My father doesnt want me to learn Hebrew and we fought

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So I'm tired of being a stupid bilingual American and want to expand my language repertoire beyond just English and basic Arabic, so in my mind I thought "hey, why not add Hebrew as my next language to learn? After all it is so close to Arabic as a language so it shouldn't be too hard to break into." Also with what's happening in Palestine right now where my family is from I thought why not learn a little about the other side since for better or worse Israel is Palestine's neighbor and learning one of the oldest languages in the world to one of the most successful civilizations in world history would be a great way to help understand Judaism and jews better, since understanding the other side and their customs and culture better is a 1st step in building peace and mutual empathy in the future. So I made up my mind and decided to go and learn Hebrew; I went to Barnes and Noble, ordered 4-5 books as well as the Rosetta Stone for Hebrew and made a plan to learn Hebrew....until my dad found out and he became livid and pissed.

To summarize a long, heated and and very turbulent exchange later, basically he told me that by learning Hebrew im learning the language of "the enemy" (our family is Palestinian) and he accused me of being a traitor and a sell out. He went on some anti-Semitic screeds and lashed out how the Jews killed my uncles and shot my brother and that learning about their "savage culture" makes me spit on the graves of my dead family members killed by Israel. When I tried explaining that learning Hebrew was an educational enrichment 1st and foremost and that Hebrew existed millennia before Israel began, he got mad at me and thought I was undermining him and disrespecting him. He told me that im going astray choosing to learn such a "savage tongue", and he told me that by learning Hebrew im sympathizing with the people who killed my family. No matter what I told him it didnt work and he told me to go back to Barnes and Noble and return all my Hebrew belongings or else id be outed to the community as a traitor, which could lead to some serious backlash and possibly reprisal

Lately ever since what's happened in Palestine this month not only my dad but most of my family, and if you've been watching the news lately the larger Palestinian community, have been unfortunately so gripped by hatred for Israel's crimes and atrocities that rampant anti-Semitism is beginning to define us and quite frankly its embarrassing and hypocritical. No matter how much I try telling my family, my community, and my people whenever I have the platform, despite telling them that its hypocritical every time a Muslim/Palestinian commits a terror attack they always in unison knee jerk proclaim "not all Muslims/not all Palestinians", somehow when it comes to the other side unfortunately the hatred is so strong that its hard to point that out and avoid this. Im witnessing with my own eyes family members, friends, people I grew up with, all of them being morphed by hatred into the very anti-Semites I wished they never turned into. From an aunt telling my family during a gathering how "Hitler's biggest mistake was not wiping them all out", to another aunt saying "Hitler was right when he said 'I could have burned all the Jews but I chose to leave some alive to show the world why I burned them'", to an uncle at a Palestine forum chanting "may God damn the Jews" to even my best friend telling me that if he ever saw a Jew he'd punch him in the face and rob him, the level of anti-Semitism gripping my family, community and people is concerning.

Its become so bad that when I met a guy at a gym who seemed like a really cool dude and someone I could be friends with, when I found out that he's Jewish I was afraid that if I befriend him and my family found out id be deemed a traitor.

Now its become so bad that Palestinians waving swastikas and heiling Hitler are circulating, and the saddest thing is that as much as I want to say that my people are being unfortunately misrepresented the sad fact is that while not all Palestinians are anti-Semitic (like yours truly) enough are where our cause for basic rights and dignity is being derailed when idiots in our communities pull stupid stunts like this.

Its embarrassing when I check the news and im seeing Palestinians act like savages and attack Jews across America, and I wish so so much that these are all fake and false flags but I know its true and I bloody wish it wasn't


its gotten so bad that ive started to avoid family gatherings, especially when certain members are there, due to wanting to avoid hearing the kind of anti-Semitic drivel im forced to hear during gatherings

all around this sucks major. the fact that im barred from learning certain languages, talking to certain people, or connecting to certain cultures because they're from "the enemy" is stupid and outdated.

Aw man, yes, that all does suck majorly.
Wish I had a practical fix for the thing to offer you but I don't even know of an impractical one.

I admire your desire to learn and logic about learning Hebrew.
Makes perfect sense to me.

That was a pretty intense rejection your dad threw at you, dang.
Definitely a deeply emotional thing for him.
And for plenty of other people.

If for no other reason, learning to read what your enemy is saying in their own words would be a useful skill.

That's too bad. I know you'd like to retain your family ties. They aren't making it easy.