i accidentally engaged in what i thought would be productive dialogue on a post which questioned the loyalty and abilities of American Jews who aren't uncritically supportive of Israeli policy, and now a bunch of uncritical likudniks are yelling at me on linkedin.
so anyway i'm apparently a self-hating anti-semitic disgrace of a jew and fake holocaust historian. again.
OK, so career-ish question here. I am very up on the new wave of female American Jewish scholars. In my work, I have met many such as Judy Batalion, Sarah Hurwitz, and Rebecca Brenner Graham. So not only Holocaust scholars but super relevant and poignant authors. They have avoided the Israel topic -- almost to a fault. I have followed you for a long time now -- and I am super proud of you!! Please don't take me the wrong way. It is just that you seem to run toward this Israel issue. To many of us who started following you for your grad school dissertation on Shanghai Jews, I may not be the only one who wonders why you dabble in the Israel stuff. Why stoop down to that level of mud slinging? Especially because it could be so damaging to your career (the discourse is so toxic and you can't ever please everyone). Follower for 10+ years and own a copy of your book...so I'm a fan girl.
Because deep in my heart I’m a naive idealist who believes that with the right approach, discourse, education, and access to knowledge, people will be open to discourse and potential changes in opinion.
The women you mentioned avoid the Israel stuff because they’ve been in the game longer and know when to keep their mouths shut. They know how to preserve their time and energy for the stuff that matters. I’m still new at this public facing stuff.
Further, I spent my formative years in what I now recognize to be a propagandic program centered on inculcating Jewish youth with right wing Israeli stances and politics. I bought into it as a sheltered fifteen year old, and I was taught to speak to Jews who didn’t toe the line exactly as these people are now speaking to me. I figured if I could change and learn and grow, and so can they! And I still believe that. I am not inherently better or smarter or more capable of un- and re-learning than anyone else.
And in my eyes, honestly I’m trying to run away from it, but it keeps finding its way to me.
But another piece of context here: the other two female Holocaust historians with advanced degrees who do serious public Holocaust history work on social media have the same exact problem. One had to abandon her well known and respected TikTok, the other had to go completely anonymous on Instagram to avoid harassment like the stuff i describe here. They both had their professional careers compromised at various times because they don’t say what various sections of the public want Holocaust scholars to say.
And I refuse to learn my damn lesson.
Thanks for being a fan ( 🤗🤗🤗 ), and honestly, to know me is to be in a constant state of LIZ. STOP.
Tl;dr: combination of naive optimism, adjustments to being a Public Figure, formative personal experiences, and the weird shit people say and project onto Holocaust historians.
