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My identity as a progressive Zionist Jew shouldn’t be at stake

JL;DR SUMMARY Jenna Harris reflects on the growing challenge faced by progressive Zionist Jews reconciling their identity with criticisms of Israel, especially after recent conflicts. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

Jewish IdentityDiasporaPalestinian Israeli ConflictSocial JusticeAmerican JewsJewish ValuesCultural HeritageProgressive ZionismPolitical Tension

Places mentioned

Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv District, Israel
"There are photographs of me as an awkward preteen with frizzy hair and long jean shorts, smiling with my sister at a falafel stand in Tel Aviv, at a painters studio in Tzfat and with long-lost cousins in Ramat Gan."
Tzfat, Northern District, Israel
"There are photographs of me as an awkward preteen with frizzy hair and long jean shorts, smiling with my sister at a falafel stand in Tel Aviv, at a painters studio in Tzfat and with long-lost cousins in Ramat Gan."
Ramat Gan, Tel Aviv District, Israel
"There are photographs of me as an awkward preteen with frizzy hair and long jean shorts, smiling with my sister at a falafel stand in Tel Aviv, at a painters studio in Tzfat and with long-lost cousins in Ramat Gan."
Jerusalem, Israel
"There are certain flowers whose names I only know in Hebrew from my time working as a florist in Jerusalem."
New Jersey, United States
"But I grew up in suburban New Jersey singing Israeli songs, eating Israeli food, celebrating Israeli holidays and saying prayers for the states safety."
Israel
"How am I supposed to extricate my deep-rooted connections to and belief in the existence of a Jewish state from all the other facets of my faith, my culture and my daily life?"

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