Leave none alive.
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Questioning friendship with Zionist...
A couple years ago I was brought on by a friend to this crew of people that were in charge of organizing concerts. I have certain talents that I could contribute and I liked the vibe so I stuck around.
After a few months I noticed that most of the kids in the crew were Jewish. I didn't care. I have lots of Jewish friends here and there. However in the last couple months I've started to noticed them becoming more political. When I first met them they were just party kids into music, beer and smoking pot.
Today with the Hamas and Israeli strikes and the back and forth between the IDF and some of the militants in Gaza they started to sound the "war horn".. Nothing but war mongering and it made me sick. They were all saying stuff like, "we should just wipe them off the map and start fresh" out of no where they all became ultra Zionist and nationalist. The way they talk as if the Palestinians were parasites really upset me. It upset me to the point I cancelled showing up tonight for a show they had organized and now I'm considering just cutting ties with them all together.
When were are partying and working together on events and projects we are all best of buds. I've never hear them like this nor seen this side of them. It really made me sick. It's like they were excited and proud of war. I know they appreciate me and they obviously consider me a friend.. however I don't know how I feel about their extreme views. Not sure if is even worth it to bring it up and "get into it"..
thoughts?
we need more revolutions and less "isms"
Leave none alive.
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what?
we need more revolutions and less "isms"
I think that kind of bigotry and militant nationalism goes beyond just 'political differences'. Obviously if you have radical views political differences are something you just have to get used to, but when I encounter that kind of shit generally I speak my mind and put the ball in their court as far as where the friendship goes.
^Yeah.
While in non-political social settings I'm all in favor of "picking your battles", if it is so much and so disturbing for you, then you may need to have the argument just in order to clear the air - otherwise you will just continue to resent it and they will continue to say things not even knowing that you find it horrible.
Growing up over the last 20 years in the US, all people have been hit with tons of anti-Arab, anti-Islam, and specifically anti-Palestinian propaganda. Growing up jewish in the US is a whole other layer of all that - first there can be a sort of "identity politics" aspect where people support Israel and see it as actually part of the culture and religion, so attacks political or physical on Israel are taken personally, Second, for the US Jewish generation of their parents who are a generation (probably) away from WWII - they were close enough to WWII to see the toll it actually took on some of their relatives or neighbors or teachers or whatnot, but not actually involved so they got only a sort of zionist view where there were no other political alternatives to oppression in Europe than Israel. So it's also possible that people you are working with have just never heard a reasonable counter-argument.
In my experience, young jewish people in the US are much much less pro-Israel, or at least open to criticism than people one generation back.
"Friends who want to stay friends should never discuss politics, religion or money"
very well said man. I think eventually I will say something.
we need more revolutions and less "isms"
Yeah, I mean in my experience with similar situations w/ jewish friends once you get under the surface of "received wisdom" and identity politics that Jimmie mentioned their opinions run the gamut. People like that can feel like they're under attack and get into this whole us/them mindset when the topic comes up, but might be more receptive if its approached in a more neutral way. I generally resort to saying kinda liberal things like to an outsider non-arab non-jew everyone involved seems irresponsible and ridiculous or that as the stronger party Israel has the responsibility to be the bigger man, maybe you can come up with better. It's pretty similar to dealing with people's preconceptions about politics they might get from their family's party affiliation.
Also screw the idea that you can't talk about friends about deep shit you might strongly disagree with, reasonable mature adults can talk about all kinds of shit without making it personal. Obvs. that's not always how it goes and you gotta judge carefully but it doesn't always have to be that way.
This. Absolutely this.
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relax. it's cool to get different perspectives.
Oh, I definitely agree with that, but if you're like OP and can't handle your friend having strong disagreements with your political views, then you shouldn't discuss politics with them.
Fuck em. Either they listen to your perspective and at the very least give your thoughts and words respectful consideration, or they react violently and alienate you and they don't value your friendship over their reactionary views. Its easier said than done to confront people you're close with about this kind of thing, but if you're serious about advancing the goals of the working class, these may not be the kind of people who are going to survive in your life. If you think there's a chance, try inviting them over to watch a documentary or something and slowly bring up the subject, if you think that's an option.
I'm all for picking your battles, but I'm also all for positioning yourself as an enemy of violently reactionary ideals regardless of how fun-loving the person who spouts them might be otherwise.
I date a Zionist. don't talk about it, and let them know that it makes you uncomfortable when they talk about that kind of shit.
In my climate, she is in the minority (even my other Jewish housemate sided with Palestine in this last conflict), and isn't comfortable talking about it, so I try to avoid bringing it up.
