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not on the basis that they're Jewish, and trying to approach it with the objective of "planting seeds" is weird. just have your opinions and discuss them openly.
Short answer yes. Not all Jews are really hardcore zionists. It’s a very real possibility that a conversation can help deprogram some of the birthright propaganda. This time around, there appear to be cracks forming in the libs’ Zionist foundations. You might also want to post in c/judaism if you have specific questions about approaching a Jewish audience.
the framing or wording of parts of this post (title and first line) are kind of weird to be tbh. i'm jewish and antizionist and it really bugs me to see jews painted as a monolithic zionist group. i know other parts specify it's your friend group but still
i'm not saying you are. i'm saying the title and first line were not specific - and that's the first thing you see so it didn't feel great reading it. it's been pretty disheartening seeing all kinds of assholes on tv and twitter falling over themselves trying to equate all jews with israel/zionism as someone who considers myself a staunchly antizionist jew. i'm definitely tuned into when i see things that are overtly (not saying your post was) or on the verge of falling into that trap, so that's why i mentioned the few general statements detracted from the message of the post, which was good. that's all
so you're the chinese weebs who asked to get their waifu printed on the side of a tube missile?
I think it's important to do, especially if it's a good friend. Tough though.
A Jewish friend of mine (who's parents live in Israel) got really politicized last year during the BLM protests. You'd think it would be easy for him to draw some parallels but uhh, he hasn't gotten there yet. Also, I legit think his family would disown him if he started posting pro Palestine things on social media or whatever
As with every sort of awkward, challenging conversation like this you gotta meet them where they are at.
They're your friends, find some area where you can agree about the subject. That doesn't mean concede points (never concede any points), but I am sure there is some point where you mutually agree "this is not okay." Then you just gotta branch out from there. Wear your opinions on your sleeves, but try to let them come to conclusions on your own. They won't call it settler colonialism day one. This might be something you argue on and off about for months, but people usually only come to realizations by themselves.
If you cannot find any area to agree on then they might be a fascist and you disengage.
I have an older Jewish friend. Generally a hippish liberal green energy sort of person. I brought it up once and never considered it again.
I think it's worth pushing back, making sure they know what you believe, and that you have solid reasons for believing it. If they've been on birthright, they've likely been subject to a lifetime of propaganda that places them at the center of a fantasy bubble where Israel's main relationship to Palestinians is charitably bringing them into the 21st century, and only defending itself from those radical Islamist ingrates who agree with Hitler. They don't know what living in Gaza as a Palestinian is like. They can't understand what "right of return" means to those who are denied it. They don't see settlers attacking Palestinians, destroying farms, or soldiers raiding their homes. In their history, the Oslo accords were an olive branch that the genocidal Arabs rejected. By now maybe they know about the IDF's bombing campaigns that harm civilians, but they think this is simply a problem of the wrong party in charge, and it's not like they want to kill Arab children, and anyway it would stop if Hamas weren't in power. Yes, they think a Palestinian political organization has power, in some meaningful sense, in the occupied territories.
I don't know what change's these peoples' minds, but I believe the only thing you can do is be vocal, patient, and firm.
It really depends on the person you're talking to, different people react differently. Some may be swayed by being shown the violence and injustice and get it from there, some may need to know that many many Jewish people do not support Israel and make it very known, or that there are sects of Judaism that are opposed to Israel on a theological basis.
