Notmaya: Created page with "{{Short description|Expression used by Jewish individuals}} '''As a Jew''' is an expression used by Jewish individuals to identify their Jewish affiliation as relevant to their point of view or speech.{{Cite journal |last=Stratton |first=Jon |date=September 1998 |title=Speaking as a Jew: On the absence of a Jewish speaking position in British cultural studies |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/136754949800100301 |journal=Europ..."

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Created page with "{{Short description|Expression used by Jewish individuals}} '''As a Jew''' is an expression used by Jewish individuals to identify their Jewish affiliation as relevant to their point of view or speech.<ref name="Stratton1998">{{Cite journal |last=Stratton |first=Jon |date=September 1998 |title=Speaking as a Jew: On the absence of a Jewish speaking position in British cultural studies |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/136754949800100301 |journal=Europ..."

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{{Short description|Expression used by Jewish individuals}}
'''As a Jew''' is an expression used by [[Jews|Jewish]] individuals to identify their Jewish affiliation as relevant to their point of view or speech.<ref name="Stratton1998">{{Cite journal |last=Stratton |first=Jon |date=September 1998 |title=Speaking as a Jew: On the absence of a Jewish speaking position in British cultural studies |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/136754949800100301 |journal=European Journal of Cultural Studies |language=en |volume=1 |issue=3 |pages=307–325 |doi=10.1177/136754949800100301 |issn=1367-5494|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name="Joskowicz">{{Citation |last=Joskowicz |first=Ari |title=Representative Secularism: Jewish Members of Parliament and Religious Debate |date=2013-11-06 |work=The Modernity of Others: Jewish Anti-Catholicism in Germany and France |pages= |editor-last=Joskowicz |editor-first=Ari |url=https://doi.org/10.11126/stanford/9780804787024.003.0007 |access-date=2026-09-03 |publisher=Stanford University Press |doi=10.11126/stanford/9780804787024.003.0007 |isbn=978-0-8047-8702-4|url-access=subscription }}</ref> It has appeared in religious, cultural, professional and political contexts, including discussions of religious interpretation, professional identity and personal experience.<ref name="Trattner19342">{{Cite web |title='as a Jew Sees Jesus' |url=https://www.jta.org/archive/as-a-jew-sees-jesus |access-date=2026-09-03 |website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="JTA2010">{{Cite web |last=Lipman |first=Steve |date=2010-05-18 |title=Treating Trauma, As A Jew And A Doctor |url=https://www.jta.org/2010/05/18/ny/treating-trauma-as-a-jew-and-a-doctor |access-date=2026-09-03 |website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="Klug2020">{{Cite journal |last=Klug |first=Brian |date=2020-12-01 |title=Judaism and Catholicism: The Common Ground of Social Justice |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0012580620974280 |journal=The Downside Review |language=en |volume=138 |issue=4 |pages=143–151 |doi=10.1177/0012580620974280 |issn=0012-5806|doi-access=free }}</ref> The related expression "speaking as a Jew" has been examined in academic writing on [[Jewish identity]], representation, [[Jewish assimilation|assimilation]] and the position of Jews in wider society.<ref name="Stratton1998" /><ref name="StrattonBook">{{Cite web |last=Stratton |first=Jon |date=June 9, 2000 |title=Coming Out Jewish |url=https://www.routledge.com/Coming-Out-Jewish/Stratton/p/book/9780415222082 |access-date=2026-09-03 |website=Routledge & CRC Press |language=en}}</ref> In political discourse, the expression has also been used in arguments concerning Israel, Zionism and other political issues, as well as to characterize and criticize such uses.<ref name="AIJAC20092">{{Cite web |last=Jones |first=Jeremy |date=2009-10-26 |title=The Last Word: "As A Jew..." |url=https://aijac.org.au/australia-israel-review/the-last-word-as-a-jew/ |access-date=2026-09-03 |website=AIJAC |language=en-AU}}</ref><ref name="Schultz2">{{Cite web |last=Schultz |first=Matthew |date=2024-04-17 |title=Understanding the As-a-Jew Jew |url=https://jewishjournal.com/commentary/opinion/370427/understanding-the-as-a-jew-jew/ |access-date=2026-09-03 |website=Jewish Journal |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="Burg2">{{Cite web |last=Burg |first=Steven |date=2025-09-14 |title=The danger of the rising 'as a Jew' phenomenon |url=https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-867375 |access-date=2026-09-03 |website=The Jerusalem Post |language=en}}</ref>

== Definition ==
The expression "as a Jew" indicated that a speaker is presenting their Jewish identity as relevant to a statement, position or perspective.<ref name="Einstein19312">Jewish Telegraphic Agency, "[https://www.jta.org/archive/einstein-as-jew-and-german-issues-statement-explaining-his-position-in-reply-to-antisemitic-attacks Einstein As Jew and German: Issues Statement Explaining His Position in Reply to Antisemitic Attacks]", 12 September 1931.</ref><ref name="JTA2010" /><ref name="Klug2020" /> The related formulation "speaking as a Jew" similarly connects a speaker's position to their Jewish identity and has been examined in discussions of Jewish identity and representation.<ref name="Stratton1998" /><ref name="Joskowicz" /> Stratton uses the term in discussing Jews in relation to British cultural studies, minority identity and assimilation, while [[Ari Joskowicz]] examines its use by Jewish members of the German [[Reichstag (German Empire)|Reichstag]] in debates over religion and secularism in the nineteenth-century.<ref name="Stratton1998" /><ref name="StrattonBook" /><ref name="Joskowicz" />

The term "'as a Jew' Jew" has been used to describe Jews who invoke their Jewish identity in political arguments.<ref name="WieselJPost2">{{Cite web |last=Singer |first=Robert |date=2024-01-16 |title=Antisemitic attacks deepen the ethical justification of Zionism |url=https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-782305 |access-date=2026-09-03 |website=The Jerusalem Post |language=en}}</ref> Other writers have used "as a Jew" or "speaking as a Jew" when discussing Israel, Zionism, antisemitism and the Israel–Gaza war.<ref name="Mason20242">{{Cite web |last=Mason |first=Rabbi David |date=2024-04-04 |title=OPINION: Can we still hear each other after 7/10 and all that's happened since? |url=https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/opinion-can-we-still-hear-each-other-after-7-10-and-all-thats-happened-since/ |access-date=2026-09-03 |website=Jewish News |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="Milstein20252">{{Cite web |last=Milstein |first=Adam |date=2025-09-22 |title=How Far-Left Jewish voices misrepresent American Jewry |url=https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/article-868351 |access-date=2026-09-03 |website=The Jerusalem Post |language=en}}</ref>

== Uses ==

=== Early use (1800–1972) ===
In the nineteenth century, Jewish members of parliament in France and Germany referred to their Jewish identity when addressing questions concerning Jewish rights and religious affairs. [[Ari Joskowicz]] examines these instances in his discussion of Jewish parliamentary representation, including a section titled "Speaking as a Jew in a Period of Secularist Conflict". He describes Jewish deputies who spoke on behalf of Jewish rights while also framing their arguments in terms of universalism and citizenship.<ref name="Joskowicz2">Ari Joskowicz, "[https://academic.oup.com/stanford-scholarship-online/book/19287/chapter/177814005 Representative Secularism: Jewish Members of Parliament and Religious Debate]", in ''The Modernity of Others: Jewish Anti-Catholicism in Germany and France'', Stanford University Press, 2013, pp. 197–228.</ref>

The expression continued to appear in discussions of Jewish identity during the twentieth century. In 1931, the [[Jewish Telegraphic Agency]] reported on a statement by [[Albert Einstein]] under the title "Einstein As Jew and German". The statement responded to antisemitic attacks concerning Einstein's identity and discussed his attachment to the Jewish people alongside his identification with German and European culture.<ref name="Einstein19312" /> The expression is further used in a book published that year by Rabbi Ernest R. Trattner titled ''As a Jew Sees Jesus.'' The book presented Jesus and his teachings from a Jewish point of view.<ref name="Trattner19342" /> In 1948, Ausert E. Kann used the expression in a letter published in ''[[Jewish Life (magazine)|Jewish Life]]''. Discussing the relationship between reactionary politics and [[antisemitism]] and linking antisemitism to the establishment of [[Extermination camp|death camps]] for Jews, Kann wrote, "And as a Jew, I know that reaction and anti-Semitism grow side by side".<ref name="Kann19483">Ausert E. Kann, letter, ''Jewish Life'', January 1948. [https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/jewish-life/vol-2/v02n03-jan-1948-JL.pdf Full issue (PDF)].</ref>

By the 1960s, the phrase was also being used in discussions of race, citizenship, and American public life. In 1968, Rabbi [[Jacob M. Rothschild]] used the phrase when discussing the [[civil rights movement]] and black separatism. Addressing the [[Hungry Club Forum]] in [[Atlanta]], Rothschild said that "as a Jew and as an American citizen" he would not abandon his religious commitment in response to black separatism, referring also to his earlier involvement in the struggle against racial segregation.<ref name="Rothschild1968">Jewish Telegraphic Agency, "[https://www.jta.org/archive/atlanta-rabbi-rebukes-negro-audience-for-rejecting-jewish-help Atlanta Rabbi Rebukes Negro Audience for Rejecting Jewish Help]", 15 November 1968.</ref> A related formulation, ''speaking as a Jew, appeared'' in a 1972 sermon by Rabbi Murray Blackman at [[Temple Sinai (New Orleans, Louisiana)|Temple Sinai]] in New Orleans, Blackman contrasted speaking "as a Jew" with speaking "as an American", invoking both Jewish experience and American ideals in discussing the political climate of 1972.<ref name="Blackman1972">The Papers of Julian Bond, "[https://bondpapersproject.org/document/664 Rabbi Murray Blackman's Response (with Sermon) to Bond's Speech about the upcoming presidential election]", 6 October 1972.</ref>

=== Contemporary use (1992–present) ===
The term continued to appear in discussions of Jewish identity during the 1990s. In 1992, journalist [[Richard Cohen (columnist)|Richard Cohen]] used the phrase in a ''[[The Washington Post|Washington Post]]'' column about antisemitism. Cohen wrote, "As a Jew, I can say" that part of his discussion with "tongue in cheek", using his Jewish identity to frame his response to the findings of an [[Anti-Defamation League]] survey on antisemitism in the United States.<ref name="Cohen1992">Richard Cohen, "[https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/magazine/1992/12/20/the-gotcha-game/c728061d-3390-41bd-a02f-d66e301ad98d/ The Gotcha Game]", ''The Washington Post'', 19 December 1992.</ref> In 1995, [[Avraham Burg]], then chairman of the [[Jewish Agency for Israel]], used the phrase while discussing Jewish identity and Israel's relationship with Jews in the diaspora. In an interview with the ''[[The Christian Science Monitor|Christian Science Monitor]]'', Burg said, "As a Jew, I am an Israeli", describing Israel as the place where he could be a Jew with responsibility for his own life.<ref name="Burg1995">John Battersby, "[https://www.csmonitor.com/1995/0614/14121.html Pioneering Israeli Reaches Out to the Diaspora]", ''The Christian Science Monitor'', 14 June 1995.</ref>

The term was also used in academic discussions of Jewish identity. In 1998, [[Jon Stratton]] used ''Speaking as a Jew'' as the title of an article examining the position of Jews within British cultural studies and discussions of race and minority identity. Stratton argues that Jews occupy an uncertain position, being treated both as part of the dominant population and as an ethnic and cultural minority.<ref name="Stratton1998" /> Stratton went back to this topic in 2000, using ''Speaking as a Jew'' as the title of a chapter in ''Coming Out Jewish: Constructing Ambivalent Identities'', where he discusses Jewish identity, assimilation and belonging in Western societies.<ref name="StrattonBook" />

In the 2000s, the expression continued to be used to describe the different aspects of Jewish identity in relation to national and political questions. In 2006, Sam Kermanian, secretary general of the Iranian Jewish Federation, described the competing aspects of Iranian-American Jewish identity in an article about [[Nuclear program of Iran|Iran's nuclear program]]. He stated that, "As a Jew, he wants to ensure Israel's safety", while also describing his concerns as an American citizen and as an Iranian.<ref name="Kermanian2006">{{Cite web |date=May 18, 2006 |title=For Iranian-american Jews, Standoff on Nukes Raises Questions of Identity |url=https://www.jta.org/archive/for-iranian-american-jews-standoff-on-nukes-raises-questions-of-identity |access-date=2026-09-03 |website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |language=en-US}}</ref> In 2009, ''[[The New York Times]]'' columnist [[Roger Cohen]] used the phrase in an article about his visit to Iran. Writing from [[Isfahan]], Cohen stated that, "as a Jew, I have seldom been treated with such consistent warmth as in Iran". His comments subsequently became the subject of criticism and discussion among Iranian-American Jews.<ref name="Cohen2009">{{Cite web |last=Tugend |first=Tom |date=2009-03-16 |title=Roger Cohen spars with Iranian Jewish expats |url=https://www.jta.org/2009/03/16/united-states/roger-cohen-spars-with-iranian-jewish-expats |access-date=2026-09-03 |website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |language=en-US}}</ref>

The phrase was also used by Israeli political figures in discussing Jewish identity. For example, in 2010, [[Shimon Peres]], then [[President of Israel]], used the phrase in an address to the [[Bundestag]]. Speaking on [[International Holocaust Remembrance Day]], Peres said, "As a Jew, I always carry the pain of the holocaust endured by my brothers and sisters", contrasting this perspective with his subsequent statements "As an Israeli" and "As a grandfather".<ref name="Peres2010">{{Cite web |title=Deutscher Bundestag - Address by the President of the State of Israel H.E. Shimon Peres... |url=https://www.bundestag.de/parlament/geschichte/gastredner/peres/speech-248112 |access-date=2026-09-03 |website=Deutscher Bundestag |language=de}}</ref>

In 2016, Ben Kasstan described himself as a "Jew-ish" ethnographer in an article on his anthropological research among British Haredi Jews. He discussed how his own Jewish background affected his position as a researcher among the community.<ref name="Kasstan">Ben Kasstan, "[[doi:10.30674/scripta.66579|Positioning oneself and being positioned in the 'community': An essay on Jewish ethnography as a 'Jew-ish' ethnographer]]", ''Scripta Instituti Donneriani Aboensis'', vol. 27, 2016, pp. 264–283.</ref>

The phrase was used as the title of [[Sarah Hurwitz]]'s 2025 book, ''[[As a Jew: Reclaiming Our Story from Those Who Blame, Shame, and Try to Erase Us]]'', published by [[HarperCollins|HarperOne]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Hurwitz |first=Sarah |date=September 8, 2026 |title=As a Jew: Reclaiming Our Story From Those Who Blame, Shame, and Try to Erase Us |url=https://www.harpercollins.com/products/as-a-jew-sarah-hurwitz |access-date=2026-06-29 |website=HarperCollins |language=en}}</ref> Hurwitz has said that the title was intended to express an unqualified identification with being Jewish, rather than a description such as "a cultural Jew".<ref name="HurwitzInterview2">{{Cite web |last=Katz |first=Marc |date=2025-09-09 |title=Reclaiming Jewish Identity and Culture: A Conversation with Sarah Hurwitz |url=https://www.jewishbookcouncil.org/pb-daily/reclaiming-jewish-identity-and-culture-a-conversation-with-sarah-hurwitz |access-date=2026-09-03 |website=Jewish Book Council |language=en}}</ref> The book discusses Jewish identity in relation to antisemitism, assimilation, Holocaust education, Zionism and Israel.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Picker |first=Lenny |date=July 17, 2025 |title=Not That Kind of Jew: PW Talks with Sarah Hurwitz |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/authors/interviews/article/98191-not-that-kind-of-jew-pw-talks-with-sarah-hurwitz.html |access-date=2026-06-29 |website=PublishersWeekly.com |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Silow-Carroll-2025b">{{Cite web |last=Silow-Carroll |first=Andrew |date=2025-11-26 |title=Sarah Hurwitz, former Obama aide, stirs social media firestorm with remarks about Holocaust education |url=https://www.jta.org/2025/11/26/united-states/sarah-hurwitz-former-obama-aide-stirs-social-media-firestorm-with-remarks-about-holocaust-education |access-date=2025-11-27 |website=[[Jewish Telegraphic Agency]] |language=en-US}}</ref> The book won the Contemporary Jewish Life and Practice category at the 2025 [[National Jewish Book Awards]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Katz |first=Marc |date=September 8, 2025 |title=As a Jew: Reclaiming Our Story From Those Who Blame, Shame, and Try to Erase Us |url=https://www.jewishbookcouncil.org/book/as-a-jew-reclaiming-our-story-from-those-who-blame-shame-and-try-to-erase-us |access-date=2026-06-29 |website=Jewish Book Council |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2026-02-18 |title=75th National Jewish Book Award Winners |url=https://www.jewishbookcouncil.org/pb-daily/75th-national-jewish-book-award-winners |access-date=2026-06-29 |website=Jewish Book Council |language=en}}</ref>

In a 2026 interview with ''[[The Guardian]]'', writer Isaac Butler discussed the Jewish experience in the work of artist [[Philip Guston]], a Jewish-American artist. Referring to Guston's depictions of the [[Ku Klux Klan]] and the controversy surrounding a postponed retrospective of his work because of it, Butler said, "As a Jew, I was pretty mad about the erasing of the Jewish experience with the Klan."<ref>{{cite news |last=Butler |first=Isaac |date=15 July 2026 |title='People are picking the dumbest fights': the tortured history of America's culture wars |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2026/jul/15/culture-wars-isaac-butler-interview |work=The Guardian}}</ref>

== Recent polemical use ==
The expression "'as a Jew' Jew" or simply "AsAJew" (also spelled "asajew")<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lake |first=Eli |date=2024-02-09 |title=A Brief History of the ‘AsAJew’ |url=https://www.commentary.org/articles/eli-lake/asajew-brief-history/ |access-date=2026-09-17 |website=Commentary Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref> emerged as a more specific description of the use of Jewish identity in political arguments. In 2009, the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council published an article discussing the "'as a Jew' Jew", a term it used for Jews who invoke their Jewish identity in political arguments.<ref name="AIJAC20092" /> The expression continued to appear in later discussions of Jewish identity and criticism of Israel. In January 2024, [[Robert Singer (Jewish leader)|Robert Singer]] quoted [[Elie Wiesel]] in the ''[[The Jerusalem Post|Jerusalem Post]]'' as saying, "As a Jew, I need Israel," in an article arguing for the ethical justification of Zionism.<ref name="WieselJPost2" /> In April of that year, Rabbi David Mason wrote in ''Jewish News'' about the Israel–Gaza war, antisemitism and Islamophobia, describing himself as speaking "as a Jew, as a rabbi, and as director of [[HIAS+JCORE]]".<ref name="Mason20242" />

{{Quote box
| quote = "I'm a Jew and I'm criticizing an action of Israel."
| author = [[Ben Cohen (businessman)|Ben Cohen]]
| source = ''No Small Endeavor'', 2021<ref>{{cite web |title=Peace, Justice, Ice Cream: Ben Cohen |url=https://nosmallendeavor.com/episodes/ben-cohen |work=No Small Endeavor |date=14 October 2021}}</ref>
}}

In 2021, [[Ben Cohen (businessman)|Ben Cohen]] and [[Jerry Greenfield]], co-founders of [[Ben & Jerry's]], invoked their Jewish identity when discussing the company's decision to stop selling its products in Israeli settlements in the [[West Bank]]. In a joint statement, Cohen and Greenfield described themselves as "proud Jews" and said that their Jewish identity was part of who they were while explaining their position on Israel and the West Bank.<ref>{{cite web |date=28 July 2021 |title=Ben & Jerry's Founders Explain Why They Support the Company’s Decision to End Sales in Occupied Palestinian Territory |url=https://www.shalomgreensboro.org/cr-updates/ben-and-jerrys-and-israel |access-date=13 September 2026 |website=Jewish Federation of Greater Greensboro}}</ref> Discussing his position on the issue in an interviews, Cohen said, "Yeah, I'm a Jew ... I'm a Jew and I'm criticizing an action of Israel".<ref>{{cite web |date=14 October 2021 |title=Peace, Justice, Ice Cream: Ben Cohen |url=https://www.nosmallendeavor.com/peace-justice-ice-cream-ben-cohen |access-date=13 September 2026 |website=No Small Endeavor}}</ref> Responding to accusations of antisemitism following the company's decision, Cohen said in a different interview, "What, I'm anti-Jewish? I'm a Jew. My family is Jewish. My friends are Jewish."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Leonard |first1=Devin |last2=Afanasieva |first2=Dasha |date=19 February 2023 |title=How Ben & Jerry’s Ended Up At War With Itself |url=https://www.ndtvprofit.com/business/ben-jerry-s-israel-controversy-set-off-unilever-battle-10827992 |access-date=13 September 2026 |website=NDTV Profit}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=11 October 2021 |title=In TV interview, Ben & Jerry's founders say accusations of antisemitism following West Bank pullout are 'absurd' |url=https://www.jta.org/2021/10/11/united-states/in-tv-interview-ben-jerrys-founders-say-accusations-of-antisemitism-following-west-bank-pullout-are-absurd |access-date=13 September 2026 |website=[[Jewish Telegraphic Agency]]}}</ref>

The phrase also became the subject of more explicit discussion in 2024. In April, Matthew Schultz used the term "'as-a-Jew' Jew" in an article for the ''Jewish Journal''. He described people who preface criticism of other Jews or of Israel by emphasizing their Jewish identity, citing actor [[Jonathan Glazer]]'s [[2024 Academy Awards]] speech as an example.<ref name="Schultz2" /> Glazer, accepting the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film for ''The Zone of Interest'', said that he and his fellow filmmakers "refute their Jewishness" in connection with what he called an occupation, and referred to both the victims of the October 7 attacks in Israel and the ongoing attack on Gaza. Jonathan S. Tobin subsequently described Glazer's speech as a quintessential "'as a Jew' moment", arguing that it exemplified the use of Jewish identity to criticize Israel and other Jews.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tobin |first=Jonathan S. |date=2024-03-11 |title='As a Jew' Oscar moment shows how woke antisemitism works |url=https://www.jns.org/column/jonathan-s-tobin/as-a-jew-oscar-moment-shows-how-woke-antisemitism-works |access-date=2026-09-04 |website=Israel & Jewish News |language=en-US}}</ref>

In May 2024, [[Lily Greenberg Call]] resigned from the [[United States Department of the Interior|Department of the Interior]] over the [[Biden administration]]'s policy toward the [[Gaza war]]. She discussed her motives in an opinion article published by ''[[The Guardian]]'' titled "Biden was my boss. I resigned because as a Jew I cannot endorse the Gaza catastrophe", referring to Jewish history and religious values.<ref>{{cite news |last=Greenberg Call |first=Lily |date=28 May 2024 |title=Biden was my boss. I resigned because as a Jew I cannot endorse the Gaza catastrophe |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/may/28/biden-israel-gaza-policy |work=The Guardian}}</ref>

The article was later republished by the ''[[Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle]]''.<ref name="SchultzPJC2">{{Cite web |last=Schultz |first=Matthew |date=2026-08-31 |title=Understanding the 'as-a-Jew' Jew |url=https://jewishchronicle.timesofisrael.com/understanding-the-as-a-jew-jew/ |access-date=2026-09-03 |website=The Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle |language=en-US}}</ref> In September 2025, [[Steven Burg]] published an opinion article in the ''[[The Jerusalem Post|Jerusalem Post]]'' titled "The danger of the rising 'as a Jew' phenomenon", criticizing the use of Jewish identity in arguments against Israel.<ref name="Burg2" /> Later that month, [[Adam Milstein]] wrote in the ''Jerusalem Post'' about Jewish political voices who invoke their Jewish identity in criticism of Israel, describing this as an "'As a Jew' stamp of approval".<ref name="Milstein20252" />

The expression has also been used by Jewish figures to describe their own positions on the Israel–Gaza war and related political questions. In May 2026, ''J.'', a Jewish news publication based in the San Francisco Bay Area, reported on criticism of California state senator [[Scott Wiener]] after he described Israel's actions in [[Gaza Strip|Gaza]] as genocide. The article quoted Wiener as saying, "As a Jew, I am deeply aware that the word 'genocide' was created in the wake of the Holocaust," in explaining his use of the term.<ref name="Wiener20262">{{Cite web |last1=Reicher |first1=Jan |last2=Slepian |first2=Arthur |date=2026-05-27 |title=Scott Wiener said genocide. Here's why Jewish voters should still support him. |url=https://jweekly.com/2026/05/27/scott-wiener-said-genocide-heres-why-jewish-voters-should-still-support-him/ |access-date=2026-09-03 |website=The Jewish News of Northern California |language=en-US}}</ref>

On 2 September 2026, Jewish identity was invoked in a defense of actor [[Mark Ruffalo]] following accusations of antisemitism. An open letter signed by some 170 Jewish figures (artists, writers, etc.) began, "We are Jewish artists, writers, creative professionals, faith leaders and thinkers", before stating that connecting the [[Gaza Strip|war in Gaza]] with developments in Hollywood was "the very essence of Jewish ethical duty".<ref>{{cite web |date=2 September 2026 |title=Mark Ruffalo Defended by Joaquin Phoenix, Hannah Einbinder and More Than 180 Jewish Figures After Paramount Accuses Him of Using 'Antisemitic Tropes' — Read the Open Letter |url=https://au.variety.com/2026/film/news/mark-ruffalo-open-letter-antisemitism-claims-paramount-39883/ |access-date=12 September 2026 |website=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]}}</ref> In a subsequent commentary, Nestor Daniel Scherman of the ''[[The Times of Israel|Times of Israel]]'' questioned why the signatories' Jewish identity was considered relevant to the dispute.<ref>{{cite web |date=3 September 2026 |title=How Many Jews Does It Take to Settle an Antisemitism Charge? |url=https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/how-many-jews-does-it-take-to-settle-an-antisemitism-charge/ |access-date=12 September 2026 |website=[[The Times of Israel]]}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Portal|Judaism}}{{Wiktionary|asajew}}
* [[Jewish identity]]
* [[Jewish ethics]]
* [[Anti-Zionism]]
* [[Self-hating Jew]]
* [[Tokenism]]

== References ==
<references ></references>

[[Category:Sociolinguistics]]
[[Category:English phrases]]
[[Category:Jewish culture]]

As a Jew - Revision history