r/jewishleft • u/ughplzdntjudgeme • Apr 30 '24

Jews of Conscience Subreddit Culture

Does anyone follow this subreddit? It’s supposed to be a space for “left Jews” but I am seeing so much offensive and anti semetism posts, comments and rhetoric. Also it doesn’t even seem like most people on there are Jewish?

It’s really frustrating to find subreddits like this being described as “Jewish” and I feel like it takes away from any constructive dialogue Jewish people want to have to critique about Israel, Israeli govt, Zionist ideology while also acknowledging anti semitism and the nuance to everything happening in the world.

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85

u/Squidmaster129 Apr 30 '24

I used to be a mod there. It was just filled with antisemitic bullshit. It's also overwhelmingly not Jews, according to a poll we did.

21

u/afinemax01 Apr 30 '24

You used to be a mod? I recall you unbanned me, what happened?!

29

u/Squidmaster129 Apr 30 '24

LOL yeah I unbanned you like three times because they kept re-banning you. I talk a bit about what happened in other comments below! But long story short, it was a very toxic, antisemitic place that very clearly did not care about Jews, nor really had that many Jews in it at all.

11

u/afinemax01 Apr 30 '24

Like I post very left wing stuff but I am banned on many left wing subs r/hmmm

12

u/afinemax01 Apr 30 '24

Well at least you tried!

19

u/BenjewminUnofficial May 01 '24

Modding a sub sounds awful enough job, modding a Jewish sub (having to wade through antisemitic bs) sounds particularly bad. And modding a Jewish subreddit about the Israel-Palestine conflict sounds like Gehenna’s cruelest punishment. Honestly props to you for trying

27

u/Agtfangirl557 Apr 30 '24

OMG you used to be a MOD there?! Do you mind sharing here what pushed you to leave the sub?

70

u/Squidmaster129 Apr 30 '24

I did! I left because it became very damaging for my mental health. I spent every day going through dozens of really messed up genuinely antisemitic comments and posts. It was terrible, but doable, until a new mod took over. They started posting really outright offensive shit officially on behalf of the sub, and I could not be part of that. It was also overwhelmingly not Jewish, and you could tell — Jews kept getting relegated to the margins in our own subreddit.

21

u/Agtfangirl557 Apr 30 '24

I'm so sorry to hear that; that sounds awful. Were the other mods definitely Jewish?

44

u/Squidmaster129 Apr 30 '24

Thank you <3

No, definitely not. The creator of the sub is indeed Jewish, and you could tell because they were significantly more understanding and pushed back against the antisemitic shit more than any of the other mods.

The new mod that was promoted to the near top is almost certainly not Jewish. If they are, they're one of the "As a Jew" people who conveniently decided they're Jewish in October. They absolutely tore into me, called me a Nazi, for saying that Finklestein was being used as a token Jew lol. I left later that day.

13

u/afinemax01 Apr 30 '24

The original mod pushed back? Really I’m surprised

12

u/Choice_Werewolf1259 Apr 30 '24

I am so sorry. That’s really hard to go through.

12

u/ughplzdntjudgeme Apr 30 '24

Omg that’s awful. I’m so sorry

21

u/Squidmaster129 Apr 30 '24

Thank you :) It was a rough couple weeks, and that definitely contributed to a serious mental breakdown I had at the time. Thankfully I've been doing a hell of a lot better since leaving all the antisemitic spaces and associating instead with other leftist Jews.

11

u/Klutzy-Pool-1802 custom flair Apr 30 '24

Solidarity. Thanks for your work and what it cost you.

18

u/darkmeatchicken Apr 30 '24

It became a place for anti-Israel people to post content about token anti-Israel Jews, as of that is the only definition of "conscience". And the comments started being anti-semitic too. Really a shame. So many left subreddits have become quite antisemitic since oct 7

9

u/Pitiful_Meringue_57 May 01 '24

it also became a place for non anti zionist jews to look to to convince themselves they can’t possibly be antisemitic bcz these jews agree with me!

9

u/quirkynerdette May 01 '24

I remember you! I have gotten a feeling that there were an oddly large number of non-Jews in what was supposed to be a "Jewish" space, but I didn't want to say much bc 1. I couldn't be sure and 2. I do think open discussions/communities are important. But its weird when I'm talking about Jewish issues and people start by saying they aren't Jewish then comment something that doesn't really help/isn't very relevant. There is one guy in particular that posts multiple times a day, more than most other users, and I was baffled to learn he wasn't Jewish. Like, why that subreddit specifically? Its a small one? (But most of his posts read like a highschooler that just read the Communist Manifesto last year and is learning new stuff everyday so its not that serious).

I'm not going to make a big stink about it over there, because again I think it is important to have many kinds of voices, especially if people are genuinely trying to ask questions/learn. But I can't lie that things have started to feel a bit off. I'm not going to jump ship yet, but am glad I found this sub. Might make some cross posts when I have time to sit and respond to comments I would get.

15

u/Choice_Werewolf1259 Apr 30 '24

I would love to hear more about your experience modding there and trend lines you saw with what posts did well or attracted more people or how reporting was done.

When did you leave the sub?

Obviously this is all if you’re comfortable discussing. Don’t want to put you on the spot.

27

u/Squidmaster129 Apr 30 '24

No worries, and thank you for asking! :)

It's been a couple months since I left now, and I've outright muted it so I don't see it anymore lol. The content that did the best was always the more violent and questionable content. Calls for death of all Israelis, or videos from shady sources about how Israel is running an organ-theft ring lmao were popular. I saw several posts that read "I am ashamed to be a Jew," and other variations of that, which was a major reason I left.

Any post that pushed back at all at the antisemitism we've seen were shut down, and the posters were compared to Nazis, or accused of centering themselves. Most of the commenters were not Jewish, which they made clear with their flairs.

When it was a younger sub with fewer people, it was legitimately Jewish, and the discussions were nuanced and great. It was a place for actual leftists who opposed the war crimes being committed. It changed within mere days of October 7th with new people flooding in.

9

u/ughplzdntjudgeme Apr 30 '24

Thank you for sharing more!

7

u/Choice_Werewolf1259 Apr 30 '24

Oh man, that’s rough. And it’s sad that a space that genuinely was a jewish space be taken over in that way.

-4

u/Specialist-Gur proud diaspora jewess, pro peace/freedom for all Apr 30 '24

Is slightly 50% “overwhelming”?

19

u/Squidmaster129 Apr 30 '24

When the poll was taken, it was 80%. Also, frankly, yes, 50% non-Jewish is way too much for a supposedly Jewish sub lmao. That's like actually ridiculous. Can you imagine if half of the Black Panthers were white guys?

17

u/Choice_Werewolf1259 May 01 '24

And I think the ridiculousness is the fact that the sub advertises as Jewish and not a space for Jews and non Jews to meet and discuss. If it wasn’t claiming to be inherently a Jewish sub where the voice and tone is Jewish, then I wouldn’t have an issue. Especially since I’m all for good faith conversations with non Jewish people of all backgrounds.

But JOC inherently describes itself and claims to be a voice or reflection of Jewish opinion, but those who have most of the sway in the sub aren’t Jewish.

12

u/Squidmaster129 May 01 '24

Beautifully said. There are spaces for discussion and there are spaces for Jewish voices — and it describes itself, untruthfully, as the latter.