Scrambled Brains
Maybe it's mandatory to shake up presumptions and generalizations.
I turned into a scrambled mess a few days ago.
As I’ve written, over the weekend, right after the USA bombed Iran, I rushed to join an anti-war protest here in NYC, intending to decry Trump’s illegal action and Netanyahu’s machinations to stay in power . . . only to discover the rally was being led by an antisemitic group whose rhetoric condemned all of the USA and Israel as terrorists and occupiers.
I am a nonreligious Jew who found herself suddenly surrounded by people parroting chants that were quickly escalating to condemning the existence of Israel and advocating the extermination of me.
So I left.
But I couldn’t drop it, and even if I’d decided to, because I’d subscribed to the Instagram feed of a group called PeoplesForumNYC, the next morning I was once again confronted by the antisemite who’d led the demonstration chant, this time with wide vulnerable eyes, even more clearly espousing the elimination the state of Israel and Jews.
An earlier post by the group was not antisemitic, and I’d commented with relief. But now that I saw the second post, I was stung anew and commented there.
Long story short: I was both brave and stupid. Brave because rather than just walk away and hope not to encounter these people at the next demonstration, I said how I felt. Stupid because I got into a back-and-forth in comments—
First, from somebody who misread my comment and accused me of cheering for the brutal murder of Jews on October 7th. Horrified, I answered, “Are you nuts? Read my comment again. And BTW I’ve unfollowed this group because they are antisemitic.” The person never apologized. But then somebody else who claimed to be in Gaza wrote: “We’re hungry!”
Clunk!
I had my feelings hurt, but people are starving. What was I doing?
It is inevitable that those of us resisting this war and this administration will span the spectrum of beliefs. How scrambled are we? Let us not sabotage each other.
Here are two little videos to shake up presumptions and generalizations about all of Israel and Jews.
Betsy Robinson is an editor, fiction writer, journalist, and playwright (also a former actor). She has written about books for Publishers Weekly, Lithub, Oh Reader, and many other publications. Her novels Cats on a Pole and The Spectators were published by Kano Press in 2024. She writes funny stories about flawed people and examines our herd culture. www.BetsyRobinson-writer.com.
I am no fan of generalizations. In my mind, undertaking quality critical thinking disallows embracing generalizations at some level. Especially when applied to fellow human beings. I suppose individuality can be nuanced in many cases. At least that’s n those cases where perception and outlook are born from careful consideration. Hmmm, maybe I just generalized… darn it.