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Taylor Lorenz Nov 14, 2023

A book publisher is trying to get the National Book Awards to prevent any authors from saying statements about Gaza. They list "Free Palestine" as an example of "hate speech" https://zibbyowens.substack.com/p/why-zibby-media-pulled-out-of-the

Why Zibby Media Pulled Out of the National Book Awards

Six years ago, I sat on my couch in my jammies, a tin of popcorn on my lap, and watched the livestream of the National Book Awards. It was like watching the Academy Awards. So exciting! Thrilling! Look at the authors! Look at Emma Straub! I even posted about it. To me, authors are such rock stars that seeing them win awards is far more thrilling than watching, say, the Academy Awards.

Zibby's Highlights

Richard Nov 14, 2023

@taylorlorenz This is not a particularly fair characterization of her complaint. She specifically notes there is a line between activism and hate speech and asks what the plan is if speakers cross that line. She received no reply. Maybe you think she is listing what you believe to be innocuous statements (though "from the river to the sea" is commonly understood to be a call for ethnic cleansing and is the specific language used by Hamas), but the NBF seems reluctant to set any standards at all.

Ray ☭Nov 14, 2023

@richard_merren @taylorlorenz That line seems pretty easy to cross based on her statements. “Free Palestine” is not an antisemitic statement and I question the motives of someone who is trying to frame it as such.

She assumes a pro-Palestine display is a “platform to fuel hate and divisiveness.” Just because the NBF doesn’t have a particular plan doesn’t mean that “all hate speech will be allowed” as she states. Any real concerns here are being overshadowed by her obviously unchecked biases.

Richard Nov 15, 2023

@lawas @taylorlorenz (Apologies in advance for the long thread, but I am not just giving a pithy, sarcastic answer to your polite post.) I know that "Free Palestine" can be completely innocuous, and (based on her writing here) it seems that this author does as well. But I'm sure you can understand that context is what makes something innocuous or racist or even threatening. /1

Richard Nov 15, 2023

@lawas @taylorlorenz (The "river to the sea" is probably not used by many people as a direct threat, but following an incident in which 1400 people were murdered and hundreds more kidnapped by Hamas, who makes this a central slogan, you might be willing to accept that this can be considered less innocuous to many people. /2

Richard Nov 15, 2023

@lawas @taylorlorenz Is it just insensitive to throw Hamas's slogan into the face Jews who are reeling from an unspeakable tragedy, or is it a threat? How do you decide when you are hearing someone say it to you?) I don't know how to explain it to you other than to give an example. /3

Richard Nov 15, 2023

@lawas @taylorlorenz I don't regularly monitor my teenage daughter's social media. I frequently see her posts and she has never given me any reason to monitor her, and everything is usually fine. But this past week she has had classmates with whom she has generally has very little contact requesting to follow her. She is the only Jewish kid in her grade (There may be one more, but it is no more than that) and the new followers immediately started pushing "Free Palestine" memes to her. /4

@lawas @taylorlorenz No, there is no specific threat in these memes, and we all would like to see Palestinians be free, but singling out the Jewish student just to start sending them messages about the plight of Palestinians is at best creepy and a little bit racist, and at worst could be considered threatening. /5

Richard Nov 15, 2023

@lawas @taylorlorenz (Has it crossed the line into threatening? Probably not, but do we have to wait until my daughter is in actual danger or is actually hurt before we begin to worry that this could be a problem?) So nobody has done anything overtly wrong here. There is nothing wrong with following someone. There is nothing wrong with wanting a free Palestine. There is nothing wrong with sending out memes. /6

Richard Nov 15, 2023

@lawas @taylorlorenz But if you've never been in this situation where you are singled out like this and have to be on your guard for what could (and sometimes does) come next then you are living with a privilege that has been denied to everyone in my family. Yes, most of the people who might throw out memes to my kid are probably harmless and genuinely care about the Palestinians. /7

Richard Nov 15, 2023

@lawas @taylorlorenz But in singling out my kid, they are unfairly putting us on guard to try and identify that one kid who is not. And, given the other antisemitic incidents that my kids have had to deal with and have seen happen to friends of theirs (both related to the current conflict and unrelated incidents in the past), they have to be on their guard no matter how much you and others might reassure them that this is a harmless phrase. /8

Richard Nov 15, 2023

@lawas @taylorlorenz I honestly have no idea what your background is and if you are ever in situations where you actually have to wonder if you are being threatened or not, and I hope you never are. /9

Richard Nov 15, 2023

@lawas @taylorlorenz Phrases like "states rights" and "all lives matter" and "protecting children" are similarly innocuous all on their own and can also be similarly deployed to discriminate or dismiss or terrorize people. So dismissing her concerns just as language policing, or false cries of antisemitism used as a cudgel against anti-Israel opponents, is incredibly insensitive to the reality in which Jews are living now. /10

Richard Nov 15, 2023

@lawas @taylorlorenz And, in this case, it completely ignores much more nuanced and detailed concerns that this author conveys, the steps she took to try and get the organization she loves to commit to being an ally if actual incidents occur, and the sad result that she could not even get even a token commitment from them to help her feel safe. /11

Richard Nov 15, 2023

@lawas @taylorlorenz Instead of arguing whether or not she should feel safe in this situation, which is not up to you, it might be more helpful to be an ally and believe Jews who say they are threatened instead of trying to debate with them whether or not their concerns are valid. /12

Richard Nov 15, 2023

@lawas @taylorlorenz Neither this author nor I are demonstrating any support whatsoever for the death and suffering in Gaza, and we are certainly not participating in it, and the slightest compassion from you at the fears we are currently dealing with would go a long way both to help the cause you are fighting for and to easing our concerns about what we face in our daily lives. /13

Ray ☭Nov 15, 2023

@richard_merren @taylorlorenz Thanks for your considerate response.

I understand where you’re coming from, but I still believe the authors framing of this event is unfair and even harmful. She alleged that this demonstration would be hateful, divisive and encourage bullying. Her characterization of a pro-Palestine showing as inherently bad is plainly unfair. Remember that none of the sayings mentioned were even actually said, this is all speculation. /1

Ray ☭Nov 15, 2023

@richard_merren @taylorlorenz I have compassion for Jewish people while standing in full opposition to the state of Israel’s policies. I would never allege that simply by virtue of being Jewish that someone is culpable in the occupation of Gaza.

When it appears that someone is attempting to characterize the concerns of a marginalized group as destructive with no valid reasoning, however, I have no problem pointing it out. /2

Ray ☭Nov 15, 2023

@richard_merren @taylorlorenz I’m a black American. My family experienced slavery and then the Jim Crow south, the legacy of which continues today. It’s interesting you mention slogans like “All lives matter” when it seems to me that the author’s framing of “Free Palestine” as antisemitic is awfully similar to white Americans’ framing of “Black Lives Matter” as racist.

I think this piece says more about the author’s biases than anything else, frankly. The reasoning is just harmful. /3

Richard Nov 15, 2023

@lawas @taylorlorenz The respond-and-block is an obnoxious move.