On Palestine, for the Jewish community
JVL Introduction
Many Jews, particularly younger Jews brought up in the heart of Britain’s Jewish communities, have been experiencing increasing dissonance, incomprehension and indeed sheer dismay at developments in Israel and its ever-increasing repression of Palestinians, inside Israel and in the occupied territories.
The war on Gaza has for many been the last straw but the disillusionment has deep roots.
In this moving essay, Molly Lipson chronicles the story of her shift from an unreflective Zionism in her wider community, synagogue, and Jewish youth movement to a politics in which a commitment to Palestinian liberation is a central part.
She is now a member of the Black-Jewish Alliance.
RK
This article was originally published by Molly Lipson's webpage on Fri 29 Dec 2023. Read the original here.
On Palestine, for the Jewish community
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Amazing article of your journey from the indoctrination of zionism to your support for the Palestinians and the clarity of your understanding. Thank you Molly.
thank you for this and the the thought and effort behind it.
The struggle to throw off the yoke of indoctrination is hard and often very painful. Thank you for using your own journey to explore it.
Thank you for your wonderful essay Molly. I’ve shared with friends and we were all moved by its wisdom.
Antisemitism is definitely not everywhere. BUT where it is, it is possibly being reinforced by this Israeli state’s genocide of the indigenous people, the Palestinians.
A very interesting article thank you Molly Lipson, but please have a little rethink about this :
“…..as per the old person psychological phenomenon, became less tolerant….”
Many of us ‘oldies’ actually end up far more radical than in our youth, I certainly have done so!
An extremely forceful and intelligent article. I was particularly interested in the author’s account of her feelings during the moral panic of the Corbyn years.
Like (I suspect) the majority of Labour Party members I always assumed that the ‘Labour Party antisemitism’ story was a complete scam. Although it obviously had practical importance the evidence and arguments put forward were so feeble that the whole subject seemed to lack any intellectual interest.
I now see that this was a superficial response. ‘Labour Party antisemitism’ is essentially a conspiracy theory and like all such theories it works by inculcating fear. The ideas behind the theory may be absurd but the fear is still extremely real. It is safe to say that fear is always much more contagious than ideas. I suspect that with many conspiracy theories, including ‘Labour Party antisemitism’, even some of the people who invented them may have ended up believing them.
The lesson is that almost anyone is vulnerable if the right emotional buttons are pressed. The article is frank and revealing both on how people get into this situation and how they can get themselves out.
Wonderfully hopeful that the politics of liberation is emerging once more among the young. Congratulations Molly, I want to share your deeply honest and brave statement with many people I know who are still caught in the politics of fear and threat wherever Israel is in question.