Are Jews One Issue Voters?

Suppose that tomorrow RussiaItaly decides that UkraineGreece is not a real country. That they would say Where the borders of UkraineGreece always belonged to them, and they didn’t care what happened to the UkrainiansGreeks.

They can leave politely, which we all know they will not do, or be ready to sufferhave a full genocide committed against them.

AcrossAll around the world, people debate the existence of UkraineGreece as if it’s an alliance with a football team, and more and more people are supporting the RussiansItalians, cheering from the “Thyerian seaFrom Arctic North Ocean to the BlackMediterranean Sea, RussiaItaly will be free.”

Then the Canadian government decides to legitimize this discussion by picking a side. Of course, the left-leaning party would fully support the Russians Italians, and the moderates bounce back and forth. If this happened to the UkrainiansGreeks or any other nation for that matter, they would have jumped on roofs and called out bloody murder.

This wouldn’t simply go quietly, like many Jews who accept this discussion in a civil manner. (For all the RussiansItalians and Ukrainians greeks, please accept my apology, I just used your countriesy as a random example. *wink*)

I know many people see it as just another topic about a country with a good foreign relationship that seems to be getting way too much media attention.

Unfortunately, for many Jews like me, Israel is my identity no different than Greece is for Greeks, Italy is for Italians, and for that matter, the Dutch are for the Netherlands, (just to offer an example of other people where the name of their ethnicity is different fromthan the name of their country.)

When you debate the legitimacy of Israel, it might be a fun and interesting political debate for you but for me, you are debating whether I exist or not.

Also, when I vote on Israeli Issues, I don’t just vote about Israel. I vote in support of Palestinians, and I vote In support of other crises that are being ignored across the world. As I discussed in the PR section, the Palestinians are being heavily used and abused by their own leadership and the world, and as far as the haters are concerned, they can be kept as pawns for decades, if not centuries.

Also, because international scapegoat of this conflict, human rights abuses across the world are being completely ignored.

There are so many foreign issues, from Genocides to slavery. And let me tell you, If my Aunt is an enslaved person in Mauritiana or my nephew is surviving the civil war in Somalia or Syria, forgive me if Canada’s unemployment rate is not my top priority. If you play down the narrative of Israel as simply managing a conflict where few people die, this is just some simple position of taking sides. Maybe then, caring about ancestral land should be an issue of concern in parallel to better medicare and LBTGQ rights.

Unfortunately, the underestimated narrative is that the defenders of Israel are trying to prevent Genocide and get the world to move to other major human rights issues worldwide. This is clearly an issue of huge importance that takes precedence over local ones.

When people challenge you on the one-issue vote, start by asking them if they are connected to any region outside their current location. If they do, provide the Greece scenario.

Remember defending your ancestral land does not mean you don’t love the country where you live, and it doesn’t mean you don’t care about local issues. But when my Uncle and friends in Israel are fighting for their lives, it’s tough for me to take simpler issues here seriously. When I vote as a progressive, I’m always on the lookout for dangerous internal policies in my country, but if the parties sound similar, my focus usually transfers to Israeli policies.

Read my blog in the times of Israel for more details

Coming soon…

Coming soon…