Ruven PomeranceDec 27, 2022
@hebrewbyinbal I'm sorry you have to see that. I guess those "warriors" feel they are helping Palestianians by taking 5 seconds to write something nasty. I think the beginning of the end for me on Twitter was when former Rep Gabby Giffords who nearly died in an assassination attempt achieved the incredible goal of becoming a Bat Mitzvah (given that she had suffered brain damage in the shooting). The comments were filled with so much hate.
Show threadJeremy (יעקב) 🇺🇦Dec 28, 2022

@pomerance @hebrewbyinbal

》Feel like they are helping #Palestinians
To be honest, I used to believe that too. But I have recently become despondent realizing it was the other way around. Because it made me realize fewer are interested in either harmed group.

Show threadRuven PomeranceDec 28, 2022
@imstilljeremy @hebrewbyinbal It’s possible that they are dedicated to their cause irl. But I’m sure they are just into finding any Jew and yelling at them.
Show threadsheepchaseDec 28, 2022

@pomerance @imstilljeremy @hebrewbyinbal I found David Hirsh’s book very eye opening on how ‘liberal’ (‘left’ in the UK) can be, in fact often are, really antisemitic.

I don’t agree with everything in the book but I recommend it as some thinking material.

https://www.routledge.com/Contemporary-Left-Antisemitism/Hirsh/p/book/9781138235311
#antisemitism

Contemporary Left Antisemitism

Today’s antisemitism is difficult to recognize because it does not come dressed in a Nazi uniform and it does not openly proclaim its hatred or fear of Jews. This book looks at the kind of antisemitism which is tolerated or which goes unacknowledged in apparently democratic spaces: trade unions, churches, left-wing and liberal politics, social gatherings of the chattering classes and the seminars and journals of radical intellectuals. It analyses how criticism of Israel can mushroom into antis

Routledge & CRC Press
Show threadRuven PomeranceDec 28, 2022
@sheepchase @hebrewbyinbal @imstilljeremy I will put it on my list. I agree. Advocating for Jews to leave the one country where they have self determination is the same as advocating for genocide.
Show threadRuven PomeranceDec 28, 2022
@sheepchase @hebrewbyinbal @imstilljeremy If you think of it “River to the Sea” means sending Jews where? To try to reclaim their homes in the countries they were expelled from? That sounds like sending people to sure extermination. “River to the Sea” is a disgusting slogan
Show threadRabbi Gabriel Kanter-WebberDec 28, 2022
@pomerance It doesn't *necessarily* mean sending Jews anywhere. Palestinians being free - the second half of the sentence - doesn't in any way depend on an absence of Jews.
Undoubtedly the chant is often used by antisemites (and its inverse is often used by anti-Palestinian racists) but I don't think labelling it in absolutes is either accurate or helpful.
Show threadSerge from BabkaDec 28, 2022

@rabbigabriel @pomerance

You are mistaken Rabbi.

https://www.ajc.org/translatehate/From-the-River-to-the-Sea
https://www.adl.org/resources/glossary-term/allegation-river-sea-palestine-will-be-free

It is directly a call for the destruction of Israel, and thus for the protections of the state of Israel on the Jews in the MENA. As the governments in the MENA have expelled their Jews, and Jews presence (like LGBTQ+ presence), there is no reason to believe that this call is anything but a call for Jewish death or expulsion, as has happened in the recent past.

“From the River to the Sea” | #TranslateHate

What does From the River to the Sea mean and why are anti-Israel protestors chanting From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will be Free? See how “From the River to the Sea” is antisemitic.

AJC
Show threadRabbi Gabriel Kanter-WebberDec 28, 2022
@serge @pomerance Respectfully, I don’t think you mean that I’m mistaken. I think you mean that you disagree.
The page you linked says that the chant is a call to “erase the State of Israel and its people”. My point is that that interpretation simply is not reflected by the language of the chant. That may be the intention underlying it, in many or even most cases, but that isn’t the same as concluding that it’s the actual meaning of the actual words.
Show threadKetzirah LesserDec 28, 2022

@rabbigabriel @serge @pomerance but the meaning of the words is their context. That’s what language is all about.

What I agree with is that some do not intend “death to jews” but it is clearly a call for the destruction of the state of Israel.

Show threadRabbi Gabriel Kanter-WebberDec 28, 2022
@devotaj @serge @pomerance Does freedom for Palestinians necessarily and intrinsically mean destruction of the State of Israel? I don’t think it does.
Show threadKetzirah LesserDec 28, 2022

@rabbigabriel @serge @pomerance I don’t think freedom for Palestinians has to mean destruction of Israel.

However this phrase does mean that, as it’s saying all the land from the river to the sea is for Palestinians, which contextually does exclude Jews.

And based on the built up anger, also implies it.

Not caring what happens to the Jews in this scenario is the same thing that happened to Palestinians in the creation of Israel — the Nabka.

Show threadRabbi Gabriel Kanter-WebberDec 28, 2022
@devotaj @serge @pomerance Again, that’s interpretation. It doesn’t say that the land is “for Palestinians”. It says Palestinians in the land should have freedom.
Show threadגלות לעולםDec 28, 2022
@rabbigabriel @devotaj @serge @pomerance But it says "Palestine will be free" and not "Palestinians will be free". In theory it could mean an equitable pluralistic society for all who live in I/P. But many senders at best don't care about Jews and many who hear it hear it like this. In this case language works that way that the meaning leaves the literal reading.
Show threadRabbi Gabriel Kanter-WebberDec 28, 2022
@chanele @devotaj @serge @pomerance Actually when I’ve heard it (in the UK) it says Palestinians - which is also what fits the scansion.
Show threadגלות לעולםDec 28, 2022
@rabbigabriel @devotaj @serge @pomerance Interesting. Despite the rhythm differences I rather hear the "Palestine" version when I hear that chant (with the last syllable lengthened to two beats of the rhythm to fit things in).
Show threadRabbi Gabriel Kanter-Webber
@chanele @devotaj @serge @pomerance I mean that chant should be banned for poor rhythm alone 😂
Dec 28, 2022 at 4:19pmWeb
Show threadRuven PomeranceDec 28, 2022
@rabbigabriel @devotaj @serge @chanele 100 percent.