this post was submitted on 05 Aug 2025
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[–] dandelion@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 16 hours ago* (last edited 16 hours ago) (7 children)

yes, the reason to be sensitive about Judaism is the robust history and present of oppression Jews have experienced. It's unfortunate that Israel uses this as a basis of dismissing legitimate criticism of their crimes as anti-Semitism.

For comparison, imagine a Black ethno-state committing genocide (e.g. like in Ethiopia) and then dismissing critics as merely racists.

[–] PastaCannon@lemmy.ml 1 points 12 hours ago (6 children)

No sorry, being black and being jewish is not the same. You can stop being jewish if you want, you can’t stop being black lol

[–] dandelion@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 4 hours ago (4 children)

Judaism is a religion, but also an ethnicity - some people are born ethnic Jews and are not able to "stop being Jewish". Some people convert to Judaism and are not ethnic Jews. You seem confused by this, maybe?

[–] PastaCannon@lemmy.ml 1 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

If it is really an ethnicity, what does a jew from israel, usa and poland have in common? Language, tradition, society and history are all different. Things in common? Jewish religion.

Ethnicity is also closely tied to nationalism, to a common land that shapes the shared experience of it. And if you say israel, we can close the conversation here.

Can you give me an example of ethnic jew that doesn’t follow the religion? What does it mean to be born ethnically jew?

[–] dandelion@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

Albert Einstein, Woody Allen, and Sigmund Freud were all ethnic Jews who were not followers of Judaism.

Are you young? I know many people IRL who are of Jewish ethnicity but are not religious, but I remember when I was younger I did not have as much awareness.

In lieu of life experience, perhaps it would be helpful to read more about Jewish identity and learn that way:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews

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