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.

  • jewishleftist [none/use name]
    ·
    4 years ago

    To clarify, I’m talking exclusively about left wing circles where most forms of racism are quickly stamped out.

    • purr [undecided]
      ·
      4 years ago

      yeah but in leftist circles including this page, people say or insinuate racist things too and its not stamped out quickly, if at all. i understand the idea that in left circles there seems to be more of a stigma against attacking certain groups, but these groups are still heavily attacked at a degree that can get very real very fast, corresponding to skin color....... (ofc jews are too but this entire summer was about black people being killed senselessly and a lot of very "liberal" white people realizing just now that that's not okay like dude).

      someone on hear this summer was like "i feel bad for kyle rittenhouse because he looks lost" and that shit was very upvoted.