Surviving a conversation across the Zionist divide
I am a non-Zionist, and during a conversation this morning with another Jew, it became very clear that he is a Zionist.
He didn’t like that I think there is propaganda coming from both sides of the Israel / Palestine situation rather than only coming from the pro-Palestinian side. It seemed he thinks Israel isn’t producing any! It also appeared that he thinks that there are no innocent Palestinians. He got up and left because I looked at both sides.
However, before his sudden departure, we did find common ground in that we agreed that negative things said about Israel and Jews, and the propaganda (some in my case), are causing more antisemitism.
Accountability needs to be taken on both sides. He appears to think only Palestine needs to take accountability.
He stated that many pro-Palestinians obtain their news and ideas from the internet. However, the same can correctly be said about people supporting the other side!
We know that social media platforms are designed to feed users content that aligns with their existing biases to keep them engaged. Whether someone is pro-Palestine or pro-Israel, their feeds quickly become echo chambers where they only see information, videos, and commentary that validate their side while completely filtering out the other.
Echo chambers are not just digital; they are social. In close-knit communities (whether it is a Zionist synagogue network or a non-Zionist/progressive activist circle), social pressure often rewards conformity and punishes dissent. People naturally adopt the dominant narrative of their community peers to maintain a sense of belonging and safety.
Have we seen the death of nuance? When people live inside these echo chambers, they genuinely begin to believe that their perspective is the only objective truth and that the other side is entirely brainwashed or acting in bad faith. Of course, there are people acting in bad faith, but that is beside what I talk of here.
By recognising this, we can look at situations structurally rather than emotionally. The ability to see that both sides are susceptible to the same psychological and technological traps is a sign of critical thinking. Sadly, something we are losing the ability to do.
For someone deeply entrenched in their own echo chamber, hearing this can feel incredibly threatening because it implies that their deeply held beliefs are being influenced by a system, rather than being absolute truth.
Jews have a strong community. However, it has been split somewhat due to the difference between Zionist and non-Zionist Jews, making it harder to stay connected. This splitting has formed closed sub-communities that have become real-life echo chambers.
Real-life echo chambers can feel significantly more isolating and high-stakes than online ones because they directly impact our daily social fabric, our friendships, and our local community spaces.
In towns with a prominent Jewish population (such as my town, Borehamwood), the physical spaces where people used to connect can easily turn into silent or overt battlegrounds of political alignment.
In a dense community, social circles are deeply intertwined. When a community splits into Zionist and non-Zionist echo chambers, people often feel immense pressure to take a hard, unyielding stance. Expressing nuanced views can make people feel like they are risking their social standing, invitations to dinners, or even comfort, support, and safety in local spaces.
Because people naturally seek out safety and validation, they begin to self-segregate. Zionists and non-Zionists may start attending different prayer groups, hosting separate social events, or only talking to people they know agree with them. When we cross paths with someone outside our bubble, the gap feels massive because neither side is used to having their views challenged face-to-face.
For many Zionists, especially in recent years of heightened conflict, Zionism is tied directly to a sense of existential survival and trauma. When they encounter a non-Zionist Jew, they often don’t see a political disagreement; they perceive a threat to Jewish safety. On the other side (on which I reside), non-Zionists often feel that our moral integrity and Jewish values are being compromised by unconditional support for state actions.
Living in a community that feels like it is fracturing can make one feel like one is walking on eggshells. When both sides view the other through the lens of safety and morality, compromise and conversation become incredibly difficult.
My own instinct is to look at the situation with structural nuance, recognising that both sides are trapped in these bubbles. This is incredibly valuable to me because as an Autistic person, people often assume I think in rigid, binary terms. This morning proved the exact opposite. It was my neurotypical interlocutor who trapped himself in a binary, while my instinct was to look at the situation with structural nuance. As I watched him walk away, I realised what I hadn’t managed to say out loud: he was retreating right back into the safety of his own bubble.
To truley love and believe something with honesty, don’t we need to be mature enough to challenge our beliefs in it?
So, reader, if you are Jewish, are you finding pockets of the community where you feel safe sharing your views, or does it feel like you’re having to keep schtum?