To the People I've Talked With About Israel
I have conflicting feelings towards this war that don’t quite add up to the anger to protest. While I admire the protesters and agree with what they are demading, I am having having an upsetting struggle with my Jewish American identity that takes me out of the mood. I contrast these protests with the BLM protests after the deaths of Michael Brown and, later, George Floyd. Seeing those instances of racialized police brutality made me, and millions of my fellow citizens, angry. Protesting was a natural and constructive way to express that anger and communicate it towards the police, who were present in force at every protest. Thanks to the organizers, the protests were generally inspiring, uplifting communal experiences. In hindsight, I feel that they had a positive effect on the culture, even if much less so than I and others hoped at the time. Attending them was morally easy, fitting squarely with my sense of identity. This time, I also fully understand the motivation to protest the