Publishers are asking us to remove our Jewish names, sever our connection to Israel, and make our books less Jewish. Meanwhile, obvious antisemitism is treated as a harmless “viewpoint.”
My wife is a Jewish-American novelist and I can attest that all this is true, in both book publishing and Hollywood, where mentioning Judaism, Jewishness or Israel is dangerous for Jewish writers, unless it's in the context of denouncing Israel and Zionism. Western liberals have turned all these terms into swear words and hate terms and, as art and culture are pretty much entirely liberal and progressive, it's now mandatory to be Free Palestine!—or else you can expect a cancellation mob to target you at any moment and brand you a genocidal baby killer.
As for publishing, the sad irony here is that this still a heavily Jewish field in all aspects from executives to agents and managers etc. But most of these people are secular and if they have any sacred beliefs they get them from NPR and the NY Times, so they quickly do as their chosen cohort demands and join in the Two Minutes Hate against Israel. Also, in their minds, the fight against Trump and MAGA is much more urgent and existential than the fight against Hamas.
If the choice is between sticking up for the Jewish state and the right for Jewish national self-determination and losing their careers and social lives, it's not much of a choice at all. And as everyone lives a tribal life now among the same people with the same views and news, most Progressives (Jewish or otherwise) don't know anyone who thinks differently. They move as a single scared herd, regardless of wealth, status or degrees.
These people are simply responding to the demands of the newest dual loyalty test instituted in the Diaspora: either publicly denounce Israel and Zionism or find another career and maybe even become a social outcast. For the time being, when it comes to publishing and culture, the Palestinians are George Floyd and Israel is Derek Chauvin, and just like this mania replaced BLM mania, none of this will die down until Western liberals find a new crowdsourced moral crusade to join.
As a 1/8 Jewish Catholic allow me to share a bit of Irish wisdom: muceoilic! Which in the Gaelic means turn all those bastards into pork sausage. Works especially well with jihadis
I have a simplistic answer. An agent refuses to take on a work because of Jew-hatred or fear thereof? SUE them. There has to be a cost to these schmucks.
Painful to read and then, so necessary. I hope Simon and Shuster reads this. I hope this is published widely. I hope S and S are shamed. Money is money, but blood money is blood, period.
"diversity is "our" greatest strength, but not Jewish diversity because when we say "our"we don’t mean Jews." Statement from Simon and Schuster DEI department.
The ease with which people - and corporations and organizations - tolerate Jew-hate is the part that shocks me, but is the proof of the way this sickness continues to reinvent itself.
Looks like the Literary world has a very SMALL TENT. I guess those committed to diversity and inclusiveness include only certain kinds of people.
My wife is a Jewish-American novelist and I can attest that all this is true, in both book publishing and Hollywood, where mentioning Judaism, Jewishness or Israel is dangerous for Jewish writers, unless it's in the context of denouncing Israel and Zionism. Western liberals have turned all these terms into swear words and hate terms and, as art and culture are pretty much entirely liberal and progressive, it's now mandatory to be Free Palestine!—or else you can expect a cancellation mob to target you at any moment and brand you a genocidal baby killer.
As for publishing, the sad irony here is that this still a heavily Jewish field in all aspects from executives to agents and managers etc. But most of these people are secular and if they have any sacred beliefs they get them from NPR and the NY Times, so they quickly do as their chosen cohort demands and join in the Two Minutes Hate against Israel. Also, in their minds, the fight against Trump and MAGA is much more urgent and existential than the fight against Hamas.
If the choice is between sticking up for the Jewish state and the right for Jewish national self-determination and losing their careers and social lives, it's not much of a choice at all. And as everyone lives a tribal life now among the same people with the same views and news, most Progressives (Jewish or otherwise) don't know anyone who thinks differently. They move as a single scared herd, regardless of wealth, status or degrees.
These people are simply responding to the demands of the newest dual loyalty test instituted in the Diaspora: either publicly denounce Israel and Zionism or find another career and maybe even become a social outcast. For the time being, when it comes to publishing and culture, the Palestinians are George Floyd and Israel is Derek Chauvin, and just like this mania replaced BLM mania, none of this will die down until Western liberals find a new crowdsourced moral crusade to join.
As a 1/8 Jewish Catholic allow me to share a bit of Irish wisdom: muceoilic! Which in the Gaelic means turn all those bastards into pork sausage. Works especially well with jihadis
I have a simplistic answer. An agent refuses to take on a work because of Jew-hatred or fear thereof? SUE them. There has to be a cost to these schmucks.
Painful to read and then, so necessary. I hope Simon and Shuster reads this. I hope this is published widely. I hope S and S are shamed. Money is money, but blood money is blood, period.
This is unforgivable. A sickness.
Maybe it's time to start a new publishing house aleph z
Disgusting
"diversity is "our" greatest strength, but not Jewish diversity because when we say "our"we don’t mean Jews." Statement from Simon and Schuster DEI department.
The ease with which people - and corporations and organizations - tolerate Jew-hate is the part that shocks me, but is the proof of the way this sickness continues to reinvent itself.
How do you explain that Simon & Schuster is owned by KKR whose principals are Jewish?
Excellent point and well said.