A #HolocaustRemembranceDay

Let's #NeverForget that Nazi's came to power not only through violence but by leaning into white supremacy & white economic insecurity. The indoctrination & radicalization looked a lot like patriotism at first. They found community and joy in it.

Then came blame, cruelty, ridicule, isolation, theft... with little resistance or opposition.

Then, they labeled us with yellow stars, checked our papers/monitored us, invalidated our citizenship... they separated communities... and worse yet families...

...and once they had broken down our families, our resistance, our political and social norms... the cruelty and violence escalated.

The images are hard to look at, but please do. This wasn't hundreds of years ago... my grandmother lived through this. Of her 8 brothers and sisters, only three survived. No parents, almost all cousins, uncles, aunts... gone. Erased.

This isn't ancient history. Our grandparents share(d) direct memories. Tell us horrible stories they relive to ensure we #NeverForget. Many traumatized beyond recovery. Our parents raised inside those echoes. Sharing space with the ghosts.

When the white supremacists in Charlotte rallied, they chanted "Jews Will Not Replace Us", when the mob, foaming at the mouth smashed into our Capitol, they unabashedly wore Nazi slogans, our internet is saturated with anti-semitism indistinguishable from anti-Israel attacks.

Anti-globalist, Anti-Soros, Anti-Hollywood, Anti-Israel... we Jews hear you. We know what you are saying... and we won't stand by and watch it unfold, yet again, with a fight. Each and every day, we fight.

How are you feeling right now? Are you internally pushing back on something I said? Did my Anti-Israel comment provoke justification for discounting this thread in you? (Psst. I am a leftist, pro-peace Israeli American.) Did my white skin give your empathy pause? Are you bored?

We need to be able to talk about this stuff. I wish you could see my inbox. The vile shit that comes at me daily. I do my best not to spread that toxicity, but know that it is there. I am not alone. The hate is real and increasing. Jews everywhere feel unsafe.

We know that history repeats and we have never been safe. From the fascists and from the liberals. Hear that. Some of the worst offenders hide behind anti-globalist nonsense.

So for one day, we ask that you remember the Holocaust. We ask that you look at hard to see pictures.

To understand what is possible when good people stay silent. To understand what happens when fascism goes unchecked. When there are no consequences for our most dangerous leaders... we ask you to make a commitment yourself to #NeverForget.

Today we ask that our grief and our grievances be recognized. We do this not at the expense of or to invalidate others' pain. We do this to remind you and us WHY we fight so hard to remind people that #BLACKLIVESMATTER and the #NoHumanIsIlegal and that #FamiliesBelongTogether.

I understand that our struggles are intertwined.

Today, I recommit to ending the conservative Israeli governments atrocious, racist, and inhuman policies. Today I recommit to fighting antisemitism EVERYWHERE. Today I recommit to fighting for trans rights and disability rights.

Today I recommit to standing by you when it's easy and when it's hard because - because my freedom depends on your freedom.