July 1, 2017

(Jewish Group) Anti-Semitism Is Creeping Into Progressivism

THIS IS THE JEWISH GROUP!

Last weekend, organizers of a gay pride parade in Chicago ejected three people carrying pride flags emblazoned with a Jewish Star of David. Subsequent bizarre statements attempting to rationalize their action, claiming that Zionism is “an inherently white supremacist ideology” only exacerbated the sense that the organizers were deaf to the concerns of the Jewish community and engaged in anti-Semitism — denying Jews the same rights that were extended to other participants, basically to celebrate their identities as Jewish queer women.

While this incident could be dismissed as one fringe group in one city, the fact is that it does represent a wider school of thought that is fueling a trend of creeping anti-Semitism among some segments of the political left.


Over the past year, we have seen other examples that have raised eyebrows as intersectional intolerance has sprung up among the progressive community. Similar stories to the one in Chicago were reported at the Celebrate Israel Parade in New York City earlier this month.

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For an organization like the Anti-Defamation League, which was founded both to combat anti-Semitism and protect the Jewish people but also to secure justice and fair treatment to all Americans, these manifestations are upsetting. Frustration with particular Israeli policies does not excuse an irrational hatred of Jewish people who support its existence. But this occurs all too frequently, which provides an opportunity to make clear certain moral and practical distinctions.

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July 1, 2017

(Jewish Group) The Chicago Dyke March: The Ugly Intersection Of Progressivism And Anti-Semitism

(THIS IS THE JEWISH GROUP!)

I won’t bury the lede – triggering anti-Semites is a good thing.


There were anti-Semites at the Chicago Dyke March last Saturday, as there were at the Israel Day Parade in New York a few weeks ago. I have gone to great lengths to distinguish between anti-Semitism and opposition to the Israeli government, and have been called out on it by some old friends who’ve become quite right-wing on this issue. I have worked for years now with J Street to bring about a fair and equitable two-state solution for Israel and Palestine, and consider myself pro-Palestinian as well as pro-Israeli. What happened in Chicago, in spite of the backtracking of the Dyke March leaders, was anti-Semitism. This was part of their statement:


Chicago Dyke March Collective is a grassroots mobilization and celebration of dyke, queer, bisexual, and transgender resilience. Our priority is to ensure a safer space for those who are most marginalized. We welcome and include people of all identities, but not all ideologies. We believe in creating a space free from oppression, and that involves rejecting racist ideologies that support state violence. We welcome the support we have received from Jewish allies and marchers who are as invested in liberation as we are.


I identify, when asked, as queer, bisexual and trans, am quite resilient, and am offended that they believe they’re celebrating me by excluding me and those like me.

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About time someone called out the misuses of progressive values.

June 30, 2017

Beyond Anti-Semitism: The Biggest Progressive Problem At The Chicago Dyke March

The Chicago Dyke March is supposed to be an especially inclusive gathering of progressives. Shockingly, Jews carrying rainbow flags with the Star of David were asked to leave. One Dyke March collective member told the Windy City Times the women were told to leave because the flags “made people feel unsafe,” that the march was “anti-Zionist” and “pro-Palestinian.”

The Chicago Dyke March Collective later issued the following statement on Facebook which, in part, reads:

“Yesterday, June 24, Chicago Dyke March was held in the La Villita neighborhood to express support for undocumented, refugee and immigrant communities under threat of deportation. Sadly, our celebration of dyke, queer and trans solidarity was partially overshadowed by our decision to ask three individuals carrying Israeli flags superimposed on rainbow flags to leave the rally. This decision was made after they repeatedly expressed support for Zionism during conversations with Chicago Dyke March Collective members …

Read more: http://forward.com/scribe/376008/beyond-anti-semitism-the-biggest-progressive-problem-at-the-chicago-dyke-ma/

I am beyond disgusted to see this happening in the gay community, but not at all surprised.

June 28, 2017

(Jewish Group) Im Glad the Dyke March Banned Jewish Stars

THIS IS THE JEWISH GROUP!

This weekend, at a lesbian march in Chicago, three women carrying Jewish pride flags — rainbow flags embossed with a Star of David — were kicked out of the celebration on the grounds that their flags were a “trigger.” An organizer of the Dyke March told the Windy City Times that the fabric “made people feel unsafe” and that she and the other members of the Dyke March collective didn’t want anything “that can inadvertently or advertently express Zionism” at the event.

Laurel Grauer, one of the women who was ejected, said she’d been carrying that Jewish pride flag in the march, held on the Saturday before the city’s official Pride Parade, for more than a decade. It “celebrates my queer, Jewish identity,” she explained. This year, however, she lost track of the number of people who harassed her for carrying it.

---snip---

Well, in practice, intersectionality functions as kind of caste system, in which people are judged according to how much their particular caste has suffered throughout history. Victimhood, in the intersectional way of seeing the world, is akin to sainthood; power and privilege are profane.

By that hierarchy, you might imagine that the Jewish people — enduring yet another wave of anti-Semitism here and abroad — should be registered as victims. Not quite.

---snip---

Jews on the left, particularly in recent years, have attempted to square this growing discomfort by becoming more anti-Israel. But if history has taught the Jews anything it’s that this kind of contortion never ends well.

It may be wrong to read too much into an ugly incident at a single march, but Jews should take what happened in Chicago as a lesson that they might not be as welcome among progressives as they might imagine. That’s a warning for which to be grateful, even as it is a reminder that anti-Semitism remains as much a problem on the far-left as it is on the alt-right.

entire article

June 25, 2017

Thoughts on the death of my grandmother

This morning, around 12:35am CST, I got a text from my mother telling me my grandmother, Nanny, had died. She had been hospitalized earlier in the day, and the diagnosis was grim. She was 69. She was my mom's stepmother, but I grew up with her as my grandmother. She was a retired RN and it was because of this I learned of the immense value of nurses and realized THEY are the ones you want on your side. She was a great Nanny. She attended very wedding, bar mitzvah, graduation, and major event in the lives of her grandchildren (all 9 of us), and her great-grandchildren (18), and even had three great-great-grandchildren. As my husband describes her, she had a very bubbly personality and loved to laugh. She also, like me, loved chihuahuas. My last text exchange with her, a few weeks back, was her thanking me for sending her money and she ended it with, "I love you and (your husband) very much. Love, Nanny".

Nanny was very accepting and open with understanding I was gay. She even tried to set me up once. That didn't take. She absolutely adored my husband and once told me, "You have yourself a good man, honey. You better be good to him and not let him go!". Of course, it all went back to when I was 21, and we were in the Bahamas at a casino, drinking Bahama Mamas, and she just blurted out:

"I love you. And I don't care who you love. You are my grandson and I will always love you!"

After picking my jaw off the ground, we talked for hours. She wanted to know everything. She even commented on the guy I hooked up with down there by saying, "Wow he's got a nice butt! My grandson has great taste." Kinda funny to hear your grandma say something like that!

When she met my then partner, now husband, for the first time, she walked up to him, hugged him, and said, "Call me Nanny. I am your grandmother now." I was always treated with respect by her and she demanded it of others.

While I am very sad, I am still happy that I, at 48yo, still had a grandmother. She was my last grandparent. I will miss her very, very much.

ETA: I wanted to say "Thank you" to each one of you who took the time to respond. It lifted my spirits on a very sad day. I will try again, but know I really appreciate it. (I am having problems with DU not loading correctly after multiple postings.) From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU!

June 24, 2017

'Wonder Woman' Will Be The Highest Grossing Live-Action Film Directed By A Female

“Wonder Woman” is about to break yet another awesome record for women in Hollywood. 

This week, the Patty Jenkins–directed film not only crossed the $600 million threshold, but it will also surpass Phyllida Lloyd’s 2008 “Mamma Mia!” to become the highest grossing live-action film directed by a woman, The Hollywood Reporter first noted. “Wonder Woman” hit $609.5 million for its global sum ― $293.2 million domestic and $316.3 million international ― through Thursday, and will officially break the record sometime Friday, Warner Bros. said in a statement to HuffPost. “Mamma Mia!” earned $609.8 million worldwide. 

“It’s an incredible achievement when you look at the success of this movie,” Warner Bros. President of Domestic Distribution Jeff Goldstein told HuffPost Friday, saying that with each passing day and week the film continues to outpace where any historical comparisons predicted it should be. 

“The real story is the fact that Princess Diana has really hit everybody ― young and old, male and female,” Goldstein added. “It’s truly a four-quadrant movie. The universal themes of what ‘Wonder Woman’ stands for are really positive. When you look at what Patty Jenkins put together in a movie, it really is fun.”

Not only has Goldstein heard stories of multiple viewings by both men and women, but Father’s Day stood out as a particularly successful day. 

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LOVED the movie!!

June 9, 2017

"You can be anything." - Lynda Carter a.k.a. Wonder Woman

I love the mixing of the two Wonder Woman versions. I LOVE IT!

June 8, 2017

(JEWISH GROUP) How the Jewish identity of Wonder Womans star is causing a stir

THIS IS THE JEWISH GROUP!!!!

“Wonder Woman” has drawn all kinds of controversy over gender politics since its release last Friday, but it has also put the spotlight on Jewish debates over race and nationality. The star of the film, Gal Gadot, who speaks English with an Israeli accent, has become an Israeli star and generated buzz both here and abroad.

Ahead of the film’s international release, Lebanon banned the film because of Gadot, who, like most Israeli citizens, served a mandatory two-year stint in the Israeli Defense Forces as a combat trainer. (Jordan is also reportedly considering a ban on the film.)

In 2014, Gadot posted on Facebook support of the Israeli army’s actions in Gaza while lighting candles with her daughter and writing “Shabbat Shalom,” the common greeting Jews say to one another on the Sabbath.

Gadot, whose grandfather survived Auschwitz, was born and raised in Rosh Haayin in Israel and was Miss Israel at age 18. In an interview with ABC, Gadot joked that being pregnant as Wonder Woman (she did some shoots when she was five months pregnant) was harder than being in the Israeli army.

Gadot’s role in the film, which grossed $103.3 million domestically and $228.3 million worldwide in its debut, has also resurfaced a debate this week among American Jews over race. In a piece at comicbook.com, Matthew Mueller argued that Gadot was the first woman of color to appear in the superhero genre.

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I loved this movie!!! It was awesome! Anyone boycotting this because Gadot is Israeli IS NOT about "intersectionality", they are nothing but BIGOTS trying to justify their bigotry!