Let's talk decolonization!

One of the weirdest things I have encountered during my work with foreign journalists who came to cover Operation Pillar of Defense and later on is that they had zero clue about Israeli society nor Jewish identity or sometimes even basic history. So their ignorance was pretty clear. Not all the journalists were like this but still plenty.

So those journo's had to get some background for their work and that's one issue. But later on I heard from activists, and later on saw for myself how individuals and organizations, some of them affect journo's who come here, work to recolonize Israel and Colonize Jewish and Israeli identity.

Before I get into more details about the phenomenon and what we should do about it, we need to talk about post-colonization. Altough the western society started to listen to the nations and people they occupied, enslaved, exploited and started accepting their narrative and giving some of them their freedoms back (sorry, there are still nations oppressed by western nations), it seems that the West didn't have enough of messing with the Jewish people.

After the Romans invaded our land, exploited our resources, enslaved us and exiled us they renamed the name of the land to offend us and to cut our ties to it. Later on when Christianity separated further from Judaism and started to grow both in numbers and influence they developed a theology of replacement. The Christians were the “New [sons of] Israel” and thus all God’s promises to the Jewish people are now either revoked or will come to pass to the Christians only.

So most of the Jewish people were exiled and during almost 2000 years of exile they kept spreading because that's what happens when your people are a persecuted minority under hostile empires or kingdoms.

Now finally during the 20^th century more and more Jews returned to their ancestral land and even got to re-establish their own state in their own land. But hold on! Now this land has a few more residents. Arabs, who kept coming from neighbouring countries following the bloom of the Yeshuv Ivri, the Jewish communities that existed prior to Israel's re-establishment.

Later on, in the 1960's Arab terrorists developed a new narrative, claiming they are indigenous people of this land and calling themselves Palestinians. This narrative kept mutating over the years. Now some individuals and organizations claim that Jews, Christians, Muslims and Druze were all Palestinians until the Zionists from Europe, who are considered “fake Jews” by them came. They also claimed there was peace and full coexistence between the groups while ignoring the bloodshed Muslims inflicted both Christians and Jews.

Of course many Arabs, and even more so today, prefer to see themselves as Israeli-Arabs, or similar definitions and reject completely the Palestinian identity and even more so the narrative. Most Jews reject this narrative as do most of the Druze that live in Israel.

Now we see the mutated narrative claiming that Israel is actually “Palestine”, that Arabs are indigenous to this land and have thousands of years long culture here, though its disproven by history, archaeology and common sense. They claim biblical Samson was actually Palestinian (funny, considering he was from Sons of Israel, a prophet for the Jewish God and fought the Philistines, those who the Palestinians are named after, who were actually invaders from Greece!) they also claim Jesus was Palestinian, which is funny because he was Jewish, the New Testament also mentions he celebrated Jewish holidays, that he came for the Jewish people first, visited the temple (that most of the Palestinians seem to deny its existence) and wasn’t a supporter of the Romans.

So, they claim they are Indigenous, they try gradually highjack Jewish legacy and history, they try to rewrite reallity but it isn't enough for them. One of the most interesting developments is trying to ruin the concept of Jewish Identity. They Claim that Jews that lived in Israel prior to the re-establishment are also “Palestinians”, they claim Jews who lived in Arab countries are Arab Jews (denying or forgeting how they mistreated them) but the Jews from western countries mostly Europe they try to portrait as White Colonialists. Trying to claim that Jews from Europe are mostly descended of people that were called Khazar. Trying to make an hirarchy in Jewishness and deciding who is Jew and who has a right to be a Jew. And I see some secular Jews in the US also started gradually accepting definitions that being Jewish is being “white” or something like that.

By colonizing Israel's history, Jewish identity and legacy they try to de-legitimize Israel's existence and Jewish right to have a country, especially in the Jewish homeland. And it's time that Jews and pro-Israel activist will recognize this is being done simultaneously, as a means of re-colonizing us.

So what to do? Decolonize! Study history! Fact-check! If someone challenges you with something than research it! Understand that Jewish identity isn't just plain religious or national identity, it's being part of a tribe who also share the same customs and faiths. Yes there are a few diffrences, 2000 years of being apart can do such a thing! And guess what! Even if someone has converted to Judaism he is part of the tribe now, and has the same rights and promises God gave to the people of Israel granted upon him.

So stand tall, sons of Israel, you are indigenous, you were colonized, occupied, exploited, exiled, enslaved and lost everything. Your nation was the first one to amaze the world by getting out of slavery and many attempts of genocide both physical and spiritual. Yet, you are still here! Embrace who you are!

#DecolonizeNow!