"Once more for those in the back, criticism of Israeli policy is a-ok." Please consider "Don't Think of an Elephant, by Berkeley linguistics professor George Lakoff. It is the guidebook for political framing. The other side mastered it. A frame is a short phrase, often only two words, that is repeated until neurons for it develop in people's minds. Our side is putting forward "criticize Israel" as a conceptual frame, associating the two words. What about some other choices: Praise Israel, Criticize the Palestinian Authority or Criticize Hamas.
Great idea, but please don't characterize us as being in trauma and scared. There are techniques based on neuroscience for dealing with emotional trauma from watching videos or reading the news. The young Mia Schem was released by Hamas and needed hospitalization for her arm. Soon afterwards, she is in the front row of the huge NYC pro-Israel rally sponsored by the Orthodox community. Then she was in D.C., where she met with members of the House of Representatives and attended the State of the Union address. From hostage to the halls of Congress. She attended celebrity concerts she was invited to, and was sighted by a passerby walking down the street in Florida, where a selfie was taken. This young woman is made out of steel. And soldiers in the IDF don't have the luxury of being traumatized and scared.
I thought about this. I don't think it's good to show fear. But Israelis don't have the privilege of being scared. Americans are conditioned to be scared. We're scared of losing our friends and our comfortable lives. We've spent all these decades trying to fit in and now we are getting kicked out of the spaces we helped build. Did you recently renew your passport? You're scared. Do you feel jumpy when you pass new graffiti? You're scared. Etc.
And what scares me is the City Councils are planning for 2050, but Jewish organizations are not demanding a place for the generation of Jewish women going into old age alone with disabilities and in poverty without a family support system, and our community nationwide refusing and failing to acknowledge this.
What passport? Who thinks about all of the Jews who can't afford airline tickets and hotels and travel? Who thinks about all of the Jews who can't afford synagogue dues, with the same percentage rates for all income levels (the opposite of progressive taxation)? Making a car payment at current interest rates is more than enough. With all that career help our community gives its fellow Jews. No, I don't feel jumpy at graffiti. I call the local government entity and tell them it needs to be cleaned up. There was bad graffiti a few years ago near an overpass in rural Duvall. I just called people in the county. Similarly, when I saw anti-Black racist graffiti at a transit stop, I texted people in the county to remove it. If I see a Nazi poster in Seattle, I write to detective Elizabeth Earing of the SPD. When there was a hostage poster desecration in Redmond, I wrote to retired police whom I know and got advice on how to document it and report it. What scares me is that there is no Jewish nursing home solution for low-income Jews, no Jewish community acknowledgement that Jews need care after surgery. No acknowledgement that Jews are aging and don't have a house to sell to pay for a nursing home. What scares me is that there is no one to protect Jews when they're in a nursing home. What worries me is that Jews have to go the Catholic nursing home after surgery because our community is doing nothing. That Jews have to go to Catholic Housing if they become homeless. That I had to refer a Hispanic divorced mom to the Hindu organization when she needed moving expenses because there is no one in our community that supports housing needs when a friend needs help. What scares me is not the outside. It is that our community isn't functioning like a grass roots community. What scares me is that I am not the only Jewish woman in tech in this community who went for years without a job and had to navigate recessions all alone while other groups supported their people. Getting kicked out of spaces? I was bullied out of a county government commission for politely challenging hostile remarks about the Holocaust and our organizations did nothing to support my right to participate in the county government and earn a stipend without having to listen to hostile anti-Jewish remarks. I receive all those requests for donations from money that I don't have. I'm more afraid of our community's lack of support for community members at the grass roots level than anything else.
Here's another way to not be afraid. Our community needs to have **a few hundred people as a bench committee** willing and able to apply for and serve on the numerous community boards and commissions in our state, with some of those people going on to run for public office. There are more than 200 school districts in our state and they all have boards, commissions and committees. There are numerous roles at state, county and local levels. There are not enough people in our community signing up and participating at the table when decisions are made. There were two of us Jewish women on a transit commission I served on, and we spoke up about disability issues. Young people and people with lived experience are welcomed in these roles. We have just experienced an issue with a museum. Our community needs to serve on the boards of museums. Consider Folklife. There is a Jewish show at Folklife because people take responsibility for planning it. There was an Israel table at the Redmond Elementary School cultural festival because Israeli parents organized it. This is the grassroots community organizing we need.
The museum will re-open, but the poster that was objected to will be "edited." What does that mean? And three other posters will be added. The intent of the original display is being replaced. And what does the action of the staff say about our relations with our Asian neighbors. This should have been an easy one for the Jewish community. 20 million Chinese were killed by Japan's barbaric actions in China in World War II. We should have a strong relationship with our Chinese neighbors. Similarly, we should have a strong relationship with the Korean community. And Asian Americans' battle with communism is our battle with Putin. Hindus and moderate Muslims know well the dangers of radical terrorism. Where was this relationship building all the way to the grass roots level? Who is questioning the "white" vs. "BIPOC" division being formalized into public policy and even city planning for 2050 in Washington State? the "white" vs "BIPOC" division classifying Jews as "white" and Arabs as Asian has no basis in history or in DNA biology. And yet, it is being tacitly endorsed everywhere.
"Once more for those in the back, criticism of Israeli policy is a-ok." Please consider "Don't Think of an Elephant, by Berkeley linguistics professor George Lakoff. It is the guidebook for political framing. The other side mastered it. A frame is a short phrase, often only two words, that is repeated until neurons for it develop in people's minds. Our side is putting forward "criticize Israel" as a conceptual frame, associating the two words. What about some other choices: Praise Israel, Criticize the Palestinian Authority or Criticize Hamas.
Great idea, but please don't characterize us as being in trauma and scared. There are techniques based on neuroscience for dealing with emotional trauma from watching videos or reading the news. The young Mia Schem was released by Hamas and needed hospitalization for her arm. Soon afterwards, she is in the front row of the huge NYC pro-Israel rally sponsored by the Orthodox community. Then she was in D.C., where she met with members of the House of Representatives and attended the State of the Union address. From hostage to the halls of Congress. She attended celebrity concerts she was invited to, and was sighted by a passerby walking down the street in Florida, where a selfie was taken. This young woman is made out of steel. And soldiers in the IDF don't have the luxury of being traumatized and scared.
I thought about this. I don't think it's good to show fear. But Israelis don't have the privilege of being scared. Americans are conditioned to be scared. We're scared of losing our friends and our comfortable lives. We've spent all these decades trying to fit in and now we are getting kicked out of the spaces we helped build. Did you recently renew your passport? You're scared. Do you feel jumpy when you pass new graffiti? You're scared. Etc.
And what scares me is the City Councils are planning for 2050, but Jewish organizations are not demanding a place for the generation of Jewish women going into old age alone with disabilities and in poverty without a family support system, and our community nationwide refusing and failing to acknowledge this.
What passport? Who thinks about all of the Jews who can't afford airline tickets and hotels and travel? Who thinks about all of the Jews who can't afford synagogue dues, with the same percentage rates for all income levels (the opposite of progressive taxation)? Making a car payment at current interest rates is more than enough. With all that career help our community gives its fellow Jews. No, I don't feel jumpy at graffiti. I call the local government entity and tell them it needs to be cleaned up. There was bad graffiti a few years ago near an overpass in rural Duvall. I just called people in the county. Similarly, when I saw anti-Black racist graffiti at a transit stop, I texted people in the county to remove it. If I see a Nazi poster in Seattle, I write to detective Elizabeth Earing of the SPD. When there was a hostage poster desecration in Redmond, I wrote to retired police whom I know and got advice on how to document it and report it. What scares me is that there is no Jewish nursing home solution for low-income Jews, no Jewish community acknowledgement that Jews need care after surgery. No acknowledgement that Jews are aging and don't have a house to sell to pay for a nursing home. What scares me is that there is no one to protect Jews when they're in a nursing home. What worries me is that Jews have to go the Catholic nursing home after surgery because our community is doing nothing. That Jews have to go to Catholic Housing if they become homeless. That I had to refer a Hispanic divorced mom to the Hindu organization when she needed moving expenses because there is no one in our community that supports housing needs when a friend needs help. What scares me is not the outside. It is that our community isn't functioning like a grass roots community. What scares me is that I am not the only Jewish woman in tech in this community who went for years without a job and had to navigate recessions all alone while other groups supported their people. Getting kicked out of spaces? I was bullied out of a county government commission for politely challenging hostile remarks about the Holocaust and our organizations did nothing to support my right to participate in the county government and earn a stipend without having to listen to hostile anti-Jewish remarks. I receive all those requests for donations from money that I don't have. I'm more afraid of our community's lack of support for community members at the grass roots level than anything else.
Here's another way to not be afraid. Our community needs to have **a few hundred people as a bench committee** willing and able to apply for and serve on the numerous community boards and commissions in our state, with some of those people going on to run for public office. There are more than 200 school districts in our state and they all have boards, commissions and committees. There are numerous roles at state, county and local levels. There are not enough people in our community signing up and participating at the table when decisions are made. There were two of us Jewish women on a transit commission I served on, and we spoke up about disability issues. Young people and people with lived experience are welcomed in these roles. We have just experienced an issue with a museum. Our community needs to serve on the boards of museums. Consider Folklife. There is a Jewish show at Folklife because people take responsibility for planning it. There was an Israel table at the Redmond Elementary School cultural festival because Israeli parents organized it. This is the grassroots community organizing we need.
Notice how few "likes" there are for the idea of a few hundred grass roots people participating in the government process. But that's how we win.
Sorry about the typo. The detective is Elizabeth Waring. Information about antisemitic graffiti and other crimes can be sent to her.
The museum will re-open, but the poster that was objected to will be "edited." What does that mean? And three other posters will be added. The intent of the original display is being replaced. And what does the action of the staff say about our relations with our Asian neighbors. This should have been an easy one for the Jewish community. 20 million Chinese were killed by Japan's barbaric actions in China in World War II. We should have a strong relationship with our Chinese neighbors. Similarly, we should have a strong relationship with the Korean community. And Asian Americans' battle with communism is our battle with Putin. Hindus and moderate Muslims know well the dangers of radical terrorism. Where was this relationship building all the way to the grass roots level? Who is questioning the "white" vs. "BIPOC" division being formalized into public policy and even city planning for 2050 in Washington State? the "white" vs "BIPOC" division classifying Jews as "white" and Arabs as Asian has no basis in history or in DNA biology. And yet, it is being tacitly endorsed everywhere.