I'm Jewish, and I'm here to tell you that antisemitism exists on the left.
I get it. Israel has a lot of power and influence, and antisemitism was used against Corbyn as a smear. That doesn't mean that antisemitism on the left isn't also a real thing, and I'm tired of being regarded with suspicion as a Zionist stooge every time I bring it up.
I'm sick of being grilled by strangers about Palestine as soon as they find out I'm Jewish. You wouldn't get in a Sunni's face about the ongoing Saudi genocide in Yemen, so why do I have to answer for a whole country I'm not from? Why am I a "suspect" until I can prove my credentials?
I'm sick of being regarded as just a (((white person from Brooklyn))), as one poster on here put it. White people from Brooklyn don't get their places of worship shot up at random, or called k*kes everywhere online, or get assaulted if dressed traditionally.
I'm sick of making friends in left spaces IRL, to later hear them regurgitate Rothschild conspiracies or tell racist jokes about the Hasidic communities nearby. Big noses! Love of money! We have sex through a hole in a sheet! It never gets old! This shit people say about Jews would never get said about any other minority. I've even seen a "left" (ex)-friend from school say that "the only good jew is a dead jew" in messages (which apparently was "fine because she's Lebanese and it's a cultural thing and she doesn't really mean it").
There are many problems on the left, including racism and sexism, and it doesn't get better if we just pretend they don't exist. Jewish leftists are your allies, please treat us as such. We want the same goals as you. If we bring up that we feel uncomfortable, PLEASE do not just write us off. It's heartbreaking to raise the issue of the racism that you're experiencing in a supposedly inclusive space, just to be accused of being a shifty wrecker working for a foreign state.
This post was inspired by this one, where a random Jewish person (with "free palestine" on their page, no less) is implied to be a paid Israeli troll just for bringing up that anti-Semitism is a problem on our side too.
Edit: I’d just like to say thank you all for the overwhelmingly positive response to this post. It’s really great to know your comrades have got your back. I also appreciate how those with questions have (mostly) been open minded and engaged in good faith. It makes a difference.
I struggle with this as a non-Jewish leftist. I would never harass or accuse a Jewish person of not being an ally but privately when I find out somebody is Jewish there is a part of me that assumes they support Israel until I hear otherwise.
I'm entering this conversation with honestly and in good faith here, help me think this through? I assume a man I meet is sexist until they demonstrate otherwise, because most men are sexist. I don't think this is being anti-men, I am a man. Is this fundamentally different?
I think having a negative opinion about a majority group vs a minority group will always be fundamentally different. Assuming a man is sexist until proven otherwise, a white person is racist until proven otherwise, a cis person is transphobic until proven otherwise, etc is different than assuming a woman/POC/trans person is [something negative] until proven otherwise.
Also I think it kinda depends on what you do with that private assumption. I mean if you do absolutely nothing with that assumption then... who gives a shit, that's on your own conscience. But if you start grilling Jewish leftists about their opinions on Israel, it affects them. Like, my default assumption is that Americans are imperialists and even American leftists have a very difficult time subverting their nationalist conditioning. But if I talk to an American on here I don't start every conversation with "So before we continue can u tell me ur exact opinions on American soldiers who fought in the Iraq War :)" Can you imagine lmao
It's a complex issue and a lot of Jews, especially older ones, do support Israel in some capacity (with views ranging from a one state, or two-state solution with '64 borders, to full apartheid). Personally it's caused lots of arguments with family which get heated very quickly.
I think religion as a whole is problematic and causes people to believe problematic things. I too have my suspicions regarding religious people regarding homophobia and sexism, and as such I don't think it's necessarily wrong per-se to assume a Jewish person has a degree of affinity for Israel, although you would be incorrect a lot of the time. I think the questions is how you approach that and the way you engage with that topic.
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Jewish people are of all persuasions you've ever heard of and also a few you haven't. They are disproportionately represented not just in the sciences but also in social movements.
The difference between sexism and Zionism is that sexism is ubiquitous- it spans across almost all present human cultures, whereas Zionism is transmitted much less broadly. As such, if you meet a Jew outside Israel there's a plenty good chance that they haven't been indoctrinated, or brought into the fold.
At any rate I'd say that the proportion of Americans adhering to the cult of America is higher than the proportion of Zionist Jews.
Most men's sexism isn't particularly vocal, or coherent. It's sort of a deeply entrenched, but ambient sexism which is there due to socialization. Depending on their upbringing it could be more vocal and explicit as well. For Jewish Americans' views on Israel it might be similar, but you have to ask is it because they're Jewish and received a Jewish upbringing, or is it at least in part because they're American and Israel is a part of the imperial core. Then you have to ask that, even if it were the case that most Jewish Americans were pro-Israel, at least in this sort of ambient and almost "apolitical" way, would it be very different from the general population. And further if there isn't a vast gap between the general population's views on Israel, and that of Jewish Americans, why would you think differently of a Jewish person?