Being Jewish in America today feels like walking multiple tightropes at once

[Guno צְבִי]

After the initial shock, my reaction to this week’s heinous attack on a peaceful vigil in Boulder, Colorado, was that it feels like American Jews are walking on a tightrope. Everything feels precarious and complicated — in Gaza, in Israel, in the Jewish community, in our relationships to a government exploiting antisemitism for political purposes, in how we understand our safety as Jews in this country.

Then I realized, we’re walking on multiple tightropes at once.

First, there’s the tightrope liberal Zionists have been on for 18 months: supportive of Israel, but opposed, especially now, to the brutality and endgame of the Gaza war. Nothing about that position changed after Boulder, and in fact, several of those who were marching (one of whom is an acquaintance of mine) still hold it.

But it is obviously more fraught. We still criticize Israel’s actions, but now also emphasize, again, that violence against innocent people — including Jews, or pro-Israel activists, or Israelis, or Palestinians, or pro-Palestine activists — is morally and ethically wrong. We still join hands with progressives, but now also demand that those progressives condemn attacks like the one that just took place.

And while we still refuse to go along with the weaponization of antisemitism, we agree that incitement from some self-styled progressives qualifies as stochastic terrorism, just like incitement from right-wing nationalists.

Being Jewish in America today feels like walking multiple tightropes at once

After an antisemitic attack in Boulder, Colorado, American Jews are right to be unnerved – but not deterred.

forward.com

 

[anonymoose]

After the initial shock, my reaction to this week’s heinous attack on a peaceful vigil in Boulder, Colorado, was that it feels like American Jews are walking on a tightrope. Everything feels precarious and complicated — in Gaza, in Israel, in the Jewish community, in our relationships to a government exploiting antisemitism for political purposes, in how we understand our safety as Jews in this country.

Then I realized, we’re walking on multiple tightropes at once.

First, there’s the tightrope liberal Zionists have been on for 18 months: supportive of Israel, but opposed, especially now, to the brutality and endgame of the Gaza war. Nothing about that position changed after Boulder, and in fact, several of those who were marching (one of whom is an acquaintance of mine) still hold it.

But it is obviously more fraught. We still criticize Israel’s actions, but now also emphasize, again, that violence against innocent people — including Jews, or pro-Israel activists, or Israelis, or Palestinians, or pro-Palestine activists — is morally and ethically wrong. We still join hands with progressives, but now also demand that those progressives condemn attacks like the one that just took place.

And while we still refuse to go along with the weaponization of antisemitism, we agree that incitement from some self-styled progressives qualifies as stochastic terrorism, just like incitement from right-wing nationalists.

Being Jewish in America today feels like walking multiple tightropes at once

After an antisemitic attack in Boulder, Colorado, American Jews are right to be unnerved – but not deterred.

forward.com

Why does anybody have to know if a Jew is a Jew?
I’m christened Episcopal and I seriously doubt more than my immediate family knows it.

 

[Walt]

Why does anybody have to know if a Jew is a Jew?

To collect together a minyan?

 

[Stone]

After the initial shock, my reaction to this week’s heinous attack on a peaceful vigil in Boulder, Colorado, was that it feels like American Jews are walking on a tightrope. Everything feels precarious and complicated — in Gaza, in Israel, in the Jewish community, in our relationships to a government exploiting antisemitism for political purposes, in how we understand our safety as Jews in this country.

Then I realized, we’re walking on multiple tightropes at once.

First, there’s the tightrope liberal Zionists have been on for 18 months: supportive of Israel, but opposed, especially now, to the brutality and endgame of the Gaza war. Nothing about that position changed after Boulder, and in fact, several of those who were marching (one of whom is an acquaintance of mine) still hold it.

But it is obviously more fraught. We still criticize Israel’s actions, but now also emphasize, again, that violence against innocent people — including Jews, or pro-Israel activists, or Israelis, or Palestinians, or pro-Palestine activists — is morally and ethically wrong. We still join hands with progressives, but now also demand that those progressives condemn attacks like the one that just took place.

And while we still refuse to go along with the weaponization of antisemitism, we agree that incitement from some self-styled progressives qualifies as stochastic terrorism, just like incitement from right-wing nationalists.

Being Jewish in America today feels like walking multiple tightropes at once

After an antisemitic attack in Boulder, Colorado, American Jews are right to be unnerved – but not deterred.

forward.com

Gee,....I wonder if going out of your way to call people Pasty Face Goys all the time just might have something to do with it? Who knew......

 

[moon]

Being Jewish in America today feels like walking multiple tightropes at once​

Fall off, kapo. You are a supporter of genocide and illegal occupation. You have no moral foundation.

 

[EdwinA]

Hilarious. Guno the fake 'Jew' who has spent years on the innernetz hoping to foment just such violence against Jews is now pretending to be 'concerned', again. And some dufuses are buying the schtick.