I know you’re not calling for censorship. I do think that some other responses on LincolnTalk were saying this series shouldn’t be allowed to take place.
To answer you directly — I believe, and work daily to live into the belief, that any speech or actions against Jewish people based on being Jewish is absolutely wrong, which isn’t anywhere near a strong enough word. I don’t know you and you don’t know me, so I can’t convince you of that over email, and I’m not trying to. When people trying to criticize Israel, a political power, conflate that criticism with demonization of all Jewish people, it delegitimizes any argument being made. Period. There are people advocating for the people of Palestine who are working hard to not do that, and to actively combat it. I was trying to agree as someone who believes in a free Palestine that antisemitism isn’t somehow suddenly fine, and you’re right, a lot of the loudest voices are acting like it is. And I wanted to remind people that no one person is the voice of a movement or viewpoint. Thanks for taking me at face value and having a genuine conversation. That’s all I’m trying to do. Rachel On Fri, Jan 17, 2025 at 9:15 AM Jonathan Sheffi <jshe...@gmail.com> wrote: > Nobody is calling for censorship. However, these movies (with which I > happen to be familiar > <https://5a55e4ca.streaklinks.com/CRxaqkMJySZHSrNlWQjEey_U/https%3A%2F%2Fpairlist9.pair.net%2Fmailman%2Fprivate%2Flincoln%2F2024-December%2F067572.html>) > each promote the delegitimization of equal rights for the Jewish people in > different ways, whether opposing their right to free speech, to > political power, or to self-determination. And so they are being called out > for promoting hatred against a minority group. > > You say that calling out antisemitism in any movement is important, and I > agree with you, but you haven't yet said what that means to you. Which > beliefs, speech, or actions against the Jewish people do you oppose, and > which beliefs, speech, or actions against the Jewish people do you not > oppose? > ᐧ > > On Thu, Jan 16, 2025 at 7:07 PM Rachel Marie Schachter < > rachelmarieschach...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> I apologize if this falls in the category of something that shouldn't be >> continued on LincolnTalk, but I don't want to respond to you privately, >> Steve (Brown), and have you think that I'm saying something privately that >> I wouldn't be willing to say publicly. I've also had this general idea >> floating around my brain for a while, and since I don't know you >> personally, I think it makes more sense to respond on LincolnTalk. >> >> I want to acknowledge your pain and trauma, your lived experience, and >> the very true and real history and present rise in antisemitism in America, >> including in our town and locally. I truly hope it doesn't make that seem >> insincere to say I just want to remind people that Steve Low is just one >> person, GRALTA is just one organization made up of more than one person who >> I assume don't all share exactly the same viewpoints, and not everyone who >> believes in a free Palestine (myself included, and I have for a long time) >> approaches their advocacy with antisemitic rhetoric, by conflating Zionism >> (which I don't believe has a simple cut-and-dry definition, but I'm also >> just one person) with the state of Israel with Jewish people in general. >> Steve Low obviously doesn't believe he's doing that, and I'm not here to >> argue that one way or the other. There *is* a ton of antisemitic >> rhetoric within factions of movements advocating for a free Palestine. It's >> not every person or every organization, but it absolutely exists, and it >> shouldn't, and it detracts from everyone's goals because it's deflective >> and misguided. >> >> In my view, true liberation demands calling out antisemitism within *any* >> movement, >> the same way it demands calling out *any* legitimately harmful rhetoric. >> I don't believe in censoring the series (for transparency, I haven't seen >> any of the films) because I don't believe in censorship in general. I just >> hope it gives literally anyone comfort to be reminded that no one person or >> group is the face of any movement or outlook, and the loudest voices are >> very much not necessarily the voice of a majority, let alone a consensus. >> >> Rachel >> >> On Wed, Jan 15, 2025 at 10:23 PM S Brown <sdbr...@gmail.com> wrote: >> >>> As we ponder the implications of the question raised in the message >>> below: *“Could this happen in Lincoln?”,* we might also consider once >>> again how antisemitic rhetoric has become normalized in Lincoln. The >>> implication is that a Zionist conspiracy is encroaching dangerously upon >>> our town, seeking to control the media, the educational system, and the >>> government. >>> >>> For those who don’t see how disturbingly insensitive, offensive, >>> inflammatory and utterly frightening this sort of rhetoric is to so many >>> Jews in this town, I weep. >>> >>> For those like my family, who have long had our children under armed >>> guard at their schools, camps, and places of worship, who have been so >>> repeatedly traumatized by events over the course of the last 15 monhts, and >>> who feel so deeply the pain of all those who have suffered in the war, I >>> weep even more, as I see this town we love, once a sanctuary, succumb to a >>> venomous rhetoric that is poisoning our community, and labels us as the >>> enemy. >>> >>> Steve Brown >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> Begin forwarded message: >>> >>> *From: *"Stephen R. Low" <steve....@gordianconcepts.com> >>> *Subject: **[LincolnTalk] Reminder: GRALTA's Israel-Palestine Film >>> Series continues on Thursday (Jan 16) and Sunday (Jan 19)* >>> *Date: *January 15, 2025 at 7:03:36 PM EST >>> *To: *"Lincoln Talk" <lincoln@lincolntalk.org> >>> *Reply-To: *steve....@gordianconcepts.com >>> >>> *The GRALTA Foundation screens the second film in our winter film series* >>> *The Lobby-USA (Part 1)**, a 2017 documentary produced by Al Jazeera >>> Investigations.* >>> >>> *“A superb undercover investigation”* >>> *~** Middle East Monitor **~* >>> >>> *Two screenings in Lincoln, MA—a weekday evening and a Sunday afternoon.* >>> >>> - *Thursday, January 16 at 7 PM at Bemis Hall, 15 Bedford Road* >>> - *Sunday, January 19 at 2 PM at the Lincoln Public Library, 3 >>> Bedford Road* >>> >>> >>> [image: image004.png] >>> <https://zoa.org/2018/04/10377872-zoa-mort-klein-convinced-qatar-to-cancel-anti-semitic-al-jazeera-jewish-lobby-series/> >>> >>> Regards, >>> Steve Low >>> >>> -- >>> 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. >>> >>> >>> -- >>> 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. >>> >>> -- >> 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. >> >> -- > 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. > >
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