Our Allies Have Abandoned Us, and No, We are Not Okay

How am I doing? Still literally sick to my stomach with anger, worry, deep sadness, frustration, hurt since Oct 7. I thought I could hide in work (I am really busy) or more mundane events like Gym Jordan, but it doesn’t work. That feeling doesn’t go away.

There’s an article in the NYT today about how progressive Jews feel abandoned by the left. I would edit that to far-left from my personal observations, but yes, I feel like the Times was reading my posts and your comments.

You have mostly all known me for years. When the house of a marginalized community is on fire, I am among the first to run in and try to save people.

When Trump took office and invoked his Muslim Ban, I spoke out against Islamophobia. The Southern border and family separation of brown people, I spoke out against racism and dehumanization. The murder of George Floyd and incredible bias against especially Black women, I spoke out again. The Asian American targeting after Trump linked Covid to China, I spoke out. Overturning Roe, the attacks on LGBTQ people. And so on.

I, and so many of your Jewish friends have been always on the front line of sticking up for marginalized communities. It’s what we do. And that’s why this is so deeply and incredibly painful, and has me holding back tears most days, hours and minutes.

What does it take for you to care? 1500 brutally raped, slaughtered, beheaded, burned alive, kidnapped — the worst death toll since the Holocaust — and many cannot even bring themselves to condemn Hamas? How can this possibly be? Why do you hate us? Why do you think that we are all-powerful, control the money, control the media, deserve it because….

How can this be?

In my dream, all the friends and allies that I stuck up for would be screaming out as I had done for them umpteenth times when their community was under attack. Instead, I’m grieving at how few cared, or worse, how many sided with Hamas for their rationalized reasons justifying their antisemitism.

I don’t want your comments justifying. I am done reading your justifications. I want you to sit in your quiet moments this weekend, and examine what part of you made Jews subhuman. Start there.

Never again.