Elad NehoraiBeripikadong account

Language is essential. Just as the right has shamelessly lied we must shamelessly tell the truth. Even if it is unpopular or it polarizes. Without the truth, we can’t even know what we’re fighting against or for. And that’s exactly what authoritarians rely on.

And the result is a world in which the very lies that are being spread like wildfire are validated even by the mainstream left. So the lies keep getting pushed. We keep losing touch with reality. And the national conversation loses all its power.

So many people advise us to do the opposite. Adapt our language so it doesn’t “polarize.” Stop using the word racist. Don’t call Trump fascist. Don’t call people white nationalists. So our own side falls for the very tricks of authoritarianism. We adapt to their lies.

Ever since reading recent pieces by @umairh I’ve realized how important language is in the present moment. Lying has been this administration’s greatest gift. Changing reality through language. It’s what Orwell so feared. So, speaking the truth is a brave act.

*In an age where See, semantics matter.

Yep. This is why semantics matter. In an where age lies are used to manipulate reality, unvarnished truth has incredible power.https://twitter.com/mairavz/status/1146642110780600320 …

Take a guess who they’re talking about. https://twitter.com/reaganbattalion/status/1146583226703654917 …

“A bribe blinds the clever, and how much more so the fool!” Hebrew proverb

This is a straight up lie. Yes, some organizations called her out. Many did not. And *many* Jewish scholars spoke out specifically against the Holocaust Museum statement. That statement, btw, said that all Holocaust analogies are off limits. And that’s why they were called out.https://twitter.com/jgreenbergsez/status/1146179698130657280 …

I’m repeating what others have already said many times. But I feel it important to say myself as well. As one of the voices in this discussion, I’m sickened at how fighting for Jews gets turned into a weapon. We have a responsibility to be aware of it and to adjust.

Many of us who are Jewish are trying to figure out our place in these discussions. We are desperately concerned with how our political home may turn hostile as it has in other countries. But this does not mean we can take a “both sides” approach. We *must* be mindful of context.

And I will say this straight out because I should have earlier: I am truly sorry if my work has hurt people of color or other vulnerable people because I did not take this into account. I should have. And I’m grateful to those who brought it to my attention.

The biggest thing that I’ve learned from writing about antisemitism in the left is how often that work is then weaponized by the right. I don’t believe it means we should stop writing about it. But how we write about it, how often, etc matters a lot. Because we are being used.

I will never forget that you justified your use of black face. That you publicly, openly fight only for Jews. Specifically for the orthodox Jewish view of what Jews should be. I will never forget all the right Jews that agreed with you. And all the non-Jews that used you. https://twitter.com/hikinddov/status/1146556129348116481 …

Imagine blaming anyone but the parents when they use their own child as a prop to publicly mock a political figure.https://twitter.com/joeysalads/status/1146428564323164160 …