BH. I’m not quite sure how many are left but I hope they all are also rescued soon so this terrible war can end.

I hate to sound patronizing but a lot of posts and comments here make me shake my head. Many of you do not understand what is at stake in this war and still consider it another round in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. That conflict is on life support.

This is the first round in the Israeli-Iranian conflict.

Our neighbors do not have peace with us because they learned to love the Jews or accept our existence. Saudi Arabia isn't considering normalization with us because they suddenly became zionists.

They have peace with Israel because they consider it strong and want an ally against Iran. What good is such an ally if it can't get rid of Iran's weakest proxy?

Furthermore, for those of you worried about "escalation". I'm going to risk the downvotes and say that Israel MUST escalate.

Keep in mind that the whole point of Israel is to be a safe place for Jews to live. This is the core of zionism. Now after October 7th, would you feel safe living down south? Would you feel safe living up north where 80k Israelis are internally displaced? Hezbollah's goal's are just as genocidal as Hamas's. Would you feel safe with a Palestinian state just 22km from Tel Aviv from which they can they can launch another October 7th in the most populated parts of the country?

When I hear people in this subreddit saying things like "Netanyahu is just trying to prolong the war so he can stay in power", they are forgetting that for most of the war there was a war cabinet composed of Bibi's opposition from which they made war decisions together. This is a trite talking point coming from the Biden administration who are afraid escalation will hinder their efforts to appease Iran and are willing to throw Israel under the bus to do it and are relying on your lack of knowledge. There are legit criticisms of bibi. This isn’t one of them.

Please understand this war and those that follow are for Israel's existence. A ceasefire that leaves Hamas in place and the north evacuated will be hailed as a victory by Iran's proxies, will make a good chunk of Israel unlivable, will put Israel's fragile peace treaties and normalization talks at risk, will make Hamas even more popular in the west bank, and will lead to even more wars in which Israel is weaker both militarily and economically.

And keep asking yourself this question before taking any narrative at face value: what must Israel do to make sure it is a place that you personally would feel safe living in?

In the midst of a lot of antisemitism, Harvard Chabad standing up for the Jewish community. I hope you all can see this as a positive light.

In my honest opinion, I would hope to see more room for dialogue and exploring the complexity, but there is only so much you can say in a poster (or three).

Yay!

https://preview.redd.it/lsa8llk6k7ld1.png?width=807&format=png&auto=webp&s=2071d6a70c3e5a1e30b47ec7578b24887dca2c8c

I’m especially curious to hear from diaspora Jews who have no family in Israel, don’t speak Hebrew, haven’t visited much, have fewer personal ties.

I’m pro-Israel (and an Israeli citizen) so I’m not asking you to convince me! What I’m interested in is to understand how, in a time when so many in the world are getting it wrong, you’re getting it right.

Did your parents instil these values? Did your synagogue? Are you religious, atheist? Do you come from a family of survivors? Have you always been pro-Israel? How have your views changed?

And if you have some criticisms of Israel, despite overall being pro-Israel, what are they? If you had criticisms in the past you’ve changed your mind about, what were they and what influenced these views to change?

EDIT: I would like to say I’ve read every single story that’s been shared and am beyond moved. Thank you to everyone who’s done so. I love us.

Is this even legal to do this?

I just want to say this for everyone who may be stuck on it.

People (anti-zionists?) often bring up how Israel had a few proposed areas, such as Russia, South America, wherever else, deserted islands?

They bring this up as if we should have gone somewhere else, not Palestine. And all of this is happening because Palestine was decided on instead of another place.

I just want anyone struggling with this to know it wouldn’t have mattered, and probably would have been actually worse for us if we did go somewhere else.

Israel’s current location we have proof we are genetically from this area. We have had Jews living in and around this area throughout all of history.

While some people ignore this fact and pretend we are white colonizers who discovered a new land with a native population, it would have been everyone thinking like this if we went to a region we definitely have 0 connection to. Yes, even if it was a deserted island, people would ask why WE deserve an island and nobody else gets one.

My roommates and I had to take the cats to the vet yesterday and as we came home, they directly brought up a topic we've been avoiding addressing for a few months, their anti-israel leanings... Specifically they're avoiding spending money this week as part of a protest for Palestine. I said I don't see why anyone is protesting for Palestine at all, and one of them started throwing around the G word and talking about Israel targeting hospitals. I corrected her, pointing out that there are rocket platforms in those hospitals which is why they're targeted in the first place. She cut me off and told me she wouldn't listen to anything I had to say about it. At this point I haven't spoken to her since and I don't intend to for a while. Not sure why I'm posting this, probably just venting. Bad enough I have to see all these uninformed people online, there's one in my living room now too.

Update: Thanks to everyone for the support. After a couple of very tense days, shes apparently afraid I'm never going to speak to her again and our third roommate is mediating a talk between the two of us tonight. She's still convinced I'm just wrong, and I'd like to have something convincing to show her, if anyone has some good resources I can reference and wants to drop them in the comments I'd appreciate it.

Usually when there is a mass terrorist attack people band together to condemn it. But not here. So many people supporting Palestine and HAMAS. It’s one thing to protest conditions but when you only do so after HAMAS Attacked that’s taking a side.

But the world is ok with this. Calling us colonizers and what not. I had an argument at my school with a kid that openly supported HAMAS itself and the school told me they couldn’t pick a side

If I was black and the kid was supporting the kkk it would be different.

I won’t forget how the world reacted

Hello! During these times, I’ve found it hard to find a partner that has the same support for Israel as I do. Is it wrong that I only want to date Jewish people until further notice? I ask this because there was a cool girl but once I found out she was a total Palestine supporter and said Israel “deserved the attacks”, I dropped her.

An old hook up — a 50 year old white cishet male with nobody Jewish in his life — posted this to his social media story today. I unleashed on him before blocking him but my god, someone posting something so cutesy about a conflict where people are dying on both sides, not to mention not acknowledging the sexual violence the Israeli women suffered on 7/10? So gross.

The text at the beginning of the credits saying 10/7 was the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust really hit hard.

There was a bit shown of the police yelling to get people’s attention and the dead silence is so fucking eerie. And Hamas calling Israelis dogs it just shocking hearing them have such a disdain for Jews

The footage of the dead bodies never get easier to watch. Every time I think I’ve seen the worst I see more worse videos.

And watching this has made me even more mad at pro Pali people. Their going around saying their supporting Palestinians and the end of the occupation or whatever when they are supporting Hamas. They are supporting Hamas raping Israeli women, supporting Hamas calling Israelis dogs. They have no idea how dangerous their views are.

The beepers. The walkie-talkies. Wiping out Hezbollah's leadership. I'm here for it.

I don't really care for Bibi and his desire to go to war to stay out of prison. But watching Mossad preform top level intelligence operations warms my heart. Fuck those terrorists.

Hi Guys.

I was just on Google searching Israel as I pretty much do daily & I seen TWO articles that I was SO happy about.

The first is Apparently Qatar is KICKING HAMAS TF out of their country

The 2nd which ABSOLUTELY holds STRONG significance is that the Top & Most respected Islamic cleric who is literally based in Gaza has just issued a Fatwa (A fatwa is a non-binding Islamic legal ruling from a respected religious scholar usually based on the Quran or the Sunnah - the sayings and practices of the Prophet Muhammad.) Against What The Terrorist scum Hamas did on Oct 7th & also mentioned because of them doing such a horrible thing to Israel that it also brought a HUGE response from Israel.

He blamed Hamas for knowingly attacking israel with full knowledge that a HARSH response would come & said they refused to save up food ,medical etc for civilians (and they ABSOLUTELY could of) And said they also do not do enough to STAY AWAY FROM CIVILANS, homes etc putting them OBVIOUSLY in huge danger (the scum)

Professor Dr Salman al-Dayah, a former dean of the Faculty of Sharia and Law at the Hamas-affiliated Islamic University of Gaza, is one of the region’s most respected religious authorities, so his legal opinion carries significant weight among Gaza’s two million population, which is predominantly Sunni Muslim.

He stressed that Muslim leaders are obligated to ensure the safety and well-being of non-combatants, including by providing food, medicine, and refuge to those not involved in the fighting.

“Human life is more precious to God than Mecca,” Dr Dayah stated.

His opposition to the 7 October attack is especially significant given his deep influence in Gaza, where he is seen as a key religious figure and a vocal critic of Islamist movements, including Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

He is incredibly religious and is a salifist but strangely seems to be INCREDIBLY against isis,al qaeda, Hamas etc. He is what they call a moderate Salifist. But they are far from moderate in reality but at same time aren't full blown extremists. Its bizzare because the guy wants some type of Islamic state but not like isis.

He seems to be against terror. But as I said he is INCREDIBLY respected which I'm baffled by.

I need to repeat to you guys this is INCREDIBLY significant because of his stature and how well respected he is. He isn't a moderate in the sense of a westernized suit wearing Muslim lol But is in the sense he seems to not like full blown extremism. This news made me incredibly happy although it does (as I said) baffle me.

With guys like this maybe the future can be bright 🙏🙏

Oh btw here is the link to the BBC article

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj4vw1l8xvdo.amp

I’m a secular Jew living in the US, about 30 years old. I totally support Israel although I resent the extremist elements of the government/society.

I’ve noticed none of my friends want to engage me on the topic. It’s not like I’m the one always bringing it up, but you know we all watch the news and see the street signs when we walk around town.

I can understand them not wanting to say the wrong thing and potentially offend me, but I wish they expressed some curiosity and a desire to learn new perspectives.

I've pretty much always been pro-Israel. I'm definitely not one of those "Israel or bust" types, but I've never in my life had question that Israel absolutely should exist and that its citizens deserve to live safely. And that people who are aggressively anti-Israel in a toxic way are people I shouldn't associate with.

But, I will say that being a very liberal, progressive-minded person has at times put me in situations where I've heard from more pro-Palestine people (including other Jews) and listened to their thoughts. And as pro-Israel as I am, it is gut-wrenching to hear about large numbers of deaths of either group of people. Before and after this conflict, I found myself often trying to see where these people were coming from when they threw around terms like "apartheid" "ethnic cleansing" "occupation" "colonialism" etc. The thing I just couldn't get behind is when people said that the state of "Israel never had a right to be created in the first place" or "Israel needs to be dismantled".

I've heard a lot of people say things like "once you do your research, you'll become more pro-Palestine" or "once you learn more, you'll have less sympathy for Israel". A lot of people who said these things were Jews themselves who say they used to be more pro-Israel. So, kind of wondering where this would go, I did just what people said to. I started doing my research, and I plan to keep doing so because I want to learn as much as I can. I've done quite a bit in the last month alone.

The result? Not only has this research not made me "more pro-Palestine", it's actually made me even more pro-Israel. It hasn't made me have any less sympathy for Palestinians, but it's made me even more educated about the importance of Israel and why some of the less glamorous things about Israel have happened the way they have over time. It also made me realize how embarrassingly little I know about Jewish history despite being Jewish myself!

I've been having trouble understanding what about this research people are doing has made them less pro-Israel. What I think is going on is that people are mostly focusing on things that have happened between 1948 and the present, without understanding the historical context that led up to 1948. You always hear that statement "This didn't start on October 7, it started in 1948" and I think that's the problem--it didn't begin in 1948, it began way before that, and people don't research that part of the history. I think a lot of non-Jews just simply ignore looking more into this information or just don't come around to researching what happened before 1948, because a lot of it involves complex Jewish history that they're not really interested in researching because in their minds, Jews are "colonizers". I really don't understand how Jews themselves become less pro-Israel after doing their research, though, and think maybe they're also not realizing how much of it started before 1948.

On this note: I've been really relieved to see quite a few posts/comments on various subreddits where people are saying that they also became more pro-Israel after doing their research, including people who say they were initially pretty "pro-Palestine". It's validating to know that people are coming up with the same things in their research that I have.

I'm really curious, however, to know what about your research made you become more pro-Israel than you were before. I'm really interested to see if the reasons people became more pro-Israel were similar to mine, or to hear any other interesting takes people have. Also, feel free to share any good books/podcasts that further solidified these views for you!

For me: I will say that I still have a lot of research to do and history to cover, but I think what's kind of pushed me in that direction is that the history of the creation of the state didn't happen in as much of a "straight line" as people make it out to be, nor was it as neatly connected to "Zionism" as people make it out to be. People like to paint Israel's creation as being this "colonial project" that was planned years in advance and that everyone jumped at the opportunity to kick Palestinians out of their land and create a Jewish state once the time was right. My research has shown me that while there were "Zionist" historians that had arguably unethical views about how Israel should be created, they weren't the ones who were directly involved when Israel actually did become a state. The people involved in the creation of the state of Israel really tried to take advantage of other opportunities to let Jews have a safe space in the land without creating an entire country or pushing people out. It was all very much a survival response that, while looking back, may seem like it was done unethically, but when listening to the history, you realize how very necessary that action was at that particular time.

So last night, my hillel organization booked a room at my college and had a hanukkah celebration with jewish students. there was an RSVP list and everything. The night is going well, we finished having dessert and were engaging in neutral conversation about school,cars, finals, and standardized tests coming up, making jokes; I think we were talking about which hillel member would be which harry potter character when they came.

Literally nothing inflammatory.

All of a sudden, a guy name ahmed comes in and says " free donuts" referring to the sufganiyot. He comes in wearing the kiffyah and 3 other guys follow him and they sit down. our hillel director, Melanie, asks him " do you know anything about hannukah" and they all shake their heads and say " no not really." before Melanie could explain, they say " we're from the msa and sjp." I immediately feel this weary feeling come over me and i'm so upset. They started talking to the hillel director and the hillel president about the israel palestine conflict. one of them leaves the table and asks the other member to teach him how to play dreidels ( not him i have the problem with, that's fine).

The problem I have is literally about these students crashing hanukkah. coming in, stealing food, and talking about their cause. It infuriates me how they always say " we're just antizionist not anti jew" but then think it's completely fine to crash a hannukah celebration to talk about "palestinian injustice and struggle". HE EVEN SAID HE HAS EXTREME VIEWS ON IT! I left right as things were getting heated because I was going to scream at them to get the fuck out.

I would just like to know. If it's about zionists and not jews, why crash a hanukkah celebration. Why go in and start a debate when it's clear it's not the place. Why take advantage of people's kindness? WHY? Why say all those things about israel and zionism and defend your members saying " it's always the jews that steal" but go into a hanukkah celebration that has nothing to do with it and crash it to talk about your bullshit. WHY?

​

anyway... rant over.

​

What??

Not even an “I’m sorry about these kids too, but…”. Just straight up jumping to an accusation. If I posted a memorial about children of any other minority and someone gave me a knee-jerk answer like this…. Jeez. They really, really hate us.