George Yancy: If the State of the World Makes You Want to Scream, You’re Not Alone
We must face the weight of such social evils and be prepared to also face the ways in which we are complicit with them, especially when we are often indifferent.
Valerie Bacharach: The Synagogue
Someone enters the sanctuary, picks up the chair
thrown by the Rabbi,
places it gently with the others, a straight row
waiting for bodies.
Steve Kowit: Intifada
bekippad Sabras dance thru the Tel Aviv streets chanting
gleefully: No school tomorrow in Gaza; all of their children are dead.
Donald Krieger: Unveiling
I listened to the learned
seeking meaning, hundreds crowded
into the Beth Shalom basement,
police in armor at the entrance.
Daniel Burston: Anti-Semitism on the Left
Many Left wing activists disparage the majority of American Jews, saying that we enjoy all the perks of White privilege, and therefore seek to “uphold”, rather than to oppose or dismantle White Supremacy; the very thing far-Right activists insist that we are secretly intent on destroying.
Baruch November: St. Louis Park, M.N.
they would ask how it felt
“to be a kike, to taste a baby’s
blood, to kill a savior?”
Paul Celan: Death Fugue
Black milk of dawn we drink it in the evening
we drink it at noon and in the morning we drink it at night
Sandy Solomon: Reading Suite Française
“Remove your yellow star.
Head for Switzerland or try
for Nice. Don’t write your will
Don’t imagine what the Germans feel.”
Peter Gottschalk: Hate crimes associated with both Islamophobia and anti-Semitism have a long history in America
An effort to protect the position of native-born citizens from perceived threats by immigrants – has periodically erupted in the U.S. since at least the early 19th century.
Southern Poverty Law Center: Hate Map
Each year since 1990, the SPLC has published an annual census of hate groups operating within the United States. The number is a barometer, albeit only one, of the level of hate activity in the country.
Abby Zimet: We Know What Hate Looks Like — Standing With Ilhan
Amidst the ongoing, breathtaking hypocrisy of rabid charges of anti-Semitism – aka daring to criticize America’s toxic complicity with Israeli war crimes – heedlessly leveled against her, often from down-and-dirty bigots, Ilhan Omar is all done apologizing.
Jordan Goldwarg, Aneela Afzali: Progressives Must Stop Weaponizing Charges of Anti-Semitism Against Critics of Israel
We need to accept in our American political discourse that anti-Zionism does not equate to anti-Semitism. When we fail to do this and instead conflate the two, the American Jewish community becomes less safe.
Andrew Hanin: Congratulations (Response to Tree of Life Massacre)
Congratulations on your victory. My fear of G-D redirected toward You. . You’ll never see me set foot in that depressed sacred space. Those armed guards aren’t ready for You. … Continue reading
Shalom Lappin: On the Tree of Life Shooting
In a particularly poignant scene of Spike Lee’s superb new film BlacKkKlansman, Ron Stallworth, an African American police officer in Colorado Springs in the 1970s, who infiltrates the local Klan … Continue reading
Vox Populi 