editorials
The Call of 5783
A year ago in our new year message, we
lamented the continuing restrictions of
the pandemic, discussed domestic challenges,
focused upon economic concerns, hoped for better
education results for our kids and marveled at the
creativity and innovation of our synagogues and
communal institutions. We looked forward to a
possible full return to “normal” in the new year.

Unfortunately, 5782 did not live up to those
expectations. The relief many of us felt from a
lessening of the danger of the virus did not usher
in a return to normal.

Instead, COVID continues to haunt us, we feel
unease and frustration in multiple trouble spots
around the world, we are uncertain about our
economy and we are all victims of a deepening
domestic political divide. We are divided over
abortion. We are divided over guns. We are
divided over climate change and the future of our
environment. We are divided over voting rights.

We are divided over the legitimacy of the 2020
presidential election results. And there is more.

Many of us are concerned about the future of
our cherished republic.

Democracy is generally not a topic for new year
messages or High Holiday sermons — unless
it’s to extol the “American experiment” and the
genius of our founders. But this year is different.

In fact, one rabbi, Michael Holzman of Northern
Virginia Hebrew Congregation, recently called on
his colleagues to not just extol democracy, but to
preach it. There is something to that suggestion,
even if we would normally prefer that our rabbis
stay away from politics in their holiday sermons.

We are a little more than a month away from this
country’s midterm elections. State officeholders
at all levels of government will be elected and
control of both houses of Congress is very much
in play. There’s nothing new to that overall con-
struct. But this time around, the stakes seem a bit
higher, precisely because our country’s political
divide is so much more intense and pronounced
than in the past.

To be clear, we aren’t suggesting that our reli-
gious leaders endorse candidates or promote any
political partisanship. But they can help us appre-
ciate the importance of democracy and the cre-
ation of a society that we are all proud to be part
of. None of that detracts from the importance of
issues like communal safety, combating antisem-
itism, supporting Israel in its own buildup to con-
sequential elections, providing proper education
for our children and enhanced focus on caring for
our elderly and infirm.

But as we enter 5783 and look toward numer-
ous uncertainties in the coming year, we urge
focus upon the principles of democracy as a
guide to our political future.

As a Jewish community, we are beneficiaries
and transmitters of some of the world’s great-
est moral, ethical and historical treasures. As
Americans, we are tied to the inspiring history of
democracy and all of the good it can generate.

Let’s maximize all of those gifts in this new year.

May we all be sealed in the book of life. G’mar
chatimah tovah. JE
W e have seen this movie before: Public
hearings with the heads of social
media companies produce little or no change
to protect concerns like user privacy, when
doing so might interfere with corporate profits.

And when it comes to the balance between
free speech and hate speech, the social
media companies are, at worst, laissez-faire
and, at best, inconsistent and unreliable.

So it’s no surprise that at a recent hearing
on online antisemitism held by an interna-
tional group of lawmakers, which directed
questions at senior executives from Meta,
Twitter, YouTube and TikTok, one frustrated
lawmaker called the executives’ responses
to a series of questions regarding both the-
ory and practice in dealing with antisemitic
statements on their platforms, “platitudes
and window dressing.”
The hearing was organized by the Inter-
Parliamentary Task Force to Combat Online
Antisemitism, an international coalition of law-
makers formed in 2020. The group is co-chaired
by Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) and
Anthony Housefather, a Canadian member of
Parliament. According to reports, the tech giants came
remarkably unprepared. They knew they were
testifying before a panel looking into the growing
scourge of online antisemitism. Yet not a single
14 SEPTEMBER 29, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
social media executive was able to answer the
simple question of whether a potential, specific
antisemitic posting would be removed from that
executive’s platform. Nor could they give specific
answers to how to deal with platform algorithms
that amplify hateful content, including antisemi-
tism. When the executives were asked whether they
viewed anti-Zionism as inherently antisemitic,
or as hate speech in its own right, most of
them awkwardly dodged the question, although
Facebook’s Neil Potts did acknowledge that
attacks on Zionism are sometimes used as
a proxy for attacks on Jews.

When asked pointedly why Twitter doesn’t
have a policy against Holocaust denial, the best
Twitter’s Michelle Austin could say was that she
would “take that back” to the company.

An August 2021 report by the Center to
Counter Digital Hate found that the major
social media companies took no action
to remove a whopping 84% of antisemitic
posts. This is so even though social media
giants have promised to crack down on
antisemitic hate — something most believe
they are able to do through existing controls
designed to identify all forms of malignant
content. The obfuscation and evasion of the wit-
nesses left Wasserman Schultz frustrated. “I
think we’re all starting to see … why we’re eventu-
ally going to have to regulate the way this content
is handled as opposed to just leaving it to you, the
companies,” she said.

While it is not yet entirely clear whether social
media is unable or unwilling to protect users from
antisemitic speech, it is clear that more aggres-
sive protective steps are needed to stop the
poisonous flow of antisemitic sludge and vitriol.

But if the best social media giants can provide is
“platitudes and window dressing,” it may be time
for government to step in. The clock is ticking. JE
iStock / Getty Images Plus / Lobro78
Platitudes and Window Dressing



opinions & letters
Can King Charles Change
Britain’s Attitude Toward Israel?
BY ANDREW TUCKER
W atching the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II
this week, one could not fail to be deeply
moved, but her passing and the ascension of her
successor King Charles III raise the question of
whether there might now be a positive change in
Britain’s complicated and often hostile relationship
with Israel.

There is some reason for hope. In the past,
Charles has shown great sympathy for the Jewish
people and for the state of Israel. Moreover, one
of the queen’s last official acts was to invite Liz
Truss to become prime minister. Truss has pub-
licly stated that she wants to change British policy
towards Israel in a more supportive direction.

She is even prepared to contemplate moving
the British embassy to Jerusalem. Whether she
Peace and Justice Network publicly condemns
the “occupation,” supports the boycott, divest-
ment and sanctions movement and endorses
the establishment of an Arab-Muslim state in
Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria.

The Anglican Church’s attitude was reflected
in a controversial opinion piece published last
December by Archbishop of Canterbury Justin
Welby and Hosam Naoum, an Anglican arch-
bishop in Jerusalem. Reminding readers that the
first Christmas took place against “the backdrop
of the genocide of infants” — thus evoking toxic
libels about the “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians
— the authors blame Israel for “driving out”
Christians, despite strong evidence that Christian
churches in Israel are growing and thriving.

The cause of the Anglican Church’s critical
attitude toward Israel is a deeply-rooted “replace-
ment theology” (also known as “supercession-
There is no doubt that King Charles and his
prime minister understand the deep challenges
and dilemmas facing the Jewish people and the
state of Israel.

will be able to overcome anti-Jewish sentiment
in the British Foreign Office, however, remains to
be seen.

For Charles, the most significant obstacle to
establishing a more friendly relationship with
Israel is probably his role as supreme governor of
the Church of England. It must be acknowledged
that parts of the Anglican Church have played
a very positive role in relations with Israel and
the Jewish people. For example, the Anglican
Church’s Ministry Among the Jewish People and
other Anglican evangelicals in the 19th century
helped bring about the Balfour Declaration in
1917. Today, there are prominent Anglican clergy
and lay leaders in many countries who support
Israel on theological grounds, such as Professor
Gerald McDermott and his New Christian Zionism
movement. Officially, however, the Anglican Church is highly
critical of Israel. Anglican synods and committees
regularly denounce Israel’s claim to sovereignty
over Jerusalem and condemn the Jewish state for
allegedly oppressing the Palestinians and violat-
ing international law. For example, the Anglican
ism”) according to which — although the church
does not say so in so many words — the church
has replaced the Jewish people as God’s cho-
sen people. Thus, the Anglican Church does not
accept that the literal ingathering of the Jewish
people and their restoration to the land have any
abiding biblical significance, and prefers to sup-
port the Palestinians, who are perceived as the
oppressed underdog.

We know that King Charles and his heir Prince
William support Israel’s existence and sover-
eignty. However, Charles’ secret visit to his grand-
mother’s grave on the Mount of Olives in 2016 and
Prince William’s 2018 visit to Israel revealed the
tensions involved in complying with the internal
inconsistencies of the current British position.

William was the first member of the royal family
to meet officially with an Israeli prime minister in
Israel and he spoke warmly about “the essential
vibrancy” of the Jewish state. Nevertheless, his
visits to areas beyond the 1967 lines, includ-
ing eastern Jerusalem, were not organized by
the British embassy in Tel Aviv but by Britain’s
Jerusalem consulate, which is located in the
Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in the city’s east
and is charged with maintaining relations with the
Palestinian Authority.

William’s visit thus confirmed the official British
position that demands the establishment of a
Palestinian state and regards eastern Jerusalem
and the Old City — including the Western Wall —
as “occupied Palestinian territory” that needs to
be placed under Arab-Muslim sovereignty.

Should King Charles and Prime Minister Truss
seek to depart from existing British policy regard-
ing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, they will not
only have to overcome obstruction from the
British Foreign Office, but will also face opposition
from within the Anglican Church.

There is no doubt that King Charles and his
prime minister understand the deep challenges
and dilemmas facing the Jewish people and the
state of Israel, as well as the huge contribution
made by Israel to peace and security in the Middle
East and the existential dangers presented by the
current unilateral Palestinian claims to statehood.

Let’s hope that they will have the courage to
speak the truth without fear or favor. JE
Andrew Tucker is an Australian-born, Dutch-based
international lawyer, writer and speaker. He is
director of The Hague Initiative for International
Cooperation and chief editor of Israel & Christians
Today, a bimonthly newspaper published by
Christians for Israel.

letters Archbishop Sends Holiday Greeting
As you prepare to celebrate the Most Holy Days
of the year, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, I
write on behalf of the people of the Archdiocese
of Philadelphia to extend prayerful best wishes.

These are days of prayer, reflection and new
beginnings. May the Eternal One abundantly
bless you with good health, wisdom and true
peace in the year ahead.

“Shanah Tovah,” a good year to all! JE
Most Reverend Nelson J. Pérez,
Archbishop of Philadelphia
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