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community weblog
A ceasefire in name only
Scotland's The National laid out a timeline of Israel's ceasefire violations on their front page this week. ungated Watched, tracked, and targeted - Life under surveillance in Gaza. ungated CNN investigation points to the Israeli military bulldozing the dead bodies of Palestinians seeking aid. Israeli forces kill two Palestinian men in West Bank after they appear to surrender.
(Previously.)
Current state of US legislation:
- HR 3565 Block the Bombs Act - 57 cosponsors
- HRes.876 - Recognizing the genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza - 21 cosponsors
Commentary:
Mondoweiss - Stop calling right-wing criticism of Israel "anti-Zionism" - One danger of this misidentification is that it reproduces, in reverse, the spurious logic that conflates anti-Zionism and antisemitism. The resistance by pundits and politicians like Fuentes, Owens, Marjorie Taylor Green and others to U.S. support for Israel is transparently rooted in antisemitism first and foremost.
Foreign Affairs - The End of the Israeli Exception ungated - by Andrew Miller, former Biden staffer.
NYT - How the Democrats Blew It On Gaza ungated - by Ben Rhodes, former Obama staffer
posted by toastyk on Dec 06, 2025 at 6:20 AM
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Mondoweiss - Stop calling right-wing criticism of Israel "anti-Zionism"
I get ick every time I watch people I follow on the left call people who support Israel "zionists" and use the word pejoratively. It really has a lot of use within actual antisemitic movements that read a fake racist book and also use "Zion" as a euphemism for the Israeli public at large, or worse, a slur. I don't think that's healthy in the grand scheme. It feels like a racism dog whistle that has over time become a racist foghorn.
FWIW, my preferred way of referring to people who are ride or die Israel is "colonialist". It's less targeting the Jewish people as a whole because colonialism is a very big stain on the social fabric of the western world, and clears up at least some of the conflation that both groups throw at each other.
posted by Your Childhood Pet Rock at 7:38 AM
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I get ick every time I watch people I follow on the left call people who support Israel "zionists" and use the word pejoratively.
Zionism is a political belief, not a religious one. It is neither central to, or necessary for, being a Jew. People who support Israel as a "Jewish state" are Zionists, and the word absolutely should be used pejoratively, because Zionism is a proto-fascist* ideology of ethno-nationalism, supremacism, and settler colonialism.
*I'm 100% serious about this; the existence of nationalism of the type represented by Zionism...exclusivist, exclusionary, mystical blood-and-soil nonsense and myths of past glories...is pretty much a prerequisite for the development of fascism. Happened in Italy, happened in Germany, is happening with MAGA in the USA.
posted by Pseudonymous Cognomen at 8:43 AM
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Zionism is a political belief, not a religious one. It is neither central to, or necessary for, being a Jew. People who support Israel as a "Jewish state" are Zionists, and the word absolutely should be used pejoratively, because Zionism is a proto-fascist* ideology of ethno-nationalism, supremacism, and settler colonialism.
You're not wrong but the problem is there's so many people who are actively and deliberately trying to conflate Zionism and Judaism as one and the same. "The white neo-Nazis are using the term wrong" it not a good answer to why the left and the neo-Nazis are sharing that part of the lexicon. Having a completely different word for "colonialism" just for when Jewish people do it doesn't feel right.
posted by Your Childhood Pet Rock at 9:12 AM
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Then maybe they should stop referring to themselves as Zionists? If the right wing uses it as racist epithet, and the left wing uses it as colonial criticism, and the colonial powers use it proudly, then the right wing use of the term is not what I consider a Me Problem.
From the Biden staffer article:
The Biden administration had more success in preventing the war in Gaza from expanding. Iran, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen all became involved in one way or another, but the violence did not metastasize into a sustained, multifront war
Not a sustained war, just one where Israeli bombs might shower a city without any notice once or twice a month. A war would involve those countries shooting back, this is just Guernica V-VIII playing out.
U.S. pressure was effective, but it was not sustained
This is technically not a lie as we can see what the democrats consider to be effective as an opposition party.
posted by Slackermagee at 9:29 AM
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The End of the Israeli Exception ungated - by Andrew Miller, former Biden staffer
NYT - How the Democrats Blew It On Gaza ungated - by Ben Rhodes, former Obama staffer
...Well, if nothing else, it's a sign that we're approaching the "one day" in "One day, everyone will always have been against this".
posted by mstokes650 at 10:49 AM
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You're not wrong but the problem is there's so many people who are actively and deliberately trying to conflate Zionism and Judaism as one and the same.
the solution isn't to cede the use of the word to the far right; it's to drown them out. if everyone knows that "zionist" is a word which, because of what it actually refers to, should be regarded as pejorative, then it will matter a lot less that nazis also use the word as a dogwhistle for their bullshit.
posted by nobody_truncates at 12:28 PM
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I would be less worried about the left using a term that Israelis don't like, than about Israelis making friends with actual Nazis.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 1:35 PM
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You're not wrong but the problem is there's so many people who are actively and deliberately trying to conflate Zionism and Judaism as one and the same.
It seems to me that Zionists are (and have historically been) the loudest voices conflating Zionism with Judaism. It's a tactic used to silence criticism.
posted by nikoniko at 6:44 PM
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On a side note the Somalis in Minnesota have been trolling rightwingers with memes satirizing Zionism and colonialism.
posted by toastyk at 6:56 PM
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It seems to me that Zionists are (and have historically been) the loudest voices conflating Zionism with Judaism. It's a tactic used to silence criticism.
Exactly. I remember an argument back in 2000 during the second intifada about what was the proper anti-semitic term for the slaughterers of unarmed civilians and children. There wasn't one, so I just started calling them deranged Zionisto loons and left it at that.
posted by mygraycatbongo at 6:59 PM
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A reminder that DropSiteNews revealed that according to Israel's own research, it is considered a "genocidal, apartheid country abroad" and the best recommendation they could come up with to combat this was to amp up Islamophobia.
Bethlehem lights up Christmas tree amid hopes for economic recovery - for the first time in 3 years.
At the Doha Forum's first day, various dignitaries gathered to discuss Gaza - and the Qatari prime minister warned that the Gaza ceasefire was at a "critical moment", Syria's al-Sharaa accused Israel of escalating tensions, Turkiye's Foreign Minister said it's prepared to do what is needed to push the ceasefire forward.
China pledged $100 million in humanitarian aid to Palestine.
posted by toastyk at 6:04 AM
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Hillary Clinton doubled down on her remarks at the Doha Forum, deflecting to "we should care about all tragedies".
Found out there's a DSA candidate running to replace pro-Israel Dem Rep Brad Sherman, Chris Abuja, proudly touring his TrackAIPAC endorsement.
posted by toastyk at 6:38 AM
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Israeli drone chases and kills elderly woman in Gaza as attacks continue (Al Jazeera)
The Israeli military said it killed three people in separate incidents, claiming they had crossed the "yellow line" – an unmarked boundary where the Israeli military repositioned itself when the ceasefire with Hamas came into effect on October 10.
However, Al Jazeera's Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Gaza City, said the woman and her son were chased by a quadcopter drone about one kilometre [half a mile] from the yellow line and "left there to bleed to death" as the aircraft continued hovering overhead, preventing anyone from reaching them.
posted by adrienneleigh at 7:29 PM
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Israeli surveillance targets US and allies at joint base planning Gaza aid and security, say sources
posted by lalochezia at 4:56 AM
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People like Clinton and Biden are just as responsible for the genocide as anyone. They and their advisors should be called out wherever they go, Their legaxy is genocide.
posted by chaz at 2:00 PM
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People like Clinton and Biden are just as responsible for the genocide as anyone
Biden is far more responsible than anyone who isn't part of the Israeli government or military command structure, really. He could've stopped it in 2023.
posted by Pseudonymous Cognomen at 2:19 PM
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To complement the original article I linked on right-wing Zionism, Politico does a deep dive into the anti-Israel right, speaking with Curt Mills, Tucker Carlson, Steve Bannon, and Marjorie Taylor Green. The worst-case scenario for the Republicans in that cycle, in Mills' view, would be for the party to nominate a more pro-Israel hawk like Secretary of State Marco Rubio while Democrats opted for a populist Israel critic like California Rep. Ro Khanna. In that situation, he said, he wouldn't rule out mass defections of young Republicans — even if that meant voting against other conservative priorities. "If it's Ro Khanna versus Marco Rubio," he added, "I think you can guess who I'll vote for."
Zeteo (paywalled) just came out with a story revealing that the latest US defense bill would fill Israel's weapons gaps caused by other nations' arms embargoes. The measure directs the US to determine which specific weapon capabilities, systems, or technologies Israel is lacking due to such embargoes or restrictions. It then directs the defense secretary and secretary of state to identify actions the US can take to "mitigate such gaps." Those actions include working around barriers to foreign military sales to Israel, expanding domestic weapons production for Israel, and providing additional training and "logistics support" to Israel.
Inside Oakland's grassroots campaign to end military shipments to Israel at Oakland International Airport - The campaign was launched shortly before the People's Conference for Palestine, a weekend-long event aimed at strengthening the movement, where PYM called for a shift towards local arms embargoes. Their theory was that a strong campaign would need the trifecta of a mass local base, organized workers, and progressive elected officials. Oakland has all three.
Meanwhile, Israel raided UNRWA headquarters in Jerusalem, far-right MKs sport noose-shaped pins on hearing on a bill mandating capital punishment for convicted Palestinian prisoners, and Israel bombed several targets in Lebanon.
posted by toastyk at 9:18 PM
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Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention & Human Security - Statement on Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's Genocide Denial at the Israel Hayom Summit.
posted by phigmov at 3:16 PM
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GetUp hires a mobile billboard
posted by flabdablet at 2:21 AM
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