I am Woman, I am Jewish, I Oppose this Genocide, Hear Me Roar
I am Woman , hear me roar
I am the Jewish daughter of a Jewish mum (and dad) , who in turn were the daughter (and son) of Jewish mums (and dads).
There is no getting away from Judaism whether you believe or not. It follows down the maternal line. If you are born of it then the title is yours.
I’m a non- practicing Jew of non-practicing Jewish parents. My dad, raised Jewish, is a militant atheist, from his childhood trauma. My Jewish mum is (I would say) agnostic.
For a time, my brother and I went to a Jewish Sunday school. I can’t remember if my brother had a bar mitzvah, I certainly didn’t have a bat mitzva.
Mum would (and still does), frequent a Jewish supermarket, butcher or bakery if there is one in the vicinity, and will cook kosha for certain guests. On the other hand, they can’t resist a bacon butty; will happily mix meat and dairy; never attend a synagogue (unless for a funeral).
As children we kept up a pretence for our grandparents and kept secret our understated celebration of Christmas (in the tree and presents sense of the celebration…. same with Easter). We didn’t keep Jewish holidays or observe the Sabbath. I remember there being certain foods we loved, challah, bagels, gefilte fish, chopped liver, potato latkes, matzo meal dumplings. I still love all these foods, though I rarely get to have most of them.
I remember being acutely embarrassed to be labelled ‘Jewish’ and never actually told people. As an adult I never really thought about it, except when I chose to spend 2 years in Israel starting on a Kibbutz, largely choosing that as a safe and organised start to a solo backpacking adventure at the age of 23. During that time I recall being acutely connected to the horror and proximity of the Nazi holocaust and showing a little interest in the cultural practices and language but never adopting any religion or getting my head around the peculiarities of Judaism.
Why am I telling you all this?
Well, until recently I really didn’t care to mention being of Jewish heritage. I would, if asked, but otherwise I’d think very little of the religious doctrines and cultural behaviours to which I was born. However, since the horrors of 7th October, I have become more acutely aware of the plight of the Palestinians. The truth about how Jews obtained the land we all call Israel; and the way the Palestinians have, since then, been marginalised, held and controlled in, effectively, a large open prison by Israel.
How the land still belonging to the Palestinians has been slowly gobbled up and taken over by Israel as they move their walls and blockades further and further into Palestinian Territory.
I have become more aware of how Israel controls everything that goes in and out of all Palestinian territory… be it water, food, electricity, goods …or people. The Palestinians have not only lacked autonomy all this time, but they have continually been brutalised, treated as subhuman, been subjected to lesser rights and been constantly at risk of random home invasions and take overs.
In addition to the control by the Israeli Occupational Forces, they have also had to deal with (suffer) Zionist extremists in the form of settlers and growing illegal settlements. Often set up and abetted by the IOF. These settlements are in violation of Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, and in breach of international declarations. Throughout and as recently as 2024, a ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) relating to the Palestinian territories, reaffirmed the illegality of the settlements. The UN and our Government know they are illegal yet throughout have failed to do anything about it.
Of course, I accept that there are terrorists in the form of Hamas, and that the acts carried out on 7th October 2023 were horrific (1,200 Israelis died, and 5,431 were injured).
I do not accept that these occurred in a vacuum.
They occurred following decades of maltreatment, random arrests, torture, displacement, beatings and killings at the hands of IOF solders. Never mind the ongoing control of resources, the constant shortages, the capturing and stealing of land and property, and being subjected to permanent oversight of an occupying force.
Since 7th October the world has turned on its head, we are asked and expected to not believe what we see with our eyes and hear with our ears.
Netanyahu and his cronies, feign offence and cry antisemitism any time they are called out and the BBC (supposedly unbiased) continues to deny and play down the atrocities that happen on a daily basis. A report by the Centre for Media Monitoring found that “Palestinian deaths were treated as less newsworthy” than Israeli ones; that there has been “systematic language bias favouring Israelis”; “suppression of genocide allegations”; and “ muffling of Palestinian voices.” So, one sided reporting, empathy for Israelis over Palestine; individualising Israelis, grouping Palestinians, Different language for both groups. It’s sickening to watch. Maybe that’s why so many people have abandoned mainstream media? There is a long report available with all the evidence to back these claims
I watch rabbi after rabbi condemning what is being done in the name of Judaism and I watch protest after protest on the streets of Israel ,. I witness Jews come out all over the world to condemn the actions of Israel, you just need to look at Jews Against Genocide to see.
As a Jewish woman, it has become necessary to grab hold of the title I spent my childhood trying to ignore and stand with true Judaism which would condemn everything we are witnessing. Judaism has been conflated with Zionism. Yet they are not the same thing. Judaism is one of the oldest monotheist religions in the world and is focused on religious observance and community cohesion. It is both a religion and a cultural and ethnical identity, placing a strong emphasis on the pursuit of justice and ethical behaviour (charity and human kindness). Zionism, on the other hand, is a political ideology which emerged in the late C19th with the goal of establishing and maintaining a Jewish State of Israel
Surely they are opposites in their values?! A person holding the values of Judaism could not commit genocide. It cannot be antisemitic to stand against a political ideology. I would even argue that treating Zionism as Judaism is itself antisemitic. Personally, I can no longer keep whimpering in a corner in the pain a, disbelief and outrage I feel.
I cannot look at one more video of a child wailing in pain and distress on a dirty floor with a limb blown off or their guts hanging out.
I cannot witness another video of a skeletal adult collapsing in a mosh pit style queue for scraps.
I cannot hear another UN or humanitarian doctors witness statement about the nature and pattern of sniper injuries to children as if the IOF have been playing games, selecting each day a different body part to target.
I cannot bear to see the holding pens into which men, women and children are herded as they wait at one of these so-called aid distribution centres. And then witness the panic and chaos as the IOF open fire.
I cannot see another emaciated baby dying or dead from lack of formula.
Eighty percent of Gaza has been razed to the ground, often maliciously after bombing raids and removal of populations to other ‘safe’ areas or camps, to ensure there is nothing for the Palestinians to return to.
I cannot read another statement from an aid worker who has been told they are working for the IOF not the Palestinians, or another traumatised soldier who has had their eyes opened by the persistent and devastating brutality.
I cannot look at another deformed., emaciated Palestinian doctor, surgeon or child who has finally been released from Israeli captivity and hear and see their scars and pain from their maltreatment.
I cannot see all these things and correlate them with the language used by our media and government and that of America and Israel and understand how anyone can accept the absolute heartless, soulless bullshit that is spouted.
The cries of ‘what about the Israeli hostages’ (who are most likely dead themselves from Israeli bombing and food depravation inflicted by Israel). The indignant pleas of antisemitism when it is they, the Israeli government, proving to be the most heinous of terrorists.
How much more evidence is needed? There are hundreds (thousands) of eye witness accounts, ICC and ICJ rulings and images, not just of the atrocities, but the acres and acres of blockaded aid that just sits in the desert going nowhere.
The fact that western press has never been allowed in. The fact that these latest, minimal, purely for show, air drops are done only under the threat of stoppage should anyone photograph the devastation from their aerial advantage point.
As the descendant of a survivor of an unimaginably devastating holocaust. I cannot stand by silently and watch Zionists, hijack Judaism and commit the same on another people, in its name.
I cannot, not claim my Jewish title. I must stand in solidarity with Palestine, as Muslims and Jews have always managed to live alongside each other, and scream “NO! ENOUGH!”
The UK government does not act (or fail to act) in my name. Israel does not get to plead antisemitism in the face of the horror it is inflicting. Jewish people around the world do not deserve to live in fear of the rise of real antisemitism against them because of the way Zionist have conflated Israeli and Jewish to mean the same thing.
I stand against Israel and for Judaism, for those who want it.
I stand for equality for all peoples including the Palestinians.
I stand with them to fight where they cannot, and I will fly flags to show I am feeling their pain, witnessing their suffering and demanding justice for the displacement, deliberate starvation, murder and brutality. There is no reason for anyone to be offended by me declaring that I am against genocide and the deliberate starvation of children. There should be no conflict of interests when I fly a flag of support. We do so for Ukraine as the people there continue to suffer the tyranny of Russia. I fly my allyship flag for the LGBTQIA_ community and I wear my support with pride. There should be no “other side” when showing allyship for the persecuted and marginalised. Others may choose to be ambivalent, but to be offended….
And I will remember our government and the individuals within it who have abetted or sat passively by and enabled these horrors.
I hope one day The Hague will hold them to account. Meanwhile I hope they never have a sound night’s sleep and that their nights and quiet moments are tormented with nightmares.
I demand the right to protest, the right to be heard and the right to stand up against a genocide enacted in plain sight.
I am the Jewish daughter of a Jewish Mother, and father, both with Jewish parents, survivors of the Nazi created holocaust. And I bear witness with despair and horror at a holocaust playing out in front of our very eyes. Being denied by both our media and our government
May the millions of caring people around the world in every corner, including Israel, continue to rise up, speak up, bang pots, fly flags and be a damned nuisance.
Sadly, sometimes, the right side of history is the wrong side of the law, when the government changes the rules to control and silence us.
I am Jewish
I am feminist
I am activist
I am woman
I am angry
Hear me ROAR
