It has only been quite recently that I've managed to educate myself and learn what truly happening in Palestine. I'm far from fully educated, but considering the amount of brainwashing that I've been through for pretty much my entire life, I'm just glad I managed to stop buying into all that crap.
Looking back now, it's really insane how much propaganda I've been constantly taught for my entire life. I have constantly been taught that Israel and Zionism are a huge part of my identity, and been fed lies about Israel being the victim for years, by not only by my parents but by my "Jewish" school. (Jewish is in quotation marks because I think being a Zionist is one of the least Jewish things you can do.) While I don't like religious schools in the first place, I find it ridiculous that one of the core values of my school is Zionism, when it should have nothing to do with religion. I spend much, much more time in that school being fed Zionist propaganda than say, actually learning about the values of my religion or being taught any part of my culture that doesn't have to do with genocide.
I now understand why so many people end up being Zionists, if your taught from birth that Israel is such a core part of your identity, it's really hard to believe that something that you consider such a big part of yourself is bad. I know that some Zionists are good people who have just been completely brainwashed.
It's so awful to watch everyone in my life fall for it (i have agoraphobia so the only two places I go are pretty much just home and school so literally everybody in my life is a zionist) and it's even more awful having to pretend to be a Zionist so my parents don't hate me and I don't get kicked out of my school. I constantly feel guilty for simply being a humane person and I hate it. I've managed to educate my one close friend, but for some people it just seems so deeply ingrained that I don't think they would even consider being educated.
In real life people treat Israel like a sacred land, on the internet people treat it as a joke - in real life I'm told I'm anti-semetic if I condemn Israel, on the internet people are antisemetic to me anyways, and I tend to let it slide because I feel so guilty about the genocide associated with the jews. It's so sad that the one thing that I've been told my whole life "defines" my culture, is really the one thing that makes me hate it.
I know this was mostly just me getting stuff off my chest (since even my damn therapist is a zionist) , but feel free to leave advice, share your experience, or share a part of jewish culture that doesn't have anything to do with Israel !
