On the Nose

Late last month, the Autonomous Tenants Union Network—a collaboration of tenant unions from cities across North America—held its first-ever in-person convention in Los Angeles. ATUN formed in 2018 to consolidate the energies of a movement that has exploded in scope in response to a deepening crisis for tenants. Over the course of the weekend, members of 20 tenant unions from Eugene, Oregon to Houston, Texas held strategy sessions on everything from organizing around climate disaster to mutual aid to political education. On this episode, senior editor Ari Brostoff—who attended the conference as a member of the Crown Heights Tenants Union in Brooklyn—spoke with Kenia Alcocer, of the Los Angeles Tenants Union; Claire Spiehler, of the Houston Tenants Union; and Danya Martinez-Spider, of the West River Tenants Union in South Dakota. Thanks to Sophia Steinert-Evoy for producing and to Nathan Salsburg for the use of his song “VIII (All That Were Calculated Have Passed).”

In early June, an anonymous collective of Boston-area activists published “The Mapping Project,” an interactive map listing various institutions in Massachusetts and descriptions of their complicity in Zionism or US imperialism. The list includes universities, foundations, nonprofits, schools, and police departments. The group said they set out to deepen activist “understanding of local institutional support for the colonization of Palestine,” as well as how Israel’s colonization of Palestine is connected to US policing, US foreign policy, and the displacement of local communities. Mainstream Jewish groups such as the Anti-Defamation League reacted to the map with outrage, claiming that listing Jewish foundations, nonprofits, and the like—alongside their addresses—could incite antisemitic violence. Jewish establishment groups were particularly incensed at The Mapping Project’s call to “dismantle” and “disrupt” the institutions listed. Dozens of congressional lawmakers also denounced the project, and the FBI announced it was investigating it. Meanwhile, the map also sparked controversy from an unexpected source: the Palestinian-led Boycott National Commitee, which distanced itself from the website and, in a private letter to BDS Boston, a local group that endorsed the project, said the project will lead to backlash and open up Palestinian rights groups to “infiltration” and “repression.”Jewish Currents editor-in-chief Arielle Angel, contributing editor Josh Leifer, assistant editor Mari Cohen, and senior reporter Alex Kane convened to discuss the accusations against The Mapping Project, whether the website is an effective way to counter Israeli apartheid, and the political divisions that have come to the fore because of the controversy over the project.Articles, Statements and Websites Mentioned:The Mapping Project“House lawmakers urge federal inquiry into ‘Mapping Project’” by Marc Rod “FBI looking into ‘The Mapping Project,’ pro-Palestinian site targeting ‘Zionist leaders’ in Boston” by Forward staffBoycott National Committe’s letter to BDS Boston“Palestinian BDS National Committee Has No Connection To and Does Not Endorse The Mapping Project” by Palestinian BDS National Committee“‘Our struggles are truly connected’: an interview with the Mapping Project” by Adam Horowitz“The Mapping Project is not antisemitic but it is destructive activism” by Nora Lester Murad“Sunrise, Sunset” podcast by Jewish Currents staffThanks to Sophia Steinert-Evoy for producing and to Nathan Salsburg for the use of his song “VIII (All That Were Calculated Have Passed).”

A broad spectrum of the American left agrees that the existing political system is not working—that it is dysfunctional, corrupt, anti-majoritarian, and utterly unable to address the serious economic, social, and ecological crises confronting the public. But despite pervasive exhaustion with the status quo, and despite omnipresent warnings about a looming constitutional threat from the radical right, there have been few signs of mobilization for a full-scale left-wing revolution since the 2020 uprisings against racism and police violence after the murder of George Floyd. Today, America’s most liberal cities have largely doubled down on carceralism, and the right has far more insurgent energy than the left. To discuss the dog that isn’t barking, David Klion spoke with Mike Duncan—the creator of the popular podcast Revolutions, which examines the history of ten historical upheavals in great detail—about what makes America in 2022 different from France in 1789 or Russia in 1917, and what it would take to see a real revolution.Books, Articles, TV Shows, and Podcasts Mentioned:Mike Duncan’s Revolutions and History of Rome podcastsThe Storm Before the Storm by Mike DuncanHero of Two Worlds by Mike DuncanThe Black Jacobins by C.L.R. James“The Institutionalist: Dianne Feinstein’s Long Fight for Abortion and Gun Control” by Rebecca Traister “Mike Duncan Takes on the Turmoil of History” by David Klion Thanks to Jesse Brenneman for producing and to Nathan Salsburg for the use of his song “VIII (All That Were Calculated Have Passed).”

The killing of the beloved Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was shot by Israeli forces while covering an IDF raid of occupied Jenin on May 11th, has sparked massive outcry in Palestine and widespread condemnation from the international community—as did the subsequent attack on her funeral procession by Israeli police. Though Abu Akleh, a veteran correspondent for Al Jazeera, was a singular figure, her death is only the latest reminder that Israel has routinely targeted journalists and civilians, sustaining its impunity through obfuscation in the media and the routine dehumanization of Palestinians. Jewish Currents fellow Dylan Saba speaks with political scientist Dana El Kurd and activist Fadi Quran about Israeli media strategy, shifting public opinion outside the region, and the discursive and strategic challenges faced by the Palestine solidarity movement. Topics Mentioned:“New evidence suggests Shireen Abu Akleh was killed in targeted attack by Israeli forces” - CNN“Behind the lens: Remembering Muhammad al-Durrah, 20 years on” by Talal Abu Rahma“On This Day: Stern Gang assassinates UN mediator Count Folke Bernadotte in 1948” by Aaron ReichTwitter thread by Fadi Quran on the pattern of Israeli obfuscation following an attack“Secret Israeli Report Reveals Armed Drone Kills Four Boys Playing on Gaza Beach in 2014” by Robert MackeyNoa Tishby invoking antisemitism regarding the response to Shireen’s deathIsraeli military spokesperson saying the press is “armed with cameras”“You Cannot Unsee This Image,” an interview with Rashid Khalidi by Dylan Saba“Key Messages from the Oppressed” by Dana El Kurd

Since the launch of the global Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel and the collapse of the Oslo Peace Process in the early aughts, the college campus has been a locus of American political conflict over Israel/Palestine. As student Palestine solidarity activists have attempted to introduce BDS resolutions across the country, Israel advocacy organizations have responded by building a vast organizing infrastructure to intervene in student debates about Israel, painting campuses as threatening and hostile places for Jewish students and pushing for greater restrictions on pro-Palestine student speech. In only the latest example, members of the NYU law school’s Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter—half of them Jewish—are facing media defamation for a statement the group sent to the law school listserv. How does it transform campus activism and the experience of individual students when outside organizations and media commentators get involved? Is it misleading to frame these conflicts as simply a fight between two opposing camps? What do you do when your mom forwards you Bari Weiss’s substack? Jewish Currents Editor-in-Chief Arielle Angel, Assistant Editor Mari Cohen, and Contributing Editor Joshua Leifer discuss these questions and the recent NYU events with Dylan Saba, Jewish Currents fellow and Palestine Legal staff attorney. Books and Articles Mentioned:“To the Antisemites Who Sit Next to Me in School” by Tal Fortgang  “NYU Law Erupts In Controversy Over Alleged Anti-Semitism” by David Lat “Who’s Trying to Kill BDS on Campus? An Interview with Josh Nathan-Kazis” by Rachel Cohen “How Israel Advocates Shut Down a Union’s Motion to Endorse BDS” by Isaac ScherTwitter exchange between Yehuda Kurtzer and Joshua Leifer AJC’s Survey on American Jewish Millennials “Everybody Hates the Jews” by Bari Weiss  “Does Everybody Really Hate the Jews?” by Mari Cohen “Princeton Students Voted to Boycott Machinery Used by Israel. Proponents of Israel Are Countering with Misinformation” by Isaac Scher“Maccabee Games” by Jess Schwalb“Deborah Lipstadt vs. ‘The Oldest Hatred’” by Mari Cohen   “American University Muslim student group withdraws from interfaith seder with Hillel over its Israel support” by Andrew Lapin“Donor yanks Israel Studies endowment at U of Washington over professor’s Israel criticism” by Andrew Lapin “US Media Talks A Lot About Palestinians—Just Without Palestinians” by Maha Nassar“Waging Lawfare” by Natasha Roth-RowlandThanks to Jesse Brenneman for producing and to Nathan Salsburg for the use of his song “VIII (All That Were Calculated Have Passed).”

Life in Israel/Palestine is always characterized by a high level of violence; for instance, Israel’s control of millions of stateless Palestinians in the West Bank who live without due process under military law is inherently violent. But recent weeks have seen a surge in violence: Palestinians from both the West Bank and Israel proper have attacked and in some cases killed Israeli civilians and soldiers, and Israeli soldiers and Jewish settlers have attacked and in some cases killed Palestinian civilians. With the unusual confluence of the holidays of Ramadan, Easter, and Passover, many worry that the violence will grow, and even spiral into the kind of massive bloodshed that unfolded last spring. (Since this episode was recorded on April 13th, tensions have escalated further as Israeli police attacked worshipers at the Al-Aqsa mosque, and Israel bombed Gaza in response to a Hamas rocket.) On this episode, Editor-at-Large Peter Beinart speaks with political scientist Dana El Kurd and attorney Daniel Seidemann about why violence is rising now, shifting Palestinian public opinion on violent and nonviolent resistance, and what the coming weeks may bring.Books and Articles Mentioned:“Support for Violent vs. Non-violent Strategies in the Palestinian Territories” by Dana El Kurd (April 15th, 2022) “Key Messages from the Oppressed” by Dana El Kurd (April 6th, 2022) “IDF Intelligence Chief: Palestinian Despair, Frustration Are Among Reasons for Terror Wave”  by Barak Ravid (November 3rd, 2015) “Hamas Breaks Out of its Gaza Cage” by Amjad Iraqi (May 21st, 202)1 “Poll Finds Dramatic Rise in Palestinian Support for Hamas” by Joseph Krauss (June 15th, 2021)“The End of Nonviolent Resistance” by Isaac Scher (April 12th, 2022)“​​Israel Imposes Sanctions on Jenin, the West Bank Hometown of Tel Aviv Terrorist” by Yaniv Kubovich and Jack Khoury (April 9th 2022) “It is Impossible to ‘Shrink the Conflict’” by Peter Beinart (November 11th, 2021)Thanks to Jesse Brenneman for producing and to Nathan Salsburg for the use of his song “VIII (All That Were Calculated Have Passed).”

In the month since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has become a global icon. Zelensky, who was elected in 2019 and chose to remain in his country during the assault, is Ukraine’s first Jewish president. His Jewishness, already notable given the nation’s history of antisemitism, has taken on new symbolic importance in light of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s claim that the assault is justified by its goal of “denazification.” Many Jews around the world, some of whose ancestors once lived in Ukraine, have come to identify with Zelensky, who embodies many of the contradictions of post-Soviet Jewishness, and whose attempts to lobby on behalf of his nation—including in a recent speech before the Israeli Knesset—have highlighted questions about the politics of post-Soviet Holocaust memory. On today’s episode, Newsletter Editor David Klion speaks with a panel of writers and contributors to the new Soviet Issue of Jewish Currents—Julia Alekseyeva, Linda Kinstler, and Helen Betya Rubinstein—about Zelensky’s Jewishness and the meaning of Jewish identity in post-Soviet Russia and Ukraine.Books, Articles, TV Shows, and Podcasts Mentioned:The Soviet Issue of Jewish Currents“Travesty Show: An Illustrated Correspondence” by Nicholas Muellner and Helen Betya RubinsteinServant of the People“Our Oligarch” by David Klion“The Many Oblivions of Babi Yar” by Linda KinstlerSoviet Daughter: A Graphic Revolution by Julia AlekseyevaRevolutions podcast“Is Ukraine’s top presidential candidate Jewish? Even his spokesman won’t comment” by Julie MasisThanks to Jesse Brenneman for producing and to Nathan Salsburg for the use of his song “VIII (All That Were Calculated Have Passed).”

Over the past few weeks, we’ve seen a new wave of executive and legislative attacks on trans people and abortion rights across the country. In Texas, Governor Greg Abbott issued a directive for the state to treat gender-affirming care for trans youth as child abuse; Idaho passed a six-week abortion ban, and a bill prohibiting gender-affirming care for trans children passed in the House before being killed in the Senate; a proposed bill in Missouri attempts to prevent people from seeking abortions in other states. The growing anti-trans movement seems to be drawing from the same playbook as the anti-abortion movement, as the American right is forcefully pushing both agendas. To understand these alarming developments, Senior Editor Ari M. Brostoff speaks with scholar Jules Gill-Peterson (author of Histories of the Transgender Child), journalist Meaghan Winter (author of All Politics Is Local), and reproductive justice advocate Laurie Bertram Roberts (executive director of the Yellowhammer Fund) about the relationship between the anti-trans and anti-abortion movements and strategies for resistance.Books and Articles Mentioned:“The Anti-Trans Lobby’s Real Agenda” by Jules Gill-PetersonCruel Optimism by Lauren BerlantThanks to Jesse Brenneman for producing and to Nathan Salsburg for the use of his song “VIII (All That Were Calculated Have Passed).”

In January, n+1 Books released Missing Time, the debut essay collection by Senior Editor Ari M. Brostoff, which includes pieces originally published in Jewish Currents, n+1, and elsewhere. The titular essay reads Brostoff’s preteen passion for the supernatural police procedural The X-Files alongside their nascent political consciousness, as they became a young communist (and then ex-communist). Tracing the relationship between the original run and the 2016 and 2018 reboots, the piece considers the gap between two recent historical epochs, when history seemed to stall and then sputter back to life. In the years since the essay’s initial publication and the show’s conclusion, more and more evidence of real-life UFOs has come to light, with the US government admitting last year that it can’t account for these phenomena—or rule out extraterrestrial explanations. To celebrate the release of their book, Brostoff spoke with Editor-in-Chief Arielle Angel and Managing Editor Nathan Goldman—two recently converted X-Files fanatics—about the show’s political potential, the nature of belief, and whether aliens are real.Books, Articles, and TV Episodes Mentioned:Missing Time: Essays by Ari M. Brostoff“Missing Time” by Ari M. BrostoffMissing Time: A Documented Study of UFO Abductions by Budd Hopkins“Aubrey,” The X-Files“Excelsis Dei,” The X-Files“The Lost Art of Forehead Sweat,” The X-Files“Jose Chung’s From Outer Space,” The X-Files“2 Navy Airmen and an Object That ‘Accelerated Like Nothing I’ve Ever Seen’” by Helene Cooper, Leslie Kean, and Ralph Blumenthal“Glowing Auras and ‘Black Money’: The Pentagon’s Mysterious U.F.O. Program” by Helene Cooper, Ralph Blumenthal, and Leslie KeanUFOs: Generals, Pilots, and Government Officials Go on the Record by Leslie Kean“U.S. Has No Explanation for Unidentified Objects and Stops Short of Ruling Out Aliens” by Julian E. Barnes“How the Pentagon Started Taking U.F.O.s Seriously” by Gideon Lewis-Kraus“I’ve seen the saucers: Obama weighs in as US interest in UFOs rises” by Adam GabbattAbduction: Human Encounters with Aliens by John MackArielle’s Shabbat Reading List recommendation of The X-Files“In the sky! A bird? A plane? A … UFO?” by Jon Hilkevitch “UFO report stirs believers, skeptics” by Jon Hilkevitch“Berkshires UFO,” Unsolved MysteriesThanks to Jesse Brenneman for producing and to Nathan Salsburg for the use of his song “VIII (All That Were Calculated Have Passed).”

A number of recent incidents—from a fracas over Whoopi Goldberg’s comments about the role of race in the Holocaust to a smear campaign launched against Tema Smith, the Anti-Defamation League’s new Director of Jewish Outreach—have highlighted the continued prevalence of anti-Black racism in the American Jewish community and its ongoing exclusion of Black Jews. In this episode, Contributing Writer Rebecca Pierce brought together Black Jewish artists and activists—Yiddish-language performer Anthony Russell, visual artist and organizer Reuben Telushkin, and kohenet and social worker Shoshana Brown—to discuss the policing of Jewish communal space, racism and labor in Jewish organizations, and alternative visions for Black Jewish politics and worlds. PROJECTS MENTIONED:My Own Personal Robeson/The House We Live In, Anthony Russell