Another Israel/Palestine Post and a Content Creator Spotlight

November 15, 2023

Today I feel the need to shine a spotlight on a wonderful content creator I've recently discovered: @k.w.bogen on Instagram (where I follow her), also known as @sexualityscholar on TikTok (I'm a little behind the times and not very well-versed in TikTok, but if that's your preferred platform, look her up there). I will also be talking about the topic she's most passionate about, so while this entire post is inspired by her, don't worry, it won't be 2000 words simply talking about her as a person; that would be a little weird. However, I will refer to her multiple times and share links to several of her individual videos as they relate to the topic.

Katherine Wela Bogen, or Katie, is an American Jewish woman, trauma therapist, and passionate pro-Palestine activist. I have been enjoying her videos immensely since I came across them, and not only enjoying them, but also learning a lot from them. Katie is an incredibly articulate source who is not only informed about current events, but as a therapist and a doctoral student, is also trauma-informed.

Through one of her videos, I learned about something called epigenetic trauma.

Epigenetic trauma, from what I understand, is basically trauma that is passed down from generation to generation, not just in the form of stories and fears based on historical events, but literally through the family's genes. It's a trauma that is so present in survivors of horrific events that it becomes a part of their DNA, and is then passed on to their biological children and grandchildren. It makes sense that this is something that would exist in the descendants of holocaust survivors.

As the granddaughter of a holocaust survivor herself, Katie has been outspoken about doing the work of recognizing and overcoming her own generational trauma, and encouraging other Jews to do the same. As such, she has talked about epigenetic trauma as well as the fears of Jewish people in many of her videos.

I, as a non-Jewish person, have found it very eye-opening and educational to listen to what she has to say. I have always believed in listening to marginalized groups and their perspectives in order to learn about their experience and gain empathy.

It's hard to listen to a pro-Israel or Zionist perspective, though I have tried to do so just in case there was something I was missing. To be clear, Zionists and others who are aggressively pro-Israel are NOT one and the same with Jewish individuals. They are two very different things that have some overlap.

I saw a video being shared in Facebook comments a while back with a title that was something along the lines of "Free Palestine? No Thanks!" I won't share the link here because I don't want to contribute to the video getting more views -- I won't even search for it again in order to make sure the title is correct -- but I'm sure that if you search for it, the video I'm referring to will probably be the first thing to pop up.

Now, I was already aware of the apartheid that's been happening in Palestine for decades, and have been pro-Palestine myself ever since I became aware of these things several years ago; but I saw several people share this video claiming that the pro-Palestine information being shared was "propaganda" and "lies" and that this video did a good job of showing the other side of the story. Being the open-minded person I try to be, I said, "Okay, sure, let's hear the other side." I was skeptical, because after all, no one does propaganda better than Israel, so I felt the need to take their claims of Palestinian propaganda with a grain of salt... but I was willing to listen.

I'll be honest with you, I did not finish the video. If I remember correctly, it was around 30 minutes long, or more. I think I got about 10 minutes in, and could not stand to continue listening.

It was a video justifying genocide.

I had gone into it with an open mind, willing to listen just in case everything I'd been told about Palestine was actually untrue or biased. But even in this video that supposedly shared "the other side of the story," I heard nothing actually claiming that the genocide wasn't happening, that Palestine is actually a lot more free than they make themselves out to be, or that Israel wants peaceful coexistence with the Palestinians. All I heard instead was "Muslims have done such and such to Jews in the past" and "There was no Palestine until [insert year here] so Palestinians don't have indigenous rights as claimed" and a lot of finger-pointing and victim-blaming.

All it really sounded like to me was, I hate Muslims and that's why they deserve to die. Of course this is not literally what he was saying, and I'm sure that if you asked the presenter if he hates Muslims, he would be convinced that he doesn't. However, it was clear that his perception of what is acceptable treatment of Palestinians was based on a bias, whether conscious or unconscious, and it sounds dangerously similar to the way Nazis felt about Jews (and continue to, as neo-Nazis still very much exist).

Additionally, the presenter of the video made a claim that he doesn't delete any comments, even those who disagree with him -- and yet every single comment I saw on the video was positive and praising him for telling the truth, so this claim feels suspicious to me.

They weren't even denying that apartheid was being committed, but making excuses for it. They didn't deny that there was an attempted genocide happening, but giving reasons for why it was okay. Even if all of those things are true about Palestinians, it does not excuse what's being done to them. Nothing can excuse what's being done to them.

One of the very first posts I wrote after opening this blog was called There Was Nothing He Could Have Done To Deserve It. This post was about Black American men being targeted, brutalized and murdered by the police; but the message applies here, as well, and a lot of people need to hear it.

I always thought that Jewish people, having been victims of genocide and ongoing persecution themselves, would be less likely than most other groups to commit such atrocities toward others. And in many cases, this is true. Again, not all Jews are of the same mindset, and Jews and Zionists are not one and the same.

But there are, additionally, many who fail to realize that what Israel is doing to the Palestinians is exactly the same as what was done to them -- or who realize it, but think it's justified.

"Never again is now" is a phrase I've seen tossed around, and on the surface, that's a great sentiment. The problem is that "never again," to some people, seems to only mean "never again for us." The sentiment is beautiful, but "never again" needs to include everyone else too.

For God's sake, there are even images of captured Palestinians who've been numbered by the IDF. Numbered. Does that sound at all familiar?

Katie, through the videos on her wonderful Instagram account, spoke about rejecting the "kill or be killed" narrative. Prior to her speaking about it, I don't think I truly realized how many Jewish people actually feel like those are the only options. It's because of their collective trauma that they believe they will be the target of genocide again unless they commit a genocide themselves. It's a sort of "get them before they get us" tactic inspired by a belief that the neighboring group hates them and must be exterminated to prevent their own traumatic history from repeating itself. This does not excuse anybody who is literally justifying genocide... but I think it's important to the narrative and it gave me more insight into how they must be feeling.

Through her words, I began to understand that many Jews are rightfully terrified that what has happened to their people, their ancestors, before will happen to them again. I completely understand this fear. Anyone who suffers from PTSD likely shares a similar fear that whatever happened to them in the past -- domestic abuse, a car accident, or whatever else -- will happen again. Because of this epigenetic trauma, how overwhelmingly large-scale and violent their traumatic event (the holocaust) was, and the very real threat of anti-Semitism that persists today, an entire people is understandably afraid for the lives of its members. And they have to live with this fear every single day -- especially when tragedies like the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, and yes, October 7, happen.

Ms. Bogen, in one of my favorite videos so far, the video that inspired this entire article, recognizes that October 7 was "devastating" and that "it will live in Jewish memory, it will trigger our epigenetic trauma for years to come" -- but also stands firm in her belief that Jews must reject the premise of "kill or be killed" that is likely put into the world by arms dealers and easily believed by a traumatized people.

Another beautiful psychology-based video from the future Dr. Bogen is a helpful exercise to try and overcome this trauma response, and specifically regarding the "kill or be killed" premise. It's so incredibly astute and insightful -- which is not surprising from a fourth-year PhD student, but of course stands out among all of the content creators posting about this issue. (Which is not meant to be a criticism of the other content creators, by the way; speaking out is valuable regardless of how you do it.)

She, and other Jewish individuals, are refusing to let this unhealed trauma make them so hateful toward another group that they think it's justified to subject them to the same amount of death and trauma that they were subjected to. Another favorite video of hers -- so far, as I'm sure I'll be watching and learning from her for quite some time -- details how deeply traumatized her own grandfather was for the rest of his life after barely surviving the holocaust, and how distraught she is at the idea of others being forced to endure the same, that even if they survive, they will be terrified for the rest of their lives.

And then, when those Palestinians and their future generations are as traumatized as Jews are now, are they going to use it as an excuse to justify another genocide of Jews or of some other group? Would it just become a vicious cycle? When and where would that vicious cycle end?

Anti-Semitism (or, as I've said before, anti-Jewish sentiment, since Palestinians are also a Semitic people) is a very real issue. It needs to be taken seriously and condemned at every turn.

But most people who are speaking up for the liberation of Palestine are not anti-Jew just because they don't believe Israel should be allowed to commit genocide.

Are there some anti-Semites or anti-Jewish individuals among the people who are pro-Palestine? Yes, I'm sure there must be; in fact, after this most recent bout of violence began, there were reports and videos of some Muslim people chanting "f*ck the Jews" in, I think, Australia. While unverified, the context in which these videos were shared implied that it was a response to the ongoing violence in Palestine, which in turn implies that, yes, there are some people in the pro-Palestine camp who are anti-Jew. While I can't verify the context, it wouldn't surprise me if it was true, because every movement unfortunately has hateful people within it who do not understand what the movement is about (which is almost always human rights).

And it is our responsibility to disavow that, to make sure everyone knows we absolutely do not have a problem with our Jewish siblings. Those who do are 100% wrong and should not be given a platform.

Similarly, within the very broad movement of feminism, there's a loud minority of people who hate trans women. It is the responsibility of other feminists to vocally oppose those people.

We should ALWAYS condemn hatred for any people based on race, religion, sexuality, gender, nationality, etc.

But any movement that is meant to stand up for human rights should not be discredited by a minority of people who associate with it for the wrong reasons. Let's call it out when we see it, while also continuing to focus on the issue at hand, which is genocide and apartheid being actively committed in the year 2023.

This is not a war between Jews and Muslims, nor is it a war between Palestinian and Israeli citizens. In fact, it's not even a war. It's an oppressive regime with a massive amount of political power and allies all around the western world (including receiving a ton of money and weapons from the United States) committing active genocide against citizens with none of this power. But still, because so many people associate Israel with Judaism, people are quick to call you anti-Semitic if you're not Jewish, or a "bad Jew" or traitor if you are.

Jewish people like Katie -- and countless others -- are very brave for speaking out in the way they are. Katie even has a video where she talks about how scared she is -- for her safety, for her familial relationships, for her career, etc. -- but she puts that fear aside to stand up for the disenfranchised and suffering Palestinians.

People like her believe in unity, in compassion, in solidarity between Muslims and Jews -- something I, and most Muslims, also believe in. People keep trying to pit Jews and Muslims against each other, but the more we reject that, the more all marginalized and persecuted communities unite together and refuse to be divided by propaganda, the more I believe we can make a difference.

Jews are not currently the target of a genocide (the attack on October 7 was awful, but an isolated event), but if they become the target in the future, I pledge to speak out against it just as I will for Palestinians, because religious persecution, segregation, and genocide are never okay.

tags: palestine, israel, mental health