I Think That If You Care About Learning About Conflicts In The Middle East, It Should Include Learning

I think that if you care about learning about conflicts in the Middle East, it should include learning about the history of the Mizrahim, the Jews who lived throughout the Middle East and North Africa for millennia and were subjected to 1400 years of dhimmitude, jizya, adverse living conditions, pogroms, and prohibition from accessing their sites of worship. Framing antisemitism as a purely European phenomenon is reductive to say the least, and gives people an excuse to frame conflicts as black and white when there is so much more than meets the eye.

Any time I see people call Israel a settler colonialist state I think about the history of the Mizrahi Jews who remained in Judea.

Mizrahi Jews in the seventh century, whose families had lived as native Israelites for 1,800 years, watching the Rashidun Caliphate move the first major wave of Arab Muslim migration into the imperial conquest they called "Military Palestine".

Mizrahi Jews who, over the course of the next 1,200 years, remained in the Levant. The ones who faced persecution, pogroms, and massacres under the Caliphates and Ottomans. The ones who stood strong and stayed put, as access to holy sites they had prayed at for three thousand years were taken from them. The ones who were faced with a choice between conversion and death, but chose neither.

Mizrahi Jews who watched as the modern State of Israel was established-- perhaps sighing in relief for just a moment. Maybe now, they would not be persecuted minorities in the land they had lived in for over three thousand years. Only to see other Mizrahim forced to flee their homes in Morocco, Yemen, Iraq, Egypt, Lebanon, Iran... Muslim-ruled countries that, through official law or social persecution, intentionally forced other Middle Eastern Jews to leave their homes and settle in Israel.

And the Mizrahi Jews today, who are the majority of the population of Israel. Most Israelis today are either Mizrahim who had lived in what is now Israeli territory for millennia, or Mizrahim who lived nearby and were forced by Muslim-majority nations to immigrate to Israel. Now, they get called "settler colonists", they get called "Europeans", they get called "fascists" and "Zionists". The world accuses them of occupying and stealing Palestinian land.

What were they supposed to have done differently?

Edit 12/27/23: Not so friendly reminder that if your "rebuttal" is to blame the actions of the Israeli government on Israeli civilians, I'm not even gonna bother to read the whole thing. I'll start believing that's a valid argument when average Americans get brought to the Hague for what the US government did in Cambodia.

Officially seeing Lacuna Coil (and meeting the band) this fall 🥹

When I'm reading a romance novel and I find out the male lead looks like a football player and not lithe and effeminate like a wounded gazelle

Hello! Firstly, I hope you and your loved ones are safe and well during these times.

I wanted to ask if you know of sources that have documented specific allegations against JVP? I have heard a number of concerning things about this organization, but I haven’t found many articles/sources talking about it. I know a lot of people who support/listen to JVP and I want to have the information available to share with them.

I don’t mean to ask you to do my research for me, I just mean that if you happen to have sources in mind already, I would appreciate if you wouldn’t mind sharing :)

Thanks for reaching out, and so sorry this took so long!

The two main problems with Jewish Voice for Peace is that it isn't really Jewish, and it absolutely isn't for peace. They're affiliated with and promote many dangerous organizations and individuals. While I normally would never cite a social media post as a source, Debbie Lechtman (rootsmetals) is an amazing Jewish educator who's always meticulous about citing her own sources, which you can find in the caption here: Stop Sharing JVP: It's not exactly Jewish. It's not for peace.

A few sources with a bunch of examples:

Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP): What You Need to Know – ADL

JVP White Paper – Written by Arnie Bernstein (January 2023) (Google Doc)

Emily Dunlap on Instagram