Thursday, September 21, 2023

Yesterday’s anti-2SLGBTQIA+ events are a political tactic.

The shadowy, far-right operatives who are behind these events want free publicity for their toxic and hateful fringe ideas – ideas which would otherwise be confined to the darkest corners of the internet.

Even more importantly, they want to stir up progressive Canadians in order to leave the impression that all we think and care about are 2SLGBTQIA+ issues.

They want this because polls show that a large number of Canadians, while being supportive of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community and especially 2SLGBTQIA+ kids, also think that our left and centre-left parties spend too much time on these issues – at the expense of other issues like the economy and the cost of living.

Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. Progressives can champion both human rights and a strong, fair economy at the same time.

But that’s what the organizers of these horrible events are going for. That’s what this is really about.

It’s a cynical effort to gain a political advantage for conservative parties. And they would happily unleash hatred against some of our most vulnerable citizens to get it.

To say this is morally reprehensible is an understatement.

But, we see what’s going on. We also see the people pulling the strings.

And where is the UCP on this issue? In their leadership race, Danielle Smith played footsy with the same people organizing and participating in these anti-2SLGBTQIA+ events. Danielle Smith mandated her Minister of Arts, Culture, and Status of Women to “continuing to support and engage with members of Alberta’s Francophone and 2SLGBTQIA+ communities.” But, there's been nothing but silence from the UCP. In this case, silence can be seen as support.

So, today, I’m going to join the counter protests. Many of us from the Alberta labour movement will proudly stand shoulder to shoulder with our fellow Canadians from coast to coast to coast to send the message that our schools should be safe places for all kids, regardless of their sexual orientation or their gender identity.

I’m also going to support CUPE Alberta’s “Purple Shirt Day” demanding raises for educational assistants who currently make less than people working at McDonald’s. They need a raise so we can attract and retain the staff we need to help our kids thrive.

And, I’m also going to jump on Zoom and make a presentation to a parliamentary committee examining the issue of the unfolding global energy transition. I’m going to tell our Members of Parliament that if we don’t prepare for the future, we’ll get left behind. And I’m going to tell them that denial is not a plan.

The extreme right is playing dangerous political games with the safety of our kids.

Let’s shut them down by showing our fellow Canadians -- every day and in everything we do -- that the progressive high road is always better than the regressive low road on every issue – from human rights to public services to the economy and to the environment.

We will never let hate win. Solidarity.

You can read Gil McGowan's column on the protest at the Tyee here.

Wednesday, September 20, 2023

A Batman researcher said 'gay' in a talk to schoolkids. When asked to censor himself, he quit

In this undated photo provided by Rebecca Hale, Marc Tyler Nobleman poses for a portrait. The author's clash with a Georgia school district over a mention of someone's homosexuality in a presentation highlights the reach of conservatives' push for what what they call parents' rights. Nobleman at first complied with a request not to mention that the son of Batman's co-creator was gay but then rebelled. He and LGBTQ+ advocates say the Forsyth County district in suburban Atlanta was wrong. The district says schools shouldn't engage in such discussions without parents knowing in advance. (Rebecca Hale via AP)

Jeff Amy, The Associated Press
Published Wednesday, September 20, 2023 12:03PM EDT

ATLANTA (AP) — Marc Tyler Nobleman was supposed to talk to kids about the secret co-creator of Batman, with the aim of inspiring young students in suburban Atlanta's Forsyth County to research and write.

Then the school district told him he had to cut a key point from his presentation — that the artist he helped rescue from obscurity had a gay son. Rather than acquiesce, he canceled the last of his talks.

“We’re long past the point where we should be policing people talking about who they love,” Nobleman said in a telephone interview. “And that’s what I’m hoping will happen in this community.”

State laws restricting talk of sexual orientation and gender identity in schools have proliferated in recent years, but the clash with Nobleman shows schools may be limiting such discussions even in states like Georgia that haven’t officially banned them. Some proponents of broader laws giving parents more control over schools argue they extend to discussion of sex and gender even if the statutes don’t explicitly cover them.

Eleven states ban discussion of LGBTQ+ people in at least some public schools in what are often called “Don’t say gay” laws, according to the Movement Advancement Project, an LGBTQ+ rights think tank. Five additional states require parental consent for discussion, according to the project.

Legislation restricting LGBTQ+ rights gained steam this year, but suppression is not new. A school district in New Jersey, which requires curriculums to be LGBTQ-inclusive, tried to bar a valedictorian from discussing his queer identity during a graduation speech in 2021. That year, a federal judge ordered an Indiana district to give the same privileges to a gay-straight alliance as to other extracurricular groups. Two years later, Indiana passed a law banning discussion of LGBTQ+ people in grades K-3.

Schools nationwide have been challenged on books with LGBTQ+ themes or characters, and many have removed them, including Forsyth County, which has been a battleground in the politics of schooling.

LGBTQ+ advocates say Nobleman bumped up against a moral panic fomented by conservatives seeking to roll back acceptance.

“The idea that these folks are saying that they just don’t want to talk about it at all is very disingenuous,” said Cathryn Oakley, a lawyer for the Human Rights Campaign, a leading advocacy group. “What they mean is they don’t want views other than theirs to be expressed. And they believe that that means everyone should have to hear what they believe.”

Discussion of straight people with traditional gender identities is everywhere, she said, and if all discussion of sexuality is going to be banned, Oakley said, “then you certainly better not be teaching ‘Romeo and Juliet.’"

Nobleman, a self-described “superhero geek" who lives in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., is best known as the author of “Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-creator of Batman." It lays out the story of Bill Finger, the long-uncredited author who helped create Batman and other comic book characters.

Finger died in obscurity in 1974, with artist Bob Kane credited as Batman’s only creator. Finger’s only child was a son, Fred Finger, who was gay and died in 1992 at age 43 of AIDS complications. Bill Finger was presumed to have no living heirs, meaning there was no one to press DC Comics to acknowledge Finger's work.

But Nobleman discovered Fred Finger had a daughter, Athena Finger. That, he said, is a showcase moment of the presentation he estimates he has given 1,000 times at schools.

“It’s the biggest twist of the story, and it’s usually when I get the most gasps," Nobleman said. “It's just a totally record-scratch moment.”

Nobleman’s research helped push DC Comics into reaching a deal with Athena Finger in 2015 to acknowledge her grandfather and Kane as co-creators. That led to the documentary “Batman & Bill,” featuring Nobleman.

In Forsyth County, the author gave his first presentations at Sharon Elementary on Aug. 21. After Nobleman mentioned in his first talk that Fred Finger was gay, the principal handed him a note during his second talk that said, “Please only share the appropriate parts of the story for our elementary students.”

Forsyth County schools spokesperson Jennifer Caracciolo said that just mentioning Fred Finger was gay isn't the problem. But she said it led to questions from students, meaning Nobleman and students might discuss sexuality without parents being warned.

In the past three years, conservatives in the 54,000-student district have tried to tamp down diversity policies and sexually explicit books they view as immoral.

The district was sued by a conservative group called the Mama Bears after banning a member of that group from reading explicit book excerpts at meetings. A federal judge ruled the policy unconstitutional.

The district was also warned by the U.S. Department of Education after pulling some books from libraries, with federal officials saying the discourse may have created a hostile environment that violated federal laws against race and sex discrimination.

Nobleman’s discussion of sexual orientation has nothing to do with the state English language arts learning standards his presentation was supposed to bolster, Caracciolo said.

“We have a responsibility to parents and to guardians that they will know what students are learning in school,” Caracciolo said.

Nobleman said he was blindsided and agreed to drop the reference to Fred Finger's sexual orientation in remaining presentations that day, as well as in three at another school the next day. But by the morning of the third day, Nobleman started fielding questions from reporters after the principal at Sharon Elementary sent an electronic message to parents apologizing for the mention of Fred Finger's homosexuality.

“This is not subject matter that we were aware that he was including nor content that we have approved for our students," Principal Brian Nelson wrote. “I apologize that this took place. Action was taken to ensure that this was not included in Mr. Nobleman's subsequent speeches and further measures will be taken to prevent situations like this in the future.”

And so, on the third day he was presenting, after a discussion with district officials, Nobleman refused to give the last two of his scheduled presentations if required to omit Finger's sexual orientation.

Many parents have applauded Forsyth County's actions, Caracciolo said. Cindy Martin, chair of the Mama Bears, said Nobleman should be “ashamed of himself."

She argues that a 2022 Georgia law bans discussion of sexuality without parental consent for any minor because it gives parents “the right to direct the upbringing and the moral or religious training” of their children.

“No one has the right to talk to a child about sexuality unless it’s the parent, or the parent has given permission," Martin said. "Mr. Nobleman did not have permission. So he went against Georgia law.”

Matt Maguire, a Sharon Elementary parent who had a daughter who attended one of Nobleman's presentations, said he was disappointed by the message and felt the school district was being bullied by Martin and others into “reactionary” censorship.

The mere mention of the word “gay” didn't merit claims made online by critics that Nobleman was “ grooming or sexualizing children," he said, and it ignored that some Sharon Elementary students have gay parents.

“It didn't sit right with me. It made me feel like certain parts of our community were being kept as a dirty secret,” Maguire said. “I couldn't imagine coming from a family with gay members and reading that apology just for saying the word ‘gay.’”

Iran's parliament passes a stricter headscarf law days after death anniversary of Mahsa Amini

FILE - Iranian women, some without wearing their mandatory Islamic headscarves, walk in downtown Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Sept. 9, 2023. Iran's parliament on Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023, approved a bill to impose heavier penalties on women who refuse to wear the mandatory Islamic headscarf in public and those who support them. The move came just days after the anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who had been detained by the morality police for violating the country's dress code. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)

The Associated Press
Published Wednesday, September 20, 2023 9:13PM EDT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) - Iran's parliament on Wednesday approved a bill to impose heavier penalties on women who refuse to wear the mandatory Islamic headscarf in public and those who support them.

The move came just days after the anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who had been detained by the morality police for violating the country's dress code. Her death in custody ignited months of protests in which many called for the overthrow of Iran's theocracy.

The bill also extends punishments to business owners who serve women not wearing the mandatory headscarf, known as hijab, and activists who organize against it. Violators could face up to 10 years in prison if the offense occurs in an organized way.

The bill, which was approved by 152 lawmakers in Iran's 290-seat parliament, requires ratification by the Guardian Council, a clerical body that serves as constitutional watchdog. It would take effect for a preliminary period of three years.

The demonstrations sparked by Amini's death on Sept. 16, 2022, faded early this year following a heavy crackdown on dissent in which more than 500 protesters were killed and over 22,000 detained.

But many women continued to flaunt the rules on wearing hijab, prompting a new campaign to enforce them over the summer. Iran's clerical rulers view the hijab law as a key pillar of the Islamic Republic and blamed the protests on Western nations, without providing evidence.

The protesters said they were motivated by anger over the dress code as well as what they see as the corruption and poor governance of the country's ruling clerics.

In a separate incident on Wednesday, a gunman shot a cleric to death in the northern Iranian town of Sejas. Police detained the assailant, and authorities said the motive was a personal dispute, according to the semiofficial Fars and Tasnim news agencies.

Several clerics were attacked at the height of the protests. An armed guard at a bank shot and killed a senior Shiite cleric in April.

Iran’s parliament approves ‘hijab bill’; harsh punishments for violations

The bill defines an array of punishments for violators of a mandatory dress code, including fines and prison terms.

The legislation defines new frameworks for how Iranians, especially women, need to conform to the country’s mandatory dress code that has been in place since shortly after the 1979 revolution

[Vahid Salemi/AP Photo]

By Maziar Motamedi
Published On 20 Sep 2023

Tehran, Iran – Iran’s parliament has passed a new “hijab and chastity” bill that lays out punishment for people, especially women, who violate the country’s mandatory dress code rules.

On Wednesday, lawmakers approved the three-year duration of the legislation on a trial basis, with 152 voting in favour, 34 against, and seven abstaining.

The Guardian Council, a powerful oversight body consisting of clerics and legal experts, would need to approve the bill before it can be implemented.

The implementation of the legislation, which had been in the works for months, was not put to a parliament vote. It was approved last month by a special committee consisting of 10 lawmakers.

At the time, lawmakers invoked an article of the constitution that permits the formation of a committee to approve legislation for “experimental” implementation. Wednesday’s vote in parliament only decided the duration.

The legislation defines new frameworks for how Iranians, especially women, need to conform to the country’s mandatory dress code that has been in place since shortly after the 1979 revolution.

For women, unacceptable covering has been defined as “revealing or tight clothing, or clothing that shows parts of the body lower than the neck or above the ankles or above the forearms”, according to the latest version of the legislation released in local media.

For men, it has been defined as “revealing clothing that shows parts of the body lower than the chest or above the ankles, or shoulders”.

It also sets new punishments for people who are found to be in violation of the rules.

Totalling more than 70 articles, the bill defines an array of financial penalties for hijab violations, which could be ramped up to prison terms if found to be done in an organised manner and in contact with “foreign governments, networks, media, groups or organisations” or people affiliated with them.

Businesses and business owners will also be exposed to punishments, including hefty fines, bans on leaving the country, or prison terms if they are found to be propagating “nudity, lack of chastity or bad covering” in any way.

The bill also details new duties for a host of government, law enforcement and military organisations to make sure they and their staff fully comply with the mandatory hijab rules and do their utmost to prevent instances of violation or identify them.

Last month, a group of United Nations experts said the hijab bill “could be described as a form of gender apartheid”.

“The draft law imposes severe punishments on women and girls for noncompliance which may lead to its violent enforcement,” the experts said.

“The bill also violates fundamental rights, including the right to take part in cultural life, the prohibition of gender discrimination, freedom of opinion and expression, the right to peaceful protest, and the right to access social, educational, and health services, and freedom of movement.”

The bill was passed just days after the first anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman from the northwestern province of Kurdistan who died in police custody in the capital Tehran.

Her death, after her arrest by morality police for alleged noncompliance with the mandatory dress code, sparked nationwide protests that lasted for months and left hundreds killed.

After largely vanishing from the streets of Tehran and other cities during the protests, morality police vans officially returned last month.

In recent months, authorities have taken a series of steps to counter increased instances of women ditching their hijabs online and in public.

These have included using smart cameras, fining owners of vehicles and then impounding the cars for repeated offences, forming court cases against celebrities, and shutting down businesses for offering services to women who are deemed to be violating mandatory dress codes.

Jerry Falwell’s legal battle with Liberty University — and his brother — escalates

In an amended complaint filed in federal court last week, Falwell Jr. alleged several board members diverted university funds to private causes and overlooked sexual misconduct by former leaders.

The National Association of Christian Lawmakers held its annual policy conference in June at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va. The school was founded by Jerry Falwell Sr. to train, in the school’s words, “champions for Christ.” (Photo courtesy of Liberty University)

September 20, 2023

Bob Smietana, Jack Jenkins

(RNS) — The ongoing legal battle between Liberty University and Jerry Falwell Jr. has taken yet another twist, with the disgraced former president of the school alleging misconduct by its board of directors and attempting to ban the university from using images of his late father.

In an amended complaint filed in federal court last week, Falwell Jr., who resigned from his post in August 2020 in the wake of multiple scandals, alleged that several board members, including former interim Liberty President Jerry Prevo and former Southern Baptist Convention President Jerry Vines, diverted university funds to their private causes.

“During his lifetime, Dr. Falwell earned a reputation as a major proponent of financial integrity in religious and educational institutions and led the way in restoring public trust and confidence in such institutions after financial scandals associated with other, unrelated church leaders rocked the evangelical community in the 1980s,” Falwell Jr.’s lawyer argued in the amended complaint, filed Sept. 13. The reference to “Dr. Falwell” is to Jerry Falwell Sr. “The JERRY FALWELL brand will not be associated with such conduct.”

Falwell Jr. also alleges the board overlooked sexual misconduct by former leaders, including an unnamed former president, only to turn on Falwell Jr. when his life fell apart. Falwell Jr. also alleges the board exploited a near-fatal lung condition he suffered and harassed him by not paying him retirement benefits.

“The JERRY FALWELL brand does not stand for such abhorrent treatment, which is antithetical to the reputation by which it is known,” the complaint alleges.

The complaint lays much of the blame at the feet of Prevo, who the complaint alleges diverted school funds to his personal foundation and used the school’s corporate jet to fly to his homes in Alaska and Arizona ($35,000 per trip and $20,000 per trip, respectively, according to the amended complaint).

Falwell also alleges Prevo made many of his decisions after consulting with evangelical leader Franklin Graham.

“Upon information and belief, Franklin Graham is Prevo’s closest advisor; during the limited times Prevo appeared on campus to fulfill his duties as interim president, he would speak with Graham virtually every day by phone before making any decisions,” the complaint alleges.

Asked about the complaint, a Liberty University spokesperson sent Religion News Service a statement.

“In response to Liberty’s compelling motion to dismiss his complaint, Jerry Falwell, Jr. filed an amended complaint containing improper and unsupported allegations designed to diminish former colleagues, family, and friends and to discredit the university where he formerly served,” the statement read. “These personal attacks have no place in a legal dispute over the use of a person’s name, image, and likeness. Liberty will file the appropriate response to these claims in due time and defend its legal right to continue the use of Dr. Jerry Falwell’s name. Furthermore, we stand by our initial statement that Liberty University and its Board of Trustees have only sought to honor the visionary leadership of Dr. Jerry Falwell and the mission of training Champions for Christ.”

In addition to the complaint, RNS obtained from multiple sources an email sent by Falwell Jr. to Liberty board members on Tuesday evening discussing the latest legal filing. In the email, Falwell accuses David Corry, Liberty’s general counsel, of waging a three-year “campaign” to “use millions of dollars of Liberty student tuition money to make me look as bad as possible in public and to the Board of Trustees.” Falwell also accused Corry of malpractice and incompetence and suggested some members of Liberty’s executive committee want to “gain control of Liberty, benefit personally from Liberty” and “determine who will be Liberty’s future leaders.”

FILE - In this, Nov. 13 2019, file photo, Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. talks to Donald Trump Jr. about his new book "Triggered" during convocation at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va. Falwell is asking a court in Virginia to dismiss a lawsuit Liberty University filed over his headline-grabbing departure last year as leader of the evangelical school his father founded. (Emily Elconin/The News & Advance via AP, File)

In this, Nov. 13, 2019, file photo, then-Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. talks to Donald Trump Jr. about Trump Jr.’s book “Triggered” during convocation at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va. Falwell is asking a court in Virginia to dismiss a lawsuit Liberty University filed over his headline-grabbing departure as leader of the evangelical school his father founded. (Emily Elconin/The News & Advance via AP, File)

Later in the email, Falwell claimed he had intended to end the legal battle but “had no choice but to strike back this Spring to protect my family’s reputation and future after forgiving 7 times 70,” apparently referencing a biblical quote from Jesus about how many times to forgive enemies.

The back-and-forth touches primarily on one of two lawsuits making their way through federal court. In March, the former Liberty president sued the university and the executive committee of the school’s board, alleging they have failed to pay him $8.5 million in retirement benefits. Those benefits, the suit alleges, could only be withheld if he were fired for cause or if he engaged in “any Competitive Activity,” according to the complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia.

The board alleges the retirement benefits should be forfeited because Falwell deceived them regarding his own personal failings and his and his wife’s fiscal and alleged immoral behavior with a young man named Giancarlo Granda.

“Most damaging of all, perhaps, was Falwell’s post-contractual revelation of his overall and disqualifying departure from Liberty’s core Christian values at the time he was in the process of being Liberty’s long-term spiritual leader,” the school’s lawyers argued in a filing this month asking a federal judge to dismiss the case.

In July, Falwell sued the school again for using his father’s name, image and portrait — all of which are trademarked — without permission of the Dr. Jerry L. Falwell Family Trust, which owns the trademark.

The lawsuit pits the Falwell brothers against each other. Jerry Falwell Jr. alleges that his brother, Jonathan Falwell, betrayed the family trust by siding with the university against him in regard to the trademark and is doing so for personal gain — and that Jonathan Falwell convinced their sister to have Jerry Falwell removed as a co-trustee of the family trust. He also says the school rescued Thomas Road Baptist — where Jonathan Falwell succeeded their father as pastor — from financial ruin and that this brother hides how much money he gets from the school.

“Upon information and belief, Liberty and Jonathan have colluded to avoid publicly reporting additional income that Jonathan receives from Liberty, whether directly or indirectly, in the form of contributions to TRBC,” the complaint alleges.

Jerry Falwell Sr., the famed and controversial leader of the religious right, founded Liberty in the 1970s and spent a decade promoting the school. When he died in 2007, the school received $29 million in life insurance benefits, which rescued the school from debt.

Falwell Jr. alleged in his July complaint that the school no longer had permission to use his father’s image.

The school contested, filing a motion in late August to have the suit dismissed, arguing, among other things, that Falwell Jr. did not have authority to sue on behalf of the family trust, as his brother and co-trustee — who is also Liberty’s chancellor— did not consent.

The initial trademark lawsuit consisted primarily of a list of examples of how the school was using Jerry Falwell Sr.’s name and image.

After the school filed its motion to dismiss the case, Falwell Jr.’s attorneys filed an amended complaint, making a series of allegations about misconduct by school leaders, including “through a series of questionable self-dealing transactions that have the appearance of kickbacks” and overlooking sexual misconduct by former leaders.

Opinion

Donald Trump’s Rosh Hashanah “gift” to the Jews

None dare call it Jew-hatred. I do. This is no way to start a new year.

September 20, 2023

Jeffrey Salkin

MARTINI JUDAISM

Let’s say that you were trying to win your party’s nomination for President of the United States — a position that you previously held, and that you are trying to hold again.

Let’s say that you wanted to reach out to American Jews — a group which had historically not been overwhelmingly keen on you, your policies, and your ever-present presidential ambitions.

Let’s say that it’s Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.

What kind of message might you issue to the Jews of America?

You might simply say: Shanah tovah — a good year.
You might say: I know that this past year has been a particularly difficult year for Jews, because of the resurgence of antisemitic incidents in our country. I pray that my Jewish friends will enter this new year with a renewed sense of security.
You might even gather together the Jewish members of your family — your daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren — and send a camera crew over to their home and let them demonstrate some holiday customs.
Or, you might say that liberal Jews had voted to destroy America — “Just a quick reminder for liberal Jews who voted to destroy America & Israel because you believed false narratives,” and “let’s hope you learned from your mistake, and make better choices going forward!” and that they need “to get their act together” and “appreciate Israel before it’s too late!” (Before it’s too late — for what, exactly?)

Um, no.

No.

That is precisely what Donald Trump did, on his his social-media platform, Truth Social.

Yair Rosenberg, in the Atlantic, quotes the conservative writer Philip Klein in National Review:

Color me skeptical that Trump’s defenders would be so understanding if Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer were to post a Merry Christmas message … blaming Christian conservatives for destroying America because they didn’t vote for Democrats.

There have been loud and vigorous protests from various corners of the American Jewish community.

Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO of the ADL, said in a statement to USA TODAY:

It is dangerous and wrong to suggest an entire segment of the Jewish population voted to destroy America and Israel…Whether or not it’s intentional, President Trump is playing into conspiracy theories about dual loyalty here. Even worse, this is happening on one of the holiest days of the Jewish calendar, Rosh Hashanah.

Amy Spitalnick, CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, noted that the former president marked “the end of Rosh Hashana with an antisemitic post accusing Jews who voted against him of ‘destroy[ing] America & Israel.’”

From the American Jewish Committee: “Claiming that American Jews who did not vote for Mr. Trump voted to destroy America and Israel is deeply offensive and divisive…As we approach one year until the next election, we urge political candidates from the top to the bottom of the ballot to avoid incendiary rhetoric.”

Of course, this is hardly the first time that Trump has utilized antisemitic themes — even, and especially, in the presence of Jews. Almost four years ago, in December, 2019, in Hollywood, Florida, Trump addressed the Israeli American Council meeting, and delivered a Hanukah basket of vile antisemitic stereotypes.

Many of them laughed, and some of them applauded.

Which makes me wonder about this latest barrage from Trump — this hora through the garbage pits of raw Jew-hatred.

I wonder: Where is the Republican Jewish Coalition? Why can’t they criticize Trump? Why have they remained silent? Are they just being good German Jews? What will it take for them to summon up their courage, and their Jewish self-respect, and speak out?

When will the Republican Jewish Coalition actually do the right Jewish thing (that is part of their name, you have noticed) and speak out against antisemitism?

Or, is it possible that the folks at the RJC actually agree with Trump? Do they think that liberal Jews are destroying America and Israel (in the latter case, through their increasingly nasty presence at those large rallies that are actually calling for — horrors! — the Jewish state to live up to the ideals of its own Declaration of Independence?)

If that is so, then, please, RJC: Just come out and say it. Let us know that you are all too ready and willing to participate in the slicing and dicing of the American Jewish community — and that you care more about the Republican end of your identity than the Jewish part.

Because the Jew-haters on the extreme right despise liberal Jews But, I warn you: at a certain point, the adjective “liberal” will disappear, and all that will be left as the subject of the invective will be “Jews.”

Then, please don’t be surprised when they come after you as well.

Because, here is the thing about Jew-haters.

They really don’t give a ___________ about your politics, or about whether you are a member of a synagogue, or which synagogue and denomination you are affiliated.

Why is this important? Because over the past two months, there have been no less than 49 bomb threats made against synagogues in 13 states. On Rosh Hashanah, there were numerous bomb threats aimed at synagogues across the United States — none of them credible — which nevertheless disrupted services. In one case, at Temple B’nai Jeshurun in Short Hills, NJ, the congregants simply continued the service out in the parking lot.

So, let us be clear. If you think that there is no connection between Trump’s vulgar, hateful rhetoric, and what is happening to Jewish communities all over the country, guess again.

Let me return to that little story about B’nai Jeshurun in Short Hills, NJ, which is the largest Reform synagogue in the state of New Jersey.

Let us return to how the clergy, staff, and congregants handled that whole thing.

They went into the parking lot, and they continued the service.

Undeterred.

They lifted their hands to God, and simultaneously, their middle fingers to the haters.

To Ivanka and Jared Kushner: Shanah tovah u’metukah — a good and sweet year.

But, you might want to tell your father (in law) that the Jew-hatred is not a good look. Not for him, not for anyone.

Because, my dear Kushners, the Jew haters really don’t care who your daddy is.

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment

Thursday, September 21, 2023

Wednesday, September 20, 2023

A Batman researcher said 'gay' in a talk to schoolkids. When asked to censor himself, he quit

In an amended complaint filed in federal court last week, Falwell Jr. alleged several board members diverted university funds to private causes and overlooked sexual misconduct by former leaders.

Donald Trump’s Rosh Hashanah “gift” to the Jews

None dare call it Jew-hatred. I do. This is no way to start a new year.

About Me

Thursday, September 21, 2023

Wednesday, September 20, 2023

A Batman researcher said 'gay' in a talk to schoolkids. When asked to censor himself, he quit

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