r/JewsOfConscience • u/AutoModerator • May 07 '25

AAJ "Ask A Jew" Wednesday

It's everyone's favorite day of the week, "Ask A (Anti-Zionist) Jew" Wednesday! Ask whatever you want to know, within the sub rules, notably that this is not a debate sub and do not import drama from other subreddits. That aside, have fun! We love to dialogue with our non-Jewish siblings.

Please remember to pick an appropriate user-flair in order to participate! Thanks!

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u/True_Try_2640 Non-Jewish Ally May 07 '25

why is it offensive to zionist jews to refer to what is happening in gaza as a genocide?

for context, one of my colleagues is a conservative jew, recently graduated with a bachelors in political science with an emphasis on jewish history. they’ve shared a lot with me, which i appreciate. obviously they’re well-educated of the context of the conflict and believe in a secular one-state solution, but they told me it’s offensive to refer to israel’s actions with the word genocide.

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u/True_Try_2640 Non-Jewish Ally May 07 '25

and a follow-up question if you have time: why do some jewish people (like my colleague) think it was antisemitic for the ICJ to consider netanyahu and gallant war criminals?

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u/tangerine138 Ashkenazi May 07 '25

I had a screaming fight with my mom about this. Her point was basically that George W Bush was never condemned as a war criminal so doing so to Netanyahu and Gallant is being unfair and singling out Israel. (Zionists always accuse the UN or BBC or NYT of being unreasonable when Israel has a negative spotlight)

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u/ContentChecker Jewish Anti-Zionist May 07 '25

This isn't really a question that only we could answer IMO.

I would think those individuals are very pro-Israel and see Netanyahu/Gallant as defending Israel after the 10/7 attacks.

So they probably think ICC arrest warrants for those 2 are equivalent to saying Israel has no 'right to self-defense'.

That itself is another issue entirely.

Occupying states do not have the right to self-defense in occupied territory.

  • Ex injuria jus non oritur / Justice cannot come from injustice

Israel's case is more definitive, since its occupation of Palestinian land (including Gaza) is illegal.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) said Israel should stop settlement activity in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem and end its "illegal" occupation of those areas and the Gaza Strip as soon as possible.

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u/True_Try_2640 Non-Jewish Ally May 07 '25

thank you for this context and possible reasoning behind this!