We, the admin team, decry all forms of settler-colonialism, and we recognize that Zionism is a pro-settler-colonialist position.

Therefore we propose that should no longer be accepting of any Zionist accounts on our instances.

Please upvote for agree, downvote for disagree.

Note: we only count votes by instance members of dbzer0 and anarchist.nexus, plus a few vouched-for external users.

Hi mateys, I’ve kept things simple in the above text, for brevity, but in fact it took the admin team quite a while to get to this stage. We have discussed the policy change extensively, and a variety of different perspectives emerged. I will attempt to sum them up below as best I can:

  • The “this isn’t that complicated” school of thought goes something like this: If someone is consistently posting comments that mirror Hasbara talking points (e.g. justifying the genocide in Gaza, consistently painting Palestinians as terrorists and Israel as the victim), then they should be instance banned. It’s just not acceptable for Zionists to be allowed on our instances.

  • The “slippery slope” / “purity test” school of thought is that banning people for having an “unpopular” political opinion would potentially mean banning half the fediverse, if more and more of these policies were enacted over time. To attempt to mitigate this we are keeping the scope of this rule as narrow as possible, and I also don’t think many of our users will be affected. Also, we typically don’t have frequent policy changes, and I have no reason to expect that to change moving forward.

  • Another important discussion point was “how do we decide whether someone is pro-Zionist or not?” We can’t always be 100% sure of someone’s true intentions, we can only go on what they have posted and that is subject to interpretation. I don’t feel there is an easy answer to this one, except to say that we would have to be pretty certain before issuing a perma-ban.

  • The “geopolitics don’t matter” school of thought is that trying to be on the “correct” side of every issue is kind of pointless because nothing that happens in lemmy chat forums will ever make an ounce of difference in the real world. Don’t bother moderating users over political/ideological differences, just let people argue if they want. While I can totally empathize with this sentiment, I can also see the case for taking a clear stance on this topic in accordance with our values and the overwhelming support for the Palestinian cause among our users. Personally, I am advocating in favor of the resolution.

Please add your comments below if you want to provide your own thoughts on the topic, or have any questions.

expiry: 7

  • YarrMatey@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    4·
    9 hours ago

    I think when people who struggle with depression and other mental health issues get into arguments online, it can feel like everyone hates us or are specifically being mean for no reason. But when you step back, you realize you talked to maybe 4 people. And that this thread and argument didn’t have anything to do with why you were so upset and getting emotional, you were just stressed about something else. And not in the best head space to be talking about these type of discussions. I can only guess that you have been struggling. That sucks. This thread is probably not the best place for you right now and that is ok.

    My two cents about this conflict:

    Israel was created by stealing land and forcibly removing people who were already living there. Israel should not have been created that way. If some european countries felt bad after WW2, they should have donated some of their own land so Jewish people could create some communities there while still mingling with everyone else in a peaceful manner like a melting pot. The hurt begins there and gets worse since Israel insisted on expanding by doing more violence. The founders and leaders over the years were ok with using violence this way.

    You wanting a safe place for Jewish people to exist is ok, but conflating that with needing Israel to exist is the problem you seem to be facing. You can say genocide is bad and people need to be prosecuted, but even if Israel stopped, it would need to return the occupied and stolen land. Israel does not represent all Jewish people. Israel is not the answer, it cannot even sustain itself. Israel doesn’t even think your views are ok, it would label you an antisemite because it does not think it has done anything wrong and is just “defending” itself.

    I know you mentioned you consider yourself liberal, we view things from a more leftist perspective. It’s ok to ask questions and learn and reflect on ourselves. And also ok to take a break, a breather, and do some self-care.

    • lefthandeddude@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      1·
      5 hours ago

      And that this thread and argument didn’t have anything to do with why you were so upset and getting emotional, you were just stressed about something else.

      No this thread actually was what bothered me.

      I have been very against the war crimes that have been committed, very in favor of ICC actions, and have donated money to Palestinian causes and learned somewhat about the situation, but don’t consider myself an expert on this. To be called “shit” and “horrible” and a supporter of “actual real mass murder” hurts when I have been so against the war crimes that have occurred and the general mistreatment of Palestinians. Apparently, I am the enemy, however. So… yeah, peace out… I’m not left enough to contribute or have an opinion on this instance.

      I don’t really believe in self-care or taking a breather or mental health platitudes. I think most mental health care is just trying to get people to accept a really horrible and cruel society instead of rightfully being upset and depressed and rejecting how awful society is. I am okay with being sad and miserable. This is a sad and miserable world. Why pretend otherwise?