AIBU to worry about telling colleagues that I’m going to Israel?

[Doubtfulso]

I’ve got a close friends wedding in Israel in 2 months and I am a bridesmaid. She is Israeli and so of course having her wedding in her home country.

I need to book the time off work now, and I work in the kind of company where everyone asks where you’re going or where you’ve been when you book leave.

there’s a lot of anger and strong feelings against Israel at the moment, and I’m worried that colleagues will turn against me or start treating me different when they know that I’m going to Israel.

would I be unreasonable to lie and tell them I’m going somewhere else, or should I be honest?

Apartheid is another really inappropriate word to use. Israelis have the same legal rights irrespective of religion or ethnicity. There have been Arab members of parliament, Christian military leaders and Druze judges. Being Muslim, Bedouin, black etc does not place any legal limitations of any jobs or industries you can join. That’s literally the opposite of the experience of black people in South African apartheid. There are obviously social conditions which make some people (rich, Jewish, men) more likely to become prime minister than others, but that is true all over the world.
The key distinction which people point to when they scream “apartheid” is the difference between citizens of Israel and non-citizens. While it’s true, there is a massive difference, all countries treat their citizens preferably. That’s normal.
If you look for other borders where rich, developed countries are directly bordering significantly poorer developing countries, you will see that conditions are often similar. That’s before you factor in the population density along the border between Israel and Palestine. Could you imagine what the border between Mexico and the USA would look like if it wasn’t mostly empty farmland and desert?

Depends what you mean by apartheid. If you’re talking about its original meaning - separate development/growth - yes, like many other countries globally. Plenty would like to see that in the UK if we’re brutally honest (not me). But if you’re referring in an emotive, rather grandstanding way to apartheid era SA, not really.

I don’t think anyone has been ‘screaming’ anything. Just stating

Oh you didn’t just do that!

Do feel free to have a look on gov dot UK to see what the definition of anti semetism is.

were the target of attempted genocide by the Nazis

Attempted?

Wtf

I think we’re all aware of the situation. It’s fairly pointless to take one aspect in isolation and extrapolate.
I’m uneasy about how you skirt around saying that Jews are emulating Nazis.

To be clear. Genocide. The deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular nation or ethnic group with the aim of destroying that nation or group. So attempted. And like it or not, what’s going on in Gaza has the same feel.

I've seen black (Jewish) people treat shockingly in Israel. First time I went, I was actually collected by a black Jewish friend who had made Aliyah the previous year. He was spoken to and treated like absolute garbage at every turn, from airport cafe staff to anybody else he had dealing with in the time I spent with him. He struggled and was resigned to it.
So, whilst on paper they may have the same rights, I've found it to be a very racist society.
Perhaps if readers of this thread would like to learn more about the systemic racism in Israel, they could google about the plight of Ethiopean Jewish women being administered with birth control without their knowledge... To keep numbers (of black people) down. There are also !quotas" of how many Jewish Ethiopian immigrants Israel would allow to made Aliyah each year. I'm not aware of such quotas being in place for Jewish immigrants from other (white) countries.

Oh FFS not this again.

It’s not about feelings, it’s about whether actions meet a specific definition.

I’m not going to be swayed against visiting Israel, so those of you trying to get me to do that are wasting your time.

As long as planes are still flying there, I will be on them as I love my friend dearly and want to be there on her wedding day.

If things kicks off more when I’m there, my friend has said that I can stay with her family until flights back to the Uk resume. I’m willing to take the risk.

Judging by some of these comments, I think I would be better off lying and saying I’m going to Cyprus. I can’t be sure that my manager isn’t someone that holds these really extreme beliefs against Israel, and I don’t want it to impact my progression at work.

guess I’d better Google some facts about Cyprus now!

This is very interesting because I have never equated anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism, particularly considering a significant number of Orthodox Jews are not Zionists. That despite the fact that they go to, and many live in, Israel and enjoy all the benefits therein.

Personally I believe in the State of Israel, always have, and in the right of the Palestinians to be where they are. I fail to understand why they cannot just peacefully co-exist. It would be such an achievement if they could. The war becomes worse all the time, there are so many atrocities committed by both sides. I wouldn't want to live there. I do not, however, consider going there to be taking sides, people travel to and fro all the time.

https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/ultra-orthodox-anti-zionist/

And for those who say there's no antisemitism on this thread...

I'd judge you for keeping it a secret! Go! And have an amazing time. Israeli weddings are incredible!

I'd be too nervous to go because we are advised against travel, I'd be worried if I needed an embassy for some reason it wouldn't be available. I'd also worry about the insurance aspect.

But I work in a very pro Palestine environment where people openly speak about it and I stll don't think I'd get flack for going / it's your friends wedding, it's not like your off to fight with the idf

Because civilian casualties in a war is exactly the same as rounding up 6 million people onto cattle trucks and gassing them

In the Middle East? No, it’s frightening.

Why is it anti semitism ? The definition of such in this context is blaming ALL Jews for the actions of the state of Israel. I live in an area with an extensive Jewish population and many of our friends are Jewish. I don’t know any who hold with what the state of Israel is doing in Gaza.

Nope.

Seriously? This is just uncalled for.