Not all Jews are equal; some are more equal than others. Jewish by birth and a card-carrying Israeli, Veronica Sherman sees Zionists as a cult, a dangerous pyramid scheme.
If a group of Jewish backpackers from Melbourne met a group of Israeli backpackers in a hostel in Thailand, the Melbourne backpackers would be all excited to meet “fellow Jews” and feel they have a connection. A bit like meeting a relative while travelling.
The Israeli backpackers, however, would more likely look at the Melbourne travellers with complete disinterest. Unless, of course, they had planned on visiting Australia at some point, then they might see the Melbournians as a potential free accommodation option.
Every Israeli I have used this analogy with has nodded their head and agreed.
There are lots of different varieties of Jews, and in Australia, there is a dominant type that loves to decide who is and who isn’t Jewish according to their values.
Who is most Jewish?
It has been an interesting experience being told almost daily that I’m not Jewish.
The irony is, of course, that I actually have a legal document that proves that I’m Jewish. I like to point out that I’m in fact a “card-carrying Jew”. My Israeli ID card says: Yehudi – Jewish.
The backstory is that I immigrated to Israel at age ten with my family. We made aliyah. That’s the Hebrew word for immigrating to Israel as a Jew. Apparently, it’s our birthright. We spent two years in an “absorption centre” along with Jews from around the globe. In my memoir, I refer to it as a flat version of the Tower of Babel. We lived in a community with newly arrived immigrants from Ethiopia, Russia, Argentina and of course, New York.
We were the only family that had moved there from Sweden.
The class system
What isn’t mentioned about Israel is that there is an unspoken class system. And someone who makes aliyah will never be seen as a ”real” Israeli. Sure, they will have all the legal rights, but will never be able to achieve the same status as a Sabra – a Jew who was born in Israel.
Of course, even for Sabras, there are different levels of currency. A Sabra who has parents from North Africa (Mizrahi) will never have the same “protezkia” (social favour and opportunities) as a Sabra with parents from Western Europe (Ashkenazi).
This social code is fluid, and there are always exceptions to the rule, but overall, this is the Israeli system.
What Jews in Australia may not realise is that they don’t even make it to the scoreboard.
Fund-raising under threat
Jews outside of Israel are not seen as “real” Jews. Except in one context, raising money for Israel.
That’s where Australian Jews shine.
They are amazing at it. At least $50m last financial year. And that’s not something Israel wants to risk missing out on, which is why they have been very nervous about the Zionist narrative losing its grip in Australia since October 2023.
Veronica Sherman at the Bridge march. Image credit author.
The weekly rallies in Melbourne were bad enough. Especially because the Jews who joined in never hid their identity. They held giant banners exposing their Jewishness. This completely made a farce of the narrative that Jews are unsafe in Australia.
Social media posts would go viral with any mention of how much Australian Palestinians hate Jews. Which, of course, is just not true. And never has been.
In fact, Palestinian leaders have continually thanked Jews for attending rallies. Reminding the masses that we stand together for human rights.
Australian Palestinians are opposed to Zionism. Which is the same for every human with a moral compass.
When Veronica Sherman was at the Bridge march, pretty much every front page had a photo of “Hamas supporters” crossing the bridge. I was there that day. Biblical proportions of rain fell, yet hundreds of thousands of people showed up.
We were not there to support Hamas. We were there to say that genocide is wrong and that human life is sacred.
We attempted to cross the Sydney Harbour Bridge because our politicians have remained silent while families in Gaza have been slaughtered.
Having Jews protest a genocide is completely logical. So many of my fellow Jews had parents or grandparents in the Holocaust. They showed up at the bridge,
because never again is for everyone. Not just for us Jews.
And it scares Israel that Australians Jews are seeing through the hasbara – Israeli propaganda. It’s really important to keep the Aussie Jews sending their donations through Zionist charities.
The Zionist cult
It felt just like an Amway meeting!
I came home to my kids and told them that Zionism is the greatest pyramid scheme ever invented.
That AGM had it all. A room full of converts, with a handful of leaders who all got a turn to speak about how important this cause is.
Then they had the two VIPs flown in from headquarters…. I mean, Israel. You could tell they were the VIPs because they didn’t have to dress as formally as the leaders and the wannabe leaders. They had that smug casual vibe that Israelis have perfected.
The Israeli woman was there to present an award to the president, who was retiring after many years of service. I nearly gasped out loud when the Israeli woman handed the Melbourne retiring president the ‘Key to Jerusalem’.
Talk about chutzpah!
No such key
Not only is there no such thing as a key to Jerusalem. They literally just frame a giant key and make a bullshit plaque. But what really made me feel like I was punched in the stomach is that the key is a really special symbol for Palestinians.
I think of my friends whose parents were kicked out of their homes in 1948 and told that they would return within days. That was a complete lie and they never got to see their beloved homes again. Homes that their ancestors had lived in for generations.
If you know even the tiniest bit about the Nakba, you would know that
gifting a key to Jerusalem is highly offensive.
The VIP man who spoke was a journalist. And true to form, told the devotees in the room that he had very secret information to share with them. This is exactly the kind of language they use in Amway meetings to make the “worker bees” feel important. He kept a straight face as he told the room that every injury and death in Gaza is caused by Hamas. The audience was lapping it up.
He also shared proof that antisemitism is expanding around the globe. I thought he might use examples from Australia. I have seen so much “evidence of antisemitism” that turned out to be stickers against Israel and the IDF. I was really curious to see what he had to show us.
Incredibly, the video he showed was from my hometown in Sweden! Market sellers in the town square were being recorded saying something hateful about Jews. I can’t remember the exact words because I was so shocked to see the cobblestones from my childhood in this context.
What I do know is that my hometown Malmø hosted Eurovision in 2024. Only half a year after the genocide had started, there were protests that Israel was allowed to compete. I assume that this Israeli journalist used the opportunity to interview immigrants selling fresh produce as proof that Jews are hated and unsafe around the globe.
Not a “real” Jew
In Melbourne, where I live, I constantly see posts on local Jewish Facebook groups that they feel unsafe. These are the same people who tell me I’m not a real Jew.
Initially, it stung. I then had an experience that changed my perception.
I was standing outside a council with my banner. I was with a group of Jews protesting the new definition of antisemitism being voted in. We stood in silence as Zionists walked into the event before it was scheduled to open.
One of them turned around and looked at me and said the familiar words: “You’re not Jewish!” By now, I’m so used to hearing them that it’s like water off a duck’s back. But then he looked at the two people I was standing with and repeated the words.
One of them is a woman who had both parents survive the Holocaust after four years in Siberian gulags. The other one is a sabra who not only served in the Israeli army, but also lost his eye while in service.
If these two brilliant humans next to me were told they were not Jewish, I was in good company.
I now know what Zionists mean when they tell me I’m not Jewish. They mean I’m not a Jew who supports genocide. Which means, I’m a Jew who is not part of a death cult.
And I’m OK with that.