Talia Carner's Blog

(This blog expands on my Talia Tells Tales November 2025 newsletter. ) 

I am squeezed on a banquet bench at a Parisian café. Amongthe two dozen people scattered around bistro tables, conversations are flyingin both French and English. The aroma of brewing coffee is in the air inside,while in the street outside the large windows, autumn’s leaves float, undecidedwhether to land on the sidewalk, or to glide a bit further into the Seine.

The man on my left, visiting from a remote island offAustralia, tells how his father had arrived in that uninhabited place in the1950s. On my right, a French journalist details her 1968 harrowing escape fromCzechoslovakia on the last train as the Russians were invading. Across from me,a Frenchman explains why even at the end of World War II the German economy wasset out to become the strongest in Europe today.

           This “conversation meeting” is one offive weekly exchanges I attend, where Francophones mingle with Anglophones,each seeking to improve their language skills of the other’s language. Whatcomes out of these international encounters, is a kaleidoscope of fascinating stories.

           This evening, when the meeting ends,my friend Sue organizes a small group to move to a nearby Irish pub. We eat,drink, and laugh. I met Sue a few years ago at a recital on one of my frequenttrips to Paris. This past Yom Kippur, I attended services at her synagogue,conducted in French by an American rabbi, with an Israeli cantor. Each of thetwo evenings was beautiful. The rabbi’s talk about the Jews’ commitment toIsrael irrespective of politics but rather to the idea of Zion and theexistential threat to Israel was critical at this time. Most significant for mewas that, unlike in many streams of Judaism, I was permitted to say Kaddish forRon.

           It’s been a long day. I have had threeplanned activities before this late dinner. Sue and I take the Metro togethersince we live near the same station. Yet at the exit, when she turns into theside street, I head the other way, toward the bridge over the Seine. Within afew steps I am treated to the majestical sight of the Eiffel Tower, my currentneighbor. It sparkles against the night sky, the reflections of its illuminationsbreak into a million smaller pinprick lights in the inky water.

           Back in my apartment, I kick off mywalking shoes, one of three pairs I only wear in Paris, rotating them daily. Iwould never dare show up anywhere in the US with such functional footwear. Unlikethe US, there is no mail to sort out, or packages to open. Earlier thismorning, I cleaned my rental apartment and took the bed linens to the laundryservice because the dryer, which is supposed to be built into the washingmachine, doesn’t work. Still, at this moment, when the world outside fallsaway, calm sets on me. This is my queendom, where I will soon click open myphone photo app and scroll through Ron’s photos and videos. It’s my time alonewith him. The acute pain of the loss has somewhat dulled these past two monthsin Paris, but my emotions are still too raw for TV news. I only watchdocumentaries in French to help improve my language skills.

I check my WhatsApp group messages. In my Museum Explorers’group there’s a thread about a trip ten of us will take to a new exhibition. I commentthat I’d bought a ticket, and then post about the exclusive interior design show onSaturday to which I have an extra ticket. I respond to a woman who asks whowould like to join her on a visit to the Cléopatra exhibit on Friday, then I informanother member that I’ll meet her at the open-air art fair on Sunday. I’ve onlyseen these two women at some get-togethers and know that once I spend sometime with each, I’ll make yet two new friends.

These art excursions are added to my visit last Fridayto Petit Palais (Jean-Baptiste Greuse) with a French acquaintance, and thispast Tuesday to Musée  D’Orsay (JohnSinger Sergent) with another, who turned out to be an art historian.  Last week I participated in an exclusivevisit with the French Heritage Society at M19, a large modern center thathouses 700 craft artisans who embroider for all haute-couture, such as YvesSaint Laurent, Chanel, and Dior as well as for major home décor outfits thatcreate the embellished curtains and hand-woven upholstery seen in chateaux.

           In between, I’ve taken walks withBarbara and Gloria, exploring markets near the Canal St. Martin; with Yael whois an expert on the ancient history of the Fifth arrondissement starting with theMiddle Ages; with Anne (a Frenchwoman), who guided me through hidden spots in Le Marais. Thereare days I clock between 12,000 to 18,000 steps a day. Even in days I takepublic transportation, I clock over 7,000 steps.

           In the very few open windows in mycalendar these past two weeks I’ve played Mah-Jongg, joined a dozen women to cook a lunch at one’s home,and dropped in on three separate regular 10 AM socializing taking place atspecific cafés around the city.

           In slightly more than this two-weekperiod, in the evenings I’ve been to the Opera Bastille to see La Bohème, wasinvited to two local friends’ homes for dinner, and had girls’ dinners, andoutings with American visitors and a theater critique. I’ve been to a Toastmasters meeting and to an organconcert at the St. Sulpice church (a place I particularly cherish since it’sthe location of some important action in my novel JERUSALEM MAIDEN). Twice Ijoined a young friend for late bar outings (too noisy), where I had interestingconversations with Italians, Portuguese, and Croatians, and I advised a Frenchdiplomat in which of their US consulates he should be stationed (Miami).

           In two social early eveningreceptions that I attended (what the French call “Apéro”), I engaged in aconversation with a retired Egyptian cardiologist and listened to a botanistcouple who’ve accepted a winter assignment in New Zealand to count the koalapopulation. (Hint: by sniffing the fresh poop; it smells like eucalyptus.) Iagree that sniffing koala poop is preferable to the brutally cold Parisianwinter.

           Back in 2013 I wrote a blog about thequirks of the French language, in which window shopping was called “Licking thewindows” to indicate the hunger that the sight of a Parisian window shoppingevoked. As I am licking my wounds over Ron’s stupendous loss, I am finding thepath of joy in being overly active in Paris.

           It’s now the top of the hour, and theEiffel Tower erupts into a burst of sparkles, like the largest birthday candle,telling me it’s time to turn off my lights and get ready for a busy day tomorrowof packing to go home.  

 

## #

Every Sunday 10 AM, at La Coupole, organized by Terrance
(Link below) 

 

Linksto organizations and sources:

AmericanWomen in Paris

WICE

FrenchHeritage Society

TerranceGelenter

AdrianLeeds, Pares-Midi

MeetUp French-English Conversationalists 50+

InterNations

Toastmasters of Paris

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(This article originally appeared in Women's e-News in April 2024, but was later removed, further making the point of this piece: even criticism of the women's movement is unacceptable.)

n 1977-79, a newcomer to the USA, I went through a horrific divorce.My then-husband’s assertion in the papers he filed with the court was that Ihad “joined the liberated women” and therefore was unsuitable to mother our twogirls, the youngest of whom was a newborn. He, who traveled internationally twoweeks a month—and was rarely home the rest of the time—sought full custody.

I found myself fighting in court the entire range of feminist ideaswhich I had expressed—and to which my-not-soon-enough-to-be ex brought in astring of witnesses to testify. It included my male therapist because the judgeevoked without precedent the patient-therapist confidentiality, decreeing that“the mother’s mental state is in question.” None of the witnesses had foundfault in either my mothering or mental stability, only testified that I hadsaid that men had it better in this world; that women were no less smart andcapable than men; that women should have equal rights to men under both the lawand social norms.

That’s it. A mother who decried to friends and the marriage counselorthat women were underappreciated in our society must be unstable. The judgeordered a temporary support of $25 a month at a time when even welfare wouldhave given me $300 for the three of us. He also warned my lawyer that if I tooka job, I would not be able to claim to be the main caretakers to these babies.Any mother’s work-for-pay would level the playing field against a mostly absentfather.

The father of my babies now had an excellent incentive not to settle.He could never get a better deal in a divorce than paying only $25 a monthwhile he was traipsing the world. He hired a live-in housekeeper, forced me outof the house by violence, and for almost two years rejected a court date for adivorce hearing which he had initiated.  

I did not yet have the lexicon of feminism, but I knew gross injusticeand prejudice against me, formerly a career woman and now a full-time mother,studying for my Master’s degree at mostly night classes.

I called a local chapter of National Organization for Women (NOW), onlyto hear their phone recordings informing callers that they did not get involvedin divorce cases. I showed up at anther chapter’s meeting, hoping to bedirected to the right resources since divorce touched almost 50% of women—andmy case must be of interest to feminists for its outcome would create aprecedent in the State of New York. But NOW was engaged in the rights of gaywomen, a topic then-affecting 10% of women.

I was alone and at a loss where to find a feminist witness who wouldexplain in court how normal were the sentiments I expressed. The influence ofmy worldview was not yet known since my daughters were still so young. Thatalso meant that if I would give birth in the future to a third female baby, sheshould be taken away from me.  

It took a barracuda lawyer and some dishonest maneuvering—as well asall of my parents’ savings—to grant me the divorce. The judge, enamored withthe new concept of  “joint custody,”imposed on me a partnership with a man who, failing to keep the court-orderedschedule of alternate days for the rest of my children’s growing years,terrified them when he showed up after an absence accompanied by a policeman.

 

Over the decades, as I matured to become an advocate for women’s issuesand rights, my sensitivity to the plight of oppressed and disenfranchised womenincreased. Among the projects I tackled at the 1995 International Women’sConference in Beijing was helping Egyptian women develop a campaign against thelegalization of clitoridectomy. Egypt, the most advanced country in the eyes ofother African nations, was setting the tone for the others. The then-EgyptianMinister of Health, a gynecologist, held that the clitoris was a cause ofdriving teenage girls crazy, especially if they wore synthetic panties. Betternip it before it caused problems for all society.

I sought the support of feminist leaders who peppered the landscape ofthe conference. None was willing to get involved in “a religious matter.”

That reluctance to speak up against the oppression of women in Muslimsocieties—and fight for the liberation of women from laws that allowed husbandsto beat and kill them, that barred women from schooling and work-for-pay, thatstoned disobedient wives without a trial, that prohibited a woman from steppingout of her house unless accompanied by someone with a penis (even if that penisbelonged to an eight-year old), became more obvious as world events rolled in,emblazoned with a backward time-travel. The Western feminist movement’s respectof Islam even in its extreme forms has trumped the ways in which that culturewas inherently very bad for women’s bodies, mental health, and life.

What was the feminist movement engaged in during those passing decades?In 1982 we lost the fight for the Equal Rights Amendment, never to be ratifiednationwide since. Strides were made in removing open workplacediscrimination, and shrinking the gap—not eliminating—the women’s work pay whencompared with men’s. The portrayal of women in the media has improved greatly,albeit the objectification of their bodies in underground pornography exploded.Interestingly, the formerly reviled semi-clad models of the pinup calendars nowtook front news as female celebrities strut in insubstantial attires and maketheir public almost-nudity Politically Correct. Feminists claim that womencould wear whatever they wish, even as it entices tweens to emulate provocativegetups and moves. The onus is on men to not get sexually aroused.

One issue that I supported wholeheartedly was the freedom ofreproductive rights. After the spectacular achievement of Roe vs. Wade, acouple of generations of women enjoyed the freedom to decide if, when, and howoften their bodies reproduced. Sadly, attrition in the battle to reverse thisright has shut down women’s health clinics by the dozens, until the movementlost the war. Licking its wounds, it may manage to regroup and strategize acomeback. In the meantime, I ache for my granddaughters’ generation.

The awakening of “MeToo” was the slow yawn of an hibernating bear. AtRedbook magazine, where I worked in the early 1980s, we did a survey aboutsexual harassment in partnership with Harvard Business Review and publishedthose findings. The issue went nowhere fora very long while.

Until it did.

Violence against women in all its forms is not OK, our feminist leadershave agreed. They have championed legislation against unwanted touching, verbalcomments, locker-room atmosphere—and of course rape, also defined as exertionof perceived hierarchal power, even if no physical force is applied. Prominentmen were finally dethroned from their lofty spots in media and corporations.Decades-old sexual exploitations complaints were won both in public opinion andin courtrooms.

The UN, a puppet organization that, on a rotating basis, has given thehelms of guarding the rights and safety of women worldwide to countries such asIran and Somalia, had long declared various “days” in support of women:International Women’s Day (March 8); World Population Day (July 11);  International Equal Pay Day (September 18);International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women (November 25).

 

Then October 7 happened.

Hundreds of Israeli women were not “merely” gang-raped, but tortured bysex-crazed Hamas terrorists who broke their limbs, chopped their breasts, andshot nails into their vaginas. Women who survived and were dragged to Gaza,have been imprisoned now for five months, gang-raped and beaten daily,repeatedly, by porno-demented sadists.

The silence of the feminist movement—or whatever can be defined as suchin the absence of outstanding focal leaders— about this extreme sexual violencehas been deafening. In fact, many female activists have joined the ranks ofpro-Hamas demonstrators, of useful idiots calling to “free Palestine” (whichmeans in that vernacular the elimination of Israel and the genocide of itspeople), of anti-Semitic calls for “a ceasefire”—as if it wasn’t Hamas that hadbroken every ceasefire, including the one on October 6. As if Hamas couldn’tstop the war on October 8 or any time thereafter by releasing the hostages andsurrendering. As if in this war between Israel, a sovereign state, and Hamas, aterrorist group, Israeli women’s tortures and rapes were an acceptablecollateral damage.

Or as if it hasn’t even happened. 

UN Women, in the meantime, wassilent, as unresponsive as the strewn burned victims of the Hamas massacre tothe prodding of Israeli women’s organizations, Jewish organizations, and peopleof conscience that demanded it to declare its disgust and to condemn both themassacre and the lingering inhuman treatment of Israeli hostages. NOW finallyissued a neutral statement against using rape as a tool of war, withoutcondemning—or even specifically mentioning—the brutality of Hamas againstIsraeli women.

On my radar screen, only one Second-Wave feminists, Phyllis Chesler,Jewish and in her 80s, has been excoriating the remaining feminists of hergeneration for their failure to condemn the atrocity visited upon Israeliwomen. Where are the younger feminists?

Last month, on February 12, I lit a yellow candle for the release ofthe young women hostages. I allowed myself the stabling pain of uttering theirnames—Agam, Eden, Doron, Shiri, Noa, Karina, Arbel, Liri, Amit, Carmel,Daniella, Naama, Romi—and imagining them being tortured and raped at that verysame moment. I was certain that they were unaware that this date was the UN’s InternationalDay for the Prevention of Violent Extremism as and when Conducive to Terrorism.

As was, so it seemed, the rest of the world.

 

# # #

 

Talia Carner is a novelist whose heart-wrenching suspense andhistorical fiction expose society’s ills speak for those without voice. www.TaliaCarner.com

 

 

Ron Carner,  May 19, 1939--June 3, 2025I delivered a shorter version of this eulogy at Ron's funeral.Please scroll to bottom for links to videos of Ron
Several times over the years, Ron said to me, “If you eulogize me, do not talk about me in the past tense.”    

I responded,  “You won’t be able to tell me what to do.” 

How could I have imagined the day I would be eulogizing you, a giant of a man, one who lived large and savored every moment of life with hunger for more? Ron was—is—a man who opened his eyes in the morning and thought that the sky had never been this blue, the birds had never chirped so beautifully, and there had never been a more beautiful woman to be found by a man’s side. 

It took tremendous energy to keep up with Ron’s pace of hopping on a plane to London to catch a couple of shows, and two days later start a skiing day on top of a Vermont mountain at minus fifty wind chill factor. Until his mid-seventies, there wasn’t a mountain Ron didn’t want to climb or a river he didn’t plan to raft down its white waters.

Did I mention Ron’s reverence of balls? There was not one he didn’t love—round, oval, rubber, or covered in cowhide—to throw, hit, bounce, catch, kick, dribble, or pass—or watch others do it. 

In the years he practiced law, the charismatic Ron did particularly well with juries. Older jurors viewed him as their son, young ones as a father figure, his contemporary males as the guys’ guy that he was, and the female jurors, oh, well, he was really cute.  

Ron grew up in a loving family, where he was pampered by his grandmother who lived with them, and adored by his parents and his brother who was five years older. A good student, a star athlete, and a favorite among both boys and girls, all Ron knew was acceptance and love. Not a single bad thing happened to him until the big one, when Ron was twenty-five, and his father suddenly died. 

It was from that river of  love that Ron was able to ladle out endless goodness to share—with me, the children, his friends, and the Jewish world.   

Today, June 5th, the day of his funeral, the Six-Day War broke in Israel in 1967. Holding his transistor close to his ear for days on end, Ron became aware of how fundamental Israel was to his identity as a Jew.

By the time I met Ron, he held strong Jewish values and was a committed Zionist, which soon found their purpose in his volunteer work for Maccabi USA. A born leader, who loved interacting with young people, Ron went on to devote 38 years influencing not only American Jewish youth, but also those in South and Central America and beyond. To advance women’s participation, it was not enough to just form US-Jewish women’s teams; they needed to compete against other countries. Ron travelled indefatigably to encourage and cajole Maccabi leaderships everywhere to form more women’s teams. Then he went on to expand international participation by developing the Masters’ program. Not surprisingly, the more mature athletes, enthusiastic to participate in their respective sports, helped fund the huge operational cost. Some became major donors when they witnessed the greatest involvement of Jewish youth with Israel and with Diaspora’s members of our tribe. 

With every participating athlete came a family and a circle of friends who accompanied them to the Games—and thus reasserted their Jewish roots. Every two years, when Ron walked into the stadium at an opening ceremony of either the Maccabiah or a Regional Game in Europe or South and Central America, he felt triumphant. His greatest rewards were when people told him how the Games changed their lives and brought them back into the fold of Judaism.

When I met Ron in 1978, all this was in the future. What captured my heart was not just that he was funny, romantic, and handsome, but that he was a feminist. He sent me to  “a Conscious Raising” group to navigate a world steeped with power imbalance, and then he proceeded to relinquish some of his own power in order to have a wife who was an equal partner. Cocooned in the comfort of his love, I grew wings and flew to wherever my abilities would take me. Only a secure male could do that.   

Above all, Ron’s core was our family—the one he brought to our marriage and the one we created together with mine. From our first lunch in 1978, when Ron and I surprised ourselves by talking about our future together, he forged forward toward that goal: he maintained three homes so we could all be together, shopped, navigated the children’s conflicting schedules, and orchestrated our activities. Ron, our patriarch, was a lifeforce.  His delight was to see our four children grow into amazing adults, who are close in the tight unit of the family we created together.

Over the years, many people watched Ron’s awe of the world, his athleticism, and his full, multi-faceted life and said that if there was life after life, they would have liked to come back as Ron Carner.

They didn’t even know that he sang in the shower.

Ronnie, you were right. You cannot be in the past tense. You, your spirit, your generosity, and your moral compass will forever be present in everyone you’ve touched. Especially in me.    

# # #

  

LINKS: Please watch Ron live on some of the many videos publicly available:

Ron was very proud to be a recipient of Maccabi's Yakir award for his dedication and enormous contribution to the movement. Here is the link to him being featured as Legend of Maccabi of and another Tribute to him by Maccabi USA.

A great interview on Jewish Broadcasting Corporation (JBC) with Rabbi Mark Golub.

Ron was very proud when he was nominated for James Madison High School's "Wall of Distinction," populated by luminary alumni Nobel Laureates, politicians and Justices. Here is a link to his acceptance speech.

The obituary

May:

 https://secure.campaigner.com/csb/Public/show/6dns-2xi34o--19wtev-krqqke29

March:

https://secure.campaigner.com/csb/Public/show/6dns-2wnbvc--19d839-krqqke24

February:

https://secure.campaigner.com/csb/Public/show/6dns-2wajke--1949ia-krqqke27

January:

https://secure.campaigner.com/csb/Public/show/6dns-2vy08p--18m52h-krqqke36

 

January 2025:https://secure.campaigner.com/csb/Public/show/6dns-2vy08p--18m52h-  December 2024:krqqke26https://secure.campaigner.com/csb/Public/show/6dns-2vy08p--18m52h-krqqke26  October 2024:

https://secure.campaigner.com/csb/Public/show/6dns-2v3x10--188r3t-krqqke38

 

(This is a footnote to my November 2024 newsletter)

 

My summary of a complex situation in Israel

 

My phone screen flashes every Israeli news channel in Hebrewand US news in English. My soul is there, in Israel, when sirens go off all dayin multiple villages and cities and when the trauma of a country in wardeepens.

The majority of Israelis were for fighting Hamas and forchasing them throughout Gaza until they are eliminated. It was never aretaliation, but a defense against a repeat of October 7, which Hamas promisedwas only "a dress rehearsal." So many have given their lives on bothsides as this war is still to be won, while tortured hostages remainimprisoned. Now the mood in Israel has shifted, and many Israelis make thehostages' release a priority over eliminating Hamas. They are not against the warthat daily costs the lives of the best of Israeli men and has destroyed thecountry's flourishing economy, because there is no choice when attacked fromall sides. The all-mighty Iran has no territorial disputes with Israel, nordoes it care for the Palestinians. It merely wants Israel wiped out.

           While the world's eyes were focusedsolely on the Gaza war--ignoring human misery in other 30 hot spots around theglobe--since October 7, 2023, the Galilee (northern Israel) has been underHezbollah bombardment. Over 100,000 Israelis had to abandon their homes andfarms while the government attempted to avoid formally calling it a war--untilit could ignore it no more.

Some of youhave asked me for a reliable sources about the situation. Here are somesuggestions: Middle East Forum,MEMRI, CAMERA, PalestinianMedia Watch, Israenet.org,UN Watch,and AIPAC, CIJA, Jewish Virtual Library, and HonestReporting.

           In the meantime, the highly unpopularPM Netanyahu is holding on to his fragile government by capitulating to thetyranny of the ultra-Orthodox who do not serve in the military. Tens ofthousands lifelong yeshiva students with large families (ten children or moreis the norm) live off government largess. The gap between those who giveeverything and those who only take has never been so wide. Therefore, when youhear about huge demonstrations against Netanyahu, those are fueled by angerover this social injustice--and by the gut-piercing angst over the hostages.

The country is fighting an existential war for survival,while being torn from within. Yet, the more Israelis face these challenges, themore they need us to support them, to let them know that they are not alone.

 

 If you have missed, or want to catch up on prior updates, here are the links to my most recent newsletters. (To view previous one, please scroll down the blog):

August: https://secure.campaigner.com/csb/Public/show/6dns-2udgml--17lixf-gd55yr6

July:  https://secure.campaigner.com/csb/Public/show/6dns-2udgml--17lixf-gd55yr6

June: https://secure.campaigner.com/csb/Public/show/6dns-2tlegk--172n2p-gd55yr1

April: https://secure.campaigner.com/csb/Public/show/6dns-2t37z0--16ks1y-gd55yr7

March: https://secure.campaigner.com/csb/Public/show/6dns-2su6rc--16dmjt-gd55yr3

Feb: https://secure.campaigner.com/csb/Public/show/6dns-2sgr2g--160o2w-gd55yr6

For prior listing, please check: https://taltellstales.blogspot.com/2023/12/

Thanks for your interest!

 On June 4, 2024, the French Newspaper L'Expresse wrote about the trend in the U.S. of singling out Jewish personalities in the arts by publishing lists of Jewish authors and their supporters, as well as musicians and others supporters of Israel so they "understand that there are consequences to their choices."

https://www.lexpress.fr/idees-et-debats/boycott-de-personnalites-sionistes-les-dessous-glacants-de-ces-listes-devenues-virales-GWTIJAWBSJF33NLYESQRCHULFU/

Below is an imperfect Google translation of the article:

Boycottof “Zionist” personalities: the chilling underside of these lists that

havegone viral 

ByAlix L’Hospital

 

Conflictin the Middle East. Since the start of the war in Gaza, lists of names ofcelebrities to boycott have been circulating on social networks. The nominationcriteria reveal the meaning given to “Zionism” by their detractors…

 

Tellme what a “Zionist” is, I’ll tell you what becomes of “anti-Zionism”… In the2010s, “lists” designating “Zionists” were teeming above all on a fewconspiracy blogs with anti-Semitic tendencies. This was the case of Panamza,a blog obsessed with Israel and the Jews, or of Egalité & Réconciliation,the site of the far-right essayist Alain Soral, who published in 2019 a“Diagram of the Left” mapping in particular alleged heavyweights of “Zionism”.A reader struck by catalepsy a few years ago and awakened at the start of the warin Gaza would probably be stunned: in 2024, there is nothing confidential or subversiveabout these lists. They are available in portrait galleries on trendy Instagramaccounts (a publication, a name, a Studio Harcourt-style photo) and in TikTokvideos with an educational approach. Everything is “argued”, “sourced”, with aview to “informing” and, ultimately, boycotting.

 

OnInstagram, Zionists in Music now has nearly 16,000 subscribers, just twomonths after its first publication. By its own admission, the accountacknowledges in an introductory post that the evolving list is “mainly composedof Jewish individuals”. But here, we promise, we do not condone anti-Semitism.The idea being "to enlighten musicians about their position within thisindustry and for them to recognize the impact of their choices", bytargeting those who have "publicly supported Zionism". By this, Zionistsin music means, for example, the fact of being subscribed to “Zionist accounts”on social networks, such as Jewish lives matter, Jewish Life Now, or evencertain personalities committed against anti-Semitism such as Shai Davidai,professor Israeli of Jewish faith at Columbia Business School.

 

Thisaccount is far from an isolated case. In second place, we find Zionists infilms, more recent and on the verge of reaching 10,500 subscribers. Sameconcept, same visual identity. In the "tools" made available by theaccount there is also a call to "create more pages" of this kind,that is to say targeting "Zionists" in other sectors of activity suchas government, mainstream media (MSM), academia, the army, banks, publishing,justice, medicine... Because according to Zionists in films, "to defeatZionism, more Zionists need are unmasked and stigmatized. At the end of May, anew account dedicated to “Zionists in sport” appeared on Instagram.

 

“Accomplices”Jew

 

"Evenif they are not overtly targeted because they are Jewish, highlighting thenames of Jews who are not particularly politically engaged, but have, forexample, simply shown empathy for Israelis after the jihadist massacre ofOctober 7, called for peace, or have links with Jewish people committed toIsrael betrays a reconstruction of the anti-Jewish imagination, analyzesPierre-André Taguieff, philosopher, historian of ideas and honorary researchdirector at the CNRS. Behind this process, we read the trial of bad Jews,"accomplices" Jews, having not given proof of their friendliness bynot denying Israel, or by not supporting strongly enough, to the liking of thesmall prosecutors who establish these lists, the Palestinian cause. Thecleverness lies in the fact that these lists also include 'non-Jews'. Verypractical..." 

Theseaccounts are only the emerging part of the phenomenon. On social networks,lists in the form of directories circulate using an URL link to a table that canbe consulted by everyone. More discreet, but terribly effective. At thebeginning of May, a document entitled "is your favorite author azionist?" ("Is your favorite author a Zionist?"), listing nearly200 names, for example went viral on Twitter. As we write these lines, severalInternet users are still consulting it, according to real-time data from theshared document.

 

Everythingis neatly stored there. In blue: authors considered “pro-Palestine/anti-Zionist”. In red, “pro-Israel/Zionist”. Significantly, most of thosetargeted are authors of young adult fiction. Here again, the reasons for theboycott are puzzling. The simple fact of having posted a message in support ofthe Israelis the day after the October 7 attack is enough, for example, to makeMonica Murphy or Nicholas Sparks authors to be boycotted.

 

Anti-Zionism recoded intohumanism

 

Butthere is more surprising: among the authors to be boycotted is also RebeccaYarros, queen of “romantasy”. Among the wrongs of the author of the Fourth Wingphenomenon saga : being “married to a soldier”. As for SF specialist PierceBrown, he has certainly written about apartheid, but he reads "HenryKissinger, which doesn't help his case." Having fled Nazi persecution withhis family in the late 1930s, the former Secretary of State was a controversialfigure in American diplomacy during the Cold War, notably known for his role asmediator between Israel and the Arab countries after the Yom Kippur War. Forits part, the Anti-Zionism recoded into humanism.

 Better:for being moved by the "horrible massacre of innocent civilians, first in Israeland now, in a catastrophically disproportionate manner, in Gaza", Laini Taylor,a novelist specializing in fantasy, is also given the same treatment. In reality,not "understanding" Hamas is already suspect. This is what earned sciencefiction author Michael Grant an “unclear” badge (a sort of “awaiting judgment”).Too bad if the latter was very critical of the “racist and extremist” governmentof “the crook Netanyahu”.

 

Fantasynovelist Sarah J. Maas is accused of bringing to life characters expressing"colonialist ideologies without specifying that it is morallyreprehensible". JK Rowling, author of the Harry Potter saga ? A “Terf”(acronym designating a radical feminist excluding trans people), “so thediscussion stops here”.

 

"Forthe vast majority of Jews, 'Zionism' symbolizes emancipation andself determination. But the notion has been the subject of an operation ofdemonization similar to that which anti-Judaism has exercised against Jews.Jews for centuries.

"Zionismis thus on its way to becoming a synonym for everything that civilized peoplerightly abhor: racism, colonialism, warmongering, oppression," explainsRudy Reichstadt, political scientist, director of Conspiracy Watch andco-director of a Political History of Anti-Semitism in France If, historically,radical anti-Zionism was motivated by anti-Semitism, today, Rudy Reichstadt .describes an anti-Zionism "recoded into humanism which guides a whole partof the youth on the path of an anti-Semitism all the more dangerous as itadvances sure of its right and freed from any bad conscience".

 

“Zionists are demons”

 

“Iam on this list because I am Jewish, because I was born and raised in Israel,” novelistTalia Carner, labeled in red (“Zionist”), explains to L’Express. The author hashad time to think about why she been pinned: her name has been circulating onvarious lists since December. "My latest book, The boy with the startattoo, has been widely cited by 'antiZionists' who are calling for a boycottof me," she explains. "This book deals with Israeli issues, but allthe events I describe in it are take place in France, first in 1946 (it is astory about orphans after the Second World War), then in 1969. TheIsraeli-Palestinian conflict is never mentioned… As a Jew born in Israel , my detractorscriticize me for not having written about the Palestinians – or insist that Ishouldn't have written this book at all."

 

OnGoodreads, a platform listing reader reviews, the author suffered waves of denigrationfollowing her appearance on anti-Zionist lists. Among the comments regardingher latest book, we can read: "Zionist propaganda that practically ignoresthe nakba", "we do not support Zionist propaganda","Zionists are demons"... Today, Talia Carner is forced to remaindiscreet where she travels, including during events open to the public.

 

Donot trust the Englishness of most of these lists: France is far from being sparedby the phenomenon. On TikTok, some very influential Frenchspeaking accountsinvested in the concept very early on. Like Venomglazed, a young girl who lovesliterature. In a video published on October 19 intended for its nearly 50,000subscribers, it offered in music a list of authors who “support [the] ethniccleansing [of the Palestinian community]”, “proof” to support it. There we findSarah J. Maas, “who claims to have left Israel with great joy, nostalgia and pride”.The proof is a screenshot: an article clearly mentioning the writer's Jewishorigins and her relationship to Judaism. Likewise, LJ Shen, New Adult romanceauthor whose “husband was enlisted in the Israeli armies and who proudly postsher husband’s profession”, is singled out. Too bad if the screenshot putforward to prove these statements dates from nine years ago. No matter, theissue is not here.

 

--AL

 

 

              Dear Authors’ Guild Leadership;

         In recent months, anti-Semitism inthe USA has reared its ugly head. It has manifested its vile words and actionsin every public sphere, and soon found a target in Jewish authors and writers.The calls to ban Jewish authors’ books and to force mainstream publishers suchas HarperCollins and Macmillan's to “deplatform” their Jewish authors has been explodingunchecked on social media, such as TikTok, Instagram and X.

            Beyond words, actions have soonfollowed. Scheduled Jewish authors’ events have been canceled and many venueswould not invite them to present. Agents are turning down manuscripts by Jewishwriters or are firing Jewish clients whose work they had agreed to represent.These gate-keepers of the publishing world know that acquisition editors willnot buy them.  

            The virulent anti-Semitism againstJewish authors in the USA has been documented in recent articles in the New York Timesand the New York Post.In the UK, The British Telegraphreported that half of British publishers will not accept manuscripts by Jewishauthors. Yet the Authors’ Guild, which should have been the first to raise itsvoice in indignation over the atrocious hate-fest against a significant portionof its members, has been kept mum.

            Silence is loud. Silence isscreaming. The Authors’ Guild which has spoken in no uncertain terms againstbanning books, which has taken pride in advocating for authors, and whichdeclares in its mission statement to serve as the voice for authors, is yet toissue a statement of disgust and condemnation of the hate speech and outright actionstaken against its Jewish members.

            In 1933, in over 20 cities inGermany, fires were set to burn books written by Jews. Those books were thecornerstone of what we consider our Western civilization, written by Kant,Schiller, Hesse, Mann, Hegel, Luther, Goethe, Einstein and Freud among them.German newspapers triumphantly reported that “Germany was purging itself ofJews” because silencing and destroying Jewish voices was only an early step towhat we all now know came next.

            The Holocaust did not begin withincinerators. It began with words.

            In 2020, the Authors’ Guild passed aresolution against racism. Isn’t the singling out Jewish authors not only fordiscrimination and scorn but also for actions against them is the ultimateracism? We, Jewish members of the Authors’ Guild—and Jewish writerseverywhere—deserve the same consideration, sympathy, and protection that youhave generously and rightfully extended to our brothers and sisters who are Blackwriters and writers of color.

            What has happened to your moralcompass that you allow attacks on Jewish authors go on for months without aresponse?

            Dear leaders of the Authors’ Guild: Anti-Semitismhas no “two sides of the story.” It has one side, and it is ugly and dangerous.Unless you speak up, you are taking the position of the evil.

 

Sincerely,

 

TaliaCarner

Authors’Guild Member since 1997

www.TaliaCarner.com

           

Thisletter was sent to Staff@authorsguild.org with the request to distribute it to each person in aleadership, council, honorary, or staff role. If you have the individual email of any of them, I would appreciate itif you forwarded this letter:   

MarieArana, Wendy Strothman, Scott Turow, Robert Pesce, Roxana Robinson, JanetDewart Bell, Amanda Benchley, Andre Bernard, Sherri Burr, Neal Cohen, SylviaDay, Richard Thompson, Lynn Goldberg, Owen King, Taryn Leavitt, MeredithLesher, Jeffrey Mayersohn, Katherine Neville, Sidney Offit, Laura Pederson, DouglasPreston, Hunter K. Runnette, Karyn Schoenbart, Ben Sevier, Margot LeeShetterly, Allison Smith, R.L. Stine, Rachel Vail, Barry Beckham, BarbaraTaylor Bradford, Alafair Burke, Lee Child, Paula J. Giddings, Marita Golden,Toni Goodale, Garrison Keilor, Stephen King, Alan Siegel, Nick Taylor, W. RalphEubanks, Mary Bly, Peter Petre, Amy Bloom, Mary Rasenberger, Deborah K. Wilson,Sandy Long, Cheryl Davis, Raluca Albu, Kevin Amer, Andrea Bronson, JohnCarroll, Michael Gross, Darryl Jennings, Umair Kazi, Nikki Maniscalco, KyleMaxey, Bernard Schwartz, Nicole Vazquez.

Anadditional list of members of the Council: https://authorsguild.org/about/team/council/

 

 

 

The following letter is my response to an activist who tried to recruit me for his cause of "Strategy of Nonviolence, For the Children." 

Dear Mr. Sheldon,

          Thank you forwriting to me, as it gives me the opportunity to explain that despite yourgood intentions, your initiative is, unfortunately, misguided, if not outrighthateful and fateful.

            The ideaof an enforced cease-fire between Israel, a democratic state and Hamas, aterror organization, means only one thing: the terror organization willcontinue to pursue its declared goal of eliminating Israel and killing itsentire population. You will be prohibiting Israel from responding to murderousattacks on her populace. Not only has Hamas been showering Israel for yearswith thousands of daily missiles aimed at the civilian population—which had notprompted you to announce an initiative to force Hamas to stop—but Hamas brokeevery ceasefire ever negotiated with them. 

            How isyour forcing Israel to stop fighting Hamas promotes peace? All it will do isstrengthen and legitimize the terror organization which has declared that October 7th was only“a rehearsal” and that it would continue to repeat these barbaric atrocities toeliminate Israel. 

            Why isn’tyour first call to demand that Hamas return the hostages? Why doesn’t your“strategy for non-violence” begin with a demand that Hamas surrender and stopusing the Palestinian population as human shields? 

            You’ve hadplenty of chances to take initiative. For years you could have demanded that USand Europe stop funneling money through the UN to perpetuate indefinite refugeestatus of the Palestinians. Tens of millions of displaces people after WWII hadlong been resettled. None is claiming to be a refugee three generations later,even while living in other countries, where they have made a home. Definitely not the Jews, who’d lost more than any other ethnicor national group. 

            Whyhaven’t you demanded—or demanding now—that the Arab countries who had exploitedthese people in 1948 with their murderous intention of annihilating Israel, nowtake responsibility for the results? None has ever offered to absorb a singlePalestinian family. In fact, most have enacted apartheid laws against thePalestinians’ entry and integration. Unlike Israel which had providedemployment to tens of thousands Gazans daily, Egypt had sealed its border with Gaza. 

            For yourinformation, in 1948, the population in Gaza was about 300,000. It has sinceswelled to 2 million. In 2030, Gaza's population is projected to reach 3 million.Yes, in only six years it will grow by 50%. Whose responsibility is that? Wheredo you want these people to live? 

            Asking thequestion differently: What should the world do for this population you so careabout when it grows additional 50% six years later, reaching over 4 million?Taking over modern-day Israel and killing the Jews living there? 

            Whyhaven’t you cried out your indignation when, for 75 years, UNRWA-sponsoredschools taught children not only how to hate Jews, but how to use weapons tokill them, viewing Jews as less than humans? Why haven’t you cried out when youheard time and again that Palestinian parents’ greatest hopes for theirchildren were for them to become “martyrs” who kill Jews? Where was yourinitiative when your tax dollars paid for militant summer camps teaching Palestinianchildren to kill? 

            What younow learn about children killed in Gaza, is that thousands of them areteenagers fighting as terrorists they had been indoctrinated to become. Whatwas your strategy of non-violence for these children then, and what is it now? 

            Theatrocities visited upon the Jews on October 7th were rarely recorded in theirintensity, barbarism, and severity in modern human history. Yet, your pastsilence allowed it to happen. Your future “initiative” will make such finalgenocide of Jews in Israel a fact. 

            Where areyour Christian sensitivities and benevolence when you accept the beheading ofJewish babies in their cribs and the lopping off of women’s breasts? What aboutshooting nails into women’s vaginas? How about gouging out a father’s eyes infront of his children, or burning a whole family alive in their home? 

            This willbe the fate of the Jews under the repeat torture and massacre that your“non-violent cease-fire” will bring.  

            Cease-firedoes not mean non-violence as you state. It means increased violence againstthe Jews of Israel. That is exactly what you preach. 

            Yes, Mr.Sheldon, there is a lot of work to be done, but the first of it is to supportIsrael which is under constant, unrelenting attack by terrorists whose actionsagainst both populations—Israelis and Palestinians—are accepted by you andby other misguided good souls cheered on by mobs of anti-Semites. The costof the war to both sides is enormous, but stopping it before it achieves itsultimate goal of eliminating Hamas only means the end of Israel, while givinglegitimacy to a terror organization.  

            You canhelp stop the war. When you present your views to your list of misguidedsupporters and to the UN Secretary-General, please demand that the onus forachieving peace is on the world to stop terrorism. Demand Hamas’s unconditionalsurrender, just as ISIS was defeated. Demand the immediate return thehostages—and the end the war on Israel. 

            Please donot shift your gaze, for one minute, from the one entity that can stop the war:Hamas. 

            By doingso you’ll be freeing the Palestinian people, who may not be enamored of Israel,but whose suffering is wholly the result of years of oppression, corruption,and savagery by Hamas. Without Hamas, the war with Israel will stop and, withtime and a different educational approach, these people may begin to have avision of peace and prosperity. 

            It’s asimple as that. 

            Then youmay turn to the world to fix the evil of UNRWA and the barbaric teaching ofhate under its sponsorship. You may see future funding of Gaza not exploitedfor the construction of war-designated tunnels, but for the civilian purposesof building a society whose institutions carry out a vision of economic growth. 

            Mr.Sheldon, I urge you to rechannel your energy to support Israel, not to make herthe victim of another Holocaust, as Hamas promises to do.

 Shalom,

Talia Carner

www.TaliaCarner.com