My take as a Jewish H3 fan

Hey folks, 

  
I just got around to finishing the "Addressing Hasan" segment and thought I'd come on here and share a few of my thoughts. I have been a massive fan of the H3 pod for many years. I watch every show and have been a member for about two years. I will continue to support the show and watch every episode.   
  
With that said, I disagree with Ethan on several key points he made on the Wednesday show. I am going to try not to assume anything and will only base my criticism on the words spoken by Ethan on the Wednesday show and his Instagram stories before and after the show. 

  
**1. Defining a Zionist.** I agree with Ethan that there are many varying definitions of a Zionist. There are people who want to expand settlements and expand the size of Israel. There are also people who support the actions of the IDF entirely,  including killing as many Palestinians and Lebanese as they want, but these people may not want to actually expand the reach of Israel, nor do they care about settlements. Then, there is a third group of people who do not want Israel to be wiped out completely and are realistic about the reality, as Ethan said, 80% of Israelis were born in the country, and many of those people may have nowhere else to go. If this third group of people are Zionists, then I am also a Zionist. 

In my opinion, I do not think the 90% of people who are anti-Zionist believe that Israel should not exist. In other words, I believe the vast majority of anti-zionist people are against the IDF committing genocide in Palestine and Lebanon and are against Israeli settlements. This creates an issue for Ethan when he refers to himself as a Zionist, or at least seems to state that he agrees with some definitions of a Zionist. In reality, Ethan is in agreement with the majority of people on this issue, as he shared in his Instagram story detailing his views on the IDFs response to Hamas in 2021. This ties nicely into my next criticism.

  
**2. Emphasizing That He is Against Israel Committing Genocide.** As stated in the previous paragraph, I do know that Ethan is against the genocide being committed by Israel. He recently shared an Instagram story that showed his opinions on the matter, even in 2021. Fast forward to the Wednesday episode and there was little to no mention of the atrocities being committed by Israel each day. Instead, he focused on the mistreatment of Jewish people. This does not look good and is not the best way to approach this argument. I understand that Ethan wants people to remember that he is against the Israeli army's actions and truly believes that what is happening is genocide, but he needs to emphasize that for the people in the back who may not watch every episode of his show. The way he explained himself on Wednesday made it sound like he cares way more about Antisemitism than he does about the genocide being committed by Israelis. This ties into my next criticism.

  
**3. Acknowledging the Severity of Mistreatment.** As a Jew, I know that antisemitism is real. I have experienced it, and I have experienced it more in the past year. I am sure Ethan experiences it way more than me, as he is a public figure and is barraged with comments every day that are antisemitic. This is not acceptable. It's important to acknowledge that. With that said, Ethan and the rest of the Jewish population, including in Israel, is by and large much safer than any person living in Palestine or Lebanon, or many of the other countries in the Middle East. Sure, there were about 1000 Jewish people killed in Israel on Oct 7; there have been maybe a few hundred more killed since then. There have been tens of thousands of innocent people murdered in Palestine and Lebanon in the past year with no sign of stopping. As a Jewish person, it honestly makes me cringe to hear Ethan saying that he and Hila are being mistreated. Yes, you are being mistreated, but let's be real. You are safe. You will not be murdered by a rocket falling from the sky. I know that words hurt, and they are a form of hate speech, but ultimately, you are safe. The idea that Jews are inherently unsafe because they were genocided during WWII is simply an outdated idea. Jewish people are a very powerful race in the modern day, especially in comparison to most of the other people living in the Middle East. They have billions of dollars of weaponry ready to defend them. Once again, I say this as a Jewish person living in the United States. 

  
**4. Referring to People as "Terrorists"** This is a loaded term, and Ethan knows this. I realize that the One Piece guy from Yemen is most likely a member of the Houthi and is committing crimes, holding hostages, and all that. I am not going to argue he is doing good things. In my opinion, it is improper to refer to people in the Middle East committing crimes as terrorists unless you also refer to the IDF as terrorists and the United States Army as proxy terrorists. The IDF is causing terror and breaking international law by committing genocide. Not knowing if your home will be bombed at any moment is an act that could only be defined as terrorism. The United States supplies weaponry and assists in these atrocities. War is ugly, but killing innocent people without any notice is terrorism. 

  
**5. Seeing No Problem with Kamala's Speech** There are issues with Kamala's speech saying that Israel has a right to defend itself. It may be technically correct, but it is, once again, not acknowledging that Israel is no longer defending itself and instead committing genocide. I will not harp on this anymore; I just wanted to share it as well. 

  
Anyway, love the show, I really think Ethan is a great guy in his heart. I'm sure it is very hard to be constantly misunderstood, but it's important to be accurate and thoughtful when dealing with these things so that you end up on the right side of history.
user
Wrong sub, check out r/h3snark.
assistant
K. Thought it might be useful here too.
user
Sorry for being snippy. There’s just been an absolute flood of H3 posts here.
assistant