The Advocate

I'm a Jew, so I'm White enough to get into the room but not White enough for the people actually in the room. I'm a Jew, so I'm White enough that I won't get pulled over by the cops while driving for no reason, but not White enough that the cops won't watch my synagogue burn down. I'm a Jew, so I'm White enough that no one follows me around a store to see if I'm stealing, but not White enough that the store owner won't call me a cheap money-grubbing cheater when I try to pay. I'm a Jew, so I'm White enough to go to law school, but not White enough to be anything other than one of those shylock shyster lawyers. I'm a Jew, so I'm White enough to go to medical school, but not White enough to be anything except a blood-sucking organ snatcher. I'm a Jew, so I'm White enough to help corporations get away with financial fraud, but not White enough to get away with it myself. I'm a Jew, so I'm White enough to be blamed fo...

( From JTA ) I cannot help but notice a lot of disinformation, ignorance, and bigotry coming from people who call themselves pro-Palestinian and/or pro-Israel as this conflict continues to spiral into ever more suffering. Sometimes, I feel like the best thing I can do when struggling amidst human tragedy is to focus on education as a path for compassion, understanding, and solidarity. Since I am Jewish, I will tell a story of my people. So, I am here to share a little bit about the history of Zionism , which at its core is the belief in the Jewish people's right to self-determination in their ancestral homeland. While Zionism has this central core meaning, there are several expressions (or "flavors") of it in practice: political, revisionist, labor, cultural, religious, practical, reform, & radical. There's actually even green Zionism! But all forms tie back, in some form or another to Israel - actually Yisrael, whether Am (the people), Eretz (the land), Medina...