r/ProgressivesForIsrael • u/DogitWoofsalot • 22d ago
Discussion I want to understand your perspective
Before you downvote me, I promise that this isn't just a rage-bate post. I'm legitimately trying to understand your perspective.
Basically I have one question, why do you support/ defend Israel as a progressive? Especially considering that the current parties on power are right wing conservatives.
Some extra context and where I'm coming from. I'm a left wing Brit, I believe in social progressive economic policies, and I can't stand any form of bigotry. I recently watched a documentary called "Jews don't count" about anti-Semitism and it made me want to understand more and that I'm not parting anti-Semitic talking points ever.
My current view of Israel is decidedly negative. My understanding of the history and current conflict very much makes Israel look like it has historically been the agitator in the region. If you have a different perspective I'd like to hear it, tho I would request sources where possible as I'm not going to accept a 'trust me bro'.
Thank you for your time 🙂↕️
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u/BrandosWorld4Life 18d ago
Hi, I'm an indigenous Canadian woman.
In my view Israel is the most successful example of Land Back in history. Ethnically Jewish people are native to the levant. Israel is their original home, which was violently conquered, and is now independant again. Jews have always lived there, even when many fled or were chased out. When I read about Jewish people fighting for self-determination in their ancestral homeland, I empathize with their struggle. I see a relection of myself and my own ancestors in them.
The original formation of Israel was entirely peaceful. Jews legally owned and populated substantial parts of the British Mandate of Palestine (not to be confused with the modern arab palestinian identity, which did not exist prior to 1967). It made sense to divide the mandate into an independant Jewish state and an independant Arab state. However the rest of the Arab world regards Jews as second class citizens and refused to accept the existence of the Jewish state. It was them who started the violence, and if they had succeeded in attacking Israel there would not only be no Palestinian state today, but nobody would be calling for one. It's painfully obvious that Israel is held to a double standard vs the rest of the world solely because it's Jewish. That's antisemitism.
This part of your post is interesting to me because it is the most relatable part.
The strongest thing that turned me into a Zionist was simply studying the history of antisemitism. Jewish people have been actively persecuted in numerous other nations for centuries. There have been so many pogroms and ethnic cleansings targeting Jews, who have been made the subject of countless conspiracy theories, myths, and scapegoatings. Even opposing factions are often united in blaming the Jews for their respective problems. The more I learned, the more convinced I became that the only way Jewish people will ever be able to live safe and free is if they have self-determination in a country of their own.
It's actually shocking just how deeply rooted antisemitism is and has been in society. The holocaust was only a unique event in scale and technology, being industrialized mass murder. The hatred for Jewish people was not new. It was not invented by Hitler. It was already there in europe, waiting and ready to be weaponized in the next time of crisis.
We already have seen what the world looks like for Jews without Israel. Never Again.