How To Respond?

[Oodiks]

So, I met a really nice woman last week who helped me move house. She was terrific, drove a red pick-up truck and was brilliant helping me lug a load of stuff from my old house to my new house. We got along really well and shared lots of stories about ourselves while we worked. I suggested we meet for a coffee/tea as she works near me.

What's this got to do with the conflict in the ME I hear you ask...

She emailed me to suggest that we could meet for tea/coffee, or I could come to her house for a friendly social gathering of her 'Justice for Palestine' group and I don't know how to reply. It wasn't a topic we had discussed, but I am strongly pro-Israel (not Netanyahu in case you were wondering) and would find a 'Justice for Palestine' group quite challenging.

WWYD?

I'd feel the same as you...I'd probably say something like thanks for the offer but that doesn't sound like something I'd be interested in.

How do you usually turn down invitations to things you don't want to do? I say "No thanks, I'm busy." Try that.

I'd say something like "I don't think the group is for me but I'm free on X day for a coffee?"
If she takes issue with that, rather than just accepting a differing view, then I don't think you'd have a good friendship anyway.

But I imagine she's used to being turned down for all sorts of reasons. You and I wouldn't agree on Israel but I don't want to go to a justice for Palestine meeting either (and would probably use the wording above) because it seems a bit pointless to sit in someone's living room discussing it, and I also have no desire to get involved with protests or anything like that.

Just say you can't attend? If she asks why then you could tell her as you said above that you are strongly pro-Israel, in which case I doubt she will ask you again.

Her justice for Palestine group does sounds fab though, what a lovely initiative.

I'm like you, a zionist who dislikes Netanyahu. I feel for you, it's a difficult one as people on the 'Justice for Palestine' side of things seem to be very judgemental of anyone who has a different view. I would just say that I am not terribly keen on protest/pressure groups and maybe just ghost her. It's a pity, but there it is.

I think its fine to say 'no thanks, I rather meet for a coffee' but probably worth explaining a little bit why its not for you. If you do stay friends its bound to come up so better to resolve it now. Some people's hatred of Israel is so rabid, in my experience that she might not want to be friends with you, problem solved. Others are more open minded and you can agree to disagree or even have an opportunity to discuss it constructively. Thats unlikely to happen in a justice for palestine gathering. I have friends with views across a wide spectrum on this and I've only fallen out with a small handful because their views are so extreme.

Can someone not be a zionist and want justice for Palestinians at the same time?

Theoretically, yes. However, most people who say that they want justice for Palestinians actually see the way to achieve that being the obliteration of Israel.

I personally don't feel like that despite wanting justice for the Palestinians. It's a strange one IMO, I can't imagine how the responses would be if someone started a thread on this forum saying they were uncomfortable attending a group that said 'justice for the hostages' because they were strongly pro-Palestinian.

The difference is that people who are pro Palestine are very quick to paint the other 'side' as evil and monstrous, they tend to refuse to ascribe any blame to Hamas, and they behave as if October '23 didn't happen or wasn't the reason for the current war. I am not saying that I agree with everything that Israel is doing, but the fact is that war was inevitable as soon as the October 7th massacre happened. I agree that it is a very fraught issue.

This is just not true "most"? The majority of people I interact with that want justice for Palestine are in favour of two state solution and understand the importance of the Israeli state and its existence. You are just smearing people here and see in your further post you are now jumping to they are Hamas apologists.

So maybe (almost certainly) you mix with different people to that poster. People will have a different experience to you. It is a fact though, that Justice for Palestine marches and demos pretty much always do include calls for the obliteration of Israel and there is not much evidence that the nice people who are sympathetic to Israel on those marches do anything about it. Contrast demos for the hostages which always in my experience call for peace for all civilians and freedom for the palestinians from hamas & terrorism. She's not 'smearing' people here, though there are a lot of discussions on this board, about Israel being an illegitimate colonial settler state and other variations. To those people, if the cap fits.

I would say - after the 7th October attacks I firmly stand with Israel and the people of Israel.

Exactly. I just am not encountering all these pro-Palestine people who want a two state solution. I haven't met anyone like that at all, it tends to be far more militant Israel bashing. I am not 'smearing' anyone, just calling it how I find it.

Well then the poster should have said the people she mixes with, not most as that is factually untrue

In my experience, it IS most!

And in mine as well!

Well maybe she should not have said most because that suggests the majority which is simply not true and just a tactic to discredit people that support Palestine, as is claiming they are all terrorist supporters.

As someone who is supportive of a two state solution and a Palestine state I refuse to be smeared in this generalised way. Just as I am sure you would not like to be associated with the dehumanising genocidal language from some of the Israeli government ministers

She's not 'smearing' people here, though there are a lot of discussions on this board, about Israel being an illegitimate colonial settler state and other variations.
She is smearing people by not being specific about the people she is talking about which you also do .

To those people, if the cap fits.
So name and question those people it is not that hard

@stbeaker
Well then there is little point interacting with you if you just assume everyone that supports Palestine is a terrorist supporter and doesn't want Israel to exist.

💯

No, Im not going to name people on other threads, that would be against the rules and completely counterproductive and not helpful to OP. What a completely bizarre thing to suggest. Its perfectly ok for people to post from their perspective and very tiresome to make a big deal of it to try and undermine them.

I base what I state on evidence around me.

The irony of some posters saying it's the Pro-Palestinians who are very judgemental. If this thread is anything to go by, then the opposite has more truth in it.