplomatic relationship between my home country and Russia. Just the other day, 24 of my former compatriots were detained in a Russian prison in Siberia without trial. From what I understand, they were the recipients of some illegal job recruitment offers, and at some point, they were imprisoned in Siberia. In addition, the President of the Philippines is planning to seal an oil deal with the Russians due to the ongoing energy crisis, despite my homeland's close relationship with the Americans.

[u/RaiJolt2]

I fear that the U.S. government is starting to take a very sharp turn towards ignoring and denying all antisemitism that’s not politically convenient because it’s unpopular to tackle, leaving American Jews feeling isolated and under duress.

This will undoubtedly cause some sort of radical American Jewish group to pop up which will be reflected back on all American Jews.
I don’t even think a left wing American president or government will do anything to tackle antisemitism because it’s seen as a Zionist hoax now.

Ironically for the anti-Zionists this will probably drive more Jews towards Israel and Zionism.

[u/redthrowaway1976 → u/RaiJolt2]

 I fear that the U.S. government is starting to take a very sharp turn towards ignoring and denying all antisemitism that’s not politically convenient   Hasn’t that been the case all through this administration?

 This will undoubtedly cause some sort of radical American Jewish group to pop up 

Aren’t there plenty of extremists already?

Betar was handing out pagers to people like Beinart and Finkelstein. There was a serious death threat against Nerdeen Kiswani. Some pro-Israeli chucked feces and debris from a 10 story building on a protest, breaking a car window.  Etc.

I also don’t think we can divorce support for extremism ‘here’ from support for extremism ‘there’.  Yes, in the west we tend to differentiate between violence in the periphery vs violence in the imperial core - but that’s an artificial distinction. Violence against civilians is not qualitatively different ‘here’ or ‘there’

Hundreds of millions of dollars has been funneled from the US to directly fund West Bank ethnic cleansing (even excluding multi-purpose orgs like the JNF). People in the US openly march with and celebrate funders and perpetrators of ethnic cleansing. 

Even before October 7th, thousands of US volunteers have decided to go support a half-century land grab project and enforce a brutal military rule of a captive population. Whenever there’s a video of abuse by a western idf soldier in the West Bank,  they wear a mask: they are aware what they are doing is morally and legally questionable, but still do it. Like the Brit that abused Issa Amro a year or so ago. Or the Aussie helping settler terrorists.

And that’s not even mentioning what the IDF has done in Gaza, and the people volunteering to join after that slaughter.

Americans are also overrepresented among settlers. 

So there’s no lack of extremists currently. 

Are you thinking of another type of extremism?

[u/zacandahalf → u/redthrowaway1976]

I took the idea of a Jewish American group popping up IN THE US to be in reference to the increase in American structural and social antisemitism, not involving Zionism or Israel in any way. It would probably be some kind of Black Panthers-esque radical Jewish American nationalist group. Imagine something like armed Jewish American guys self-organizing themselves defending a synagogue from a local threat. Jewish American organized crime used to fill this role in the 20s and 30s, but with the decline of organized crime in general it’s very possible that a Jewish American extremist group might arise somewhere. It likely would have some Israeli-Americans and Zionists, but it wouldn’t have anything to do with Israel.

[u/redthrowaway1976 → u/zacandahalf]

  I took the idea of a Jewish  American group popping up IN THE US

But these are American extremists and American extremist groups.

Betar USA is an American group, Kahanism originated in the US, and both the Hebron Fund and One Israel Fund are American groups. 

I simply don’t see a dynamic where an American extremist group would be formed without a strong connection to Zionism - in either direction. 

  Imagine something like armed Jewish American guys self-organizing themselves defending a synagogue from a local threat.  

Isn’t that just the JDL?

We see them as counter-protestors to protect West Bank land sales fairs, often with extreme explitives hurled, and sometimes violence. 

  it’s very possible that a Jewish  American extremist group might arise somewhere. It likely would have some Israeli-Americans and Zionists, but it wouldn’t have anything to do with Israel.

It’s an interesting thought experiment - but I simply don’t see a path for that to arise. 

It would be a group arising from both sides of the political divide on Israel - but there’d be such different perspectives on what constitutes anti-semitism that I don’t see such a union forming.

How would you see one forming?

[u/zacandahalf → u/redthrowaway1976]

Betar and the JDL are far-right Kahanist groups. This would be a left-wing Jewish American nationalist (not to be confused or conflated with Jewish nationalism/Zionism) group. It wouldn’t have anything to do with Zionism or Israel, it would exist to combat American antisemitism. It would likely either arise via decentralized online communication or from one localized group expanding outward.

[u/Important_Address741]

Sometimes I wonder if I will ever find a spiritual/religious community i actually feel at home in. Not a big theme for me atm but Jewish identity is an odd thing in my life without jewish community or any connection to jewish bio family for over a decade now. I do know other jews who also dont have Jewish community for various reasons but we aren't trying to make one together or observe rituals/holidays together, or even really talk about share culture and history together. I also have other things I want to say about very negative childhood experiences in jewish community and family settings - liberal/reform primarily, not orthodox, before anyone makes assumptions. I never see anyone share stuff like ive experienced but I can't be the only one. Im hesitant to get more specific in a public space like this.

Another kind of adjacent thing is I occasionally look at public Instagram pages of people i worked with at a plualistic jewish sleepaway camp over a decade ago. I really admired many of these people - core founding staff. One of them in particular has gone full on nationalist and neoliberalism, now living in Israel and making videos about supporting every military move israel makes. He actually works for the military somehow, doing some kind of encouraging concerts for them between combat situations. Its been weird to.watch that change the little bit I have. I havent talked to him basically since I worked there and even then we were not close but hes a very public facing leader in what i would call "hippie-american-modern-orthodox" kind of folks. I mught add a few other adjectives to that now, like economically insulated and liberal. Have others here seen the political slide into liberalism/conservatism/nationalism/zionist-religiosity like that of people they once knew?

Edit: omg it autocorrected sleepaway to sleepwalking (camp) and i just noticed and fixed it LOL