Last week, I had the honor of meeting someone I greatly admire in the Zionism space. We met for lunch and we were both eager to hear each other’s backgrounds and Zionism trajectories. I was even more impressed with her in person than what I knew of her from online; however, I was in near shock by the terminology she was using: ‘West Bank’ (A Jordanian occupation term from 1950),’ ‘settlements,’ ‘Palestinians’ and ‘East Jerusalem.’
I very respectfully asked her why for example she calls herself a ‘settler’ when at least outside of Israel, the terms ‘settlements’ and ‘settlers’ have an overwhelming negative connotation, with good reason– when people anywhere worldwide ‘settle’ land, it is done so at the expense of another’s land rights, unless in rare cases land is virgin land.
And herein, I as an American Jew, listened more than I spoke, but also, needed to explain to this proud Zionist why her choice of words outside of Israel contributes to Jew-hate, through no fault of her own because for a while Israelis and Americans who are real Zionists have been speaking a different language, for various reasons.
The woman explained that at least in her community, the term ‘settler’ is used with pride, denotes that these brave Jews in Judea & Samaria reclaimed the land and settled where no one wanted to go. Is she historically correct? Jews who now live in Judea & Samaria followed in the footsteps of Jews who lived in our ancestral heartland (Jews literally emerged from the Semitic tribes in the Hill Country (Judea & Samaria) of Canaan) for thousands of years. That area was only Jew-free for 19 years during the Jordanian occupation. Even during the Crusades when Jews were exiled from Jerusalem for 60 years, Jews still remained in communities all over Judea & Samaria.
Given her work, in speaking with various groups, meeting with international entities, where there is ample time to engage in real dialogue, she explained that when she uses the term ‘settlers’ that the people she meets with, then see that ‘settlers’ are not extremists as the media portrays, but Jews who have a love of their land. And that is a great point.
From outside of Israel, where especially Zionism educators and leaders use social media, publications, classes, speaking forums to push back against Jew-hate, there is no opportunity for extended dialogue, but mostly fast facts to educate both Jews and non-Jews. And we are in an environment where we have to use the same connotation as in our countries. So in America, in Europe, and elsewhere, we do need to push back on terms such as ‘settlements’ and ‘settler’ and explain that those are legal Jewish communities and legal Jewish residents of the ancestral heartland in Israel. That Judea & Samaria is far more historical to Jews than Tel-Aviv.
Same with the term, ‘East Jerusalem’ – to my now new friend, the term is purely directional. To those outside of Israel, ‘East Jerusalem’ is the half of Jerusalem that Israel is ‘occupying’ and ‘stealing’ from ‘Palestine.’ Nevermind that the Jewish Quarter in the Old City is literally located in the eastern portion of Jerusalem.
As for Palestinians, I questioned about that term because I knew she understands that Jews in Israel were called Palestinians from 136 AD – 1948. She said that she uses that term because that is what the Arabs in her surrounding neighborhoods call themselves, and to not cause more issues, the Jews in Israel also say ‘Palestinians.’ On one hand, I can understand that, but in reality, that causes far more damage than it prevents, and I expressed that. Not only does it erase our Jewish history in our own homeland, but it fuels the antisemitic lie that there is some separate ethnicity called ‘Palestinians’ and that Israel is their land, ignoring reality that Arabs in Israel (Gaza and all of Judea & Samaria included) hail from 25 different Muslim nations. The Arabs’ last names give away origination points.
And this is precisely why I emphasize to my followers and students that Zionists outside of Israel should not see themselves as agents of hasbara, but purely as Zionism educators. We are not here to ‘help Israel’ which is such a patronizing concept, but to share pure history and facts to explain to both Jews and non-Jews the reality behind the headlines. If our terminology differs from that of some Israelis, that is fine. Would it be helpful if Israelis stopped using the above-mentioned terms? Of course. Is it likely to happen anytime soon? No.
I did point out that even Mosab Yousef admitted that there are no such thing as Palestinians who are Arabs. It is going to be up to Israelis to determine if and when they wish to change their terminologies, but those who are not Israeli, it is still our duty to educate based on historical terminology.
The recent violence against Hindus in Bangladesh is horrific. Many are calling what is happening, ‘pogroms’ – it is far more in line of a genocide. And, infuriatingly, this is not the first genocide attempt of Hindus in Bangladesh. In 1971, the Muslim government forces in then East Pakistan murdered 3,000,000 Hindus, raped over 200,000 women, and by the time India decided to invade Bangladesh, the damage was extreme.
Police targeted Hindu colleges and schools. In Jagan Nath Hall, some 400 Hindu students were holed up in a hall and killed point blank.
Girls from Hindu schools and colleges were put in buses and taken to police stations where they were raped and murdered.
Jews are not special in terms of being targeted by Muslims. How many of us know about the 1971 Hindu massacre? About the violence in Pakistan over the years against Hindus? And the violence against Hindus by Muslims in the Hindu indigenous homeland, India? About the massacres right next to Israel, in Egypt against the Coptic Christians?
We as Jews should be aware, to speak up, and to always ensure that Israel remains a strong sovereign nation. The Hindus in Bangladesh do not have an IDF equivalent to rescue them now from being hung in the streets, from their homes being firebombed, from their women being raped. The Copts in Egypt do not have a government that protects them, rather incites violence against them, and the Copts are the actual indigenous people of Egypt, their ancestors were the ancient Egyptians, not the Arab invaders who came long after the ancient Egyptian dynasties.
However, we also see that weak government policies in Israel leads to genocides against our own people, it leads to hostages still remaining in captivity, and it places Israel at the mercy of the antisemitic international community. But, at the very least we have a powerful army that most other indigenous people worldwide lack.
The atrocities against Hindus also highlight the sheer idiocy of giving away land for peace. In the case of Hindus, it was not their choice, it was forced upon them by the British, to steal parts of their land to create Bangladesh and Pakistan.
From 3,000 BC – 1800 AD, what is now Bangladesh was 100% Hindu. In 1950, Hindus made up 20% of Pakistan. Today, just 1.5%; in Bangladesh in 1950, Hindus made up 22%, today it is 7%, and yet in India, in 1950, only 10% of Indian nationals were Muslim. Today, Muslims make up 16%.
It was not Jews’ choice to give away what was renamed Jordan, but it was our choice to give up the Sinai (not historically ours but we won it through a defensive war), and it was our choice to disengage from Gaza, and we were willing to give up land in 39 separate peace treaty attempts with the Arab invaders.
The ridiculous notion that if Israel were to attack Iran, that it would ‘escalate tensions’ is ridiculous. Hijacking the Israeli population for the past week + while waiting to see what Iran does or does not do, is asinine. Not all Israelis are fearful, but many are, especially those I have spoken to who live outside of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
Iran has escalated tensions since October 7th by aiding in murdering 1200 Jews and taking over 250 people from Israel hostage, murdering many of those in captivity as well. Israel therefore should be determining the course of this war, not Iran. Israel has every right to fully attack Iranian infrastructure as it sees fit. Many Iranians would also welcome those actions.
And, all the missiles launching from Southern Lebanon– why has that region not been laid to waste like in 2006? Nasrallah after the 2006 war lamented attacking Israel given the severity of the damage. It kept the Hezbollah rats quiet for 17 years.
The IAF is quite powerful and it seems it is being handcuffed thus far by Bibi.
Just as ridiculous are these ceasefire footsies – Hamas Harris has taken over explaining to antisemitic liberals why a ‘two-part’ ceasefire is needed; first, for Israel to leave population centers in Gaza, and then, for Israel to agree to a full ceasefire. It would help for Hamas Harris to understand that Hamas is not a real military tied to a country. It is a terrorist organization which comes from within the Arab occupier population in Jewish Gaza.
Hamas knows it has the upper hand – that Israel is desperate to have their hostages released, therefore to torture Israel, Hamas can drag out these negotiation attempts, start and stop numerous times over. And, the more casualties in Gaza, the better it is for Hamas. Win-win for Hamas. In the most recent ceasefire trickery, Hamas demanded Israel release Marwan Barghouti, a Fatah terrorist who has been in the Israeli prison system serving multiple life sentences since the Second Intifada. Hamas rats want Barghouti to be in control of Gaza post-war. Western liberals would like that arrangement too as they see Fatah as more ‘moderate’ than Hamas, even though they are one in the same. Fatah has been helping finance Hamas for decades. Numerous Fatah terrorist rats murdered Jews on October 7th.
Just days after offering up its antisemitic terms, Hamas backed out of the offered deal. Technically, Israel is not bound to deals with terrorist organizations, only with actual countries, but when first phases come with releasing terrorists, Israel cannot go through even if Hamas were to continue with talks. Each day, I hope that the IDF has some major secret plan of getting the hostages out that does not involve the antisemitic parties.
It is not too late to place Gaza under siege. Half the world hates Israel anyway, might as well do what is needed to release and retrieve our hostages, and to ensure another Jewish genocide will not occur.