I am writing to express my outrage and dismay that The New Republic published Talia Jane’s June 14th article, “Biden Just Criticized These Protests as Antisemitic. Were They?”

I believe Ms. Jane lacks integrity and intentionally ignores the facts. She uses Orwellian turnspeak to justify horrific hate and violence against a minority that she would never tolerate towards minority groups whom she deems worthy of protection. This is a dangerous combination in a human being and more so in a journalist who has the ability to publicly incite corrupt individuals into criminal behavior. It also puts The New Republic in danger of aiding and abetting discriminatory behavior and hate crimes towards a minority.

One of the telling signs of cruel, hateful, and prejudicial behavior is blaming the target and/or twisting the story so that the aggressor justifies his/her behavior.

Would Jane say to a woman who was raped, “You weren’t raped, baby, he just likes it rough.” Would she say to an African American man who was beaten by a police officer, “That’s just good police work.” Would she say the following about the Colorado Springs nightclub shooting of the LGBTQIA community, “It was a random shooting and had nothing to do with your lifestyle. Get over it.”

Since she would neither blame the above-mentioned targets of criminal behavior, nor would she justify the behavior itself, it follows that she could not possibly blame the Jewish community or justify hate crimes against them. Yet that is exactly what Ms. Jane does.

Here are some examples of her unashamed gaslighting of the Jewish community:

Referring to the undisputedly antisemitic protests in front of the Nova Exhibition in NYC, which spilled over to nearby subway stations, streets, and a city park, Talia reported the situation as follows: “Biden on Friday issued a strong condemnation of a series of ‘horrific acts of antisemitism’ that occurred in New York City over the past week. There’s just one problem: None of the instances Biden cited were antisemitic, despite the media outrage.” Even Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), an unlikely trio, are united in recognizing the antisemitism of these ugly protests, along with many other political leaders. When you celebrate Hamas and Hezbollah, it is undoubtedly Antisemitism 101.

I echo the words of Leon Wieseltier, who served as the New Republic’s longtime literary editor starting in the 1980s, “It also disgusts me because it’s a real betrayal of universal liberal principles which apply, because they are universal, also to the Jews. Protesting that exhibition on Wall Street about the Nova festival, whatever you think about the current conflict, was stupendously indecent.”

On Talia Jane’s social media, she published “Zionism is synonymous with ethnonationalist supremacy and not Judaism.” North of 90% of American Jews identify themselves as Zionists. So, at worst, this is blatant Jew hate. At best, it is a very ill-informed statement.

In the early hours of October 7, when news of Hamas’ attack and the tragic loss of civilian lives had already spread, Jane shared a photo depicting Hamas terrorists dismantling a fence to enter Israel with the caption, “Good morning.” Jane described it as an act of “resistance against oppressive governance.”

Had she done her research she would have known that Israel has been out of Gaza since 2005. The only “oppressive governance” in Gaza has been by Fatah (2005) and then Hamas (since 2007) [1].

In a June Instagram post about protesters burning Israeli and American flags outside the Israeli consulate in New York, Jane expressed her opinion by captioning it with, “The American empire is an active participant in the current genocidal onslaught, not only by funding and arming the Zionist entity, but with US military and intelligence presence in Gaza itself. The Zionist entity is an immoral and illegitimate state, built on the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people and constructed as an outpost of Western imperialism.”

Genocidal state? Israel is a democracy with greater human rights for all of its citizens than any country in the region by far. Israel is fighting a defensive war to defeat terrorists and rescue hostages (Americans, Israelis, and Foreign Nationals).

Hamas terrorists boast of hiding behind civilians and increasing Palestinian deaths, while Israel goes out of its way to protect civilians [2].

While the loss of innocent lives is tragic, we need to look at the facts. In American wars against terrorism, the American military has accidentally killed 4 to 60 civilians for every terrorist they have eliminated. Israel’s military has done a better job than any military in the world at protecting civilians in urban warfare. Israel’s civilian to terrorist casualty ratio is 1:1 [3-4].

Instead of reporting on the Nova Festival Exhibit as an unbelievably moving tribute to those whose lives were violently stolen from them by Hamas terrorists, Ms. Jane chose to highlight some questionably, barely-there, anti-Muslim post-it notes left at the exhibition, “left by other attendees rife with Islamophobic rhetoric and support for Israel’s devastation of Gaza.” That was her whole take on this heartbreaking tribute to Hamas victims of slaughter, rape, mutilation, and kidnapping? Gaslighting much, Ms. Jane?

Wait. It gets better. A video of Anas Saleh on a subway car from Union Square to Wall Street after the protest was widely circulated on social media and seen by millions around the world. It shocked people everywhere. This is how Ms. Jane describes it, “As the car filled with pro-Palestine demonstrators, one protester jokingly remarked to the car, “Raise your hand if you’re a Zionist. This is your chance to get out,” a nod to the density of pro-Palestine protesters on the subway train.” She referred to it as jokingly. Read that again. Jokingly.

There are numerous other examples to list. It would take days to list them all but perhaps the most shocking is this: During the early stages of the war, Jane wrote an article for the digital news site Daily Dot, questioning the intention behind posters of Israeli hostages being displayed in public areas. She questioned whether these posters were genuinely raising awareness or deliberately baiting pro-Palestinian individuals into facing repercussions when they removed them. These posters depicted hostages, including babies and children, that families distributed out of terror and desperation to build awareness! She thinks that these people, in excruciating and agonizing worry for their loved ones, were putting up posters to catch some bad guys? What??? Is this the type of person you want representing your fine establishment?

Your editor’s note on her online article, “The article does not address these issues with the sensitivity and nuance that this subject requires” is nowhere near sufficient. Talia Jane is not fit to be a journalist. She is tarnishing the good name The New Republic has painstakingly built over the last 110 years since its inception.

Our country, and frankly the world, is at a dangerous crossroads. Terrorist groups abroad who care nothing of human rights are strategically finding a comfortable nesting ground in the United States for their barbaric ideology. They are masters at keeping girls and women down and convincing their populations to hate Christians, Jews, LGBTQIA people, and those who want to make peace with their “infidel” neighbors. Is this the kind of society the New Republic wants to create in America? I hope not. Our Constitution and our laws are meant to protect us from this.

Any news outlet that gives Ms. Jane a platform is aiding and abetting her outright prejudicial unprotected speech which contributes to creating a hostile environment for Jewish people and violates their civil rights.

I am demanding the termination of her position from your company and am looking forward to your statement on this urgent matter.

Sincerely,

References:
1 Britannia, Israel’s disengagement from Gaza
2 Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Hamas officials admit its strategy is to use Palestinian civilians as shields, 11/01/2023
3 JNS interview: Hamas fakes casualty figures: The numbers are not real, 3/12/24
4 Sky News Erin Molan interviews Military Expert M Pregent: Israel’s hostage rescue was done the best way they could, 6/16/24