8 ms·

Israeli here - I'll try to write this the least political as I can since I on one hand disagree strongly with the government and on the other my experience has

• Matl 4mo ago
  > my experience has been getting antisemstic (yes, not anti-zionist) comments whenever this gets discussed a lot I appreciate your experience. I have no doubt there's indeed been an increase in such comments. I think it's important to note that the Israeli government does work very hard to conflate Zionism with Judaism, (which itself seems antisemitic to me), making it harder for some to separate the two. > There are plenty of good things though - startups in the biotech/health/classic "tech" space. That's good to know, as I said in another comment, it may be time for those startups to make themselves heard more, not because they have to, but because it is in their interest if they have any expansion plans going forward, given what a poor PR the Israeli state and firms like NSO, BlackCore etc. give the Israeli tech scene.
  • 4gotunameagain 4mo ago
    > I think it's important to note that the Israeli government does work very hard to conflate Zionism with Judaism, (which itself seems antisemitic to me), making it harder for some to separate the two. Yes, they are trying their hardest with their actions to fuel a new way of antisemitism. Turns out if you are a religious fundamental colony that occupies territory based on the bible, that gives bad rap to the whole religion.
    • gwerbin 4mo ago
      [flagged]
      • Matl 4mo ago
        > It's not based on the Bible, it's based on where we know for a fact people actually lived under the Roman empire. If not just speculation based on a 4000 year-old mythical text, it's literal documented history. It's the invocation of a 'promised land', which even Israeli government officials use as a justification for their actions, that is based on (a reading of) the Bible, despite Israel being nominally a secular country. I don't think many dispute there was a significant population of Jews within the Roman Empire, many of which lived in the rough geographical area of present day Israel. I am not sure how any sort of present day 'inherent right' stems from that.
        • gwerbin 4mo ago
          There's plenty of room for debate about the legitimacy of Zionism, and about what (and when) a "return to Zion" should be. Such debate has been carried out vigorously for 200 years. But it has to start from agreement on basic historical facts, and rejection of non-facts founded in bigotry. Israeli government officials are politicians and vary in perspective, but by and large the Israeli government is a big part of the "nasty colonial racist" part. Their perspective exists but is not authoritative, and it is becoming increasingly unpopular around the world (including among Jews).
          • sosomoxie 4mo ago
            Which facts? Are you genetically 100% from Palestine? If not, then the fact is you're not Palestinian. Having trace genetics (possibly, possibly not) from people who once lived in a region does not give you or anyone else permission to go ethnically cleanse that region of the actual inhabitants and steal their land.
            • gwerbin 3mo ago
  • throw310822 4mo ago
    [flagged]
    • RobotToaster 4mo ago
      It's amazing how Trump and Bibi manage to embody the absolute worst stereotypes of their respective cultures. There's something almost Jungian about it.
      • sosomoxie 4mo ago
        It's all Zionists. Israel has been like this since it's very inception. Every Zionist president in the US has abetted them.
        • nailer 3mo ago
          [flagged]
• jdw64 4mo ago
  Personally, I think you're going through a hard time. An individual and a country are different, but people do rely to some extent on the image of a country when judging an individual. I agree with your logic, so I'll give you an upvote
• redsocksfan45 4mo ago
  [dead]
• bradleyjg 4mo ago
  No one has ever called me a kike or Christ killer. No one has ever accused me of controlling the media or banks. No one has spray painted a swastika on my house, or my synagogue for that matter. My nation, the most powerful in the world, puts a menorah in its halls of government every year for Hanukkah. The legislative and judicial branches have Jewish members at the very top level. The head of government has a Jewish son-in-law. Even online, I see much more pervasive criticism of my nation than yours. Yet, listen to Zionists and I’m practically living in Weimar Germany. That dog won’t hunt. People have criticisms of Israel. They may be fair or unfair. Address them on the merits and leave the rest of us out it. It has nothing to do with Jews qua Jews.
  • HappyPanacea 4mo ago
    > My nation, the most powerful in the world, USA? > Yet, listen to Zionists and I’m practically living in Weimar Germany. That dog won’t hunt. Yeah this is so detached from reality I have to ask how you arrived at this conclusion and consider reexamining the way you consume information. Both in my own personal impression and according ADL global index USA's antisemitism is a low. Because "Zionists" have pro-Israel bias they will perceive any one who support Israel positively, and no one support Israel more than USA, so they will likely view USA as positive further lessening negtive views.
  • sudosteph 4mo ago
    It's hard to separate for some people. Unfortunately those people tend to be the worst on both sides In general, I think (or at least hope) your experience is the more common one. But fwiw I do have a Jewish friend who was personally cussed at and threatened by his own coworker explicitly for being Jewish (well, and probably because they were from Florida if I'm being honest, but there aren't as many slurs for that). The guy who did it was fired (whole thing was recorded iirc), nobody sided with him, he was clearly off his rocker in some way - but it doesn't take much to get shaken up - it sticks with you. And my friend was understandably, shaken up. I know that because I used to live in Seattle, and unfortunately I had a really scary experience of being threatened (he yelled "I'm going to kill you b****") and chased down by a homeless man for nothing other than being a woman on the same street as him. So I saw my own perspective shift when it happened first hand. I was no longer excited about living downtown in a big city after that experience. So what I'm saying is, neither me nor my friend took the experience and made it a defining thing. He still lives where he does, didn't blame the community or anything. And I'm back to taking public transit, talking to strangers on the sidewalk, and all the other stuff that comes with spending time downtown in a big city. But this time the city is Charlotte, my home city. It's probably not any safer than Seattle (maybe worse), but experiences shape perception, and I've always had really good experiences on Charlotte, including with homeless people. I could say it's because Charlotte has more police presence lately, or because there's not visible tent camps or open drug usage. But deep down, I know, crazy people are always gonna be out there, and the most trivial thing can make you a target. So I really get the pull by people who have experienced victimization like that to talk about it. You feel kinda crazy if you don't, because you are surrounded by people who say it never happens because they've never seen it. That was such a big part I think of the Floyd protests - a lot of white people lived in a bubble and didn't know how pervasive overly violent interactions with the police can be (though the ironic part is that a lot of white people still don't realize that they can also be targeted by police with just as much malice). Most American black people already knew first or second-hand that police brutality was real and not uncommon - but until it was undeniable on video, it was treated by others as if it never happened. So there's some honest middle ground somewhere, but the extremists are the one who have the most to gain from convincing people to believe otherwise.
• kombine 4mo ago
  > Israeli here - I'll try to write this the least political We are more than two years into full-on genocide and you hesitate to be political? This position reminds me of many Russians who prefer to "stay out of politics" because there are "two sides" to the conflict and it's an uncomfortable topic for them.
  • mhb 4mo ago
    [flagged]
    • Matl 4mo ago
      Is this the disgusting attempt to deny the Gaza genocide it sounds like?
      • mhb 4mo ago
        [flagged]
        • kombine 4mo ago
          The genocide, as concluded by literally every independent body, including Israeli historians specialising in genocide.
          • mhb 4mo ago
            [flagged]
• nobodyandproud 4mo ago
  Your PM Netanyahu is a disaster. Your religious hardliners seem to love him. Even someone neutral to sympathetic can’t help but look on in disgust at your PM and his supporters. Edit: The point being that it tarnishes everything that Israel does, and makes fault-finding way too easy.
  • kombine 4mo ago
    Let's not pin it all on Netanyuhu, he is a good representation of his society.
    • joxdosba 4mo ago
      It is an indisputable fact that when polled, most Israelis openly support genocide.
      • timoshishi 4mo ago
        Can you provide these sources?
        • joxdosba 4mo ago
          First google result https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2025-06-03/ty-article/.premium/a-grim-poll-shows-most-jewish-israelis-support-expelling-gazans-its-brutal-and-true/00000197-3640-d9f1-abb7-7e742b300000 https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2025-06-03/ty-article/.p... At least according to this study, almost all Israelis are monsters who openly support genocide.
          • perpetualpear 4mo ago
            I wouldn't be surprised if the results of a poll for actual genocide would be the same, but expulsion is not genocide. I really wish people would stop diluting the meaning of genocide at every opportunity.
• mhb 4mo ago
  What is shameful about the "military stuff"? Isn't that's what is protecting you from your neighbors and their patron?
  • lostlogin 3mo ago
    Recent events have taken ‘protection’ to a whole new level that’s extremely controversial. It seems unlikely that you don’t know that.
    • mhb 3mo ago
      Sorry for not being able to parse "military stuff" with the same precision as you. Especially since there are plenty of people who post here who won't work on defense-related activities despite availing themselves of their protection.
• LightBug1 4mo ago
  I didn't downvote you. You're Jewish (I stand side by side with Jewish brothers and sisters against Israel), you've expressed disagreements with the Israeli government. We're likely on a similar page then. However: > There are plenty of good things though - startups in the biotech/health/classic "tech" space. Besides the point. I truly won't touch anything from that Apartheid, gen0cideal state. c.f. the boycott of South Africa during Apartheid. Same principle.
  • _DeadFred_ 4mo ago
    Israeli designed/made chips are in phones, computers, all over the internet. Same with Israeli made software. Anyone using/posting to the internet is touching/supporting quite a few things from Israel.
    • LightBug1 4mo ago
      You are very intelligent...... https://iea.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/mister-gotcha-4-9faefa-1.jpg https://iea.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/mister-gotcha-... To be clear, the job of the ordinary citizen in this situation is not to opt out. I criticise China often and yet my phone has Chinese chips. Would you have me shut up about China?. And so it is with Israel. The job of the ordinary citizen is to do what they reasonably can to protest the gen0cidal, N'azi behaviour of its current administration with the support of a significant percentage of its populous. Given how the troubles have turned a significant number of the population into blood-thirsty land thieves, the country should be de-N'azified like they did to Germany after WW2. You're welcome.
    • sosomoxie 4mo ago
      Nazis made rockets and medical advances. That didn't make Nazi Germany positive in any kind of way.
    • netsharc 4mo ago
      OMG, really?! Well then, because they did all those beneficial things, then I'm fine with Israel bombing hospitals, schools, and killing children by starving them while they sleep on the pile of rubble that was their home! /S
• gatlin 4mo ago
  I never understood this: the Palestinian children whose family and limbs are torn from them for Israeli sport are also Semites. It seems like the ultimate erasure to claim "antisemitic" for only Jews.
  • tartoran 4mo ago
    European origin jews are not semites btw. Antisemitism is a misnomer, when they refer to antisemitism they refer to Jews only.
  • repelsteeltje 4mo ago
    Etymologically you're correct that semites refers to [all] people from middle east and horn of Africa. But the label is from the European perspective, where it was used to refer to Jews. I'm sure that if they'd had a say in it, they would not have referred to themselves as Jews. But yeah, there is indeed some irony in the term "antisemitism" in the context you describe
  • woodruffw 4mo ago
    There is no such thing as a "semite." It's an archaic racial category that 19th century German race science used since "anti-semite" sounds more scientific than "Jew hater." Consequently, that's why it's applied to Jews rather than a larger pseudoscientific racial group. (More broadly, "they're semites too" is the "Elon Musk is African American" of I/P discourse. You can recognize extraordinary human tragedy without re-using race science.)
    • gatlin 3mo ago
      Speakers of Semitic languages are Semitic. This isn't controversial, unclear, or irrelevant.
      • woodruffw 3mo ago
        I don’t know why you would assert this like it’s any of those things. You can look it up if you don’t believe me; you would be considered extremely weird for talking about “Semites” as a coherent racial or ethnic category around anthropologists. (By comparison: nobody who isn’t a racist talks about Japhetites or Hamites, but these are the coextensive groups implied by the existence of Semites.)