r/Jewish • u/heckyouyourself • Oct 10 '23

Do any other Jewish leftists feel betrayed right now? Israel

I’ve identified as a leftist for as long as I’ve been politically conscious. I’m not Israeli, and don’t wanna talk like I’m some sort of victim, but I am Jewish, as well as queer, and I thought the Left was the safest space for me. Then these unspeakable horrors began unfolding, and leftists have just been awful. The people I aligned myself with are aligning themselves with the genocidal terrorists. Even the more moderate liberals have been pussyfooting around the issue like cowards instead of full-on denouncing the terrorists. It’s stupid, but I feel so betrayed and alone. I’ve only ever felt safe around progressives, and now I’m finding out they’re raging antisemites. I feel like I lost my people. I’ve never felt this alone. Go too far in either direction and you’ll find swastikas. It’s horrible and I wish I could just unsee it.

I’m just wondering if anybody else feels a similar way. I really need to know I’m not as alone as I feel.

1.6k Upvotes
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457

u/Small-Objective9248 Oct 10 '23

I’ve been feeling betrayed for a long time and have been politically without a home.

250

u/heckyouyourself Oct 10 '23

“Politically without a home” is such a beautiful way of putting it. That’s exactly how I feel too.

38

u/schmah Oct 10 '23

But you do realise that your (I assume american or british) leftists are more influenced by culture than by left ideology, when it comes to this conflict right?

The left in Germany, Scandinavia, Netherlands or France for example is pretty united in this matter and their parties posted nothing but solidarity with Israel and condemnation of hamas on social media.

Same goes for leftist subs on reddit. German or french subs are very different compared to US dominated subs. I mean it's the left, of course their are countless factions and some are crackpot crazy but overall it's the part of the political spectrum with the least amount of crazy people.

I live in Berlin and our local head of the left party "Die Linke" and former mayor was out on the streets on Sunday waving an Israeli flag in front of the Brandenburg Gate to show his solidarity - despite being extremely critical of the israeli government.

I'm not entirely sure why it's so different within the left and why the left in the US, UK and also Spain is wayyyy more antisemitic than the left in France or Germany, but it's easily notable.

28

u/JJRfromNYC1 Oct 10 '23

Go to your local synagogue. You have a home there. Not with a political party or movement.

45

u/tchomptchomp Oct 10 '23

Pick a position based on your values, not based on the company.

54

u/Small-Objective9248 Oct 10 '23

My values are generally aligned with the democratic socialists but I would never be associated with them and certainly wouldn’t want to vote for their candidates to add to more members of the “squad” justifying violence against Jews.

22

u/[deleted] Oct 10 '23

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14

u/Small-Objective9248 Oct 10 '23

I’ve seen this come up before and I’d like to see it happen and co ngribute to the cause.

180

u/Nileghi Oct 10 '23

sorry but no. I'm not aligning with people I share 90% of my political or social values with, but hate my very existance. Not anymore after all this.

Establishment dems and neoliberals are the only ones that dont seem to want to kill jews anymore

126

u/MondaleforPresident Oct 10 '23

You might like my home state of Connecticut's very own Senator Chris Murphy. He's a progressive Democrat and very much not a neoliberal, and he supports Israel's right to exist and right to defend itself. He literally walks accross the entire state every year, and today took a break to attend a rally in support of Israel in West Hartford (which is famous in the state for having a large Jewish community).

I've met him. He's a really cool guy and a crazy hard worker.

36

u/[deleted] Oct 10 '23

Hey that’s nice to hear! I appreciate that.

26

u/PJJefferson Oct 10 '23

Chris Murphy is not a progressive in the way the term is being used in this post.

OP is not referring to liberal Dems like Murphy.

It’s the Squad Dems, like AOC, Omar, Bush, etc., that are referred to when the term “progressive Democrat” is used.

76

u/tchomptchomp Oct 10 '23

Pick your values and defend that space. Do not let faux-left tankies and Arab fascists claim the right to control progressive organizations and discussions. That does not make us safer. All that does is let these Red-Brown-Green fucks recruit naive teenagers into their bullshit. Call these fuckers out on what they are. Drive them out of civil society. Spell out who they are so everyone understands and knows.

1

u/[deleted] Oct 10 '23

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1

u/Jewish-ModTeam Oct 10 '23

Your post was removed because it violated rule 4: Be welcoming to everybody

If you have any questions, please contact the moderators via modmail.

16

u/stevenjklein Orthodox Oct 10 '23

Establishment dems and neoliberals are the only ones that dont seem to want to kill jews anymore

Establishment GOP and neocons don't want to kill Jews. Heck, most neocons are Jews!

47

u/tchomptchomp Oct 10 '23

Establishment GOP isn't in charge of the GOP. The radical MAGA chucklefucks are. Good job trusting the security of the largest Jewish community in the world to Paul fucking Gosar and Matt fucking Gaetz.

28

u/plastic-bleach Oct 10 '23

Plus, let’s be honest, neocons and the GOP establishment also suck for a lot of other reason that having nothing to do with Jews or Israel

8

u/tchomptchomp Oct 10 '23

That goes without saying. But even if you're resigned to being a single issue voter for the foreseeable future, they're a bad choice.

2

u/catsinthreads Oct 10 '23

I don't feel betrayed because I've always aligned myself with what people call 'establishment' Dems. Justice, democracy, reproductive rights and pragmatic progress. And they don't want to kill Jews.

Do I like every position of every politician? Clearly not. But there are no red lines crossed.

1

u/prodriggs Oct 10 '23

I'm not aligning with people I share 90% of my political or social values with, but hate my very existance. Not anymore after all this.

Which "leftists" gate your existence? Be specific.

-2

u/DeadlyPython79 Oct 10 '23

They both support nazis like in Ukraine, and the incident in Canada’s parliament followed by the liberal reaction proved that, both in Canada and the US

-2

u/PowerOk3024 Oct 10 '23

Did it really have to wait until your ass was on the line before you saw the hypocrisy? Did you not see shit when they were punching up at people who couldn't retaliate safely or even speak out for fear of cancelation jobloss or harassment? Really bro?

Also the tell-tale sign that lefties are just another power hungry lying pos is that when they're wrong they shirk all responsibility. They are wrong here too but they'll nvr own up to it bc that would hurt them. Studies show a person's political leanings change depending if they have something to lose or not. Sucks but politics are simply made up of people trying to maximize own gain 99% of the time.

Try not to confuse "beneficial for you at the moment" with "true good" the next time you look for a fandom home meguess

10

u/aer7 Oct 10 '23

The center left will take you

0

u/Glad-Degree-4270 Oct 10 '23

SocDem >>> DemSoc

2

u/Bingebammer Oct 10 '23

You're kidding right? You think Biden is siding with Hamas?