Joel S.
@joelhs.bsky.social
Professor of Religion and Jewish Studies, Sarah Lawrence College. PhD in Religious Studies, University of Chicago. Globalist Elite, Ruthless Cosmopolitan, and Thing-in-Itself-hating Jew. Husband of @petticoatshrink.bsky.social. He/Him/הוא/ער
Ben Shapiro has recreated Judeo-Bolshevism from first principles, just replacing "Jew" with "Muslim."
Joel S.@joelhs.bsky.social · 10m agoBen Shapiro probably does not know enough history to even know this, but the way he is talking about Muslims as a nation within the nation who can never be integrated is almost verbatim what European nationalists said about Jews in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Ben Shapiro probably does not know enough history to even know this, but the way he is talking about Muslims as a nation within the nation who can never be integrated is almost verbatim what European nationalists said about Jews in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
We got the first "El-Sayed won Rochester Hills because he's a Zionist" take in the wild.
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 3h agoEl-Sayed: "My commitment to Jewish safety is the same commitment that I have to the safety of my own daughters. Because if there is one question of political philosophy that ought to animate us all, it's what would we do if we treated all our kids like they were all of our kids?"
"That which is hateful to you, do not do to another; that is the entire Torah, and the rest is its interpretation. Go study." - Hillel, from Shabbat 31a
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 3h agoEl-Sayed: "My commitment to Jewish safety is the same commitment that I have to the safety of my own daughters. Because if there is one question of political philosophy that ought to animate us all, it's what would we do if we treated all our kids like they were all of our kids?"
This is a wonderful answer, and echoes the way I have spoken to my Jewish relatives about why they should care about Palestinian children.
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 3h agoEl-Sayed: "My commitment to Jewish safety is the same commitment that I have to the safety of my own daughters. Because if there is one question of political philosophy that ought to animate us all, it's what would we do if we treated all our kids like they were all of our kids?"
When I hear about these donation numbers, the fact I always keep coming back to is that one-third of remaining Holocaust survivors are living below the poverty line. (www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/20...)
daniel sieradski@self.agency · 3h agopro-israel donors reportedly contributed 12x the amount to this one race that the @ujafedny.bsky.social spends on tuition assistance for jewish day school students each year in case you're wondering why american jews have substituted support for israel with yiddishkeit
This is just rank Islamophobia and anti-Arab racism, based on the bigoted idea that there is something inherently scary about a president with the last name "El-Sayed." It is incumbent on all of us to call it out.
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 3h agoJD Vance: "We don't want the next administration, whoever -- god forbid you're gonna have President El-Sayed in three years ... "
"Archaeologists have uncovered the full floor of Lithuania’s historic Great Synagogue, revealing treasures nearly erased by Nazi and Soviet occupations." www.jta.org/2026/08/04/g...
Archaeologists uncover treasures of Vilnius' Great Synagogue as Lithuanian Jews dispute its future - Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Plans for the recovered ruins have sparked a debate over what should be built on the site, and who gets to decide.
jta.org
El-Sayed did not “minimize the attack” on a Michigan synagogue. He said it was ethically and legally indefensible and emphasized that we can understand the context without condoning - which is also how I feel about Israeli genocide in Gaza after 10/7/2023.
This is the correct answer. The principle that every person living between the Mediterranean and the Jordan should have equal rights and self-determination is far more important than the number of states.
Ron Skolnik@ronskolnik.bsky.social · 22h agoEl-Sayed: "I believe in equal rights to peace, dignity, and self-determination, for Palestinians and Jewish Israelis alike... If that’s 2 states, I’m for it. If it’s 1 state, I’m for that. If it’s this 'land for all' model, ... or whatever they decide." www.newyorker.com/news/the-new...
If you think Israel is bad, you should reach that conclusion by applying consistent principles of justice, rights, and solidarity. When “Israel is bad” becomes the highest principle in itself, you get so-called leftists arguing Moroccan migrants to Spain are an “invasion,” echoing the far-right.
This will get a fraction of the attention that Zohran Mamdani got for calling Netanyahu a war criminal.
Kyle Clark@kylec.bsky.social · yesterdayDepicting Jewish people with horns is a centuries-old, dehumanizing, antisemitic trope. Democratic Gov nominee Phil Weiser is outspoken about his mother’s birth in a Nazi concentration camp, his family members killed in the Holocaust, and the threat posed by antisemitism today.
At some point the right will realize "all education should be pre-professional" is going to clash with "Retvrn to the classics." The right might not want to teach Religious Studies the way I do, but there are people on the right who want to teach it in a way that isn't directly employable either.
The New Republic@newrepublic.com · 2d agoPresident Trump is banning students majoring in degrees that don’t make enough money from taking out college loans. Degrees for social work, art, religious studies, teaching aides, and music will be hit the hardest. trib.al/aaAEu6v
It would be great if the person setting a legal precedent in the UK that anti-Zionist beliefs are protected were not someone whose anti-Zionism is ragingly antisemitic. But that’s not the timeline we’re living in. David Miller called Mamdani a “Zionist” for condemning a swastika on an NYC synagogue.
As a Religious Studies professor, this directly targets my livelihood in a way that makes a mockery of any supposed profession of concern the administration has ever expressed for me as a Jewish person on campus.
The New Republic@newrepublic.com · 2d agoPresident Trump is banning students majoring in degrees that don’t make enough money from taking out college loans. Degrees for social work, art, religious studies, teaching aides, and music will be hit the hardest. trib.al/aaAEu6v
This is a good article about the chief rabbi of the Jewish community of Iran, a community often instrumentalized by all sides, whether seen as helpless, constantly persecuted, and held against their will, or else held up as supposed proof of the tolerance of Iran's govt. www.wsj.com/world/middle...
Meet the Rabbi Leading Iran’s Thousands of Jews
Yehuda Gerami walks a line between politics and religion, trying to maintain one of the world’s oldest Jewish communities.
wsj.com
Would be really cool if the organizations that could call out actual antisemitism centered around the state of Israel - migrants as pawns of an Israeli-led Great Replacement conspiracy - had not burned all their credibility defending Netanyahu and the IDF from highly credible war crimes charges.
Joel S.@joelhs.bsky.social · 2d agoA shocking number of people believe, with zero evidence, that Israel is behind Moroccan migrants into Spain, which is just the Great Replacement conspiracy. Meanwhile, US Jewish orgs have declared war on Mamdani for accurately describing Netanyahu as a war criminal. www.haaretz.com/world-news/e...
This is actual antisemitism - not because it’s criticizing Israel, but because it attributes agency over all migration to Israel, with no evidence. This is just the Great Replacement conspiracy, and it is ultimately far-right. Such conspiracism is going to destroy the left, if it isn’t policed.
This is a good ruling on free speech grounds alone, regardless of whether or not one agrees with the substantive comparison. www.middleeasteye.net/news/german-...
German court rules comparing Israel to Nazi Germany constitutes 'protected speech'
The court also rejected the suggestion that comparing Israel’s conduct with Nazi Germany automatically trivialised the Holocaust or incited hatred
middleeasteye.net
What does this even mean, other than just "nationalism?" (www.cnn.com/2026/08/03/p...) I don't actually think it's good for anyone if "Zionism" becomes the generic term for "nationalism," rather than one specific use case of it.
A shocking number of people believe, with zero evidence, that Israel is behind Moroccan migrants into Spain, which is just the Great Replacement conspiracy. Meanwhile, US Jewish orgs have declared war on Mamdani for accurately describing Netanyahu as a war criminal. www.haaretz.com/world-news/e...
Israel's fault? The conspiracy theory surrounding Spain's Ceuta border crossings
About 60,000 migrants crossing into Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta triggered conspiracy theories from across the political spectrum: Israel and the United States unleashed them in a bid to pun...
haaretz.com
Someone spray-painted a swastika on the statue of the great medieval Jewish philosopher Maimonides in Córdoba, his place of birth. www.jpost.com/diaspora/ant...
Rambam statue vandalized with swastika graffiti in Cordoba, Spain | The Jerusalem Post
The graffiti was painted over the base of the statue, located in the heart of the Jewish quarters of Cordoba, in the Tiberiades plaza, with local authorities condemning the antisemitic attack.
jpost.com
Today we observe Porajmos (Roma Holocaust) Remembrance Day. on the night of 2–3 August 1944, 2,897 Roma were murdered at the Zigeunerfamilienlager at Auschwitz-Birkenau. We remember them and the half a million Sinti and Roma murdered by Nazi Germany and fascist collaborators. Na Bistaren.
“There’s zero direct evidence linking Israel to Moroccan migration to Spain, but it feels true because it’s the sort of thing they would do.” At some point this is indistinguishable from how Republicans talk about “voter fraud” and “stolen elections.”
Bob’s Your Uncle@bobsyouruncle.bsky.social · 3d agoZero direct evidence. There is in fact some smoke around this situation that makes it very suspicious
His former wife would absolutely be doing these things to placate him to try to prevent him from hurting her and their child. This is basic domestic abuse dynamics.
The Bulwark@thebulwark.com · 3d agoRep. Max Miller: "These are incredibly serious criminal accusations. If these accusations were true, I would be in jail — I would be. My former wife would not have been offering to cook me dinner and inviting me to playgrounds. Think about that."
No, Israel, while a malign actor in its own right, is not responsible for every bad thing that happens in the world. And framing migrants as a danger in the first place is ultimately a far-right Great Replacement framing that reinforces the anti-Zionism of Tucker Carlson, not solidarity for all.
Leftists support migrants because they believe a human being's worth should not be dependent on where they were born. Some people who consider themselves part of "the left" are actually just reactionary nationalists of the subaltern class, who would instantly be on the right if their side ever won.
High-level politicians of Germany's far-right, neo-Nazi adjacent AfD are blaming Moroccan immigrants to Spain's Ceuta last week on Israel. Progressives should ask whether they want to acquiesce to an ultimately far-right framing of migrants as "invaders," just because it lets them blame Israel.
