WOW .. one of the most succint powerful articles I have read in a long long time .. thank you .. As I read, I feel the pain of what’s happening .. it would help if we would all have some honest talk about who our leaders are versus who are not. As you say, this is about all of us, not just the Jewish communities. Were do we look to find examples of what to do?
We speak up and hold true to our values, even when it’s difficult. We find, create and support communities that are standing up for democracy. Thank you for your comment.
Our problem is that about four decades ago, unbeknownst to just about everyone, fascists, the power seekers that for sure have no spiritual people in their midst, took over our schools.
Having started teaching in 1966, before they took hold, and then returning to teaching in 1990 when they were in full bloom, I knew we were in trouble because these fascists have everyone thinking that the problem with our schools is our teachers when called-to-teach teachers are our God given solution.
The fact that these teachers have been blowing the whistle on this evil takeover since 2002 at WhiteChalkCrime.com and at EndTeacherAbuse.org and no one with the power to expose this has done a thing about it proves these fascists succeeded at their agenda to takeover this nation by silencing these teachers.
They accomplished this with the same precision that Trump is now filling government leadership to make government his treasure chest - filling it with the most shallow profiles possible. I watched the unraveling of democracy’s pillar as a teacher. My administrators had the character and wisdom of Pete Hegseth and RFK!! They were profiles in selfishness.
I wrote a memoir of my teaching days so all who believe in democracy as I do can dig their way out of a mess destined for obscurity because of education’s low status and a massive number of educators silenced in the way only fascists know how to accomplish.
You don’t need to just take it from me that we’re about to lose our democracy due to what we let happen in education. Ulysses S. Grant warned how important education is saying: "In a Republic like ours, where the citizen is the sovereign, and the official the servant, where no power is exercised except by the will of the people, it is important that the sovereign—the people—should possess intelligence. If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason's and Dixon's, but between patriotism and intelligence on one side, and superstition, ambition, and ignorance on the other."
That’s before us now because empowered bullies are running corrupt, inept schools that abuse teachers and their unions, turning them into puppets, and consequently many Americans into forgotten men and women rather than citizens. Yes, our teachers unions became complicit due to fear. They cannot be trusted!
Abraham Lincoln warned, "The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next."
Many warned us. And that was well before social media with its power to make us deeply stupid inflicted on us a desperate need for authentic education, the spiritual antidote that is kryptonite to fascism.
I’ve tried to add a foundation to what this generation’s brave politicians must do to ward off the fascist onslaught we’re now living through. They must understand how they pulled the rug out from under us or there’s no hope we can put it back together. We must have schools that produce citizens once again. Our schools are our only spiritual institution. Thus, now we have none.
The story of my Jewish heritage may have inspired me to not give up despite doing this against-the-odds work since 1995. However, anyone from any background who believes in good over evil must start listening to teachers as they are here to make sure good prevails.
All true, but how do we deal with a fascist Israel then? I’m Jewish, and I’m well aware of our history, I’m also well aware that we have become what we fled, fascist horrors, and that MUST be dealt with before any ‘universal outrage’ can EVER be righteous again!
We don’t. Just as Chinese Americans or Brazilian Americans are not responsible for the governments of the respective countries they or their families immigrated from, Jewish Americans are not responsible for Israel’s government. It’s a dangerous double standard to assign responsibility of Israel’s government to all Jews.
But Israel’s Basic Law describes Israel as “the Nation-State of the Jewish People.” Israel, this fascist state, this state that Israeli Jewish scholars say is committing genocide against the Palestinian
People, has become a curse to Jews all around the world. Jews must not allow the so-called “Nation-State of the Jewish people” hijack Judaism and conflate Judaism with the political ideology of Zionism. The leaders & people of Israel who say they are acting on behalf of the Jewish people should be condemned for assuming that one who is Jewish wants to be represented by a genocidal state. This nation-state is engaging in antisemitism!
It's important to clarify that the Jewish people and Judaism are not synonymous. Judaism is a religion, while the Jewish people are an ethnic group with a shared history, culture, and identity. One can be Jewish and atheist, just as one can be culturally Jewish without being religious—just as Chinese people can be atheist or Christian and still be ethnically Chinese. Israel, as the Nation-State of the Jewish People, reflects this ethnic-national identity, not just a religious one.
To call Israel a “curse” to Jews worldwide is itself a deeply troubling assertion that echoes the kind of antisemitic double standards Jews have faced for centuries. Israel is the only Jewish-majority country in the world and a refuge for Jews from all walks of life—religious, secular, left, right, black, brown, and white. Criticism of Israeli policy is valid, but denying Israel the right to exist or asserting that its very identity is inherently illegitimate crosses into dangerous territory.
The real curse is the double standard: no one suggests that criticism of China’s government delegitimizes the existence of China as a nation-state of the Chinese people. And no one claims that India’s ruling party speaks for all Hindus worldwide. Yet Israel is constantly held to this unique and hostile standard.
Zionism is not a hijacking of Judaism; it is the political expression of the Jewish people’s right to self-determination in their ancestral homeland. One can disagree with specific policies or leaders, but to claim that Israel’s very identity is antisemitic is an inversion of reality.
Those who genuinely care about the well-being of Jews—religious or not—should be wary of rhetoric that vilifies the only Jewish state while giving a pass to the far worse abuses of non-Jewish states. That’s not justice. That’s discrimination.
Kalah, you forgot to mention one thing. Israel is murdering innocent people every day in Gaza. It is like shooting fish in a barrel. There may be a Hamas fighter in the vicinity, so shoot a rocket or drop a bomb, who cares if 20 or 30 innocent people, more often women and children die also. I am not trying to justify what happened to that innocent couple in DC or the people in Boulder. I am very sorry for that. But you seem to pretend that these events happened in a vacuum. While I don’t in the least condone these people’s actions - I see how it can happen, when a Palestinian can’t bear to see his people slaughtered any more without taking action. If Israelis could ever bring themselves to stop killing Palestinians at a rate of 50:1, then maybe peace could take hold somehow. After all, what is a Hamas fighter? It’s a young man avenging the death of his brother or his whole family.
You seem to ask the question of why do people want to harm Jews all the time. Well, like it or not, Jews everywhere must take some ownership of what the state of Israel is doing. I’m sorry that that is so - but the non-Jewish world seemingly has no influence whatsoever on the killing over there.
It is important to understand the connection. This is not a “Jews are persecuted” sorry, though your story of the Baron is a solid parable about the historical Jewish experience.
This is a story of a government that is truly evil and committing genocide, and a political group in the US that is not only allowing it, it is funding it and aggressively and violently working to suppress dissent.
What Israel is doing is world-historical bad, like slavery, the Armenian genocide, Holodomor, or the eradication of American Indians. The reaction in the US is not anti-Semitic. That is a lazy, self-serving trope. It is anti-evil. All genocide is evil regadless of the perpetrator or their historical grievances.
Netanyahu will annex the West Bank, then Gaza, then permanently the Tolman heights and parts of Lebanon. Mark my words. It is genocide, and ignoring it is both foolish and disingenuous.
Can we agree that part of the problem may be that Jews are often viewed, now and historically, as a monolith? A huge number of Jews in America and Israel denounce the actions of Netanyahu and his government, yet they're still targets of anti-semitism as others say "well what do you expect? Look at what you're doing to Gaza."
WOW .. one of the most succint powerful articles I have read in a long long time .. thank you .. As I read, I feel the pain of what’s happening .. it would help if we would all have some honest talk about who our leaders are versus who are not. As you say, this is about all of us, not just the Jewish communities. Were do we look to find examples of what to do?
We speak up and hold true to our values, even when it’s difficult. We find, create and support communities that are standing up for democracy. Thank you for your comment.
Our problem is that about four decades ago, unbeknownst to just about everyone, fascists, the power seekers that for sure have no spiritual people in their midst, took over our schools.
Having started teaching in 1966, before they took hold, and then returning to teaching in 1990 when they were in full bloom, I knew we were in trouble because these fascists have everyone thinking that the problem with our schools is our teachers when called-to-teach teachers are our God given solution.
The fact that these teachers have been blowing the whistle on this evil takeover since 2002 at WhiteChalkCrime.com and at EndTeacherAbuse.org and no one with the power to expose this has done a thing about it proves these fascists succeeded at their agenda to takeover this nation by silencing these teachers.
They accomplished this with the same precision that Trump is now filling government leadership to make government his treasure chest - filling it with the most shallow profiles possible. I watched the unraveling of democracy’s pillar as a teacher. My administrators had the character and wisdom of Pete Hegseth and RFK!! They were profiles in selfishness.
I wrote a memoir of my teaching days so all who believe in democracy as I do can dig their way out of a mess destined for obscurity because of education’s low status and a massive number of educators silenced in the way only fascists know how to accomplish.
You don’t need to just take it from me that we’re about to lose our democracy due to what we let happen in education. Ulysses S. Grant warned how important education is saying: "In a Republic like ours, where the citizen is the sovereign, and the official the servant, where no power is exercised except by the will of the people, it is important that the sovereign—the people—should possess intelligence. If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason's and Dixon's, but between patriotism and intelligence on one side, and superstition, ambition, and ignorance on the other."
That’s before us now because empowered bullies are running corrupt, inept schools that abuse teachers and their unions, turning them into puppets, and consequently many Americans into forgotten men and women rather than citizens. Yes, our teachers unions became complicit due to fear. They cannot be trusted!
Abraham Lincoln warned, "The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next."
Many warned us. And that was well before social media with its power to make us deeply stupid inflicted on us a desperate need for authentic education, the spiritual antidote that is kryptonite to fascism.
I’ve tried to add a foundation to what this generation’s brave politicians must do to ward off the fascist onslaught we’re now living through. They must understand how they pulled the rug out from under us or there’s no hope we can put it back together. We must have schools that produce citizens once again. Our schools are our only spiritual institution. Thus, now we have none.
The story of my Jewish heritage may have inspired me to not give up despite doing this against-the-odds work since 1995. However, anyone from any background who believes in good over evil must start listening to teachers as they are here to make sure good prevails.
All true, but how do we deal with a fascist Israel then? I’m Jewish, and I’m well aware of our history, I’m also well aware that we have become what we fled, fascist horrors, and that MUST be dealt with before any ‘universal outrage’ can EVER be righteous again!
We don’t. Just as Chinese Americans or Brazilian Americans are not responsible for the governments of the respective countries they or their families immigrated from, Jewish Americans are not responsible for Israel’s government. It’s a dangerous double standard to assign responsibility of Israel’s government to all Jews.
But Israel’s Basic Law describes Israel as “the Nation-State of the Jewish People.” Israel, this fascist state, this state that Israeli Jewish scholars say is committing genocide against the Palestinian
People, has become a curse to Jews all around the world. Jews must not allow the so-called “Nation-State of the Jewish people” hijack Judaism and conflate Judaism with the political ideology of Zionism. The leaders & people of Israel who say they are acting on behalf of the Jewish people should be condemned for assuming that one who is Jewish wants to be represented by a genocidal state. This nation-state is engaging in antisemitism!
It's important to clarify that the Jewish people and Judaism are not synonymous. Judaism is a religion, while the Jewish people are an ethnic group with a shared history, culture, and identity. One can be Jewish and atheist, just as one can be culturally Jewish without being religious—just as Chinese people can be atheist or Christian and still be ethnically Chinese. Israel, as the Nation-State of the Jewish People, reflects this ethnic-national identity, not just a religious one.
To call Israel a “curse” to Jews worldwide is itself a deeply troubling assertion that echoes the kind of antisemitic double standards Jews have faced for centuries. Israel is the only Jewish-majority country in the world and a refuge for Jews from all walks of life—religious, secular, left, right, black, brown, and white. Criticism of Israeli policy is valid, but denying Israel the right to exist or asserting that its very identity is inherently illegitimate crosses into dangerous territory.
The real curse is the double standard: no one suggests that criticism of China’s government delegitimizes the existence of China as a nation-state of the Chinese people. And no one claims that India’s ruling party speaks for all Hindus worldwide. Yet Israel is constantly held to this unique and hostile standard.
Zionism is not a hijacking of Judaism; it is the political expression of the Jewish people’s right to self-determination in their ancestral homeland. One can disagree with specific policies or leaders, but to claim that Israel’s very identity is antisemitic is an inversion of reality.
Those who genuinely care about the well-being of Jews—religious or not—should be wary of rhetoric that vilifies the only Jewish state while giving a pass to the far worse abuses of non-Jewish states. That’s not justice. That’s discrimination.
Kalah, you forgot to mention one thing. Israel is murdering innocent people every day in Gaza. It is like shooting fish in a barrel. There may be a Hamas fighter in the vicinity, so shoot a rocket or drop a bomb, who cares if 20 or 30 innocent people, more often women and children die also. I am not trying to justify what happened to that innocent couple in DC or the people in Boulder. I am very sorry for that. But you seem to pretend that these events happened in a vacuum. While I don’t in the least condone these people’s actions - I see how it can happen, when a Palestinian can’t bear to see his people slaughtered any more without taking action. If Israelis could ever bring themselves to stop killing Palestinians at a rate of 50:1, then maybe peace could take hold somehow. After all, what is a Hamas fighter? It’s a young man avenging the death of his brother or his whole family.
You seem to ask the question of why do people want to harm Jews all the time. Well, like it or not, Jews everywhere must take some ownership of what the state of Israel is doing. I’m sorry that that is so - but the non-Jewish world seemingly has no influence whatsoever on the killing over there.
Israel is perpetrating genocide
This article is about Jews in America and antisemitism as it relates to democracy. It’s not about Israel.
It is important to understand the connection. This is not a “Jews are persecuted” sorry, though your story of the Baron is a solid parable about the historical Jewish experience.
This is a story of a government that is truly evil and committing genocide, and a political group in the US that is not only allowing it, it is funding it and aggressively and violently working to suppress dissent.
What Israel is doing is world-historical bad, like slavery, the Armenian genocide, Holodomor, or the eradication of American Indians. The reaction in the US is not anti-Semitic. That is a lazy, self-serving trope. It is anti-evil. All genocide is evil regadless of the perpetrator or their historical grievances.
Netanyahu will annex the West Bank, then Gaza, then permanently the Tolman heights and parts of Lebanon. Mark my words. It is genocide, and ignoring it is both foolish and disingenuous.
Can we agree that part of the problem may be that Jews are often viewed, now and historically, as a monolith? A huge number of Jews in America and Israel denounce the actions of Netanyahu and his government, yet they're still targets of anti-semitism as others say "well what do you expect? Look at what you're doing to Gaza."
Absolutely!
I am guilty of that error, and I really try to overcome it - and not just Jews, but conservatives, Democrats, Texans…
In this case, I was referring to the issues in your post and suggesting the old calculus of “Jew as scapegoat” may be becoming overcome by events.