I am Jewish — and I want freedom for Palestinians

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This article was published 22/11/2023 (1042 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Palestinian liberation does not mean Jewish oppression. The State of Israel does not mean Jewish safety.

I am Jewish. I do not need an ethnostate to make me feel safe. Both the United Nations and Amnesty International have said Israel is an apartheid state. As long as the apartheid continues, Jews will not be safe. If Israeli homes are required to be built with safe-rooms, if military duty is mandatory, this is not a safe place. If 1,200 Israelis are being killed in one day, and 240 taken hostage, it is not a safe place.

In Canada, expressions of both antisemitism and Islamophobia have increased in the last month of war in Gaza. Israel’s violence empowers antisemitic and Islamophobic violence elsewhere. People are acting out of great anger, grief and misinformation. Hateful people take this war as an opportunity to justify their hatred.

While our government stands unconditionally with Israel, citing its right to self-defence, over 13,000 people have been killed in Gaza, and more have been killed in the West Bank and Jerusalem.

We should not stand unconditionally with any government. No government should be without criticism.

When we cry out for Palestinian freedom, it means freedom to live as equal citizens, with equal rights and access to water, food, education, employment. It means freedom to live, freedom to come and go, and freedom to return. It does not mean Jewish oppression.

Every weekend, Winnipeggers take to the street to ask our politicians to recognize all human suffering, not just the suffering of one kind of human.

Demanding a ceasefire is not radical. It is the bare minimum. All of us who are full of grief and anger go out, even in the snow, and we join a crowd of people that represents the diverse population of Winnipeg, crying out together for a common cause.

The media has tried to divide us, reporting on conflicts between Winnipeg’s “Jewish community” and “Palestinian community,” but this is not what I have witnessed, when I show up to protest as a Jew in solidarity with Palestine. The protests have been a beautiful collaboration between people from many faiths, and many cultural backgrounds, a testament to the ability for people to coexist when we have equal rights. I have felt no hostility, holding my sign that identifies me as Jewish. Instead I have been welcomed with gratitude and understanding.

Zionism has caused a fracture in the Jewish community. There is a fracture, possibly irreparable, in my own family. Zionism tears us apart. There are now two Jewish communities.

When politicians say they “stand with their Jewish community,” they are only standing with part — the rest of us are in the streets begging to be heard. Jews who speak out against Israel’s state violence are told they are “self-hating Jews”; that we are “antisemitic,” and therefore hate ourselves. The State of Israel is not equivalent to the Jewish People. How can I show loyalty to a state that privileges Jewish lives over all others? All lives are sacred.

In Winnipeg, we have seen an increase in both antisemitism and Islamophobia, as well as censorship of expressions of support for Palestine. In times like this, I do feel more aware of the curls of my hair and the slope of my nose. But I feel most apprehension when walking down the street with a badge that says “Free Palestine.”

I am more afraid of an attack on my anti-Zionism than on my Jewishness, because this is what I have experienced more often. Yes, Jews have a history of being oppressed. We are taught this at school, in hopes that education will prevent history from repeating. If the solution to the oppression of Jewish People is becoming the oppressor, our oppressors have won.

After centuries of being killed, it seems we (and I am hesitant to say “we”, because I have so little in common with those in green uniforms and tanks) have learned to kill. We need to remember our history. We have suffered. We should not inflict the same suffering on others.

Every weekend I join the march for Palestine with my sign that declares “One genocide does not justify another. This Jew says Free Palestine.”

We will march until there is freedom for all people, from the river to the sea, and from ocean to ocean.

Alison Moule is an anti-Zionist Jewish organizer in Winnipeg.