Scared to be Jewish

[WibbleWobbleFlop]

I am not pro-IDF or pro-Hamas, in fact I am very strongly against both. Netanyahu's government is an ultra-right wing aggressive shitshow and Hamas is an "elected" group of cowardly murdering terrorists. I am horrified for all Israeli and Palestinian civilians. I can't even begin to imagine how those poor innocent people of Gaza are carrying on, nor how the hostages and families are coping. I want nothing more than Israelis and Palestinians to live in peace side by side in a democratic two-state solution.

I am a secular Jew. I live in the UK. I am supposedly safe, as are my children.

But I don't feel like we will be safe much longer. Hamas wants the annihilation of all Jews, not just the destruction of the state of Israel. It's not about freeing Palestine to them. It is about eliminated an entire ethnicity. My ethnicity.

When Jews were targeted in the Holocaust, it didn't matter if they were religious, Orthodox, or secular. It didn't matter if they were in Poland or Germany or Russia. Jewish blood meant "evil".

Jewish ancestry is traceable. If Hamas gains further popularity in the Middle East (incredibly likely, given their links to Iran and Qatar), there is a real danger for literally every Jew in the world. I am seeing more and more Europeans and Americans leaning so far to the Palestinian side that they want Israel to stop being an accepted state. This gives so much more power to Hamas because any aid sent to Palestine is being spent on weapons and rockets being used against the Jews.

I'm sure I will be told I am overreacting. But I am scared. And I think I have every right to be.

@MumsDailyNap your anti semitism is disgusting. OP is not privileged and she is not responsible for the actions of the Israeli government.

Do you hate all Muslims?
Why would you think all Muslims hate you?
Do you think they all support hamas too? All those thousands marching all anti semitic?
Are you not worried about right wing white people and just the Muslims that you think will attack you?
I’m a visibly muslim woman and the interactions I’ve had with Jewish people(both secular and orthodox) although not much apart from my good university friend, have been positive but now I wonder if you think we hate you secretly. That’s sad really as that sort of thinking creates animosity that you see us as guilty of hating Jews before you have even got to know us. There was an orthodox Jewish woman who approached me in a dark quiet car park to ask me for directions last week. I don’t think she thought I hated her and I’m glad she could trust me to approach me like that unless she thought I could not tell she was Jewish but I could.

Then blame Hamas explicitly. They decided to start a war by committing appalling atrocities against innocent Israeli people, including children. They use Gazan civilians as human shields. Tell them to stop firing rockets from hospitals, schools and residential areas. Tell them to release all the hostages. But none of this has ANYTHING to do with Jewish people in this country feeling afraid. There are plenty of threads about Gaza, go over there please. This one is specifically about how Jewish people now feel frightened in their own country.

@HermioneWeasley please explain how I'm anti semitism??? I'm far from it I respect every race and faith!

@MumsDailyNap
I'm far from it I respect every race and faith!

Being intentionally hostile and antagonistic towards Jewish people because they are Jewish (and in this case expressing their fears) IS antisemitism. I have seen no evidence of "respect" from you.

Just to say I'm not mocking or trolling OP my point was innocent children are being killed.... we are all privileged to be living, breathing and not living in fear without bombs being dropped on us!

I feel for you OP, it really must be frightening and I’m just so sad that the UK has come to this.

@etmoietmoietmoi that's actually BS! So if I told her I hated OP without knowing she was Jewish, am I still being anti semitic?! Just because people are pro-Palestine doesn't make them antisemitic, stop scaremongering people to speak out about hate/war crimes being committed

But the thing is, we all have something to do with Israel, as Jews. Whether we like it or not.

It's the only state in the world that is a Jewish one.

That's why this is so painful.

*WomanHerehear. No I don’t. I can’t bear racism or hate towards anyone. Two friends are of Pakistani heritage and are Muslim, but we are liberal and able to see past Hamas and Netanyahu and are in shock and despair at the suffering both are making innocents go through. The situation is so polarising though that I fear it will stir up a huge wave of antisemitism and Islamophobia.

Out and about with people I don’t know, and I know it’s irrational, I just wonder how many are furious at Jews in general, for what Palestinians are enduring. I sort of feel guilty by association if that makes sense? I know there is so much that makes Jews and Muslims alike, culturally, religiously and people world over just want the same things. The hate at the rallies over the weekend though is just frightening and fuelling division.

Well, good for you.

You have no fear of anything. You are brave and all around Wonderfull.

Why do you begrudge other people's feelings ? No one can help how they feel.

I feel for you OP. I am desperately hoping Hamas will surrender and renounce their stated aim to murder all Jews and eradicate the state of Israel.

Can you show me where I said being "pro Palestine" makes you antisemitic? I didn't, and I never have. But this is the standard get-out now isn't it? Put words in our mouths.

Read if back. I said you jumped onto this thread to intentionally mock and goad OP, simply for expressing her fears as a Jewish woman. That is literally antisemitism. And you clearly don't have a fucking clue it is. At its most basic, the dictionary defines antisemitism as "hostility to or prejudice against Jewish people", which, in my opinion (and others I see) you very clearly demonstrated. You don't have to specifically say you "hate" Jews.

So if I told her I hated OP without knowing she was Jewish, am I still being anti semitic?

OP clearly stated she was Jewish.

If you saw me telling Muslim or Black people that they were being ridiculous, privileged and minimising their fears you'd (rightly) say I was being Islamophobic or racist. See how that works?

Hamas will never surrender. They don't care about their own people. They only care about killing all Jews. What Israel is doing now is exactly what they want - and they want it escalate even further to an all-out holy war.

I fear you are right @Meadowdog , they have certainly proven they don’t care about the Palestinian people.

Thanks for sharing those stats @Namechangeagain2023 - as I had expected, unpleasant as they are the vast, vast majority of it is 'verbal abuse, graffiti on non-Jewish property, hate mail and online abuse' ('direct threats' was separate, but also a relatively low numbers) and you can bet the majority of it is in terms of 'online abuse'. Of course, that is no walk in the park and horrible to experience and I know I would be shaken up if it happened to me like the time I was on the receiving end of antisemitism online. But we need to remember most of that is all mouth and no trousers - and also this is not at all like Nazi Germany, because the government and media are all being incredibly supportive of the Jewish community nor is there any sign that that state of affairs will change.

Again, I don't say this to minimise, but to reassure - it can feel very frightening and I understand that, but I worry for people being so anxious that it might affect quality of life.

OP, I fully understand why you are scared. It seems like a completely logical feeling to have at the moment.
I'm so sorry...

I feel for the Jewish community here.I have an old pal who is Jewish and secular. No interest in Israel and I know she’s scared.

I lived for years in NW11. When people asked me where I lived they assumed I’m Jewish and although rare, I do remember weird hostility to me. Enough for me to remember.

I’m quite sensitive to anti-semitism. I worry for the UK Jewish community.

There’s always been antisemitism here but subtle and I can’t quite put my finger on it. Now it’s outright hostility.

I don't think you're over reacting at all sadly. I'm not Jewish but I've been shocked at the level of antisemitism I've seen in the last few weeks both online and in real life. I feel so sorry for you. I don't know what I can do other than attend the vigils and stand up to racism as I come across it.

To get back to the OP's point about being scared, as I said, I have similar heritage and haven't felt in the slightest bit scared until reading threads such as this. I even thought about going on one of the pro palestinian (or stop the bombing as I read it) marches but they were too far away. Maybe Im being completely naive though about hatered towards us though. Anyway, I don't know how to help you feel less scared, or even if you should be less scared, maybe I should be more scared. My jewish family left eastern Europe in about the 1920s, the family members who stayed (maybe they weren't scared as they should have been) anyway, that branch vanished, no records of them can be found.

I know in the past my children have boasted about their Jewish ancestry with their friends so plenty of people will know. We don't even really consider ourselves properly Jewish, it's just our ancestry.

are you 15 years old? There have been wars in other countries and that does not mean one can not suffer racism in their own country.
OP's feelings are valid. If you think she has privilege because she has not being bombarded what about you? You are writing from your home meanwhile ukranian children are being bombarded same as gazans.
what about all the homeless people in UK? are your feelings not valid because you have a home and they don't? what about all the children in the world in critical care? are your feelings not valid because there are children with illness? There will be always people in worst situations than us, that does not make our feelings and experiences less valid.

OP's did not start the war israel-Gaza, stop blaiming her

I'm terrified. I'm scared to send my son to school. I don't know where this ends. So much blatant open anti semitism and so many people who deny everything that is happening. It's all so one sided. I have never felt so scared in my life being Jewish in the UK right now.