Member-only story
The Surprisingly Honest Origins Of The Israel/Palestine Conflict
When Zionists tell you who they are, it’s hard to believe them.
One of the worst ideas we’ve inherited from modern identity politics is the idea that people have “lanes.” That having a particular set of identity traits grants expertise on particular issues.
White people shouldn’t talk about racism, men have nothing to offer feminism, lesbians will remain an eternal paradox for gay men, forget empathy and conversation and our common human experience, just keep your head down, keep your mouth shut, and stay in your lane.
Given that I’m neither Israeli nor Palestinian, yet inexplicably find Israel’s televised, Occident-funded Palestinian massacre objectionable, I’ve received more than my share of criticism for breaking this rule.
So, in the spirit of #doingthework, I’ve decided to step back and let the people who created this mess speak for themselves.
After all, if you are going to have an opinion about Zionism, you should at least listen to some Zionists first.
The first step in my quest to #educatemyself about Zionism was to relearn what Zionism is.
Because while I once foolishly thought of Zionism as a violent settler-colonial project…
