All, As I have said in the past, Bemis Hall is available to ALL. It was built to provide a venue to host lectures for the education and edification of the citizens of Lincoln, in addition to offer a venue for entertainment and dance.
The scheduler is not a gatekeeper, only a scheduler. Any applicant who meets the conditions of the Hall for its rental are able to use it. I have posted the town website multiple times to make clear who, how and when it can be used/rented. Town/municipal organizations (official town bodies) have free use. Others play a deposit and a fee. Please educate yourselves, regarding Bemis Hall : https://www.lincolntown.org/facilities/facility/details/Bemis-Hall-3 Again, I am confident that Lincoln can parse out what is being presented, as you have done regarding a presentation you attended. Perhaps others would have interpreted the presentation in another way. I do have some special sensitivity to many of these issues. I am in a family of Holocaust survivors. I find it offensive to anyone suggest that anyone holds anger at the current Jewish state, accountable for horrific acts against innocent Palestinians, is antisemitic. As to divisiveness-we are often divided over politics-witness our last Town Meeting. We can rise to the challenge-listen to speakers and (attempt to) have civil discussion. . > On Dec 4, 2024, at 5:29 PM, Jonathan Rapaport <mistasna...@gmail.com> wrote: > > Sara, it was with an open mind that I attended one of Stephen and Barbara > Low’s GRALTA events at the library some years ago. The speaker was a college > professor and member of Jewish Voice for Peace, which is a big player in the > anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanction movement (BDS). (It’s hard to > understand how peace will be achieved through an international ban on Israeli > academics, artists, athletes, and hummus. But that’s a separate topic.) > > The speaker gave a grossly misleading account of Israel’s modern history, as > is consistent with someone wanting to delegitimize the Jewish state. Then she > made a joke about the Holocaust. It is to my everlasting shame that I didn’t > speak up in the moment. > > Discussions around difficult issues require nuance, balance, knowledge, and > empathy. There are important discussions to be had about the war and > suffering in Gaza, and conflict in the Middle East. But as Rosa Elena > eloquently inferred from the flyer, the upcoming event will serve as a > platform for propaganda and bias. Accusing Israel of neocolonialism, fascism, > and genocide are examples of Holocaust inversion. > > It saddens me to see our town’s public spaces used to perpetuate > divisiveness. Perhaps things would be different if someone other than Barbara > Low were in charge of booking Bemis Hall. Lincoln deserves better. > > Jonathan Rapaport
-- The LincolnTalk mailing list. To post, send mail to Lincoln@lincolntalk.org. Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. Change your subscription settings at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln.
