Tag Archives: Anti-Semitism

Voices

OPINION: The Palestinian Uprisings in Jerusalem Hit Close To Home In Seattle

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by Alia Taqieddin

(This is one of three essays from local community members that the Emerald will be publishing on this topic.)

Last week, the world watched as 22-year-old Muna El Kurd — in a viral video from her family’s home in Sheikh Jarrah, Jerusalem — confronted Yacoub, a Brooklyn-raised Zionist settler who has forcibly taken residence in the El Kurd family’s garage since 2009. 

“If I don’t steal your home, someone else will,” Yacoub said, gesturing matter-of-factly at Muna and her family members. 

As disturbing as this justification is, it reflects the reality that, since 1948, Zionist settlers have been stealing Palestinian’s homes and land. Forced expulsions have been commonplace across Occupied Palestine since the expulsion of 750,000 Indigenous Palestinians from our homes during the 1948 Nakba, which established the settler state of Israel. They continue this project of ethnic cleansing today in Sheikh Jarrah, in the neighboring villages of Silwan and the South Hebron Hills, and across Palestine.

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Opinion

The Answer to Anti-Semitism is Not Homeland Security

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by Bess Hepner, Michael Grant, and Risa Nagel
IfNotNow Seattle

Earlier in May, the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle hosted a Community-Wide Safety Training Series led by the Department of Homeland Security, Seattle Police Department, and Anti-Defamation League — all institutions infamous for promoting militarism and racism. As young Jews, we can’t help but wonder why we should take safety advice from organizations working to make us unsafe. We believe that instead of perpetuating the ideologies built to destroy our communities, Jews in Seattle can find real safety in solidarity with other communities threatened by white nationalism.

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Perspective

Perspective: Bursting Bubbles and Meeting Racism Face-to-Face in the South End

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by Cecilia Erin Walsh

“Sidewalk closed.” I stepped around the construction site sign, pressed the crosswalk button, and waited. The usual traffic on Alaska Street crossed in front of me, loud but not so as loud to drown out the voices of construction workers behind me.

“And did you hear about the synagogue in Pittsburgh? All those Jews being killed?” one man asked another, who responded “Oh, yeah,” like he’d rather not talk about it.

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Perspective

Anti-Semitism Didn’t Die with the Holocaust

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by Carolyn Bick

“Jesus. Active shooter at a synagogue in Pittsburgh.”

Surrounded by shadows created by the early Saturday morning light filtering into the bedroom, I stare at my mother’s text. Grief sticks in my throat like a bone. She doesn’t say it, and neither do I, but I say it later to my husband: “I’m not surprised. I was just waiting for it, that’s all.”

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