The story of Taryn Thomas’s recovery from the intellectual isolation of pro-Palestinian activism provides a handy guide for anyone interested. Her quotes in her Telegraph profile are perfect as a CliffsNotes-style outline of the anti-Zionist movement in the West:
“People I know, whether it was activists or people I look up to, were already posting their thoughts.” This is Thomas reflecting on her social circle at Stanford after the massacres of October 7 but before Israel’s ground incursion in response. She didn’t know much about the conflict, but those around her had talking points ready to go to defend Hamas and indict Israel as soon as the attack happened. This is key to anti-Zionist activism: It isn’t grassroots or organic; it is pre-packaged and distributed to an army of propagandists.
“I never really understood why, but we were told that in order for us to be free, Palestine has to be free.” Thomas, who is black, was introduced to the pro-Palestinian cause at Black Lives Matter events. This is classic anti-Zionist media strategy: Co-opt someone else’s oppression and tell them that they are the victim of the Jews. Immediately making it about someone other than the Palestinians also frees one from the burden of the Palestinian share of blame for the state of the conflict.
“It seemed like everyone was a lot more educated than me and very certain and sure of themselves that this is a genocide. The only safe position was the more radical one in the encampment.” Once inside the activist wing of the mission, one quickly finds that the lazy river flows only in one direction. If you float along, you drift into increasingly more extreme territory; it is staying in one place or exploring moderate positions that require effort.
“I thought going further to the Left would be the solution to the extremism I was seeing from the Right.” Modern politics in general encourages people to mirror the other side’s radicalism as a balancing mechanism, which only perpetuates the cycle of extremist drift.
“I was confused by what our mission was. At what point did the pro-Palestine movement turn into this anti-Israel, anti-America movement? We completely lost sight of the victims we were claiming to be supporting and fighting for.” Thomas found her fellow activists destroying people’s property and tagging administrative offices with messages like “Death to Israel” and “Death to America” and “Kill cops,” which made her realize she had been pulled into Omnicause liberalism, in which progressive dogma dictates the adoption of a pro-violence message toward any and every political or ideological opponent.
“I experienced a lot of cognitive dissonance—what I was seeing versus what I’d been told. It was like I arrived a year too late to a funeral.” This was Thomas’s reaction to the Nova Exhibition, which sought to recreate the conditions at the music festival where hundreds were murdered or sexually assaulted on October 7. By going to Nova, she was seeking out ways to reassure herself that she was still on the right “side” of this conflict. Exposure to reality only added to her doubts. This, too, is characteristic of the information wars around the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Anti-Zionism requires the dehumanization of Jews as a starting point.
“I needed to see it for myself.” She accepted an invitation to visit Israel so she could temper her ideological priors with real-world knowledge.
“My best friend of three years asked, ‘Is this in Israel?’ I said, ‘Yeah, do you want to talk about it?’ She immediately blocked me. I hadn’t even expressed anything. I literally said I went. Period.” The act of seeking out real-world knowledge is viewed as treachery in progressive circles.
“I lost every single friend.” Thomas posted a video from Israel explaining her shifting views.
“Then my therapist came across the video and decided to end our professional relationship, asking me to find a new provider after learning about my views as a Zionist.” Western anti-Zionism is genuinely rotting society’s institutions from the inside out. When Jews in progressive spaces talk about the infiltration of anti-Semitism into every corner of their personal and professional lives, they are telling the truth. People who deny this is happening are lying. Anti-Zionism is an ideology that harms everyone and helps no one.
Source:
www.commentary.org
