(Jewish Group) Im Glad the Dyke March Banned Jewish Stars

[Behind the Aegis]

THIS IS THE JEWISH GROUP!

This weekend, at a lesbian march in Chicago, three women carrying Jewish pride flags — rainbow flags embossed with a Star of David — were kicked out of the celebration on the grounds that their flags were a “trigger.” An organizer of the Dyke March told the Windy City Times that the fabric “made people feel unsafe” and that she and the other members of the Dyke March collective didn’t want anything “that can inadvertently or advertently express Zionism” at the event.

Laurel Grauer, one of the women who was ejected, said she’d been carrying that Jewish pride flag in the march, held on the Saturday before the city’s official Pride Parade, for more than a decade. It “celebrates my queer, Jewish identity,” she explained. This year, however, she lost track of the number of people who harassed her for carrying it.

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Well, in practice, intersectionality functions as kind of caste system, in which people are judged according to how much their particular caste has suffered throughout history. Victimhood, in the intersectional way of seeing the world, is akin to sainthood; power and privilege are profane.

By that hierarchy, you might imagine that the Jewish people — enduring yet another wave of anti-Semitism here and abroad — should be registered as victims. Not quite.

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Jews on the left, particularly in recent years, have attempted to square this growing discomfort by becoming more anti-Israel. But if history has taught the Jews anything it’s that this kind of contortion never ends well.

It may be wrong to read too much into an ugly incident at a single march, but Jews should take what happened in Chicago as a lesson that they might not be as welcome among progressives as they might imagine. That’s a warning for which to be grateful, even as it is a reminder that anti-Semitism remains as much a problem on the far-left as it is on the alt-right.

entire article

[EllieBC]

1. Why aren't we seen (and treated) as a legit minority?

I think that's a fair question to pose people.

And I agree with the author. It's good for us to remember that the side of the aisle most of us align with doesn't exactly love us.

[JHan]

2. when we should be aligned.

If we all sat down and listed the things that bother us the most there would be overlap - and this is across all activism groups. We're shouting at each other instead of speaking and engaging with each other which causes fractures.

And the left version of segregation is not helping - i.e. "Safe spaces".

[Behind the Aegis]

3. I am adding this....

Four Reasons the Chicago Dyke March Was Anti-Semitic

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1. The star of David is one of Judaism’s basic symbols. It dates back many centuries before the founding of the state of Israel. It is worn by all Jewish chaplains in the U.S. Army, and Nazis forced Jews across Europe to wear it to identify themselves. If one of Judaism’s classic symbols makes you feel “threatened,” the problem is with you, not the symbol.

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4. During the 2016 campaign, Donald Trump shared an anti-Semitic meme on Twitter featuring a Jewish star. When confronted, he insisted it was not a Jewish star, but a sheriff’s star. Similarly, in the face of the obvious, the Chicago Dyke March insists that the Jewish star is actually an Israeli star. When you find yourself in the same Jewsplaining rabbit hole as Donald Trump, it’s time to rethink your life choices.

more: http://www.tabletmag.com/scroll/239298/four-reasons-the-chicago-dyke-march-was-anti-semitic

[Mosby]

4. I'm a Lesbian But The Chicago Dyke March Doesnt Speak For Me

It feels strange to be angry at people marching for human rights, especially when their cause is so near and dear to my wife, son and me. But last Saturday, three Jewish individuals were banned from participating in the Dyke March Chicago. Their crime? Carrying rainbow pride flags with the star of David.

When I learned that the organizers’ decision to ask them to leave was based on the participants’ apparent affiliation with the State of Israel, I felt uneasy. Because as a Zionist, gay woman, I can easily recognize good old anti-Semitism masked by the cloak of anti-Zionism. Never mind hijacking an important cause to promote a one-sided political agenda.

Making matters worse, the parade edited its Facebook post to “make clear that anti-Zionist Jewish volunteers and supporters are welcome at Dyke March.”

Thank you very much, but what gives the parade organizers the right to decide which Jews are and are not welcome, and to incorrectly define Zionism while they’re at it? This stance is offensive, ignorant and a misuse of a platform. Furthermore, in an event that pleads for recognition and inclusion, the only message I got was that someone like me would have had to sit out. And that doesn’t feel right.

The activist group Jewish Voice for Peace is publicly defending the Dyke March, and has pointed out that other Jews at the march, wearing Jewish symbols, including Stars of David, t-shirts with Hebrew, kippot, and sashes with Yiddish script, were not asked to leave. But I say, bullshit.

By definition, Zionism is the belief that Jews should have a homeland in the historic Land of Israel. Being a Zionist doesn’t make one pro-settlement, pro-wall, anti-Palestinian or a racist. But being against Zionism means you oppose Israel’s right to exist. Period.

http://www.kveller.com/im-a-lesbian-but-the-chicago-dyke-march-doesnt-speak-for-me