Thread by @SlavaMalamud

OK, I will do this.
I am Jewish, a term I define as exclusively racial and completely divorced from organized or personal worship of ancient literature. I spent the first 17 years of my life in a Soviet school where I was taught that Israel doesn't exist. Literally...

https://twitter.com/JacksonRickun/status/1392250142653177858

In its place, I was told, exists an illegal, imperialist, militarist, American puppet pseudo-state whose very existence, besides being a temporary historical error, automatically makes potential traitors and defectors of people like me, documented, registered racial Jews...

The fact that socialist, revolutionary, freedom-loving Arab states would eventually, with a brotherly helping hand of the great Soviet people (their non-Jewish part, at least), remove this cancer from the world's map was an unquestioned predestination that we were taught as such.

Mere mentioning of the word "Israel" was considered scandalous. When a Soviet basketball team played Maccabi Tel-Aviv in the European League, the announcers would never mention the opponents. Not the team name, not the players. They'd just be refered to as "the opposition"...

The only context in which a loyal Soviet citizen could utter the word Israel was when addressing a Jew with the standard "Your lot should go to your fucking Israel." It mattered not that I didn't believe the word of the Old Testament. My Jewishness was issued to me by the state.

When I left the state behind, I was relieved by no longer having to be embarrassed for being a Jew. Though I still haven't shed it completely. I still feel like it's a less than desirable thing to be. This will stay with me forever.
So will my atheism, though I am fine with it.

I have also come to be proud of Israel. Proud of the fact that my people, which were led as sheep to the slaughter and stereotyped as pathetic weaklings, had an ass-kicking army that could stand up to much more numerous opposition.
I also came to view Israel as insurance policy..

A place where we could go in case whatever country we currently live in once again decides that we make irresistible scapegoats and slaughter animals. And no country in the world is immune to this.
So, having Israel out there was (and is) nice...

I also came to be unapologetically pro-Israel's-existence. And I won't deny that it's because of my roots. I am not an objective observer. I am a Jew who knows full well why this country exists. I support my people's survival, physical and cultural.
I am honest about my bias...

I also wish people like @IlhanMN (who is a hero of mine in some ways) admitted their bias on the issue as well. But it's their business.
I have also come to be frustrated by Israel. By it's abusive relationship with the right wing and the religious zealots. By its inflexibility..

By its borderline fascistic Russian-speaking community. By its comically inept soccer team.
And this is where my feelings have emerged.
Arabs aren't going anywhere. They will be a part of the region, and of Israel, forever. And Israel needs to find a way to let them live in peace

We're terribly bad at holocausting other folks, so there is no other way here.
And here is what Arabs and the rest of the world needs to understand: Israel is not going anywhere either. It's not cancer, it's not a historical error, it's not an imperialist colonial crime syndicate

It's a fully established, viable nation, which resurrected a dead language, developed a unique culture, built its own economy and has fucking nukes.
You will not get rid of it, no matter how many companies you boycott or how many campus sit-ins you take part in.
It will stay.

You can shame Jews for living on stolen land (presumably after you donate your house to a Native American tribe), you can worship Hamas and Hezbollah (and their bud Putin), but Israel won't go anywhere.
So, you have to learn to live with it, too.

And while I wish we all learned to live without religion, I'd start with having all sides just acknowledge this one stupid fact: that nobody is going anywhere and both sides have the right to exist, legitimately.
It's not hard. It's easy. You ain't goddamn Soviets. You can do it.