(The original joke, if you don't know it, is no. 2 on this list: https://forward.com/schmooze/421730/the-10-best-most-classic-jewish-jokes/)

Seriously, though, the #meta is over the instance simcha.gay/simcha.lgbt defederating from babka.social, another Jewish instance. the announcement: https://simcha.gay/notes/9h9ji15xigz8yctv

a user posted a link to a satirical article (tw: transphobia https://preoccupiedterritory.substack.com/p/use-my-pronouns-also-i-override-the) that likens western leftists calling all Arabs in Israel & the Palestinian territories "Palestinian" as akin to trans people demanding gender-neutral pronouns and claiming there is a trans genocide, implying both are attention-seeking ploys for political convenience.

(this echoes various pro-Israel arguments that "Palestinians" are not really a thing that existed before the establishment of the state of Israel, and that Arabs are well-treated in Israel and self-styled Palestinians are just angry Jew-hating holdouts who simply need to reject their leadership and become Israeli to access rights and equitable treatment.)

so basically a double whammy, virulent transphobia and an attempt to erase Palestinians/paper over existing inequalities and increasing anti-Arab violence in Israeli society.

the babka team deleted the post without disciplining the user, which simcha did not consider sufficient, so they defederated.

then babka announced they would also defederate because of harassment and bullying from simcha admins (https://babka.social/@babka/110726254078880716 / https://archive.is/ieFqJ). needless to say, simcha denies this. the babka team has not gone into specifics or produced receipts/logs.

this is hardly the first time i've disagreed with the babka team's judgement on Israel-related issues and what constitutes bigotry and been like 🤨

scattered thoughts:

- as an trans Asian anti-Zionist Jew, this is why I am not even going to bother with a Jewish space unless it's explicitly anti-Zionist, secular-friendly, and anti-racist.

- some of my fellow diasporic Jews resent being involved in discussions about Israel/Palestine but, like, I don't think it's always inherently antisemitic or irrelevant. As long as Israel wants to be The Jewish State, defenders claim criticizing it is antisemitic, and diaspora communities and organizations pour resources into Israel, it's every Jew's problem.

- some things SHOULD be polarizing. Jews are divided over this! We've always been! If we're not going to fight about THIS, what the hell are we going to fight about, gefilte fish recipes?

ok that's all i have actual work to do

@nev I can tell that over here in Israel, half of us are fighting the latest fascist attempt. Sadly barely 5% of us speak out against the occupation and are forced to wear the post-zionist or anti-zionist tag, even though we feel patriotic to a state that never quite lived up to the promises of our declaration of independence.

For us avoiding mixed online spaces is a luxury now, escaping into a political echo chamber feels nicer but won't effect injustice IRL. Food for thought

@nev
The way Judaism approaches it is really humanistic in a way, which works well with my atheism. They say you need to fraternize to change minds, and I'm all for that.

Sadly things heated up here in the last few months to the point nobody wants to even try. Temperatures are running crazy high, also literally which makes it worse. People are actually out in the streets today since 7am, and it's 75% humidity in TLV and in the 90s (34 centigrade expected).

So chill ;)

@I …I assumed you all would only get *dry* heat

another idealized vision of the holy land shattered..... 😢