In these turbulent times, there is always so much to say, and this issue proves it. As a Jew and a journalist, you can probably imagine I have quite a bit on my mind, namely that either one of those titles makes me a target for an angry, violent crowd who are emboldened more and more every day by our current government. But of course, I am hardly alone. That’s the thing about fascism: at some point, it comes for just about everyone. Well, I’d love to share more macabre, autumn-inspired thoughts with you, dear readers, but you are holding in your hands our longest issue ever, and it pretty much speaks for itself. My love goes out to the many informed, passionate, and compassionate voices contributing to this issue, and I want to get out of their way. So I will leave you with this: as a child of New Orleans, I never speak the following salutation lightly (though I do say it often); but especially these days, I mean it more than ever: stay safe out there. —Dan Fox
November 2018 Cover illustration by HAPPY BURBECK
photo this page of the Stop the Attack on Trans People demonstration signage by ADRIENNE BATTISTELLA
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
To the editor,
We condemn Governor Edward’s choice to lead a delegation to Israel on a week long trip which began October 26. It is appalling that the Governor wants to learn from a nation that actively commits documented human rights abuses against Palestinians, refugees, and Jews of color. Adopting Israeli government tactics in Louisiana will only embolden the use of racist surveillance and militarized policing targeting black and brown communities, as was made especially clear in Ferguson. No one is safe when security means protecting one people at the expense of another.
This trip comes at a painful time. We mourn two hate crimes born of White supremacy this week—the anti-Black murder of two Kentuckians and the anti-semitic mass shooting at Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. But we know that White supremacy isn’t defeated with more guns. We recognize that solidarity, not surveillance, is the only way to lead to true safety for all people.
We find it extremely troubling that Governor Edwards plans to partner with companies implicated in human rights abuses. Israeli cybersecurity products are used around the world to spy on civilians, targeting activists, dissidents, and racial minorities. Pegasus, produced by Israeli company NSO Group, was used by the United Arab Emirates to hack into the iPhones of dissidents and in Mexico to spy on journalists. The proliferation of surveillance cameras in New Orleans, already invasive, could lead to a drastic infringement of civil and personal liberties, especially if combined with a partnership with Israeli companies in the name of “safety.” We must ask, safety for whom?
Israel has long used racial profiling, police harassment, and criminalization of Arab and minority groups to reinforce a dual system of unequal rights for Jewish Israelis and Palestinians. And yet, there is a growing national trend of US police departments, including Baltimore, Los Angeles, and Atlanta, partnering with the Israel Defense Forces for tactical training. In fact, Baton Rouge police murdered Alton Sterling just a few years after former Baton Rouge Police Chief Carl Dabadie traveled to Israel to learn “counter-terrorism” techniques. Palestinian lives do not matter to the state of Israel, just as Black lives do not matter to US law enforcement. We reject any international partnerships that deepen inequality and discrimination.
The New Orleans Palestinian Solidarity Committee introduced a Human Rights Resolution in the New Orleans City council earlier this year, along with twenty allied organizations, in the name of true safety for all, but it was rescinded after accusations of anti-semitism. What is anti-semitic about solidarity? Additionally, the Governor’s recent executive order prohibiting the state from doing business with groups that protest the State of Israel is a very troubling denial of the First Amendment right to free speech. Hopefully Governor Edwards realizes what it really means to learn about “security” from the state of Israel: studying practices of racial profiling, violent militarism, and citizen surveillance, something Louisiana should want no part of.
Signed,
Lucy Blumberg
Jewish Voice for Peace New Orleans
Saira Mehmood
New Orleans Palestinian Solidarity Committee
