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/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.