Schama accuses celebrated writer of ‘sustained moral profantity’ with essay on Israel and the Shoah
Simon Schama has accused the acclaimed author Pankaj Mishra of delivering an “exercise in sustained moral profanity” with an essay on Israel and Gaza that suggested those supporting the actions of the Jewish state had failed to learn the lessons of the Shoah.Ruthie Blum: Methinks the left doth protest too much
In a hard-hitting, and well-received speech, delivered at a London conference on antisemitism, historian and author Schama spoke out against widespread misrepresentation and dilution of Holocaust memory in popular culture.
After citing the more obvious examples of anti-Jewish propagandist in our society, including the rapper Ye, previously known as Kayne West, Schama raised the essay The Shoah After Gaza, published in the London Review of Books by Mishra – who he said had become “a kind of darling of the English intellectual literati left.”
“I think a really low in this process, I mean can you actually sink any lower than this, of actually moving beyond the dilution of Holocaust memory to disqualifying Jews from being the custodians of that memory was reached by Pankaj Mishra in a famous essay he published last year in the London Review of Books.
“He became, as you probably know, the kind of darling of the English intellectual literati left. ”
Schama then said of the essay:”This is an exercise in sustained moral depravity. ”
The author, currently making a new BBC documentary on the Holocaust in an “age of denial”, suggested arguments such as those advanced by Mishara on Israel and Gaza leave a condition in which Jews are only allowed to “say Kaddish in effect for the six million if you come out like Naomi Klein and Judith Butler and Peter Beinhart and you come out as anti-Zionist.”
“So we have a kind of moral selection ramp,” continued Schama, “between those who are allowed to grieve and explain and write and study the Holocaust on condition that you repudiate the Jewish state – 20 percent of whom in its earliest years were Holocaust survivors.”
He added:”You know, sometimes chutzpah, which is a joke for us, can be a kind of ethical crime, as has been committed by Mishra.”
A subsequent book from Mishra was now titled The World After Gaza, Schama noted.
During Monday’s lecture at the London Centre Study of Contemporary Antisemitism conference in central London, Schama discussed attempts to remove the Jewish presence in the modern era from the Anne Frank story, mentioning the lessons to be learned from Dara Horn’s book People Love Dead Jews.
In the film world, Schama also openly criticised the award winning 2023 Jonathan Glazer movie Zone of Interest.
“In the end I became absolutely furious at his own clever self-admiration,” said Schama on Glazer’s film, which focuses on the life of German Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Höss and his wife Hedwig.
“What you’ll all notice about the Zone of Interest,” Schama said to the audience at his talk, “it was completely Jew free, totally Jew free.”
In a letter obtained last week by Israel Insider, Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Brian Mast (R-Fla.)—the chairs of the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary and Foreign Affairs committees, respectively—requested of the Jewish Communal Fund, Middle East Dialogue Network, Movement for Quality Government in Israel, PEF Israel Endowment Funds, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, and Blue and White Future that they “produce all documents and information” about dubious practices vis-à-vis Israel.Heidi Bachram: Respite and fight
The March 26 missive to the heads of the above organizations got right to the point in the first paragraph.
“According to reports, the Biden-Harris administration funneled U.S. taxpayer money to certain Israeli entities with the effect of attempting to undermine Israel’s democratically elected government,” it began, with a footnote referencing two JNS articles—one by Caroline Glick and the other by David Isaac.
The former, published Feb. 17, 2023, showed that the left-wing Israeli NGO, the Movement for Quality Government (MQG), had been receiving money from the U.S. State Department. And it was using the cash, among other things, for “democracy education” in Israeli high schools.
As Glick noted, “Since MQG’s primary activity is subverting democracy in Israel by waging lawfare and sowing chaos in a bid to block democratically elected right-wing governments from fulfilling their pledges to voters, it’s fairly clear that when MQG refers to ‘democracy education,’ it doesn’t mean majority rule.”
Isaac’s piece, which appeared on Feb. 18 this year, showed how Elon Musk’s efforts to “expose waste and misuse of funds” by “America’s administrative state” led to the emergence of reports that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) had been heavily funding the anti-government judicial-reform protests in Israel.
This, explained Isaac, “led Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to … blast what he called the ‘almost inconceivable’ amounts of foreign money that drove the protest movement.”
The letter by Jordan and Mast went on to stress that the “use of federal grants in this manner not only jeopardizes America’s relationship with one of its closest allies, but also undermines core civil liberties protected within the United States and Israel. Additionally, the misuse of federal grant funds may, in some cases, amount to a criminal offense.”
Last night I went to the most painful art exhibition I have ever been to. It was the opening event for the LCSCA conference on antisemitism and like organiser David Hirsh said, usually such academic spaces are not launched with art. But we are not in usual times.
Curator and artist Mina Kupfermann says she was moved to paint after the horror of October 7. It was an urgent need yet she had no expectation that the paintings would ever leave her studio. No hope that the art world would accept them. She wasn’t wrong. Jewish and Israeli artists have been pushed out and isolated. They have suffered threats, hate and discrimination. Israeli actress Gal Gadot has had to have enhanced security since October 7 due to the explosion in death threats against her. Jewish creatives have found themselves on boycott lists. The worst part is the slow squashing of self and identity as Israeli and Jewish artists censor and silence themselves in order to avoid blacklisting.
The fact that this exhibition happened at all is a miracle. One that occurred within a Jewish community centre. I have little faith that any other gallery would have exhibited it. Another artist Maya Amrami who showed her work was inspired to create it after experiencing severe antisemitism. The anger and frustration at what she went through is palpable.
The third artist was Benzi Brofman who painted victims of October 7 and kidnapped hostages. I know his work well because in December 2023 he created powerful portraits of my husband's cousin Tsachi Idan, alongside Omri Miran who was kidnapped with him from Nahal Oz kibbutz where they both lived. Tsachi and Omri’s wives, Gali and Lishay posed next to them. It was achingly painful an image. As soon as I entered the space, my eyes found it. Or maybe my heart. In that huge place, a familiar face. A smile amongst strangers. Like a private conspiracy, we said hello. Here he was in my home after me just being in his
Soon there were more familiar faces. Friends. Some I hadn’t seen since we had that terrible news and had been to Tsachi’s funeral and shiva. A month ago. A month. How can time move so fast and yet stay silently stuck. Friends, with love and empathy in their eyes and in their words. I get confused sometimes. We spent so long in anxiety and hope, it’s shocking to shift into grief. When they gave condolences I was surprised at why and then I remembered. Tsachi didn’t come back alive.
Oh yes.
It’s a struggle then to know what to say. It’s hard for them too. How can you navigate such horror in a crowded, noisy room with soft jazz and canapés? It’s the right place and the right people but felt entirely wrong. My daughter got overwhelmed at one point and we went to retreat into a darkened, quiet theatre. There, more intimate conversations felt possible. I met the incredible Rachel Moiselle, a gentle and humble warrior. She told me it was so beautifully refreshing to be amongst allies and to just be herself and relax. She hadn’t realised how much she needed it.
.png)
.png)
Buy 
.png)
