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Charlie Keeble
An Autistic Conservative Inspired by Zionism

Introspection of an Autistic Zionist

The London October 7 Memorial in Hyde Park

In London’s Hyde Park, I came to an October 7th memorial service for the murdered victims and hostages. I felt humbled to be there, and I graced myself with my own banner declaring my support for the Jewish people. I got quite a lot of appreciative gestures from them. I reflected on what I had done these last 12 months speaking up for Israel’s right to defend itself, including the defence of the Jewish people’s right to live and be safe in Britain. They needed friends and supporters when they were facing a toxic society of Jew-hatred from social justice campaigners who provocatively defamed them to satisfy their own moral supremacy. The irony is lost on them with their brainless mob tactics where they can’t see their emotion-driven stupidity.

That banner I carried had a phrase that I had also made onto a t-shirt I made for brave autistic warriors for Zionism. It reads “I am autistic, but I am not a Jew. I am a neurodivergent Zionist and a proud friend of Jews”. It shows just how brave I can be in the face of antisemitism as a non-Jew in the public space. The words mean how much I value Jewish lives as they give me a good reason to be accepting of my autism as Jews believe in spiritual beings within neurodiversity. I listened to the speeches and they were delivered with elegance and piety that fulfilled the crowd of Jews and Gentiles with grace.

Jewish actress and playwright Tracey Ann Oberman led the service, with speakers including Simon Schama, Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mervis, the UK ambassador to Israel Tzipi Hotovely, Ada Sagi a hostage survivor, Barak Deri a wounded IDF soldier who was one of the first to make it to Kibbutz Be’eri, and Mandy Damari the mother of British Israeli hostage Emily Damari. I was very moved by Mandy’s solemn tribute to her daughter, who is still in captivity one year on. My friend Reverend Hayley Ace was at the service and she was amazed by the way I was standing up for Israel in this eccentric way that I use my autism advocacy ideas to show appreciation to the Jewish people by celebrating what they have done to advance neurodiversity. I told some of these stories to those curious about me having seen my banner.

Only a few days earlier I was at the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham where I told the delegates at the Friends of Israel fringe event how thankful I am for the Jewish state to exist as a sanctuary nation where I can live life to the fullest. Autistic people share a common trait together with Jews, they are both resilient, strong and made to be indomitable. This introspection about the last 12 months of my life has made me realize that my motivations for standing up for Israel have changed my outlook on advocacy for neurodiversity. Just as with the gay community taking sides with the Palestinians on the false premise that it serves their intersectional social activism, the disability community has followed the lie that they are liberating a superficial country that makes them appear more stupid than their impairments would prove people with ableist prejudices right about them. But I found standing out and telling the truth about Israel and speaking up for the Jewish people to be more noble and righteous, as I had a greater sense of moral clarity than they had.

Recently I met with Robert Jenrick again who is running to be the Conservative Party leader. I told him how admirable it was for him to be standing up for Israel and defending Britain against the Islamic terrorists especially those that are acting as agents on behalf of the Islamic Republic. Jenrick is my preferred first choice of party leader and I think he will make Britain more secure by not pandering to illiberal leftist lobby groups who have made Britain’s civil justice and equality industry a dysfunctional mess that has impaired social harmony. I spoke with his wife Michal who was born in Israel. She was intrigued by my stories of how much I had devoted to speaking up for Israel and amazed by the stories I had to tell about Jewish people advancing neurodiversity through science and social enterprises.

To paraphrase Hans Asperger’s words, it seems that for autism to succeed in a progressive nationalist way a dash of Zionism is essential. I have spent so much time speaking up for Israel that I tend to see the Jewish state as metaphorically autistic, both vibrantly and holistically. Autistic people and those with other types of disabilities are so well integrated into Israeli society that even those people on the spectrum can be defenders of peace and security in the region. I read one article that praised the remarkable talents of their neurodivergent Unit 9900, which played a major role in the attack on Hezbollah’s terrorist agents. Like the way, they use their observation and analytical skills with algorithms to target Hezbollah’s terror network and hack the pagers to explode in their pockets. They were extremely dedicated and I love those kinds of autism warriors.

Other than the defence sector and military services you can also see autistic people in Israeli society with dignity and fulfilment. Why would the vast majority of the disability community completely dismiss the suffering of the captured Israelis? The Palestinian terrorists seem to have made them bow over to their cause because they project the strongest grievances that are more satisfying to their social activism. Just as they get easily psychologically manipulated into their game. One central part of the disability movement is resisting eugenics. The Jews have survived many attempts by social eugenics to eliminate them from other nations. I have learned from them how to be resilient and resist eugenics by learning to fight back against people who think I don’t deserve to live or share a common space in the public domain. Many autistic people like me want the freedom to create our own prosperity through advancement in society and be joyful in a civilised world. Israel makes a very fitting metaphor for where an autistic person can make a life of their own and I would like to build an enterprise with Israel.

Along the course of my advocacy for Israel, I found myself becoming a social media advocate for Israel. I didn’t set out to gain new followers on social media but my autistic Zionist journey proved me to be very determined to show the world how great the Jews were to inspire my autism advocacy. I made many new friends – Jewish and gentile- and they were deeply honoured by how I celebrated Judaism and showed how Zionism builds better nations of life and creativity. Some of them are autistic Jews and introduced me to fighting for the truth on the frontline of the information war. One of them believes that I am the voice of Israel that Britain needs right now. In fact, I use my advocacy to promote UK-Israel friendships. I would very much like to make a documentary exploring the greatest achievements that Jewish people have made for people with disabilities. It’s an extraordinary story that may have an impact that the Jewish people will appreciate as much as I value their indomitable and inventive spirit.

About the Author
Charlie Keeble is a journalist and author of three books focusing on his autism and the advocacy work he celebrates for his self-determination. He takes inspiration from Zionism to build his autistic advocacy movement such as the Jewish practice of Tikkun Olam, and how Israel is a place of a grand spectrum of creative ideas. Autism and Zionism both believe in bright ideas with infinite imagination around the world. Charlie has ambitions to work in journalism telling the story about how autism makes him stronger and more determined than most people you will ever meet. He is a passionate science geek with a burning ambition to invent something that shows his integrity as a creator. He previously worked as an ambassador for the London Science Museum, and once applied to become an astronaut with the European Space Agency.
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