Don't Tokenize Me!

While receiving his Oscar at the Academy Awards, director Jonathan Glazer said the following: 

“We stand here as men who refute their Jewishness and The Holocaust being hijacked by an occupation which has led to conflict…”

You can watch the full speech here, but Glazer’s words became a Rorschach test, with people on both sides of the political aisle weaponizing them. Unfortunately, that’s unhelpful because, despite Glazer later doubling down, it reveals how political discourse views Jews. Agree or disagree with Glazer, he’s an example of gentiles not understanding or appreciating Jews in the fight for justice. If anything, they care only to further their personal goals. That’s worrying.

I know some of you are feeling like I’m attacking you. I’m not. At least, not directly. Instead, I’m directing attention to something that’s bothered me for a while, yet has become increasingly aggravating post-October 7th, 2023 and Israel’s invasion of Gaza. It’s made having conversations online next to impossible, and it’s caused plenty of stress. It’s also reductive.

Jews are an ethnic minority. At roughly 16 million people, we’re .25% of the global population. That sounds shocking, as we frequently gravitate toward specific areas, but it’s true. We’re a minority. We simply are.

Additionally, we’re not monolithic. Ignoring religious observances, we’re diverse politically and culturally, as well as racially. We hold a vast range of beliefs and stances too. And some of us are ignorant or intentionally misinformed. After all, as human beings can’t be experts in everything. That’s impossible.

Basically, you can find a Jew, alive or dead, who agrees with you on anything. Jews are notorious for being opinionated and argumentative, as well as stubborn. We’re referred to as a “stiff-necked people” in our own texts, constantly causing trouble. Having thoughts is inherently Jewish, and it’s important to know when they’re harmful. Are we clear?

Why does the non-Jewish world not get this? Why are Jews tokenized to prove a point, even when it’s non-existent? I’d give an answer, but I’m not sure I’d be satisfied by it. Especially since pointing this out is grounds for debate. Do you want that?

Additionally, Jewish celebrities, especially in Hollywood, are often clouded by fame and wealth. Like anyone else, Jews having power frequently impacts their worldviews negatively. Also, look at how people talk about Jeffrey Epstein. It’s gross! And I’m not even a fan!

Unfortunately, tokenizing Jews is a favourite pastime of the politically-active. It’s gotten so bad that whenever it’s called out as “performative”, people inevitably come out of the woodwork and prove why that is. This is especially true of Israel, Antisemitism and The Holocaust, sometimes simultaneously. Consider how Jonathan Glazer’s words were received by the general public. Seriously, search his name online. I’ll wait.

What gets me going is that this is unacceptable. I know the internet loves being angry, but life isn’t the internet. Life is messy, frustrating and lacking of easy answers. I’ve written about this before, but not everything fits your worldview. It’s important to understand that.

This leads me to the current situation in Gaza. On one hand, discussing Israel’s actions is important for many reasons, most-notably because they highlight how Palestinians have gotten the short end of the stick in political conversations. On the other hand, generalizing isn’t helpful. Israelis, even soldiers, are as flawed as any other human beings, and ignoring their humanity is also tokenism. Except that this is worse, as you end up dehumanizing them.

Whenever I bring this up, people try to prove me wrong or twist my words. Sometimes, they’ll even use a famous, dead Jewish person to prove their point. That too is tokenism. It’s also disrespecting the dead. Because why think critically when you can use a Holocaust survivor to shame Jews?

Since I’ve already gotten people riled up, here are some more points I wish to mention:

Firstly, The Neturei Karta are terrible allies in fighting against Zionism. Not only have they been excommunicated by most Jewish sects, they don’t even believe what they say. They’re also not anti-Zionist, but rather anti-secular Zionist. They’d drop gentiles in a heartbeat once The Messianic Age arrives, as that’s the Zionism they aspire to. You’d be better off listening to groups like Satmar, as they practice what they preach.

Secondly, one famous Jew doesn’t the collective make. Jonathan Glazer having an opinion on Israel, however valid, doesn’t mean he’s the de-facto expert. It might be true that Israel’s current government has weaponized The Holocaust. But so has much of the gentile world while advocating for Palestinians. Considering Palestinians are also people, that’s dual-tokenism. People need to do better.

And thirdly, tokenizing a Jewish voice is Antisemitism. It’s also “court Jew ally-ship”, and it’s not helpful. I know calling out Antisemitism is difficult, but don’t do that. Especially when said Jews are wrong. I shouldn’t even have to point that out!

I know discussing Palestine is trendy. I also know that Palestinians have had their voices suppressed for a decades. But picking and choosing Jewish voices isn’t the answer. That’s performative ally-ship. It’s also Antisemitism. And it’s tokenism. You need to do better.

That’s about all I can say here. My next piece will be lighter in tone than this...