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Monday reading #19

Jamie Lauren Keiles on thinking through what we believe about Israel and Palestine

Jacqui Shine

Nov 13, 2023

n.b.: After today I’m going to start filing my posts about Israel, Palestine, and American Zionism in a section called a shande, and if you don’t want to receive them, you can very easily adjust your subscription under the Manage subscription > Notifications. Just turn off the notification for that section.

On to a Monday recommendation!

V Adams & andrea ene @v_adams_prints @graficanarno, via justseeds.org

The writer Jamie Lauren Keiles wrote a list of questions in response to his mom’s request for

some “educational resources,” to help the other Jews she knows understand why I support a free Palestine and reject the idea of a specifically Jewish state.

Mostly, he says, he isn’t especially concerned about persuading others, but he doesn’t want to disappoint her “several years into my campaign of familial disappointment (gay transgender communist).”

But the list is very good and the questions thoughtful and gently curious. If you’re interested in thinking through this for yourself—or helping someone else do so—it’s more than worth your time.

JLK UPDATE

Do I believe that there are questions that should never be asked?

We as Jews are people of the book. In America, we often talk about ourselves as belonging to a “culture that values education.” My relation to Israel/Palestine changed when I experienced being told that general critical thinking skills (the skills that I went to my “good college” to learn) were somehow not applicable to the conflict. My mother, who I lo…

a month ago · 80 likes · Jamie Lauren Keiles

See you next week!