We need to work to combat hatred of any kind based on who you are, where you came from or your status in society. We need to not hate NYY fans, even if they are misguided. On the other hand criticism of governments is political speech, not hate speech. That distinction needs to be made clear. The unprovoked October 7th attacks were a war crime in many respects and should be condemned. The indiscriminate months long bombings without a clear strategy or legitimate objectives also appear to be war crimes. Saying so, does not me make me anti-semitic or anti-ethnic Palestinian. As Pope Leo says, "We need to be kind to each other." I'm with you Jake.
Lies are not criticism and therefore not political speech. They are blood libel and they inevitably lead to attacks on Jews. So if you’re criticizing Israel’s Government that’s fine. But if you’re peddling lies about Israel or holding Israel to a double standard. Then ask yourself where that’s coming from.
Inevitably anti-semitism stems from a pre-text of lies. If you are lying or spreading lies, you aren’t criticizing, you’re fomenting anti-Semitism and can’t hide behind the very thin veil of political speech.
Israel's Government's behavior, not its people, thousands of whom are protesting against its government's actions. I'm also hoping that people in other countries are able to see all the protests and demonstrations in the United States against our current Administration's actions, and understand that it's our government, not our people. Fortunately, we have elections, those have already begun to show our people's unhappiness with the current Administration, and we are looking forward to the 2026 and 2028 elections. Blessings on all who know that, "The party starts when what you want for yourself, you want for everyone." There are enough resources on the planet for everyone's livelihood and wellbeing if we're each able to find peace within ourselves, joy in being alive and doing what good we can, and contentment with "enough". Blessings on all.
Ah, yes. I understand that we need to cling to the fact that it's your government, not your people, while your government and Israel's loudest supporters claim that your government and your people are the same.
Jake, you wrongly conflate being against the IDF‘s slaughter and starvation of Palestinians with being against all Jews (anti-semitism). Read Ha‘aretz even. Of course, Hamas‘ Oct 7 barbaric slaughter of Jews was inexcusable. But Netanyahu has used this event to justify Israel‘s slaughter of over 50,000 Palestinian men, women, and children, and is now starving them. In the UN Security Council, all countries voted to condemn Israel for this slaughter except the US. Condemning Israel does not imply hating Jews. Zionism has been an idealistic homeland movement among Jews that originally envisioned peaceful coexistence with the inhabitants of Palestine (Einstein). But instead, the Zionists expelled 700,000 Palestinians from their homes and concentrated them in Gaza and the West Bank. If we value universal human rights (as Judaism tends to) then this nakba, as they call it, is unjust. Its the root of the violence and continues now with Israel wanting to deport all Palestinians from „greater Israel.“. In the 1940s, Rabbi Elmer Berger predicted all this horror and therefore opposed the founding of Israel. Anyhow, please realize that criticizing Israel does not mean anti-semitism. It just means concern for equal human rights. Of course, some bitter Palestinians or others may generalize into hating all Jews. But that‘s not the case for most people concerned about this slaughter. I hope you will recognize the difference.
The complexity of Jewish identity is a challenge. For a variety of reasons, being Jewish is interwoven with the land of Moses et.al. It is also deeply impacted by the many instances in history of restricting Jews to designated areas and barring their full enjoyment of citizenship within a country. The search for a safe place to be Jewish is a millennial search. Of course it goes without saying that the Holocaust was a powerful stimulus to find a safe place. In this sense Zionism is not a right wing phenomenon even though some may claim it for themselves. Separating Jewish identity from a safe place is a non starter. However making a safe place for Jews is no justification for making it unsafe for others.
Ifvypu don't understand the difference between antisemitism - religious and racial - and antizionism/anti Israel - political and moral, anti genocide and you lump antizionists together with Hamas, then you have lost my vote. You are, like Biden, Schumer and others complicit in Israel's genocide and ethnic cleansing. Shame on you.
I agree as long as we’re clear that speaking out against the genocide in Gaza is not anti-Semitic. Many Jews are raising their voices against the killing.
I live in Brookline, grew up outside the US, and have many Jewish friends. "Anti-Zionism is anti-semitism" comes perilously close to "it is unacceptable to criticize the Israeli government". I would like to hear a statement from you, in response to the comments here and the reality of the killing of many civilians, that it is acceptable, and not anti-semitic, to criticize the actions of the Israeli government. To be clear, many of my Jewish friends do criticize those actions.
I hope you are able to state that clearly. If not you will have lost a lot of credibility.
Your conflation of antisemitism and anti-Zionism is gross and dangerous and I find everything in this post disqualifying. I am ashamed that you represent me in Congress I hope to see you replaced with someone who actually holds progressive values.
I don't know how I ended up subscribed to you, but I never would have to begin with. "Anti-genocide" is not pro-Hamas, and standing against genocide is a requirement of Judaism. If you don't stand against genocide you are not a Jew - you are a fascist who has become a mirror image of our worst oppressors. Zionism is an inherently right-wing, racist ideology, and it is what makes me feel most unsafe as a Jew. I've only ever been threatened directly by zionists.
You have depicted a human rights movement against a regime that is currently starving millions of people as hateful, which says all we need to know about you.
Anti- Semitism is horrible. Hamas is horrible. But I am curious how you feel about the innocent Palestinians being bombed and then denied access to food aid or water?
The bombings are not "indiscriminate" and the strategy is crystal clear. Release the hostages from captivity, remove Hamas from power and remove them from the playing field to insure future safety and security for Israeli citizens. It would mean safety and security for non-Hamas aligned Gazans as well.
The Israeli Gov did not instruct Hamas to construct hundreds of miles of terror tunnels directly beneath the Gaza civilian population, to turn hospitals and schools and homes and infrastructure into legitimate military targets by putting their terrorists, weapons caches or headquarters there.
The entire game of Hamas is to keep their own citizens in the target in order to elicit sympathy and support when they are killed in military strikes on what are legitimate military targets.
As you said, "The unprovoked October 7th attacks were a war crime in many respects and should be condemned."
It's not just in "many respects". It's in ALL respects. If Hamas and Palistinian Islamic Jihad etc had not been constrained by a lack of firepower or manpower they would have murdered every single Israeli until none remained; while screaming God is Great. This is Jihad; not some fight for self determination, self governance, dignity, or human rights.
Education is key for reasons beyond civics lessons. Fascists took over our schools decades ago and both parties did nothing about this despite teacher whistleblowers desperately crying out at WhiteChalkCrime.com and EndTeacherAbuse.org since 2002.
Teachers unions complied with these fascists the same way many are now complying with Trump - out of fear - and left us with schools run by the likes of Pete Hegseth.
It’s no wonder Democrats are not respected. This is what leaders must investigate and change. We cannot have a democrscy without called-to-teach teachers, the very people the fascists have purged from the system! They used to be democracy’s pillars. We must empower them not the fascist administrators!
Love your Simple But Not Easy series. Thank you, Jake, for your leadership in dark times and taking concrete actions to make our country safe for ALL its citizens.
We need to work to combat hatred of any kind based on who you are, where you came from or your status in society. We need to not hate NYY fans, even if they are misguided. On the other hand criticism of governments is political speech, not hate speech. That distinction needs to be made clear. The unprovoked October 7th attacks were a war crime in many respects and should be condemned. The indiscriminate months long bombings without a clear strategy or legitimate objectives also appear to be war crimes. Saying so, does not me make me anti-semitic or anti-ethnic Palestinian. As Pope Leo says, "We need to be kind to each other." I'm with you Jake.
Lies are not criticism and therefore not political speech. They are blood libel and they inevitably lead to attacks on Jews. So if you’re criticizing Israel’s Government that’s fine. But if you’re peddling lies about Israel or holding Israel to a double standard. Then ask yourself where that’s coming from.
Inevitably anti-semitism stems from a pre-text of lies. If you are lying or spreading lies, you aren’t criticizing, you’re fomenting anti-Semitism and can’t hide behind the very thin veil of political speech.
Very accurate reply; thank you Joe
Sorrowfully, it's hard to underestimate the damage that Israel's behavior has done to the Jewish brand.
Israel's Government's behavior, not its people, thousands of whom are protesting against its government's actions. I'm also hoping that people in other countries are able to see all the protests and demonstrations in the United States against our current Administration's actions, and understand that it's our government, not our people. Fortunately, we have elections, those have already begun to show our people's unhappiness with the current Administration, and we are looking forward to the 2026 and 2028 elections. Blessings on all who know that, "The party starts when what you want for yourself, you want for everyone." There are enough resources on the planet for everyone's livelihood and wellbeing if we're each able to find peace within ourselves, joy in being alive and doing what good we can, and contentment with "enough". Blessings on all.
Ah, yes. I understand that we need to cling to the fact that it's your government, not your people, while your government and Israel's loudest supporters claim that your government and your people are the same.
Jake, you wrongly conflate being against the IDF‘s slaughter and starvation of Palestinians with being against all Jews (anti-semitism). Read Ha‘aretz even. Of course, Hamas‘ Oct 7 barbaric slaughter of Jews was inexcusable. But Netanyahu has used this event to justify Israel‘s slaughter of over 50,000 Palestinian men, women, and children, and is now starving them. In the UN Security Council, all countries voted to condemn Israel for this slaughter except the US. Condemning Israel does not imply hating Jews. Zionism has been an idealistic homeland movement among Jews that originally envisioned peaceful coexistence with the inhabitants of Palestine (Einstein). But instead, the Zionists expelled 700,000 Palestinians from their homes and concentrated them in Gaza and the West Bank. If we value universal human rights (as Judaism tends to) then this nakba, as they call it, is unjust. Its the root of the violence and continues now with Israel wanting to deport all Palestinians from „greater Israel.“. In the 1940s, Rabbi Elmer Berger predicted all this horror and therefore opposed the founding of Israel. Anyhow, please realize that criticizing Israel does not mean anti-semitism. It just means concern for equal human rights. Of course, some bitter Palestinians or others may generalize into hating all Jews. But that‘s not the case for most people concerned about this slaughter. I hope you will recognize the difference.
The complexity of Jewish identity is a challenge. For a variety of reasons, being Jewish is interwoven with the land of Moses et.al. It is also deeply impacted by the many instances in history of restricting Jews to designated areas and barring their full enjoyment of citizenship within a country. The search for a safe place to be Jewish is a millennial search. Of course it goes without saying that the Holocaust was a powerful stimulus to find a safe place. In this sense Zionism is not a right wing phenomenon even though some may claim it for themselves. Separating Jewish identity from a safe place is a non starter. However making a safe place for Jews is no justification for making it unsafe for others.
Ifvypu don't understand the difference between antisemitism - religious and racial - and antizionism/anti Israel - political and moral, anti genocide and you lump antizionists together with Hamas, then you have lost my vote. You are, like Biden, Schumer and others complicit in Israel's genocide and ethnic cleansing. Shame on you.
I agree as long as we’re clear that speaking out against the genocide in Gaza is not anti-Semitic. Many Jews are raising their voices against the killing.
Dear Representative,
I live in Brookline, grew up outside the US, and have many Jewish friends. "Anti-Zionism is anti-semitism" comes perilously close to "it is unacceptable to criticize the Israeli government". I would like to hear a statement from you, in response to the comments here and the reality of the killing of many civilians, that it is acceptable, and not anti-semitic, to criticize the actions of the Israeli government. To be clear, many of my Jewish friends do criticize those actions.
I hope you are able to state that clearly. If not you will have lost a lot of credibility.
Your conflation of antisemitism and anti-Zionism is gross and dangerous and I find everything in this post disqualifying. I am ashamed that you represent me in Congress I hope to see you replaced with someone who actually holds progressive values.
I admire your guts for speaking directly and plainly. Please continue the fight.
I don't know how I ended up subscribed to you, but I never would have to begin with. "Anti-genocide" is not pro-Hamas, and standing against genocide is a requirement of Judaism. If you don't stand against genocide you are not a Jew - you are a fascist who has become a mirror image of our worst oppressors. Zionism is an inherently right-wing, racist ideology, and it is what makes me feel most unsafe as a Jew. I've only ever been threatened directly by zionists.
You have depicted a human rights movement against a regime that is currently starving millions of people as hateful, which says all we need to know about you.
Anti- Semitism is horrible. Hamas is horrible. But I am curious how you feel about the innocent Palestinians being bombed and then denied access to food aid or water?
The bombings are not "indiscriminate" and the strategy is crystal clear. Release the hostages from captivity, remove Hamas from power and remove them from the playing field to insure future safety and security for Israeli citizens. It would mean safety and security for non-Hamas aligned Gazans as well.
The Israeli Gov did not instruct Hamas to construct hundreds of miles of terror tunnels directly beneath the Gaza civilian population, to turn hospitals and schools and homes and infrastructure into legitimate military targets by putting their terrorists, weapons caches or headquarters there.
The entire game of Hamas is to keep their own citizens in the target in order to elicit sympathy and support when they are killed in military strikes on what are legitimate military targets.
As you said, "The unprovoked October 7th attacks were a war crime in many respects and should be condemned."
It's not just in "many respects". It's in ALL respects. If Hamas and Palistinian Islamic Jihad etc had not been constrained by a lack of firepower or manpower they would have murdered every single Israeli until none remained; while screaming God is Great. This is Jihad; not some fight for self determination, self governance, dignity, or human rights.
Education is key for reasons beyond civics lessons. Fascists took over our schools decades ago and both parties did nothing about this despite teacher whistleblowers desperately crying out at WhiteChalkCrime.com and EndTeacherAbuse.org since 2002.
Teachers unions complied with these fascists the same way many are now complying with Trump - out of fear - and left us with schools run by the likes of Pete Hegseth.
It’s no wonder Democrats are not respected. This is what leaders must investigate and change. We cannot have a democrscy without called-to-teach teachers, the very people the fascists have purged from the system! They used to be democracy’s pillars. We must empower them not the fascist administrators!
Love your Simple But Not Easy series. Thank you, Jake, for your leadership in dark times and taking concrete actions to make our country safe for ALL its citizens.
Well said, critical points for all people to understand
Thank you.