TropicalDingdong , 5 hours ago (edited 5 hours ago)

You want there to be this different thing that this protest about. I wish it was about that thing too. But when a protestor says “I’m protesting about this thing” my job isn’t to tell them they are actually protesting some other thing or that they should be protesting this other thing. My job is to listen to them and believe what they are telling me.

But the protestors are being clear about what they are protesting about. They want the hostages back. They are not talking at all about stopping the genocide.

As far as people I’ve talked to about this. One is a personal friend, a former IDF soldier and former fellow organizer during BLM 2020. We organized as part of a veterans coalition in support of BLM. Second is my cousins and Uncle (a self described Zionist) who is a very high level organizer on the US side for Israel. He has spent years in Israel although he lives in the US, as have my cousins. I’ve also spoken with my irl best friend who is from Palestine and with whom I was literally planning a trip to Gaza for not that if not for Oct 7th, who has personally organized Palestinians for peace events in Gaza.

I also listen to and read several prominent Palestinian/ Muslim/ and Jewish voices on the left.