Ongoing boycott of Israeli cultural institutions; opposition to boycott; thoughts on "the neocolonized literary citizen," pretentious writing, bad grammar; a new anthology; new lit mag; and more
That you express no horror at the racism of a this boycott and that the pretense on which it is based is painfully immoral, performative, and self-aggrandizing--not to mention that it is DESTROYING the lives of Jewish writers and their ability to earn a living, for no other reason than that they are Jewish, makes me feel the desire to instantly cancel this newsletter from my feed. That's not boycotting; that's disgust. Perhaps Sally Rooney is embittered by her inability to write an interesting novel, but her fervent antisemitism is violent and evidently viral. The whole thing is shameful. My grandfather testified before HUAC and, pleading the First, refused to answer the question of whether he was a Communist. Pleading the First meant that the government had NO RIGHT to ask him his political or any other affiliations. He went to jail for a year because of it. Now THAT is principled behavior, not this farce boycott. He was a Socialist, a Jew, and one of the most fundamentally decent men who ever walked the planet. His name was Albert Maltz. It would do these ignorant boycotters some good to--I dunno--read some history. Enough. Enough! And enough debating whether it is legitimate to cut artists off from their living because of their beliefs and their race--yes, I said it--their race. That's what this is about, make no mistake. It's bad enough we've elected a monstrous would-be fascist as president, now we have a fascist, intellectually dishonest and morally bankrupt group on the so-called left that is rending the fabric of society quite efficiently.
Boycotts can be problematic, and McCarthyism and antisemitism are bad. But there's also anti Palestinian racism and suppression of pro Palestinian views and criticism of Israel. Writers, artists, editors, professors, lawyers, students and others in the U.S. have been fired, de-platformed and cancelled, put on blacklists, and unfairly branded as antisemites for criticizing Israel's policies in Gaza and the West Bank. As a factual matter, the balance of power in most U.S. political, media, cultural, and academic venues favors Israel and its supporters. This is on top of the fact that pro Palestinian views are suppressed in Israel and that the reports of Israeli targeting of Palestinian journalists are credible.
Your comment also made me curious about your grandfather, Albert Maltz, so I researched him a little online. He had strong left wing and racial and social justice views, and seems to have been consistent in his principles. From what I read, I suspect that if he were alive today, his sympathies would be with people who protest against acts that look very much like apartheid and, in Gaza, increasingly like genocide.
The common thread connecting the excerpted articles seems to be performative bs on the part of academics and self-appointed "public" intellectuals. Thank you for quoting George Abraham. I've been feeling exactly the way he does for years, and I guess it took Trump's return in 2024 to bring out the rot at the core of academic liberalism and MFA programs, or at least embolden people to talk about DEI-washing. Diversity? Seems like more color, even less radicalism. In fact, the identity politics have been toxic for years, and worse, a mask for ongoing social privilege and class bias in the academy. The Iowa Workshop is a country club, along with every other program Abraham named, and the editors of most university affiliated magazines are tenured champions of mediocrity, nepotism, and conformity. Didn't the AWP just announce it was hosting a panel on "creative use of AI in the classroom"? Way to roll over and play dead, AWP! Meet your new overlords, Elon Musk and Peter Thiel. Anyhow, thanks for this excerpt about editors and other "neocolonized literary citizens": "They are (often) not the literal CIA, but they’re comfortable uncritically supporting the new DEI-washed faces of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, the Paris Review, the Stegner program, and other spaces with such histories of statist infiltration and political sanitization." Seriously, when the AWP caves within months of ChatGPT's release, there's nothing to say but that the MFA ship is sinking, and this country's literary landscape was polluted long before Trump decided to napalm it.
Thanks for the shout-out for my pithy little piece about the past tense, Becky, and the reference to Splinter. The emergence of a new print publication in Australia is as rare as an albino platypus.
As for the ongoing imbroglio over Palestine/Israel I've already had my 2c worth in this forum.
For George Abraham from Mizna's edification, the CIA funded the establishment of the right-wing conservative journal Quadrant in Australia back in the 1950's. Subtlety has never been their strong suit.
And, finally, I've probably upset Orca Editor, Joe Ponepinto (four syllables in a surname; how pretentious) by using several other three syllable words in this post. Whoever thought we'd see a 'literary' advocate for dumbing it down. ;-)
The arrogance of the writers who’ve signed the boycott against Israeli cultural institutions is beyond comprehension. The writers & artists of Israel have done much to fight for Palestinian rights & have done so for decades, long before the literary herd here could even locate Israel on a map.
Because I’ve long loved books, I’ve attributed far more intelligence to writers than they ever deserved. It doesn’t take much reasoning to see how such a boycott leads to one’s own silencing. Can’t wait to see how the world will regard the American writers once Trump pulls his first unpopular move.
Shall we all be silenced?
Of course, anyone with very basic background knowledge in social psychology knows that this is how groups push evil along. Our literary elite need a better education. Perhaps a lesson in geopolitics & social psychology 101.
The hypocrisy is really something else. What did we kill in Iraq/Afghanistan? Like 1 Million? And they weren’t holding any of our citizens hostage. They weren’t daily launching missiles at us. Where were these righteous writers then?
What a waste of indignation. They could’ve joined forces with long standing organizations who know the conflict well & are working toward peace. Instead, they show up & make everything worse for Israelis, Palestinians, & Jews in the diaspora.
Congratulations to these signatories on reviving the oldest form of bigotry in the world. It’s antisemitism. It’s Jew hate. And I will never forget you.
I am opposed to cultural boycotts because they hurt the messengers that can bring us together and because it leads to censorship. I have particular problems with the selective morality of the anti-Israeli boycott. What about the genocide in Sudan? Arab vs Arab. Is anyone boycotting Russian cultural institutions over Ukraine? I could think of a lot of reasons to boycott U.S. writers if we are looking to only associate with artists from “pure” societies. What about boycotting Iranian artists? Iran sponsors Hamas who planned the Oct 17 attack for over a year, knowing that Israel would retaliate against Gaza, the population that Hamas governs and is responsible for protecting? Did Hamas or Iran ever have a plan to protect the Palestinians there, or was the plan to use the population as human shields? Both sides in the Gaza conflict are guilty of horrible, immoral acts, and there are other countries committing horrible, immoral acts. However, the cultural boycott against Israel stands out for its hypocrisy.
I hadn't heard of Mizna and I was really intrigued after reading that thoughtful essay you linked & pre-ordered a copy of the next issue, so thank you. Splinter also seems fascinating but how much can a gal spend before 9am, haha.
I have no pithy quip or summation to add about the boycott as I think it's deserving of deeper thought and consideration on the multiplicity of 'sides' (some of which is excerpted here).
That you express no horror at the racism of a this boycott and that the pretense on which it is based is painfully immoral, performative, and self-aggrandizing--not to mention that it is DESTROYING the lives of Jewish writers and their ability to earn a living, for no other reason than that they are Jewish, makes me feel the desire to instantly cancel this newsletter from my feed. That's not boycotting; that's disgust. Perhaps Sally Rooney is embittered by her inability to write an interesting novel, but her fervent antisemitism is violent and evidently viral. The whole thing is shameful. My grandfather testified before HUAC and, pleading the First, refused to answer the question of whether he was a Communist. Pleading the First meant that the government had NO RIGHT to ask him his political or any other affiliations. He went to jail for a year because of it. Now THAT is principled behavior, not this farce boycott. He was a Socialist, a Jew, and one of the most fundamentally decent men who ever walked the planet. His name was Albert Maltz. It would do these ignorant boycotters some good to--I dunno--read some history. Enough. Enough! And enough debating whether it is legitimate to cut artists off from their living because of their beliefs and their race--yes, I said it--their race. That's what this is about, make no mistake. It's bad enough we've elected a monstrous would-be fascist as president, now we have a fascist, intellectually dishonest and morally bankrupt group on the so-called left that is rending the fabric of society quite efficiently.
Boycotts can be problematic, and McCarthyism and antisemitism are bad. But there's also anti Palestinian racism and suppression of pro Palestinian views and criticism of Israel. Writers, artists, editors, professors, lawyers, students and others in the U.S. have been fired, de-platformed and cancelled, put on blacklists, and unfairly branded as antisemites for criticizing Israel's policies in Gaza and the West Bank. As a factual matter, the balance of power in most U.S. political, media, cultural, and academic venues favors Israel and its supporters. This is on top of the fact that pro Palestinian views are suppressed in Israel and that the reports of Israeli targeting of Palestinian journalists are credible.
Your comment also made me curious about your grandfather, Albert Maltz, so I researched him a little online. He had strong left wing and racial and social justice views, and seems to have been consistent in his principles. From what I read, I suspect that if he were alive today, his sympathies would be with people who protest against acts that look very much like apartheid and, in Gaza, increasingly like genocide.
President Trump is not a fascist!
?
The common thread connecting the excerpted articles seems to be performative bs on the part of academics and self-appointed "public" intellectuals. Thank you for quoting George Abraham. I've been feeling exactly the way he does for years, and I guess it took Trump's return in 2024 to bring out the rot at the core of academic liberalism and MFA programs, or at least embolden people to talk about DEI-washing. Diversity? Seems like more color, even less radicalism. In fact, the identity politics have been toxic for years, and worse, a mask for ongoing social privilege and class bias in the academy. The Iowa Workshop is a country club, along with every other program Abraham named, and the editors of most university affiliated magazines are tenured champions of mediocrity, nepotism, and conformity. Didn't the AWP just announce it was hosting a panel on "creative use of AI in the classroom"? Way to roll over and play dead, AWP! Meet your new overlords, Elon Musk and Peter Thiel. Anyhow, thanks for this excerpt about editors and other "neocolonized literary citizens": "They are (often) not the literal CIA, but they’re comfortable uncritically supporting the new DEI-washed faces of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, the Paris Review, the Stegner program, and other spaces with such histories of statist infiltration and political sanitization." Seriously, when the AWP caves within months of ChatGPT's release, there's nothing to say but that the MFA ship is sinking, and this country's literary landscape was polluted long before Trump decided to napalm it.
Thanks for the shout-out for my pithy little piece about the past tense, Becky, and the reference to Splinter. The emergence of a new print publication in Australia is as rare as an albino platypus.
As for the ongoing imbroglio over Palestine/Israel I've already had my 2c worth in this forum.
For George Abraham from Mizna's edification, the CIA funded the establishment of the right-wing conservative journal Quadrant in Australia back in the 1950's. Subtlety has never been their strong suit.
And, finally, I've probably upset Orca Editor, Joe Ponepinto (four syllables in a surname; how pretentious) by using several other three syllable words in this post. Whoever thought we'd see a 'literary' advocate for dumbing it down. ;-)
"The most ironic thing about the literary boycott of Israel…is that it betrays a lack of faith in literature itself."
Just like book banning on the other side of the aisle.
Enough said.
The arrogance of the writers who’ve signed the boycott against Israeli cultural institutions is beyond comprehension. The writers & artists of Israel have done much to fight for Palestinian rights & have done so for decades, long before the literary herd here could even locate Israel on a map.
Because I’ve long loved books, I’ve attributed far more intelligence to writers than they ever deserved. It doesn’t take much reasoning to see how such a boycott leads to one’s own silencing. Can’t wait to see how the world will regard the American writers once Trump pulls his first unpopular move.
Shall we all be silenced?
Of course, anyone with very basic background knowledge in social psychology knows that this is how groups push evil along. Our literary elite need a better education. Perhaps a lesson in geopolitics & social psychology 101.
The hypocrisy is really something else. What did we kill in Iraq/Afghanistan? Like 1 Million? And they weren’t holding any of our citizens hostage. They weren’t daily launching missiles at us. Where were these righteous writers then?
What a waste of indignation. They could’ve joined forces with long standing organizations who know the conflict well & are working toward peace. Instead, they show up & make everything worse for Israelis, Palestinians, & Jews in the diaspora.
Congratulations to these signatories on reviving the oldest form of bigotry in the world. It’s antisemitism. It’s Jew hate. And I will never forget you.
I am opposed to cultural boycotts because they hurt the messengers that can bring us together and because it leads to censorship. I have particular problems with the selective morality of the anti-Israeli boycott. What about the genocide in Sudan? Arab vs Arab. Is anyone boycotting Russian cultural institutions over Ukraine? I could think of a lot of reasons to boycott U.S. writers if we are looking to only associate with artists from “pure” societies. What about boycotting Iranian artists? Iran sponsors Hamas who planned the Oct 17 attack for over a year, knowing that Israel would retaliate against Gaza, the population that Hamas governs and is responsible for protecting? Did Hamas or Iran ever have a plan to protect the Palestinians there, or was the plan to use the population as human shields? Both sides in the Gaza conflict are guilty of horrible, immoral acts, and there are other countries committing horrible, immoral acts. However, the cultural boycott against Israel stands out for its hypocrisy.
I hadn't heard of Mizna and I was really intrigued after reading that thoughtful essay you linked & pre-ordered a copy of the next issue, so thank you. Splinter also seems fascinating but how much can a gal spend before 9am, haha.
I have no pithy quip or summation to add about the boycott as I think it's deserving of deeper thought and consideration on the multiplicity of 'sides' (some of which is excerpted here).
Well that's a dazzling last sentence. Fireworks. I feel so gifted. Truly! Thanks for that, Becky. Back at cha.