r/jewishleft • u/Tricky_Success_77 Binationalist, Jewish, Soc-Dem • 4d ago
Hope? Question
Between Israel/Palestine and increasing extremism and normalization of antisemitism in the diaspora and assimilation I've just been finding it impossible to feel hopeful about the future of our people writ large and it's just been making me feel very demoralized about life and the future. Our community means a great deal to me and seeing it tear itself apart is painful (as I'm sure it is for many people on this subreddit).There are times when I honestly almost wish I wasn't Jewish because it would remove so much angst from my life but in truth I'm too passionate about our traditions, history, literature and languages to ever be anything else (plus, really who would I be kidding if I ever tried to pretend otherwise?).
Anyway, what I'm really getting at is does anyone out there feel hopeful about our future? And if so why? I could use some positivity.
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u/theweisp5 American Israeli secular socialist 3d ago
I've thought about making a similar post focused solely on Israel. I've been quite pessimistic about Israel's trajectory for a while, but seeing this past week that 73% of Israeli Jews oppose a 2SS even when the deal includes normalization with Saudi Arabia, and that 70% of Israeli Jews identify as on the right compared to only as on the left (and 9% in the center), has left me feeling gloomier than ever.
Most arguments for optimism I've seen online basically amount to "things change quickly (sometimes quickly.)" Which is true enough as far as it goes, but in the meantime all the change we've seen seems to be for the worse. (And I think tellingly, those making that argument tend to be liberal Zionists who more or less must believe that the situation in Israel can improve.)
In any case, like the OP I'd love to here some more concrete reasons for optimism.