We like it. It's simple and says what it means, and like you said, what's the opposite? Put the "anti-Jews" on the back foot having to answer that. In fact, I'm going to use anti-Jew instead of "antisemitism" from here on out.
A friend posted once on FB that she was "pro-Jew," so I think you're onto something.
Pat, I think you may actually be onto something very important here.
“Free Palestine” could be answered with four words: “Pro-Jew, Proudly Zionist.”
Maybe allies simply say “Pro-Jew,” while Jews themselves say “Proudly Zionist.” Or maybe we combine them together into one repeated mantra at rallies, demonstrations, campuses, interviews, and online:
“Pro-Jew, Proudly Zionist.”
“Pro-Jew, Proudly Zionist.”
Short. Direct. Repeatable. Emotionally clear. The other side understands repetition and narrative discipline extremely well. They repeat the same slogans endlessly until they become psychologically embedded. We almost never do that.
And honestly, that’s where the deeper frustration begins for me. Because your idea is genuinely good — but where does it go from here? How does it spread beyond your readership and a few conversations online? Who institutionalizes it? Who coordinates it? Who gets every major Jewish organization, campus group, synagogue, rally, and activist network saying the same thing together?
Nobody.
That’s the real problem. We don’t just lack slogans. We lack unity, strategic leadership, narrative discipline, and coordinated messaging. The Jewish world remains fragmented into disconnected organizations, endless committees, bloated bureaucracies, conferences, fundraising machines, and reactive statements instead of organized cultural strategy.
The other side marches together repeating the same language over and over. Meanwhile, everybody on our side is improvising separately.
And until that changes, even very good ideas risk remaining isolated instead of becoming an actual movement.
This is so true! We're frantically improvising, clutching at comparisons and imperfectly remembered history in the face of great confidence and greater ignorance. We do need narrative discipline.
There is a slogan and you are welcome to use it as an ally. It is "Am Yisrael Chai" The people of Israel live! The people of Israel refers to all the Jewish people, not just Israelis.
Yes, it's lovely, but it's not something non-Hebrew speakers understand. Altho, I suppose, we have learned words we never thought we would know ... like "intifada" ...
Brilliant! I have a number of friends who describe themselves as philosemitic but that is a problematic term for the reasons you state. Those I know that use the term mean that they find Jews erotic and are sexually attracted to us. (A common theme in European art, film, and fiction is the irresistible Jew who causes trouble because of his or her sexual attractiveness -- Verdi's opera "Nabucco" is a perfect example of this in its focus on an ancient Jew who causes a war with the Babylonians because the two daughters of the king are both madly in love with him and the one he rejects decides Israel must be destroyed and her sister who has converted to Judaism killed so that he will have to accept her as his wife or die. It was Verdi's breakthrough hit!) Ever since, beginning in the 1960s feminist second wave, choosing a lover because you found her (or him) physically attractive was frowned upon by many people. We were supposed to have partners not lovers and choose them on the basis of their personalities and virtues, not because we liked the way they looked. It takes considerable chutzpah to admit that you have a physical type you find attractive and among my friends only those of us with a lot of it will admit to that. (I love that once when we watching a film from Israel on video, my gentile husband said, "I really enjoy these Israeli films because everyone in them is so beautiful.") Pro-Jew is different, it means to me that you are in favor of Jewish people having the same human rights as anyone else and perhaps also tend to like the cultures we've created and our typical ways of behaving. (In contrast to my husband's view that we are almost all dread dead gorgeous, a friend from India said he likes Jews because we are kind and altruistic, are the best doctors, and don't try to force our religion on others. That's a pro-Jew guy.) If someone asks you why you are pro-Jew you might even say it's because we just keep making medical innovations that save lives or that we were always innovative creators of "high" and also popular culture. But what I like best about it is that, as you point out, it makes clear that those who are not are anti-Jew, in other words racists.
I like it! It's simple but not simplistic. It has, as you say, a meaningful opposite: anti-Jew. It avoids unnecessary attributions of emotion, such as you find with *philic or "Jew-hater" (is absence of hate enough?--no). I has sent you a recent paper where I used the term Jew animus to refer to "anti-Jew"-y actions or attitudes. It gets away from "hate" and more or less capture "negativity", but admittedly, I did not work on a pro-Jew equivalent in the paper. No need since it dealt with the normalization of Jew animus in the West and not with the pro-Jew exceptions like you, who speak out so clearly in support of Jews time and time again. Now you (and a merry band of "influencers" need to make it go viral. Pro-Jew! Who are YOU???
Pat, the preprint is linked below, but it's now in press at the Journal for Deradicalization, so it won't change except for possible typos caught at the typesetting stage.
Love it, Pat. Ive been kicking about a word to reflect the "even stronger" connection to our Jewish roots that Jews like myself have been feeling since Oct. 7 and, in particular, in the face of all the overt and/or thinly veiled antisemitism since. The word is " reJewvenated".
We like it. It's simple and says what it means, and like you said, what's the opposite? Put the "anti-Jews" on the back foot having to answer that. In fact, I'm going to use anti-Jew instead of "antisemitism" from here on out.
A friend posted once on FB that she was "pro-Jew," so I think you're onto something.
Have added Pro-Jew to my personal lexicon. I’m Jewish and Pro-Jew unlike those self-proclaimed Jews who hate Israel.
Pat, I think you may actually be onto something very important here.
“Free Palestine” could be answered with four words: “Pro-Jew, Proudly Zionist.”
Maybe allies simply say “Pro-Jew,” while Jews themselves say “Proudly Zionist.” Or maybe we combine them together into one repeated mantra at rallies, demonstrations, campuses, interviews, and online:
“Pro-Jew, Proudly Zionist.”
“Pro-Jew, Proudly Zionist.”
Short. Direct. Repeatable. Emotionally clear. The other side understands repetition and narrative discipline extremely well. They repeat the same slogans endlessly until they become psychologically embedded. We almost never do that.
And honestly, that’s where the deeper frustration begins for me. Because your idea is genuinely good — but where does it go from here? How does it spread beyond your readership and a few conversations online? Who institutionalizes it? Who coordinates it? Who gets every major Jewish organization, campus group, synagogue, rally, and activist network saying the same thing together?
Nobody.
That’s the real problem. We don’t just lack slogans. We lack unity, strategic leadership, narrative discipline, and coordinated messaging. The Jewish world remains fragmented into disconnected organizations, endless committees, bloated bureaucracies, conferences, fundraising machines, and reactive statements instead of organized cultural strategy.
The other side marches together repeating the same language over and over. Meanwhile, everybody on our side is improvising separately.
And until that changes, even very good ideas risk remaining isolated instead of becoming an actual movement.
This is so true! We're frantically improvising, clutching at comparisons and imperfectly remembered history in the face of great confidence and greater ignorance. We do need narrative discipline.
And this Jew is Pro-You
There is a slogan and you are welcome to use it as an ally. It is "Am Yisrael Chai" The people of Israel live! The people of Israel refers to all the Jewish people, not just Israelis.
Yes, it's lovely, but it's not something non-Hebrew speakers understand. Altho, I suppose, we have learned words we never thought we would know ... like "intifada" ...
Well spoken!
I like to think of myself as the Hebrew Hammer.
But which one? The baseball player or the private investigator?
The Tennis player - me!
Brilliant! I have a number of friends who describe themselves as philosemitic but that is a problematic term for the reasons you state. Those I know that use the term mean that they find Jews erotic and are sexually attracted to us. (A common theme in European art, film, and fiction is the irresistible Jew who causes trouble because of his or her sexual attractiveness -- Verdi's opera "Nabucco" is a perfect example of this in its focus on an ancient Jew who causes a war with the Babylonians because the two daughters of the king are both madly in love with him and the one he rejects decides Israel must be destroyed and her sister who has converted to Judaism killed so that he will have to accept her as his wife or die. It was Verdi's breakthrough hit!) Ever since, beginning in the 1960s feminist second wave, choosing a lover because you found her (or him) physically attractive was frowned upon by many people. We were supposed to have partners not lovers and choose them on the basis of their personalities and virtues, not because we liked the way they looked. It takes considerable chutzpah to admit that you have a physical type you find attractive and among my friends only those of us with a lot of it will admit to that. (I love that once when we watching a film from Israel on video, my gentile husband said, "I really enjoy these Israeli films because everyone in them is so beautiful.") Pro-Jew is different, it means to me that you are in favor of Jewish people having the same human rights as anyone else and perhaps also tend to like the cultures we've created and our typical ways of behaving. (In contrast to my husband's view that we are almost all dread dead gorgeous, a friend from India said he likes Jews because we are kind and altruistic, are the best doctors, and don't try to force our religion on others. That's a pro-Jew guy.) If someone asks you why you are pro-Jew you might even say it's because we just keep making medical innovations that save lives or that we were always innovative creators of "high" and also popular culture. But what I like best about it is that, as you point out, it makes clear that those who are not are anti-Jew, in other words racists.
Great example of philosemitism. The word does suggest a certain exoticization, an "othering"
I like it more than "philosemitic" which sounds like a kind of bread and might, in any case, get you to the wrong address.
I like it! It's simple but not simplistic. It has, as you say, a meaningful opposite: anti-Jew. It avoids unnecessary attributions of emotion, such as you find with *philic or "Jew-hater" (is absence of hate enough?--no). I has sent you a recent paper where I used the term Jew animus to refer to "anti-Jew"-y actions or attitudes. It gets away from "hate" and more or less capture "negativity", but admittedly, I did not work on a pro-Jew equivalent in the paper. No need since it dealt with the normalization of Jew animus in the West and not with the pro-Jew exceptions like you, who speak out so clearly in support of Jews time and time again. Now you (and a merry band of "influencers" need to make it go viral. Pro-Jew! Who are YOU???
Hey David -- I remember you sending me the paper and noting that I will read it and now I can't find it. Apologies. Can you re-send. THANKS!
Pat, the preprint is linked below, but it's now in press at the Journal for Deradicalization, so it won't change except for possible typos caught at the typesetting stage.
Mandel, D. R. (in press). After 10/7: Normalization of antisemitism in the West. Journal for Deradicalization. Preprint: https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/dw6nx_v3
Love it, Pat. Ive been kicking about a word to reflect the "even stronger" connection to our Jewish roots that Jews like myself have been feeling since Oct. 7 and, in particular, in the face of all the overt and/or thinly veiled antisemitism since. The word is " reJewvenated".
Pat is truly a national treasure, exhibiting a moral clarity rarely seen in the public sphere.
I was thinking of Jew-friendly, but Pro-Jew is shorter and connotes actively supporting Jews rather than simply being friendly to them.
I think you're onto something here, Pat. Simple and positive rather than wordy and defensive.
Wow that got dark at the end! I love it.
Also, "why do you hate Jews" has been my reflexive response for awhile now to anyone spouting lies about "Palestine."
Not sure how you do it Pat but once again 💯💯💯🌟