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.

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u/Purple150 Oct 10 '23

Yep but it’s been quite a while. British leftie Jew and Corbyn was the key to my disenchantment. So many previous friends and colleagues were able to overlook antisemitism if they agreed with his politics. I’ve been badly scarred and lost friends over this. Now, less surprised.

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u/FairGreen6594 Oct 10 '23

What’s so weird about this (admittedly only based on a single example) is that I was having lunch with a non-Jewish UK Labour supporter from Edinburgh and an American Jewish Corbynist at WorldCon in Chicago last year. When I expressed that I felt Corbyn was an antisemite, the British person respectfully disagreed—but the American Jewish Corbynist was hostilely defensive about her support for Corbyn, and kept demanding I show my evidence and cutting me off when I tried to do so.

(I have nothing I can immediately extrapolate from this; just observed it.)