Over the last two years I’ve learned that people only want confirm their bias, they have no interest in engaging, learning, understanding. I’ve stopped trying. I know who we are.
Sarah Hurwitz is unashamed "as a Jew," and people with their rigid and bizarre moral certainty will seek to poke holes in anything she says. I just wrote my monthly op/ed column that will be in print next week about the rigidity--left and right--that leaves no room for dissent or nuanced discussions. Anyone who "steps out of line" gets demonized. Independent thought is not welcome in this paradigm.
Of course they want to take her down. She has taken the term that the rabidly anti-Zionist, self-hating bunch use, "As a Jew," they say, "I won't support genocide and apartheid in Israel."
Hurwitz has the chutzpah to reclaim, "As a Jew." This latest attack on her will die down, and in the end, she will get more people reading her book and greater understanding about Jewish history and identity. Carry on with your friends--known and unknown--by your side.
Your post is simply lovely. I agree that Dara Horn is of like mind/heart. Hurwitz and Horn appeared together for a Streiker event to celebrate Hurwitz' book, and their mutual admiration was on display. It was a memorable and intimate experience to when our own Elissa Wald hosted Hurwitz--giving us a chance to talk with her directly.
I am only surprised the backlash against Hurwitz did not happen sooner. She will gain more support through this. I do wonder if the world will "right" its moral inversion sooner rather than later. Meanwhile, it is inspiring to see Jews and allies carry on with clarity.
Yes, I was lucky indeed! I just checked, and it was not recorded. Go to: https://streicker.nyc/past-event-recordings to see events that were recorded. I am on the Streicker mailing list, and I attend many of their events. Some of them do not appeal to me, yet I love the way they bring community together. I'm attending the David Harris event on Monday.
I saw this “controversy” developing and thought about how to address it. A shorter version of the clip was circulating, designed to make it look like Sarah was saying something quite different than what she actually said. That isn’t surprising for this day and age, but what was surprising was to see how other Jews came for her, both from the right and the left. I decided to sit this one out, knowing that whatever I said would be misinterpreted and would add to the story. I hoped that since she isn’t extremely well known the social media vulture attack would quickly end. I like your idea about leaving a review for her books, and will do that this weekend.
We seem to have reached a sad plateau, people set in their views unwilling to hear others, and I don’t think at this point arguing is going to be helpful. I wrestle with this daily as I see people I considered friends posting about “the genocide” as if that’s just a fact. The lack of critical thinking skills astounds me on a daily basis.
In addition, if Rabbi Lawson is willing to take something another Jewish woman said and misinterpret it to slander her, she shouldn’t be in a position to teach anyone anything. She owes her followers (
and Sarah) an apology. Somehow my lurker status on ifnotnow’s email list was revealed and I was booted, but I can tell you from the time I was reading their missives they are no different than JVP, absolutely willing and eager to harass other Jews and spread misinformation. And Beinart will never learn, but he will always live with the hatred that he himself has so eagerly sown. All I can hope for is that his booking on MSNBC, CNN, NPR will dry up.
It should be evident to everyone that there is no "side with nothing." The current peace process has hit what may be an insurmountable roadblock because Hamas refuses to disarm, which is fundamental for any rebuilding to begin.
I think Dara Horn (https://www.thetellinstitute.org/) has laid out a possible roadmap to future Holocaust/genocide education, which in some states is mandatory. Still, when taught by radicalized anti-Israel (and ignorant of the material) teachers, a Holocaust module may be worse than no Holocaust module at all.
Finally, Hurwitz's words, as often happens in our hyper-polarized world, are wilfully misinterpreted to promote the same, tired (and false) david-and-goliath agenda of the weak, trembling Palestinians mightily resisting a white, apartheid settler-colonial state.
Edit: Alison Glick's hit piece in Mondoweiss should surprise no one. Such overheated rhetoric is coming from a partisan activist not a journalist: "Sarah Hurwitz’s now-viral appearance at the Jewish Federations of North America General Assembly last week is a gift to anti-Zionist and Palestine solidarity activists. (She) unwittingly does more in ten minutes to demonstrate the desperation and moral depravity of those who have spent the last two years attempting to stifle pro-Palestine sentiment and justify genocide than many have done in hours of speechifying." Anyway, it goes on and gets worse.
I made the mistake of trying to gently engage one of Rabbi Sharon Lawson's more vocal supporters. I suggested that he was a bit hasty in condemning Sarah Hurwitz, as he had not seen the entire panel discussion. The answer was if Rabbi Lawson says that Hurwitz is an apologist for genocide, then, well, "I needn't look further." So no checking of sources.
There is absolutely no maḥloket leshem shamayim, “argument for the sake of heaven” with these folks, because of extreme bias and their narrow mindset. These deep divisions are unlikely to be mended soon. Too bad.
Lastly, the antizionist shift in the RRC (Reconstructionist Rabbinical College) is quite worrying, particularly amongst a specific demographic. That is where Rabbi Lawson studied. Make sense?
I am reading Sarah’s book as we speak. I will write a review on Amazon (although my copy is from the library and I no longer buy anything from Amazon!)
while I can understand the and/or your outrage over these distortions, I would like to point out that, in my opinion, Hurwitz is partly responsible for the outcome herself.
Her statements are, in my view, typical of "intellectualized" pronouncements that are simply "too sophisticated" for many.
Why doesn't she say, for example, that the Shoah and what was done to the Jews was the complete absence of any self-determination, total oppression?
Zionism instead, the State of Israel, on the other hand, is designed for the intention of embodying ultimate self-determination within a surrounding of furtherly total oppression, conformity, and the suppression of any self-determination in an almost completely Arabized environment, against which only Israel is successfully resisting, because other "minorities" in the "Middle East" and the surrounding area enslaved to the "Arab world" are currently, unfortunately, too weak.
The "Arab-Muslim world" is by far the largest and—to this day—longest-lasting imperialist power in the world.
In particular, it terrorizes large parts of North Africa, Sub-Sahara, the Sahel, Sudan, and elsewhere, oppressing and massacring Black people there in the most gruesome ways. Shouldn´t this be „mentioned“ when talk a.o. goes about „Black People“ ? - just as the fact that many Blacks are expressly „Pro-Israel“ : because many of them (should) KNOW who a REAL oppressor IS, and wo is racist.
During the 1,500 years of Arab-Muslim slave trade and imperialism, many Black Rulers „by the way" also enslaved and sold their own „subjects", and not only to „Whites“. „Whites“, on the other hand, were an absolute favourite on those many Arabian Slave Markets : „White Flesh“ could gain much higher prices than „ordinary Black Slaves“… This is all well documented and not just a fantasy goût in Mozart Operas.
While in the evil "West" slavery was outlawed and criminalized after about three centuries, and the evil "West" learned from its crimes and also took action against fascism, this is by no means the case for Russia, China nor for the "Arab world.“
There, a master-race enslavement society persists, devoid of any equality or universal human rights, ideologically underpinned by fascist/“National Socialist” and Soviet/“Communist”/“Socialist” totalitarian anti-freedom ideology that has infiltrated the “Arab world”—which is why it is incomprehensible that a dimwit openly proclaiming himself a “socialist” could be elected mayor of a city of millions in the “Land of the Free.”
All of this could have been clearly explained in a few sentences, as I´ve tried here.
Instead, the woman spouts cryptic and incomprehensible drivel, for which one supposedly needs to have “studied” and be “engaged in discourse”. But she is not the only one who has missed another opportunity to present the crucial facts as concisely and precisely as possible, thereby initiating meaningful „yet“ accessible discussions and countering the rampant ignorance and the fatal Tik Tok-superficiality of „knowledge".
There is clearly one here who does not read properly and comes up with accusations that have not the slightest thing to do with what I wrote. Most of all I did nowhere claim that anything of what she says is "wrong" in any way, but if you want to address and at least partly overcome the fundamental dumbness of "X"/"TikTok"-"discussions", I think that this kind of "intellectual" discussion does nothing to help it. Of course one could say "Just leave them alone, they will never understand anything", but I´m not misogynistic enough for that.
The point here is how to reach the masses of ignorant people. Hurwitz reaches ME and you with what she says and writes (which, according to your claims, Tamara, I supposedly should not have read though it´s even, partly, pointed out and referred to here by Elissa Wald) – but not the vast "majority", the many ignorant people!
Apart from that, the item here is not about Hurwitz´"books" but about her recent interviews in which she obviously was "misunderstood". I did nowhere say that I share these "misunderstandings", but for some reason I don´t know you are trying to bombard me with insinuations and accusations that have no ground in what I really wrote.
For example, and especially towards them, there is far too often NO discussion at all about Arab guilt and crimes - obviously the fear to get target of Islam-Lovers as "-phobe" -, instead, far too much still revolves around "Western guilt", the Holocaust, and so on.
Apparently, you don't want to understand that this is completely irrelevant in the current discussions, with the open massive hatred towards Jews. And why you target YOUR hate just against someone like me who tries to fight this hatred, I can at best name "wrong priorities".
I HAVEN´T DESERVED THIS, STOP IT !!!! And FUCK OFF !!! And take your "gender" rubble junk with you. If you have an issue "with men", go ahead and suck the cunt of your female icons.
I HOPE THAT´S CLEAR ENOUGH !!! GOODBYE.
Is your aim to steer the discussion in a direction that sharply addresses the dangerous underlying attitudes of Jew-hatred, or is your aim to shield your holy icons from all criticism? Furiously yours.
Over the last two years I’ve learned that people only want confirm their bias, they have no interest in engaging, learning, understanding. I’ve stopped trying. I know who we are.
Sarah Hurwitz is unashamed "as a Jew," and people with their rigid and bizarre moral certainty will seek to poke holes in anything she says. I just wrote my monthly op/ed column that will be in print next week about the rigidity--left and right--that leaves no room for dissent or nuanced discussions. Anyone who "steps out of line" gets demonized. Independent thought is not welcome in this paradigm.
Of course they want to take her down. She has taken the term that the rabidly anti-Zionist, self-hating bunch use, "As a Jew," they say, "I won't support genocide and apartheid in Israel."
Hurwitz has the chutzpah to reclaim, "As a Jew." This latest attack on her will die down, and in the end, she will get more people reading her book and greater understanding about Jewish history and identity. Carry on with your friends--known and unknown--by your side.
Your post is simply lovely. I agree that Dara Horn is of like mind/heart. Hurwitz and Horn appeared together for a Streiker event to celebrate Hurwitz' book, and their mutual admiration was on display. It was a memorable and intimate experience to when our own Elissa Wald hosted Hurwitz--giving us a chance to talk with her directly.
I am only surprised the backlash against Hurwitz did not happen sooner. She will gain more support through this. I do wonder if the world will "right" its moral inversion sooner rather than later. Meanwhile, it is inspiring to see Jews and allies carry on with clarity.
Yes, I was lucky indeed! I just checked, and it was not recorded. Go to: https://streicker.nyc/past-event-recordings to see events that were recorded. I am on the Streicker mailing list, and I attend many of their events. Some of them do not appeal to me, yet I love the way they bring community together. I'm attending the David Harris event on Monday.
I saw this “controversy” developing and thought about how to address it. A shorter version of the clip was circulating, designed to make it look like Sarah was saying something quite different than what she actually said. That isn’t surprising for this day and age, but what was surprising was to see how other Jews came for her, both from the right and the left. I decided to sit this one out, knowing that whatever I said would be misinterpreted and would add to the story. I hoped that since she isn’t extremely well known the social media vulture attack would quickly end. I like your idea about leaving a review for her books, and will do that this weekend.
We seem to have reached a sad plateau, people set in their views unwilling to hear others, and I don’t think at this point arguing is going to be helpful. I wrestle with this daily as I see people I considered friends posting about “the genocide” as if that’s just a fact. The lack of critical thinking skills astounds me on a daily basis.
In addition, if Rabbi Lawson is willing to take something another Jewish woman said and misinterpret it to slander her, she shouldn’t be in a position to teach anyone anything. She owes her followers (
and Sarah) an apology. Somehow my lurker status on ifnotnow’s email list was revealed and I was booted, but I can tell you from the time I was reading their missives they are no different than JVP, absolutely willing and eager to harass other Jews and spread misinformation. And Beinart will never learn, but he will always live with the hatred that he himself has so eagerly sown. All I can hope for is that his booking on MSNBC, CNN, NPR will dry up.
Peter Beinart is a cowardly weasel.
P.S. Check your email!
Peter Beinart deserves a prize in groveling before the Nazis.
It should be evident to everyone that there is no "side with nothing." The current peace process has hit what may be an insurmountable roadblock because Hamas refuses to disarm, which is fundamental for any rebuilding to begin.
Some of the critical comments, such as https://rabbisandra.substack.com/p/when-power-confuses-equity-for-a - are dishonest and a complete misreading of Hurwitz's comments.
I think Dara Horn (https://www.thetellinstitute.org/) has laid out a possible roadmap to future Holocaust/genocide education, which in some states is mandatory. Still, when taught by radicalized anti-Israel (and ignorant of the material) teachers, a Holocaust module may be worse than no Holocaust module at all.
Finally, Hurwitz's words, as often happens in our hyper-polarized world, are wilfully misinterpreted to promote the same, tired (and false) david-and-goliath agenda of the weak, trembling Palestinians mightily resisting a white, apartheid settler-colonial state.
Edit: Alison Glick's hit piece in Mondoweiss should surprise no one. Such overheated rhetoric is coming from a partisan activist not a journalist: "Sarah Hurwitz’s now-viral appearance at the Jewish Federations of North America General Assembly last week is a gift to anti-Zionist and Palestine solidarity activists. (She) unwittingly does more in ten minutes to demonstrate the desperation and moral depravity of those who have spent the last two years attempting to stifle pro-Palestine sentiment and justify genocide than many have done in hours of speechifying." Anyway, it goes on and gets worse.
I made the mistake of trying to gently engage one of Rabbi Sharon Lawson's more vocal supporters. I suggested that he was a bit hasty in condemning Sarah Hurwitz, as he had not seen the entire panel discussion. The answer was if Rabbi Lawson says that Hurwitz is an apologist for genocide, then, well, "I needn't look further." So no checking of sources.
There is absolutely no maḥloket leshem shamayim, “argument for the sake of heaven” with these folks, because of extreme bias and their narrow mindset. These deep divisions are unlikely to be mended soon. Too bad.
Lastly, the antizionist shift in the RRC (Reconstructionist Rabbinical College) is quite worrying, particularly amongst a specific demographic. That is where Rabbi Lawson studied. Make sense?
That is fine. Thanks
Elissa for Mayor!
I am reading Sarah’s book as we speak. I will write a review on Amazon (although my copy is from the library and I no longer buy anything from Amazon!)
Dear Elissa Wald,
while I can understand the and/or your outrage over these distortions, I would like to point out that, in my opinion, Hurwitz is partly responsible for the outcome herself.
Her statements are, in my view, typical of "intellectualized" pronouncements that are simply "too sophisticated" for many.
Why doesn't she say, for example, that the Shoah and what was done to the Jews was the complete absence of any self-determination, total oppression?
Zionism instead, the State of Israel, on the other hand, is designed for the intention of embodying ultimate self-determination within a surrounding of furtherly total oppression, conformity, and the suppression of any self-determination in an almost completely Arabized environment, against which only Israel is successfully resisting, because other "minorities" in the "Middle East" and the surrounding area enslaved to the "Arab world" are currently, unfortunately, too weak.
The "Arab-Muslim world" is by far the largest and—to this day—longest-lasting imperialist power in the world.
In particular, it terrorizes large parts of North Africa, Sub-Sahara, the Sahel, Sudan, and elsewhere, oppressing and massacring Black people there in the most gruesome ways. Shouldn´t this be „mentioned“ when talk a.o. goes about „Black People“ ? - just as the fact that many Blacks are expressly „Pro-Israel“ : because many of them (should) KNOW who a REAL oppressor IS, and wo is racist.
During the 1,500 years of Arab-Muslim slave trade and imperialism, many Black Rulers „by the way" also enslaved and sold their own „subjects", and not only to „Whites“. „Whites“, on the other hand, were an absolute favourite on those many Arabian Slave Markets : „White Flesh“ could gain much higher prices than „ordinary Black Slaves“… This is all well documented and not just a fantasy goût in Mozart Operas.
While in the evil "West" slavery was outlawed and criminalized after about three centuries, and the evil "West" learned from its crimes and also took action against fascism, this is by no means the case for Russia, China nor for the "Arab world.“
There, a master-race enslavement society persists, devoid of any equality or universal human rights, ideologically underpinned by fascist/“National Socialist” and Soviet/“Communist”/“Socialist” totalitarian anti-freedom ideology that has infiltrated the “Arab world”—which is why it is incomprehensible that a dimwit openly proclaiming himself a “socialist” could be elected mayor of a city of millions in the “Land of the Free.”
All of this could have been clearly explained in a few sentences, as I´ve tried here.
Instead, the woman spouts cryptic and incomprehensible drivel, for which one supposedly needs to have “studied” and be “engaged in discourse”. But she is not the only one who has missed another opportunity to present the crucial facts as concisely and precisely as possible, thereby initiating meaningful „yet“ accessible discussions and countering the rampant ignorance and the fatal Tik Tok-superficiality of „knowledge".
There is clearly one here who does not read properly and comes up with accusations that have not the slightest thing to do with what I wrote. Most of all I did nowhere claim that anything of what she says is "wrong" in any way, but if you want to address and at least partly overcome the fundamental dumbness of "X"/"TikTok"-"discussions", I think that this kind of "intellectual" discussion does nothing to help it. Of course one could say "Just leave them alone, they will never understand anything", but I´m not misogynistic enough for that.
The point here is how to reach the masses of ignorant people. Hurwitz reaches ME and you with what she says and writes (which, according to your claims, Tamara, I supposedly should not have read though it´s even, partly, pointed out and referred to here by Elissa Wald) – but not the vast "majority", the many ignorant people!
Apart from that, the item here is not about Hurwitz´"books" but about her recent interviews in which she obviously was "misunderstood". I did nowhere say that I share these "misunderstandings", but for some reason I don´t know you are trying to bombard me with insinuations and accusations that have no ground in what I really wrote.
For example, and especially towards them, there is far too often NO discussion at all about Arab guilt and crimes - obviously the fear to get target of Islam-Lovers as "-phobe" -, instead, far too much still revolves around "Western guilt", the Holocaust, and so on.
Apparently, you don't want to understand that this is completely irrelevant in the current discussions, with the open massive hatred towards Jews. And why you target YOUR hate just against someone like me who tries to fight this hatred, I can at best name "wrong priorities".
I HAVEN´T DESERVED THIS, STOP IT !!!! And FUCK OFF !!! And take your "gender" rubble junk with you. If you have an issue "with men", go ahead and suck the cunt of your female icons.
I HOPE THAT´S CLEAR ENOUGH !!! GOODBYE.
Is your aim to steer the discussion in a direction that sharply addresses the dangerous underlying attitudes of Jew-hatred, or is your aim to shield your holy icons from all criticism? Furiously yours.
I did.