Am I being too sensitive?
Hi everyone! Just for context before I get into everything, I am from Ireland and for a really long time I always took an anti zionist position because that’s what i’ve always been around. Ireland isn’t a very welcoming place to be openly Jewish/Zionist. My dad was Jewish and his mother was in a concentration camp as a girl. I wasn’t raised jewish as my mother is Irish catholic, and I was raised as that too. In the last few months I have really started to identify with my Jewish heritage and it is something I mourn for not having a closer connection to. I’m trying to build that connection now. I really identify and love Jewish people and culture. My dad passed away so I can’t talk to him about it, but when he was alive he always seemed traumatised by his upbringing and what happened to his family, he never wanted to talk about it. My friends (who are all Irish) take a hard pro Palestine stance - one that has no nuance and seems to scream F Israel and F Jewish people.
Last night we were at a bar and talking about someone we knew, someone my friends don’t really like. She made a passing comment that this girl is going on a J1 visa to America and going to work in a ‘Jewish summer camp’ (I’m sure this is a thing in the States but I don’t know much about it). She said it like it was an awful thing to do, and they talked about how awful Israel is and then equated that to how awful Jewish people are. She said the word Jewish like it was a bad word, a dirty one. It really hurt me but regrettably in the moment I never said anything. I’m contemplating bringing it up with her because I don’t want to start a fight, but it felt like a knife in the back. I’ve talked to her before about my Jewish heritage and how desperately I want to connect with it. I am even going to Amsterdam in a few weeks to see where my dad and his family grew up, to get a sense of that half of me. Should I say something to her about her comment? Or am I being too sensitive about all of this?
I really enjoy this group and reading everyone’s posts, thank you for that sense of community. It really has been eye opening. I suppose I want to know how I should approach this with her. I know a pro Zionist and pro Jewish opinion won’t be met with kindness, especially in Ireland, but it is the stance I do take now. It made me feel sick that the word Jewish was said with such venom by her.