--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: ...Jews must learn to say without excuse…" description: "\"...Jews must learn to say without excuse, without equivocation: despite our history and our powerlessness in the past, despite allthe injustices that w..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f0/irena-klepfisz-34678_despite_jews-must-learn-to-say-without-excuse-wi_2304972.jpg" --- # ...Jews must learn to say without excuse, without… ![“...Jews must learn to say without excuse, without equivocation: despite our history and our powerlessness in the past, despite allthe injustices that we have endured--today, now, the Palestinians are the victims of oppression, and their oppressors are the Israelis.” quote by Irena Klepfisz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f0/irena-klepfisz-34678_despite_jews-must-learn-to-say-without-excuse-wi_2304972.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f0/irena-klepfisz-34678_despite_jews-must-learn-to-say-without-excuse-wi_2304972.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f0/irena-klepfisz-34678_despite_jews-must-learn-to-say-without-excuse-wi_2304972.jpg) > “...Jews must learn to say without excuse, without equivocation: despite our history and our powerlessness in the past, despite allthe injustices that we have endured--today, now, the Palestinians are the victims of oppression, and their oppressors are the Israelis.” [Irena Klepfisz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irena-klepfisz/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The author urges Jews to acknowledge past powerlessness and recognize current Palestinian oppression by Israelis. **In simple terms:** Jews should recognize past weakness and current Israeli oppression of Palestinians. Key Takeaway Acknowledge history and support justice. Themes justice historical responsibility solidarity Mood serious reflective Type political ethical When to use this quote - activism - education - policy advocacy Key Concepts human rights Middle East conflict collective memory Questions to Reflect On - How can individuals act responsibly? - What steps lead to meaningful change? A Different Perspective Complex political realities may resist simple moral assignments. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Despite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/despite/) [Equivocation Despite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/equivocation-despite-5457875/) [Excuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/excuse/) [Injustice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/injustice/) [Injustices Endured](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/injustices-endured-2092288/) [Israel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/israel/) [Jew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jew/) [Judaism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/judaism/) [Justice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/justice/) [Oppression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/oppression/) [Oppressors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/oppressors/) [Palestinian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/palestinian/) [Palestinians Victims](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/palestinians-victims-2342459/) [Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) [Powerlessness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/powerlessness/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Today](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/today/) [Today Palestinians](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/today-palestinians-4168680/) [Victim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/victim/) [Victims Oppression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/victims-oppression-1568730/) ## Related quotes > [...Jews must learn to say without excuse, without equivocation: despite our history and our powerlessnessin the past, despite all the injustices that we have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irena-klepfisz/jews-must-learn-to-say-without-excuse-without-equivocation-despite/) [Irena Klepfisz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irena-klepfisz/) > [Everybody is somebody's Jew. And today the Palestinians are the Jews of the Israelis.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/primo-levi/everybody-is-somebody-s-jew-and-today-the-palestinians-are-the-jews/) [Primo Levi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/primo-levi/) > [The injustices endured by black Americans at the hands of their own government have no parallel in our history, not only during the period…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-webb/the-injustices-endured-by-black-americans-at-the-hands-of-their-own/) [Jim Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-webb/) > [Palestinians are not victims in need of aid, they are an occupied & oppressed people in need of freedom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/remi-kanazi/palestinians-are-not-victims-in-need-of-aid-they-are-an-occupied/) [Remi Kanazi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/remi-kanazi/) > [At the Carter Center we work with victims of oppression, and we give support to human rights heroes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-carter/at-the-carter-center-we-work-with-victims-of-oppression-and-we-give/) [Jimmy Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-carter/) > [“Liberals stand up for victims of oppression and exclusion. They fight to break down arbitrary barriers (such as those based on race, and more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-haidt/liberals-stand-up-for-victims-of-oppression-and-exclusion-they-fight-2/) [Jonathan Haidt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-haidt/) > [“Liberals stand up for victims of oppression and exclusion. They fight to break down arbitrary barriers (such as those based on race, and more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-haidt/liberals-stand-up-for-victims-of-oppression-and-exclusion-they-fight/) [Jonathan Haidt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-haidt/) > [“What social justice requires, King assumes, cannot be discerned in the abstract from the safe distance of a policy analyst or an academic theorist.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-d-marshall/what-social-justice-requires-king-assumes-cannot-be-discerned-in-the/) [Christopher D. Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-d-marshall/) > [“When I look at people talking about intersectionality, what I see is the human being magnifying a biological attribute, and then putting them aside,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayaan-hirsi-ali/when-i-look-at-people-talking-about-intersectionality-what-i-see-is/) [Ayaan Hirsi Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayaan-hirsi-ali/) > [Victims of oppression & injustice don't need our spasm of passion…they need our legs & lungs of endurance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-haugen/victims-of-oppression-injustice-don-t-need-our-spasm-of-passion-they/) [Gary Haugen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-haugen/) > [Tout re volutionnaire finit en oppresseur ou en he re tique. Every revolutionary ends as an oppressor or a heretic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/tout-re-volutionnaire-finit-en-oppresseur-ou-en-he-re-tique-every/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [All who live in tyranny and hopelessness can know: The United States will not ignore your oppression, or excuse your oppressors. When you stand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/all-who-live-in-tyranny-and-hopelessness-can-know-the-united-states/) [George W. 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For if we want liberation for women, then we're committed to building a society in which these distances--of class…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irena-klepfisz/how-do-we-work-together-for-if-we-want-liberation-for-women-then-we/) [Irena Klepfisz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irena-klepfisz/) > [...I've stopped wanting to do any work at all. All work is bullshit. Everyone knows that. 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Amerike iz goles, America is exile,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irena-klepfisz/poland-remains-undzer-heym-our-home-no-matter-how-bitter-the-memories/) [Irena Klepfisz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irena-klepfisz/) > [...I am an outsider, a lesbian, a shikse. The Jewish community is not my community. But as a Jew--as a Jew in a Christian,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irena-klepfisz/i-am-an-outsider-a-lesbian-a-shikse-the-jewish-community-is-not-my/) [Irena Klepfisz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irena-klepfisz/) > [...Jews must learn to say without excuse, without equivocation: despite our history and our powerlessnessin the past, despite all the injustices that we have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irena-klepfisz/jews-must-learn-to-say-without-excuse-without-equivocation-despite/) [Irena Klepfisz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irena-klepfisz/) > [To most middle-class feminists, as to most middle-class non-feminists, working-class women remain mysterious creatures to be “reached out to” in some abstract way. No…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irena-klepfisz/to-most-middle-class-feminists-as-to-most-middle-class-non-feminists/) [Irena Klepfisz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irena-klepfisz/) > [“I numb myself and begin the body check skimming quickly unwilling to be caught in strangers' tragedies, only looking directly at those whom I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irena-klepfisz/i-numb-myself-and-begin-the-body-check-skimming-quickly-unwilling-to/) [Irena Klepfisz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irena-klepfisz/) > [Most Jewish feminists and gays that I know remain angry and frustrated by Jewish progressives. 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Endless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-lawlor/we-are-all-pilgrims-on-an-elusive-and-endless-road-despite-our/) [Anthony Lawlor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-lawlor/) [Browse all 1,464 Despite quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/despite/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "...Jews must learn to say without excuse, without equivocation: despite our history and our powerlessness in the past, despite allthe injustices that we have endured--today, now, the Palestinians are the victims of oppression, and their oppressors are the Israelis.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Irena Klepfisz" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irena-klepfisz/jews-must-learn-to-say-without-excuse-without-equivocation-despite-2/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Despite" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irena-klepfisz/jews-must-learn-to-say-without-excuse-without-equivocation-despite-2/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f0/irena-klepfisz-34678_despite_jews-must-learn-to-say-without-excuse-wi_2304972.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f0/irena-klepfisz-34678_despite_jews-must-learn-to-say-without-excuse-wi_2304972.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f0/irena-klepfisz-34678_despite_jews-must-learn-to-say-without-excuse-wi_2304972.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“...Jews must learn to say without excuse, without equivocation: despite our history and our powerlessness in…” — Irena Klepfisz", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Irena Klepfisz", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irena-klepfisz/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "...Jews must learn to say without...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irena-klepfisz/jews-must-learn-to-say-without-excuse-without-equivocation-despite-2/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irena-klepfisz/jews-must-learn-to-say-without-excuse-without-equivocation-despite-2/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```