Thread by @RaphMim

Many Jews and Israelis (including my own relatives) defend Israeli actions no matter the evidence of massacres and horrendous violence. Why?

For one simple reason: ultra nationalism.

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That ultra nationalism has a name. It’s called Zionism. Even “liberal” or “progressive” Zionists think of the “Jewish state” as an end in itself. Support for a “Jewish state” has become a form of idolatry. Religious or secular, right wing or left wing, Zionism is a religion.

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Ultra nationalism means that there is always a good reason to justify violence. There is always an “explanation”.

And most importantly, no matter what happens, they will *always* stand with Israel. We see it with the “stand with Israel forever” profile pics on social media.

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This is why we call for the dismantling of Zionism. Not because we don't think Jews deserve self determination (we deserve self determination like everyone else). But because all ultra nationalisms are inherently oppressive, exclusionary, and violent.

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And when you add colonialism on top of that, what you get is the Nakba, apartheid, and the unimaginable violence unleashed against Gaza today.

This is inevitable, and nothing will change until the cause of it all—Jewish ultra nationalism—is challenged head on.

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I am so angry right now because I see people I know lose their loved ones in Gaza, murdered by Israel. And I KNOW that this would never move people I know in Israel, people in my family. Why? Because of ultra nationalism. Because of idolatry for “the Jewish state”.

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As a Jew, as someone who lived in Israel and identified as Zionist most of my life, as someone who has friends & family in Israel and whose parents were in bomb shelters on Oct 7th:

Only by ending Jewish ultra nationalism (Zionism) can we reach justice in the Middle East.

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