"Punishment works!!!" We're drowning in three to four generations of people so pants-shittingly terrified of ever being wrong that half of everyone has constructed a worldview wherein they never even consider the possibility that they could be wrong and the other half behaves like one wrong move will make anything or anyone explode violently into a million irreperable pieces. I don't think it works guys
I know this might be a bold take but maybe teaching everyone from a young age that ever making a mistake will be met with unimaginable pain and misery doesn't actually encourage learning or correct behavior. If anything it creates a sense of terror so powerful it completely suffocates curiosity and exploration, thus leading to people knowing absolutely nothing but whatever is brought directly to them, which is a big problem in a world where information is so tightly controlled that a very small number of very powerful people basically have complete power over what people see and hear on a day-to-day basis when not actively seeking new and rigorously verified information from diverse and trustworthy sources.
if any of this sounds like you, start by looking up the definition of words you've heard and are pretty sure you know what they mean, but haven't actually double-checked for yourself. Just like, whenever it occurs to you. Great first step
This post goes out to the "we need to bring back bullying" crowd. Just because you aren't hitting someone physically doesn't mean you aren't being punitive. Maybe it isn't actually healthy to believe it's necessary to harass and humiliate anyone who makes you upset or uncomfortable. That sounds like a you problem actually.
Anyways, breaking the cycle of abuse starts with you and how you treat yourself. You have to give yourself grace and room for error or you'll never be able to cultivate a healthier mindset than your trauma left you with. It's not easy, but you have to trust yourself that whatever seems kinder than however you usually treat yourself is probably a good enough start.
another thing abt biblical literalism is like. no, the world was not created in six literal days. one explanation that is put forward, at least in jewish thought, is that because g-d is beyond time, it only felt as long to g-d as six days feels to a human.
but i think a much more interesting angle is to ask what the people who came up with and wrote down these stories were trying to communicate -- and, if they believed the stories were literally true, why? what did they observe about their world that led to that conclusion? what does the order of events in the creation story say about the worldview of the culture that originated it? why might they have believed it happened this way? why did light and dark come first? why specifically six days? what steps and changes did this story undergo in the first place to get to the canonical torah text we have now, and how did further translation (jewish and otherwise) further color the way we read this story?
it's so much more interesting to consider the actual complexities and dense history contained within even a single verse of torah than to flat-out insist every detail must be literally true
PLEASE VOTE. IT MATTERS.
I tell this story a lot, but I'm not going to shut up about it, so pay the fuck attention.
I live in a small New England town.
Maybe 10% of the eligable voters show up at non-Presidental elections.
About a decade ago, there was a referendum to build a new middle school. My son was just starting high school, having attended the old, out of date, and badly needing replacing junior high. My daughter lived out of the school district with her mother.
I had no children who were going to be attending that middle school. Keep that part in mind.
I had a part time job in the mornings opening a gym. I live in Northern New England, where some people often have a seasonal business of driving a snow plow. The money is inconsistent, but when it snows, you are very much needed.
The gentleman who drove the plow to clean up the gym's parking lot came in one morning after the morning rush of exercisers checked in and we had time to chitchat. I thanked him for doing the plowing and we were feeling amiable to each other.
The subject of the new school came up, and the referendum to raise the funds that was on the ballot. I mentioned I was voting in favor.
He about tore me a new asshole, how young people (I was in my forties) were foolish, spoiled and wasteful and how there was no way HE was going to vote for such a stupid thing, and wasn't my child in high school anyway and...
Mr. Snowplow showed up at every election. I knew that because I did and we lived in the same ward.
If you do not vote, Mr. Snowplow and people like him are going to be making decisions on YOUR LIFE at VERY IMMEDIATE local levels.
Now, VOTE, dammit
Portrait of a Rabbi with a Young Pupil, Isidor Kaufmann (1853-1921), Hungarian.
oil on panel
21 by 26.7 cm
The sensitive Portrait of a Rabbi with a Young Pupil reflects the deep respect and admiration that Isidor Kaufmann felt for Jewish life and religious figures whom he encountered during his summer visits to the shtetls in the Pale of Settlement in the early 1900s.
In the present work, a dignified young Rabbi and his pupil are posed before an embroidered Torah Ark curtain. The closeness of the two figures, the child leaning slightly in towards the older man, suggest that they are possibly a father and son. Behind them, the beige and crimson velvet curtain embroidered in silver and gold thread, envelopes the two figures in an atmosphere of intense holiness. Both the solemn Rabbi and the young child gaze downwards in a moment of intense spirituality. The embroidered letters Kaf Tav (Keter Torah, Crown of Torah) are precisely centered above the two figures, symbolizing their devotion to a life based on Jewish faith and religious practice. The luster of the painting is enhanced by the richly embroidered collar of the man’s Tallit, the Atara, which stands out from the cream-colored fabric of the Tallit itself. Details such as this, as well as the exquisite portrayal of the soft skin tones, the texture of the Rabbi’s dark beard, and the majestic fur shtreimels, create a remarkable sense of realism. In another second, we expect the Rabbi to lift his eyes and begin to speak.
[x]
Does anyone remember the actual genocide perpetrated against the Yazidis? I do.
The taking of Yazidi girls and women as sex slaves by ISIS terrorists, radical Islamists, was a particularly horrifying part of that crime against that ethno-religious group.
We got some good news for Rosh Ha'Shana:
(for all of my updates and ask replies regarding Israel, click here)
I'm sure many people have already shared this here, but I think it's important that people here on Tumblr need to see this.
"I disagree with Kamala's position on the war in Gaza. How can I vote for her?" by US Senator Bernie Sanders
His question is NOT RHETORICAL by the way! Transcript for anyone who struggles with video:
“I understand that there are millions of Americans who disagree with President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on the terrible war in Gaza.
I am one of them.
While Israel had a right to defend itself against the horrific Hamas terrorist attack of October 7th, which killed 1,200 innocent people and took 250 hostages, it did not have a right to wage an all-out war against the entire Palestinian people.
It did not have the right to kill 42,000 Palestinians, two thirds of whom were children, women and the elderly, or injure over 100,000 people in Gaza.
It did not have the right to destroy Gaza's infrastructure, housing, and healthcare system. It did not have the right to bomb every one of Gaza's 12 universities.
It did not have the right to block humanitarian aid, causing massive malnutrition in children and, in fact, starvation.
And that is why I am doing everything I can to block U.S. military aid and offensive weapon sales to the right-wing extremist Netanyahu government in Israel. And I know that many of you share those feelings, and some of you are saying,
"How can I vote for Kamala Harris if she is supporting this terrible war?"
And that is a very fair question. And let me give you my best answer. And that is that even on this issue, Donald Trump and his right-wing friends are worse. In the Senate, in Congress, the Republicans have worked overtime to block humanitarian aid to the starving children in Gaza. The President and Vice President both support getting as much humanitarian aid into Gaza as soon as possible.
Trump has said Netanyahu is "doing a good job", and has said Biden is "holding him back". He has suggested the Gaza strip would make excellent beachfront property for development. And it is no wonder Netanyahu prefers to have Donald Trump in office.
But even more importantly - and this I promise you - after Kamala wins, we will together do everything that we can to change U.S. policy toward Netanyahu. An immediate ceasefire, the return of all hostages, a surge of massive humanitarian aid, the stopping of settler attacks on the West Bank, and the rebuilding of Gaza for the Palestinian people.
And let me be clear. We will have, in my view, a much better chance of changing U.S. policy with Kamala than with Trump, who is extremely close to Netanyahu and sees him as a like-minded, right-wing extremist ally.
But let me also say this - and I deal with this every single day as a U.S. Senator - as important as Gaza is, and as strongly as many of us feel about this issue, it is not the only issue at stake in this election.
If Trump wins, women in this country will suffer an enormous setback and lose the ability to control their own bodies. That is not acceptable.
If Trump wins, to be honest with you, the struggle against climate change is over. While virtually every scientist who has studied the issue understands that climate change is real, and an existential threat to our country and the world, Trump believes it is a "hoax". And if the United States, the largest economy in the world, stops transforming our energy system away from fossil fuel, every other country - China, Europe, all over the world - they will do exactly the same thing. And God only knows the kind of planet we will leave to our kids and future generations.
If Trump wins, at a time of massive income and wealth inequality, he will demand even more tax breaks for the very richest people in our country while cutting back on programs that working families desperately need. The rich will only get richer while the minimum wage will remain at $7.25 an hour and millions of our fellow workers will continue to earn starvation wages.
Did you all see the recent Trump rally at Madison Square Gardens? Well, I did. And what I can tell you is that, as a nation, as all of you know, we have struggled for years, against impossible odds, to overcome all forms of bigotry - whether it's racism, whether it's sexism, whether it's homophobia, whether it's xenophobia, you name it. We have tried to fight against bigotry. But that is exactly what we saw on display at that unbelievable Trump rally. It was not a question of speakers getting up there, disagreeing with Kamala Harris on the issue. That wasn't the issue at all. They were attacking her simply because she was a woman, and a woman of colour. Extreme, vulgar sexism and racism.
Is that really the kind of America that we can allow?
So let me conclude by saying this: this is the most consequential election in our lifetimes. Many of you have differences of opinion with Kamala Harris on Gaza. So do I.
But we cannot sit this election out. Trump has got to be defeated. Let's do everything we can in the next week to make sure that Kamala Harris is our next president.
Thank you very much.”
I'm sure many people have already shared this here, but I think it's important that people here on Tumblr need to see this.
"I disagree with Kamala's position on the war in Gaza. How can I vote for her?" by US Senator Bernie Sanders
His question is NOT RHETORICAL by the way! Transcript for anyone who struggles with video:
“I understand that there are millions of Americans who disagree with President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on the terrible war in Gaza.
I am one of them.
While Israel had a right to defend itself against the horrific Hamas terrorist attack of October 7th, which killed 1,200 innocent people and took 250 hostages, it did not have a right to wage an all-out war against the entire Palestinian people.
It did not have the right to kill 42,000 Palestinians, two thirds of whom were children, women and the elderly, or injure over 100,000 people in Gaza.
It did not have the right to destroy Gaza's infrastructure, housing, and healthcare system. It did not have the right to bomb every one of Gaza's 12 universities.
It did not have the right to block humanitarian aid, causing massive malnutrition in children and, in fact, starvation.
And that is why I am doing everything I can to block U.S. military aid and offensive weapon sales to the right-wing extremist Netanyahu government in Israel. And I know that many of you share those feelings, and some of you are saying,
"How can I vote for Kamala Harris if she is supporting this terrible war?"
And that is a very fair question. And let me give you my best answer. And that is that even on this issue, Donald Trump and his right-wing friends are worse. In the Senate, in Congress, the Republicans have worked overtime to block humanitarian aid to the starving children in Gaza. The President and Vice President both support getting as much humanitarian aid into Gaza as soon as possible.
Trump has said Netanyahu is "doing a good job", and has said Biden is "holding him back". He has suggested the Gaza strip would make excellent beachfront property for development. And it is no wonder Netanyahu prefers to have Donald Trump in office.
But even more importantly - and this I promise you - after Kamala wins, we will together do everything that we can to change U.S. policy toward Netanyahu. An immediate ceasefire, the return of all hostages, a surge of massive humanitarian aid, the stopping of settler attacks on the West Bank, and the rebuilding of Gaza for the Palestinian people.
And let me be clear. We will have, in my view, a much better chance of changing U.S. policy with Kamala than with Trump, who is extremely close to Netanyahu and sees him as a like-minded, right-wing extremist ally.
But let me also say this - and I deal with this every single day as a U.S. Senator - as important as Gaza is, and as strongly as many of us feel about this issue, it is not the only issue at stake in this election.
If Trump wins, women in this country will suffer an enormous setback and lose the ability to control their own bodies. That is not acceptable.
If Trump wins, to be honest with you, the struggle against climate change is over. While virtually every scientist who has studied the issue understands that climate change is real, and an existential threat to our country and the world, Trump believes it is a "hoax". And if the United States, the largest economy in the world, stops transforming our energy system away from fossil fuel, every other country - China, Europe, all over the world - they will do exactly the same thing. And God only knows the kind of planet we will leave to our kids and future generations.
If Trump wins, at a time of massive income and wealth inequality, he will demand even more tax breaks for the very richest people in our country while cutting back on programs that working families desperately need. The rich will only get richer while the minimum wage will remain at $7.25 an hour and millions of our fellow workers will continue to earn starvation wages.
Did you all see the recent Trump rally at Madison Square Gardens? Well, I did. And what I can tell you is that, as a nation, as all of you know, we have struggled for years, against impossible odds, to overcome all forms of bigotry - whether it's racism, whether it's sexism, whether it's homophobia, whether it's xenophobia, you name it. We have tried to fight against bigotry. But that is exactly what we saw on display at that unbelievable Trump rally. It was not a question of speakers getting up there, disagreeing with Kamala Harris on the issue. That wasn't the issue at all. They were attacking her simply because she was a woman, and a woman of colour. Extreme, vulgar sexism and racism.
Is that really the kind of America that we can allow?
So let me conclude by saying this: this is the most consequential election in our lifetimes. Many of you have differences of opinion with Kamala Harris on Gaza. So do I.
But we cannot sit this election out. Trump has got to be defeated. Let's do everything we can in the next week to make sure that Kamala Harris is our next president.
Thank you very much.”
I'm sure many people have already shared this here, but I think it's important that people here on Tumblr need to see this.
"I disagree with Kamala's position on the war in Gaza. How can I vote for her?" by US Senator Bernie Sanders
His question is NOT RHETORICAL by the way! Transcript for anyone who struggles with video:
“I understand that there are millions of Americans who disagree with President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on the terrible war in Gaza.
I am one of them.
While Israel had a right to defend itself against the horrific Hamas terrorist attack of October 7th, which killed 1,200 innocent people and took 250 hostages, it did not have a right to wage an all-out war against the entire Palestinian people.
It did not have the right to kill 42,000 Palestinians, two thirds of whom were children, women and the elderly, or injure over 100,000 people in Gaza.
It did not have the right to destroy Gaza's infrastructure, housing, and healthcare system. It did not have the right to bomb every one of Gaza's 12 universities.
It did not have the right to block humanitarian aid, causing massive malnutrition in children and, in fact, starvation.
And that is why I am doing everything I can to block U.S. military aid and offensive weapon sales to the right-wing extremist Netanyahu government in Israel. And I know that many of you share those feelings, and some of you are saying,
"How can I vote for Kamala Harris if she is supporting this terrible war?"
And that is a very fair question. And let me give you my best answer. And that is that even on this issue, Donald Trump and his right-wing friends are worse. In the Senate, in Congress, the Republicans have worked overtime to block humanitarian aid to the starving children in Gaza. The President and Vice President both support getting as much humanitarian aid into Gaza as soon as possible.
Trump has said Netanyahu is "doing a good job", and has said Biden is "holding him back". He has suggested the Gaza strip would make excellent beachfront property for development. And it is no wonder Netanyahu prefers to have Donald Trump in office.
But even more importantly - and this I promise you - after Kamala wins, we will together do everything that we can to change U.S. policy toward Netanyahu. An immediate ceasefire, the return of all hostages, a surge of massive humanitarian aid, the stopping of settler attacks on the West Bank, and the rebuilding of Gaza for the Palestinian people.
And let me be clear. We will have, in my view, a much better chance of changing U.S. policy with Kamala than with Trump, who is extremely close to Netanyahu and sees him as a like-minded, right-wing extremist ally.
But let me also say this - and I deal with this every single day as a U.S. Senator - as important as Gaza is, and as strongly as many of us feel about this issue, it is not the only issue at stake in this election.
If Trump wins, women in this country will suffer an enormous setback and lose the ability to control their own bodies. That is not acceptable.
If Trump wins, to be honest with you, the struggle against climate change is over. While virtually every scientist who has studied the issue understands that climate change is real, and an existential threat to our country and the world, Trump believes it is a "hoax". And if the United States, the largest economy in the world, stops transforming our energy system away from fossil fuel, every other country - China, Europe, all over the world - they will do exactly the same thing. And God only knows the kind of planet we will leave to our kids and future generations.
If Trump wins, at a time of massive income and wealth inequality, he will demand even more tax breaks for the very richest people in our country while cutting back on programs that working families desperately need. The rich will only get richer while the minimum wage will remain at $7.25 an hour and millions of our fellow workers will continue to earn starvation wages.
Did you all see the recent Trump rally at Madison Square Gardens? Well, I did. And what I can tell you is that, as a nation, as all of you know, we have struggled for years, against impossible odds, to overcome all forms of bigotry - whether it's racism, whether it's sexism, whether it's homophobia, whether it's xenophobia, you name it. We have tried to fight against bigotry. But that is exactly what we saw on display at that unbelievable Trump rally. It was not a question of speakers getting up there, disagreeing with Kamala Harris on the issue. That wasn't the issue at all. They were attacking her simply because she was a woman, and a woman of colour. Extreme, vulgar sexism and racism.
Is that really the kind of America that we can allow?
So let me conclude by saying this: this is the most consequential election in our lifetimes. Many of you have differences of opinion with Kamala Harris on Gaza. So do I.
But we cannot sit this election out. Trump has got to be defeated. Let's do everything we can in the next week to make sure that Kamala Harris is our next president.
Thank you very much.”
I'm sure many people have already shared this here, but I think it's important that people here on Tumblr need to see this.
"I disagree with Kamala's position on the war in Gaza. How can I vote for her?" by US Senator Bernie Sanders
His question is NOT RHETORICAL by the way! Transcript for anyone who struggles with video:
“I understand that there are millions of Americans who disagree with President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on the terrible war in Gaza.
I am one of them.
While Israel had a right to defend itself against the horrific Hamas terrorist attack of October 7th, which killed 1,200 innocent people and took 250 hostages, it did not have a right to wage an all-out war against the entire Palestinian people.
It did not have the right to kill 42,000 Palestinians, two thirds of whom were children, women and the elderly, or injure over 100,000 people in Gaza.
It did not have the right to destroy Gaza's infrastructure, housing, and healthcare system. It did not have the right to bomb every one of Gaza's 12 universities.
It did not have the right to block humanitarian aid, causing massive malnutrition in children and, in fact, starvation.
And that is why I am doing everything I can to block U.S. military aid and offensive weapon sales to the right-wing extremist Netanyahu government in Israel. And I know that many of you share those feelings, and some of you are saying,
"How can I vote for Kamala Harris if she is supporting this terrible war?"
And that is a very fair question. And let me give you my best answer. And that is that even on this issue, Donald Trump and his right-wing friends are worse. In the Senate, in Congress, the Republicans have worked overtime to block humanitarian aid to the starving children in Gaza. The President and Vice President both support getting as much humanitarian aid into Gaza as soon as possible.
Trump has said Netanyahu is "doing a good job", and has said Biden is "holding him back". He has suggested the Gaza strip would make excellent beachfront property for development. And it is no wonder Netanyahu prefers to have Donald Trump in office.
But even more importantly - and this I promise you - after Kamala wins, we will together do everything that we can to change U.S. policy toward Netanyahu. An immediate ceasefire, the return of all hostages, a surge of massive humanitarian aid, the stopping of settler attacks on the West Bank, and the rebuilding of Gaza for the Palestinian people.
And let me be clear. We will have, in my view, a much better chance of changing U.S. policy with Kamala than with Trump, who is extremely close to Netanyahu and sees him as a like-minded, right-wing extremist ally.
But let me also say this - and I deal with this every single day as a U.S. Senator - as important as Gaza is, and as strongly as many of us feel about this issue, it is not the only issue at stake in this election.
If Trump wins, women in this country will suffer an enormous setback and lose the ability to control their own bodies. That is not acceptable.
If Trump wins, to be honest with you, the struggle against climate change is over. While virtually every scientist who has studied the issue understands that climate change is real, and an existential threat to our country and the world, Trump believes it is a "hoax". And if the United States, the largest economy in the world, stops transforming our energy system away from fossil fuel, every other country - China, Europe, all over the world - they will do exactly the same thing. And God only knows the kind of planet we will leave to our kids and future generations.
If Trump wins, at a time of massive income and wealth inequality, he will demand even more tax breaks for the very richest people in our country while cutting back on programs that working families desperately need. The rich will only get richer while the minimum wage will remain at $7.25 an hour and millions of our fellow workers will continue to earn starvation wages.
Did you all see the recent Trump rally at Madison Square Gardens? Well, I did. And what I can tell you is that, as a nation, as all of you know, we have struggled for years, against impossible odds, to overcome all forms of bigotry - whether it's racism, whether it's sexism, whether it's homophobia, whether it's xenophobia, you name it. We have tried to fight against bigotry. But that is exactly what we saw on display at that unbelievable Trump rally. It was not a question of speakers getting up there, disagreeing with Kamala Harris on the issue. That wasn't the issue at all. They were attacking her simply because she was a woman, and a woman of colour. Extreme, vulgar sexism and racism.
Is that really the kind of America that we can allow?
So let me conclude by saying this: this is the most consequential election in our lifetimes. Many of you have differences of opinion with Kamala Harris on Gaza. So do I.
But we cannot sit this election out. Trump has got to be defeated. Let's do everything we can in the next week to make sure that Kamala Harris is our next president.
Thank you very much.”
it's so annoying seeing posts about Jewish culture—cutesy posts about fighting with g-d that appeal to Christian atheists' religious trauma, posts with Jewish music, posts with pictures of beautiful Jews—getting tens or even hundreds of thousands of notes, but the moment someone makes a post about antisemitism—about how it's built in to Western society, about how it's insidious and creeping, about how you've probably internalized it, about the difficulties we face and the grief we feel—they fail to break jumblr containment. Don't get me wrong, I love that goyim are celebrating Jewish culture as something beautiful and wonderful, but that can't be all we are to you. We're real people with real problems that you can't just ignore in favor of reblogging posts about bagels or whatever
@drowkarios why would you hide this in the tags, this is SO TRUE. There's also ex Christians who treat Judaism as though it's the exact same as Christianity, just without Jesus, and thus must have all the same beliefs that caused them to leave, so they criticize the faith wholly inaccurately
The perversion of what they think “chosen people” and “Tikkun olam” means is genuinely sickening to me.
We’re fictional characters and literary devices, that’s what Jews are to billions of people.
As soon as we stop being figments of an Aesop’s fable they were told as a kid they close up shop and move out OR they have a temper tantrum that we’re not like the Jews in their head at all, and say actually we have nothing to do with the Jews from their books
the Jews of their literary imagination and folklore *is* the anti-semitism
“People love dead Jews” thats why they reblog the funny Jewish stuff and not the antisemitism education, and more than a few history and religion blogs are guilty of promoting Dead Jews over the living Jews on tumblr
Tibetan women, Tibet/China, by Kin Chan Coedel
Today is the anniversary of the Tree of Life synagogue massacre in the Gregorian calendar. It happened in 2018, not that long ago, almost yesterday in Jewish time, but so many more horrific things have rocked our community since then, that it seems to have been overlooked. And it's devastating. It's devastating that in the six years since that day, hundreds more Jews have been killed for the sole reason that they were Jews, for the same ancient hatred that fueled Robert Bowers to open fire in a synagogue on Shabbat and kill eleven Jews. We can't let it be forgotten. It was forgotten by the rest of the world almost as soon as soon as it happened, but we can't let it be forgotten amongst us Jews. Our memory is what keeps us going.
You can't say "I love Jews" and then say "I hope Israel is bombed to glass." You cannot claim to love a group of people and then hope that half of them die. That's not how love works.
first be welcoming to jewish and israeli migrants, while israel exists
then talk about creating 9million more of us
also like. y’all saw what happened when there was a plane of israelis that was going to land in russia and there was a literal POGROM right? if people are storming an airport because of a single plane full of israelis who aren’t even planning on staying there, how will they react to several million israelis coming to live in their country permanently?
jews in the diaspora are already being punished for our perceived connection to israel. israeli students in the diaspora are being targeted with violence and exclusion from society. how will these people who are perpetuating this violence react to it being several million israelis instead of just a handful? and if you think “well if israel is dissolved then people won’t be mad anymore and everything will be fine” you are utterly disconnected from reality. people will want revenge, because they have openly said so. so how are you going to mitigate this? what is your plan?
"DNI: Standard DNI criteria" is so funny, like anyone checking if they should interact is gonna be familiar enough with dni's to know the standard redundant options. really exposes the purpose of them, they signal an in-group to other people with the same DNI rather than actually being a warning for potentially unwanted interactions.
me when im a self-identifying Bad Person and someone says not to interact: "oh, thanks for letting me know, i'll be off"
Sally Rooney, Arundhati Roy and Percival Everett are among almost 400 authors preparing to call for a boycott of Israeli cultural institutions that they claim are “complicit in genocide”.
The authors of Normal People, The God of Small Things and James respectively have signed a pledge promising to boycott Israeli publishers, book festivals and literary agencies that have not spoken out against their country’s role in the war in Gaza.
However, the move has caused alarm among other literary figures, with one prominent agent warning that it effectively amounts to a “cultural ban of all Israeli voices”.
Lee Child, the bestselling author of the Jack Reacher novels, urged fellow writers not to “attack the very people whose hearts are still in the right place”, adding that Israeli creatives are the “nation’s only voices for peace and common sense”.
I want to understand how these leftist authors/creatives don’t seem to comprehend that this is the kind of censorship imposed by authoritarians and doesn’t actually help anyone, but could do serious harm to voices working to create change. it doesn’t make sense. do they have no grasp of historical context or what this makes them sound like?
the rest of this is under the cut, but it concludes, “The target of their ire is just wrong because the people who will suffer from this will be Israelis who are on the left and anti-Netanyahu. There is no wisdom for this boycott which is born out of hatred and antisemitism.”
in addition: i’ve said this before, but you cannot pretend to care abt sephardi and mizrahi and maghrebi jews and then actively call for the complete and utter rejection and silencing of all israeli voices. the majority of sephardi, mizrahi, and maghrebi jews live in israel. the vast majority of the cultures of these groups is there. this is where most of their active synagogues are, where they are making art and music, where they are writing poetry and memoirs and political theory. whether you like it or not, israel is the current center for non ashkenazi culture, and you cannot claim to care abt “black and brown” jews if you won’t listen to most of them simply bc of where they were born or were forced to flee.