Avi Steinhardt: Regarding Owen Zaret and antisemitism

GAZETTE FILE PHOTO

GAZETTE FILE PHOTO GAZETTE FILE PHOTO

Published: 01-31-2025 8:38 PM

I’ve been racking my brain trying to come up with why there is so much opposition to, and villainizing of, Owen Zaret’s attempts to bring more attention and education regarding antisemitism in Easthampton schools. One can’t help but think of Israel and Gaza, particularly if you live in this area, where concern for Palestinian sovereignty is so passionate, that an alignment with its cause is nearly de rigueur.

This passion is often accompanied by a scoff in the direction of any concern about antisemitism, or the more common refrain: “criticism of Israel is not antisemitism.” It certainly is not.

In fact, I’d be hard-pressed to find a Jew or Israeli for that matter that doesn’t criticize Israel. However, there is an effect, when that passion is sloppily “anti-Israel,” or accommodates anti-Jewishness among its ranks, that can and has stoked the current rise in antisemitism. Hatred and prejudice is not, in fact, one size fits all. Homophobia warrants its own education, anti-Black racism warrants its own, anti-immigration its own, and on and on. And Mr. Zaret is advocating, bravely I might add, for his own people in his own city, where antisemitism has seen a spike.

I’m the grandson of a Holocaust survivor, a proud Jew, and one who is so happy to live in a place where pluralism and diversity is front and center. But I think we have to bring our attention to this bias against concern for Jews. We are all siblings, and educating around prejudice against every group ought to be welcomed and celebrated as a way of bridging the gaps instead of calcifying them.

I applaud Mr. Zaret for his efforts, and my heart goes out to him and his family that for the attacks on him that have resulted. Education around antisemitism should not be seen as somehow taking away from concern for other groups. On the contrary, we lift one another up, and concern for the hatred against us can help energize us to raise concerns for others. This has been the case in the past for many marginalized groups.

We can all do better. Together.

Avi Steinhardt

Easthampton

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