cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/21598108
cross-posted from: https://hcommons.social/users/adachika192/statuses/113339925768240423
Pro-Palestine protesters shut down London’s Tower Bridge
(Jerusalem Post, 2024-10-20)https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/article-825262#825262
———“Pro-Palestine protesters shut down Tower Bridge in #London on Saturday, shortly after thousands attended a mass protest in Trafalgar Square and Whitehall.”
“… the Met Police stated that the groups had been dispersed and several arrests had been made.”
“A group named Youth Demand claimed to have been part of a coalition that organized the event and shut down the bridge.
“Youth Demand said it demanded that the UK government stop arming Israel…”“The other groups involved were the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Prayers4Gaza, Palestine Pulse, Thanet 4 Palestine, and Ealing Friends of Palestine.”
@palestine@lemmy.ml
@palestine@a.gup.pe
@israel
#YouthDemand #StopArmingIsrael
That’s a weird thing to say. How are protesters blocking a bridge affect British Jews specifically? They didn’t block it only for jews and leave it open for non-jews or something.
This is anecdotal, but anti-israel/pro-palestine actions near where I live have caused peril for people in general and jews in particular. They’re often arranged near synagogues and other places relevant to jewish diaspora communities.
I can go into more detail if you want, but hence the relevance for jews living outside of Israel.
If my commute to work for instance were to intersect with such a demonstration I’d do my best to plan another route, for my own safety.
I know that Jewish diaspora institutions have been extremely unfairly targetted recently.
TW: attack
For example, in Montreal and in Toronto there have been disgusting shooting attacks against Jewish schools.
Thankfully, in the ones I know of, nobody had been hurt, even if it has had a chilling and terrorizing effect. But that’s entirely different.
A protest in broad daylight in a central space, I don’t understand what kind of “peril” any random Jewish person might be faced with. I mean you will hear rhetoric against Israel and if you show up with an Israeli flag to counter protest you will get yelled at. But that’s not any kind of special peril for the diaspora in general. Show up with a Turkish flag at a Kurdish rally and the same applies. That’s not a peril for diaspora Turks.
Are you jewish? Even if not, feel free to come here and just walk around a few days openly wearing any commonly known symbol of jewish ethnicity, culture or religion. After that, you will understand, if you aren’t stuck in a hospital bed, or worse.
As for the protests, not even that is necessary, even innocent bystanders (i.e not counter-protestors) have been hurt by activists (not that violence, IMO, is justified in general).
I avoid peril by taking precautions, suppressing that part of my identity, making it invisible to the public eye. The same way that my women classmates at university avoid peril by not being alone at night in certain parts of our city.
You cannot excuse what Israel is doing in Palestine by hiding behind antisemitism.
I do not dispute that antisemitism exists and is fucking dangerous. No dispute there whatsoever. But I am very confused if specifically people who are pro-palestine act it out against diaspora Jews. Like, I would assume the logical thing would be “we want you right here, safe and happy, no need for you to do aliyah and go settle in Palestine”. Every Jew who doesn’t feel threatened in the diaspora is one less potential settler in Palestine. Like antisemitism on its own is repugnant, of course, but even for entirely selfish/pro-palestine reasons, it’s clear that antisemitism against the Jewish diaspora directly harms Palestinians.
To put it differently: as a Canadian, I feel ashamed when my politicians say that Israel is the safest country in the world for Jews. Why can’t Canada be better than some war torn, militaristic apartheid state?
You’re assuming that an antisemite would be thinking rationally. jew-hatred doesn’t tend to be based in rational thinking. Rather it is a basic expression of spite and vitriol. Being “pro-palestine” at the same time gives a convenient excuse to act out and a mass of people to hide amongst, emboldening the ones who otherwise wouldn’t dare.
In any case, I hope that’s enough to answer your original question.