My Shirt Calls for Peace & Freedom. So Why Are People Trying to Fight Me at the Gym?
A symbolic confrontation shows the delusions of Zionism.
A few years ago, I purchased a tank top from an artist in the Occupied West Bank. The shirt reads “Free Palestine.” It has a hand making a peace sign and holding a dove over a heart-shaped Palestinian flag. Though the shirt holds great sentimental value to me, it’s become just another article in my workout gear rotation. So, I didn’t think much of it when I hurriedly pulled it from my closet last Wednesday as I raced to beat the rush hour traffic that clogs the drive to my gym.
After my first set of what was probably poor-form pull-ups, a man jumped in front of me. He leaned forward and shoved his necklace in my face. It was a blue and white Star of David, a token of Israel. My earphones muffled his words, but he’d put his nose inches from mine, so I caught the concluding “mother fucker.”
Disoriented, I asked “Huh?” as he walked off.
“You love terrorists!” he yelled across the gym. Heads turned and the section quieted, leaving only the gym’s family-friendly soundtrack to cover his footfalls as he rushed out.
It was a bizarre situation, one that has become all too common as the mass movement supporting Palestine gains momentum in the United States. Assaults on peaceful demonstrators have been a recurring theme for the past six months, and someone even tried to assassinate a pro-Palestine organizer here in Denver. While my interaction was minor, I believe my accoster shares the same misguided hate as those who conduct more sinister attacks. As you can see from the above picture, there is nothing violent about my shirt. Quite the contrary. It calls for freedom and thrice symbolizes a desire for peace in Israel-Palestine. And yet, this stranger saw it and was overcome with the need for an aggressive reaction. Why? Had the man stayed, I would have asked him: “What does a call for peace threaten you? You saw my shirt, decorated with hearts and doves and a statement for freedom in Palestine, and you were overcome with uncontrollable rage. Why does the freedom of the Palestinian people threaten you, a man who lives in Colorado?”
I doubt he could provide a coherent answer, but I suspect the motivation. Judging by his brandishing of Israeli iconography, I’m confident in assuming this man is a Zionist. As I’ve written previously, Zionism is not Judaism, but a political belief that there should be an exclusively-Jewish state of Israel, located in the territory of historic Palestine.
Zionism is an inherently racist ideology, as to create and preserve a Jewish ethnostate, other ethnicities must be suppressed or excluded. We see this racism manifest in the current immigration policies of Israel, which fast-tracks citizenship for Jewish immigrants while denying it to Palestinians who have lived there since before Israel was founded. These policies aren’t a reaction to modern conflict but a direct line from the founding ideology of Zionism. The inherent racism is laid bare in the writings of Israel’s architects, which explicitly called for the expulsion of the Palestinians.
“The compulsory transfer of the Arabs from the valleys of the projected Jewish State…. We have to stick to this conclusion the same way we grabbed the Balfour Declaration, more than that, the same way we grabbed at Zionism itself.” - The first Prime Minister of Israel, Ben-Gurion, wrote in his diary in 1937.
As Zionism requires the oppression of Palestinians, Zionists interpret support for Palestinians as threats to their project. Furthermore, as Zionist propaganda has purposefully conflated Zionism with Judaism, a benign plea for a free Palestine is misrepresented as an attack on Jewishness. Zionists cannot allow Palestinians to be free. If they were, Israel would become a democratic state and the majority would vote to end Jewish supremacy policies. Democratic equality would see the 2018 Nation State law would be replaced with a statute stating national self-determination is the right of all citizens, not just “the Jewish People.”
Peace also is a threat to Zionists, as peace is not the absence of violence, but the presence of justice. Justice would mean convicting many Israeli officials, past and present, for their crimes against humanity, as well as extending civil rights and due process to millions of occupied Palestinians. These would be the death knells of the Zionist project, as they would turn Israel from a Jewish state to a multicultural democracy. For Zionists who share President Biden’s ridiculous belief that “without Israel, there’s not a Jew in the world who is secure,” the emancipation of the Palestinian people would end Israel as they know it, sentencing global Jewry to death. Through this incredibly warped and deluded lens, Zionism has convinced its followers that slogans for peace and justice are calls for bloodshed and Jewish genocide. Where we see a march of peaceniks calling for a ceasefire, they see a bloodthirsty mob yearning for war. When we demand Palestinian equality, they hear Jewish oppression. It’s a use of Newspeak that would give George Orwell a heart attack. Yet, whether willingly or not, many Americans have fallen victim to this delusion. My mentions are filled with people claiming “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” is some secret code of murderous intent. (I’m sure the comments section of this article will follow a similar tract.) According to the man I met at VASA Fitness, my shirt, laden with not one, not two, but three symbols of love and humanity is a war banner, allegedly my secret message to unspecified “terrorists” that I’m ready and willing to commit atrocities on their behalf. These are, of course, ridiculous assertions, made by people so twisted by fear and anger and dogmatism that they think down is up and freedom is murder.
While I make no excuses for these aggressors, part of me pities them. They have been duped. For those who have been captured by Zionist fanaticism, there is only one way to free them from the prison of fear that constrains their mind — Continue to work for a free, prosperous Palestine. Once the segregation walls are demolished and democratic rights are available to all, regardless of race or creed, only then will the Zionist blinders be lifted so they may see the glory of a Free Palestine. 🇵🇸❤️
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In my essay “The Lost Art of Being Yourself”, I write at some point that many people dislike those who are individuals. You, wearing such a T-shirt, might actually trigger something in them. It is easier to be a conformist, and when others are not, the conformist often wants to suppress them so that they will not be reminded their own mediocrity. On top of that, as in your occasion, one might be reminded, even indirectly, of what those whom they support are doing. An acquaintance of mine had a similar occurrence, albeit much milder, by having a sticker on his laptop with the same message.
A sincere and thought provoking article. I concur that Zionism is not Judaism, but often conflated as such. I believe it's a racist ideology that requires two classes of people in a land which they could be sharing equally, I do pray one day Palestinians can be self governing and live in peace and security alongside israel.
Thanks for this wonderful article.
Mo