Growing up in Germany, the Netherlands, and the American Midwest, I was extremely pro-Jewish and extremely pro-Israel. I believed every bit of the narrative we were fed. I even had a Palestinian guy in my class, and whenever he talked about his situation, I’d get angry. I called him an anti-Semite more than once. Looking back, I feel ashamed of how deeply I had internalized that mindset. I genuinely thought Judaism was the best religion in the world. I even considered converting at one point to support these “poor, prosecuted people”. That’s how far gone I was. And all of that happened without me even knowing any Jews in real life. I had met maybe one or two in my life until a few years ago. That started to change during my PhD. We had a research partnership with a Hebrew university. The academics we worked with were hardcore Zionists. They talked about Palestinians like animals. Justified the killings. Brushed off the land theft. That’s when the mask began to fall. I started digging. I learned about the Balfour Declaration, how American Zionists played a role in destabilizing my own country of birth. I learned about the Nakba. How settlers destroyed water wells and entire orchards. How people who had lived there for centuries were treated like subhumans. I saw the ugly truth no one ever talks about. Even up to October 7th, I still thought: there are good Jews and bad Jews, just like in any group. But since then, what I’ve witnessed is beyond shocking. Almost every Jewish voice I’ve come across, online, in media, in real life, has been defending genocide. Demonizing anyone who dares speak up for Palestinians. Calling people Nazis, animals, anti-Semites, just for standing on the side of humanity. That kind of moral blackmail used to work on me. Being called an anti-Semite as a German? That was the worst thing you could say. But not anymore. Not after seeing who’s really fueling the hate. Not after hearing the things that are being said… things that sound like they came straight from hell. What changed me was not hate, it was clarity. I realized Zionism is not about survival but dominance, and it has nothing in common with Christian values, either. And honestly, what still puzzles me, what I genuinely don’t understand, is why they behave the way they do. They say they want peace. They say they’ve been hated throughout history, kicked out of country after country, persecuted without reason. But then you look at how they act,right now. They smear anyone who dares to criticize Israel. They slander. They don’t try to make allies, they issue threats. They demand people be canceled. They justify war crimes. They talk about exterminating others. If they really want to be liked, if they want to live in peace, if they want people to stop criticizing them, then why do they act like this? Why don’t they try kindness, truth, humility? Why not show some decency, some humanity, especially now that the entire world is watching? It makes no sense, unless domination is the goal. Not peace. Not coexistence. Because when I listen to people like Mark Levin or Ben Shapiro or that Randy Fine dude, what I hear isn’t just propaganda, but pure venom. It’s a kind of moral filth that feels like it crawled out of hell. The arrogance. The dehumanization. The glee in war and death. You can’t act like this and expect the world like you. You can’t demand sympathy while trying to silence those who demand the truth. You can’t play eternal victim while behaving like a tyrant. Eventually, people wake up. Just like I did. I used to believe everything they told me. Now I see it clearly. Thank you! 🙏🏼
