Review Time
This will be on the test.
→ No more Nikki
Nikki Haley never had a chance. But she got way further than anyone imagined. And she emerged for some as a moderate candidate, someone who could hold her own, stand up for her values, and yet compromise. Alas, the tidal wave called Trump finally swamped her boat after a respectable fight. Here’s my interview with her from last June. I’m curious…did anyone change their mind on her candidacy?
Related…
→ Uncommitted
What are those “Vote Ceasefire” yard signs that have been cropping up around Seattle? As you might be aware, this is part of a national campaign to urge liberal Democrats not to vote for Biden, but rather to vote “uncommitted” in opposition to Biden’s support of Israel during the war.
The state’s Democratic Party requested the option, which is why it exists on that side of the ballot and not under the Republication options.
According to local organizer Rebekah Harris Lieberman, who is active in Jewish Voice for Peace and the Democratic Socialists of America, as well as a member of Temple Beth Am and a graduate of the Jewish Day School of Metroplitan Seattle, in an interview with KUOW:
“The two-party system isn’t working for us,” they said. “What is happening in Gaza is unconscionable. But really, we have faced devastation after devastation at the hands of both the Democrats and the Republicans. People are desperate, and they are getting clearer and clearer that it's time for something new.”
Uncommitted Democrats may just be adding votes to Trump, but they seem to find that ok. It’s a long-term strategy with a short-term goal of making Biden a one-term president. And no one is saying this out loud, but a Trump presidency is a win for progressives, who can reconstitute the angry energy of 2016. Four years of Trump may be the booster shot they need.
From the Department of Not Surprised at All is the fact that many supporters of the “uncommitted” movement also support the self-immolation of Aaron Bushnell, the US serviceman who livestreamed his fiery suicide in front of the Israeli Embassy in DC on February 25th.
Just a reminder:
→ It wasn’t me
Last week Washington Ethnic Studies Now put out a podcast about how they totally didn’t sabotage the Holocaust education bill even though they deliberately harpooned it. No, Senator Lisa Wellman killed it because she was afraid of losing power over it to WAESN’s allies in the Ways and Means Committee. No matter that WAESN testified in opposition to the bill and fed misinformation about the bill’s funding to other ethnic organizations and created a debacle. No, they were just trying to be more inclusive! And look what happened. What a shame.
I’m so tired of talking about this but I have to ask: Why do they spend so much time talking about “Zionism” when their alleged opposition to the bill was about ensuring inclusion of diverse genocides? What’s the connection?
It’s that WAESN clearly sees “Zionists” as the obstacle to their work.
Here’s WAESN’s Chris Mena:
When you focus and you control the narrative on what genocide is, like the Holocaust, then you can exclude other genocides and deny that they’re happening. One of the reasons why this is so fucking insidious is that you can clearly see this is a play to control the narrative. Controlling the narrative allows for them to deny that what they’re doing in Palestine is a fucking genocide. It’s connected to settler colonialism and they don’t want to be a part of that analysis because they’d have to admit — there’d be no way for them to deny it.
Tracy Castro-Gill responds:
I also want to say that accusing Jewish people of having unreasonable control over the narrative is an anti-Semitic trope, and I want to address that and name that and say that yes, we are aware of that, and here we have evidence that Zionists, not just Jewish people, Zionists [are] trying to control the narrative.
Well, I’m glad we got that cleared up.
Castro-Gill also shares these pearls of wisdom:
Jewish people are a diasporic people. They left their region for whatever reason…being pushed out for discrimination is definitely one of them. They dispersed across the globe, they intermarried, they became racialized in different ways…so this idea that Jewish people are indigenous to the land is what ethnic studies questions. Which is why Zionism and Zionists are opposed to ethnic studies, which is why ethnic studies being part of the amendment was so controversial.
No. “Zionists” are not opposed to ethnic studies because ethnic studies questions indigeneity. “Zionists” (note how they are careful to clarify that Zionists are not always Jewish but slip back to using “Zionist” when talking about Jews) oppose ethnic studies because ethnic studies considers Jews to be white oppressors. Ethnic studies tries to shut down Holocaust education because they believe Jews (I mean Zionists) will control conversations around Palestine. Ethnic studies wants a sovereign nation that was created to protect a marginalized, racialized, oppressed people to un-exist. Ethnic studies knows nothing about history or geography. Ethnic studies thinks America sucks. Ethnic studies supports a terrorist organization because they think it’s a liberation movement. Ethnic studies is too dense to recognize when they are trafficking in anti-Semitic tropes. Ethnic studies tokenizes “good Jews.” Ethnic studies claims to be inclusive and then shuts out the people who don’t align with its politics. Ethnic studies pushes radical politics in the classroom. Ethnic studies scapegoats Jews.
These are some of the reasons why “Zionists” don’t like ethnic studies.
I’m tired. Say something nice in the comments.
Shabbat shalom.
Community Announcements
Check out the Seattle Jewish community calendar.
March for Israeli Women this Sunday, March 10, at 1 pm. Get more info here.
Check out ways to support Israel through UNX (UnXeptable) Seattle.
Candlelighting in Seattle is at 5:47 p.m. The parasha is Vayachel.
Did you know you can become a Brisket level Cholent subscriber? Thank you, JFS, for going Brisket!
Shoutouts
Now is the time for Haley supporters to come over and come back and endorse our President, Joe Biden, and encourage his continued support for Israel and the Jewish community. —Linda Seltzer
Mazel tov to Pamela Lavitt for a fantastic start to the 2024 Seattle Jewish Film Festival. The second week of the festival looks as fabulous as the first! —Jessica Prince
Kol hakavod to Joy Maimon for chairing Seattle Hebrew Academy's 75th Celebration, and to all the committee members who made the event such a success. —Elise Hay
Rest up. We need you.
Thanks, Emily, for this so necessary weekly Jewish Puget Sound writing! It's nice to read about our community every week and learn about what's going on. Keep at it!