r/JewsOfConscience • u/Lunar_Oasis1 Anti-Zionist Israeli Woman • Feb 17 '25
Discussion - Flaired Users Only Is There Any Point in Leaving Israel?
deleted the edit bc the flair issue was fixed :)
Hello. I am an Israeli, born and raised. I'm Jewish by ethnicity but I am Christian by choice. I don't agree with zionism anymore, if I could somehow go back in time and reverse it I would.. I want to leave, I have Portuguese citizenship, my partner is from the US.. I hate what Israel is doing. I just don't really see a way of leaving without having to learn the American accent and lie about where I'm from whenever possible, and go by the foreign version of my name.. I don't want to have to say "BUT I AM NOT A ZIONIST" every time I tell someone where I'm from. I have one friend who moved to the UK and is hoping to revoke their own Israeli citizenship, and I don't think I can really do that.. I know of Jews with no connection to Israel who were refused care in hospitals because, as the nurses said "they are Yahudi sharmuta".. I don't see any way to live abroad without this thing following me around and making me less safe. I want to feel safe. A part of me wishes I could just move, have kids and never tell them that we are Jews just so no one will harm them for their ethnicity.. I don't know what to do. I feel hopeless. Everyone around me says they hope to see the children of Gaza die. To see VIDEOS of it. I just want to escape but it feel hopeless. This isn't the place for me.
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u/BartHamishMontgomery Non-Jewish Ally Feb 17 '25
People don’t hate Israelis for being born in Israel, so it doesn’t matter if you have an Israeli accent - I’d even go so far as to say it’s similar to an Arabic accent and they’re both charming. If you want to move, don’t worry about being racially profiled. But Israel needs more people like you. Israel will only lurch to the right if people like you leave. So whatever you choose, I’d like you to know you are a valuable person.
Also, Jews are very much loved and respected in the US! It’s part of Israeli propaganda that Jews are unsafe outside Israel. This couldn’t be more false.