I stumbled across a YouTube video a short while back that struck me for its message. Titled “URGENT MESSAGE for Jews standing with Israel”, its description simply stated, “To the Jews standing with Israel (and everyone else): do not let the propaganda manipulate you and rob you of your humanity. :)”
Intrigued, I clicked to watch and was very impressed by the presenter, Carey Wedler, for her moral clarity, her ability to effectively and succinctly communicate excellent points, and her evident adherence to the libertarian non-aggression principle. She even refreshingly rails against the very institution of statehood. (I personally do not understand how people who call themselves libertarians can reconcile their ostensible belief in non-aggression with their persistent belief that we require a monopoly on violence to rule over us. That states should be eliminated is a logical corollary of the NAP, a requirement for humankind to progress and become truly civilized.)
Among other things, she efficiently tackles the tendency for Israel’s apologists to stupidly accuse anyone who criticizes their beloved “Jewish state” of “anti-Semitism”. Wedler is Jewish and had family killed in the Holocaust, so she is having none of that. She also addresses the even stupider label “self-hating Jew”.
I so enjoyed the first short video of hers that I watched that I clicked through to watch more that she has done on the topic of Israel’s ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip. I’ll share them here in chronological order.
On October 19, Wedler posted a video titled “An ⚠️? ‘EXTREME’ ?⚠️ position on Israel & Palestine“.
The “extreme” position alluded to is the one I share that the indiscriminate attacks on civilians by both Hamas and Israel are wrong.
As an example of one of the insights she presents in the video, she accurately notes,
The actions of the Israeli government exacerbate the conflict. The violent rise of Hamas is the inevitable outcome of the Israeli government denying people freedom and disrespecting their humanity for decades, as well as the result of Israel supporting the rise of Hamas in a disastrous attempt to retain power.
That is a reality that I documented in my May 6 article, “How Israel Supported Hamas Against the PLO“. I also discussed the topic of that article with Scott Horton, which interview you can listen to here.
On November 16, Wedler posted a video titled “Self-hating Jew” explains why Israel has no right [to exist]…“, in which she efficiently demolishes the idea to condemn Israel’s war crimes in Gaza is anti-Semitic while also explaining the role of Zionist terrorist organizations in the creation of Israel, debunking the claim that Palestinian civilians only die because Hamas uses them as “human shields”, debunking the claim that Israel is “the only democracy in the Middle East”, and otherwise humorously exposing the sheer hypocrisy of those who try to defend Israel’s crimes against the Palestinians.
Here are a few selected excerpts from that video illustrating why it resonated with me:
“If people don’t have a moral right to initiate violence, people can’t delegate that right to other people claiming to represent them in the form of government.”
“Zionist ideology would be toothless without the institution of statism to enforce its objective.”
“There is no mass murderer more prolific than the state.”
“The truth is that we’re all human and regardless of our faiths or beliefs, we share that humanity, our love for our families and communities, fears for our survival, and hopes for a better present and future. But the only way we’re ever going to achieve it is to cast off this belief in violent authority, to believe in ourselves and each other as we recognize our true power, which doesn’t come from government elections or bombs or guns. It comes from our ability and choice to break away from the misguided belief in the legitimacy of violent authority and claim our natural born right to be free.”
I similarly explained why Israel has no “right to exist” in my book Obstacle to Peace and in my 2019 article “Why Israel Has No ‘Right to Exist’“.
In her video “URGENT MESSAGE for Jews standing with Israel“, Wedler calls on Jews to recognize that the government of Israel does not represent them.
Here are a few select quotes from that video illustrating why it’s worth watching:
“There’s one class of mortal humans who believe they have special authority to inflict violence and control others because they work for government, and there are the rest of us.”
“To the Jews conflating themselves with the state of Israel, please get a grip and stop lending your identity to a government that abuses its ‘own people’ and eradicates those it deems less than human. And to some of the actual anti-Semites, not people who condemn Israel’s condemnable behavior, Israel isn’t abusive and corrupt because it’s run by Jews; it’s abusive and corrupt because it’s a government, and all governments necessarily rely on violence to assert authority, which invariably leads to abuses of power.”
Wedler’s video commentaries are a refreshing breath of air for me, as a non-Jew who has regularly been accused of “anti-Semitism” for speaking out against Israel’s crimes against the Palestinians, including the Gaza genocide.
Here is my book Obstacle to Peace: The US Role in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict:
Hre are a few relevant posts of mine:
And here is a relevant interview along with a few selected clips:
This one is on the absurdity of the “self-hating Jew” accusation:
I have come to regard Zionism as basically anti-Judaism. I never conflate the terms when I hear them (and, incidentally, I’m an atheist). I think Zionism is, at best, a perversion of Judaism. Anyway, brilliant videos. Thanks for posting them.
Indeed, orthodox Jews at the time of the its rise viewed the Zionist movement as anti-Judaism, and there remain anti-Zionist orthodox Jews today.