We need solidarity, now
I write to recognise the experience many Jewish colleagues in our industry who have contacted me have had this past week. Their anxiety is not just about the atrocities committed, but also about the reactions from their colleagues.
I write not as the c.e.o. of a literary agency, nor as a spokesperson for any cause, but as a Jewish person working in publishing in 2023 in London.
I write to recognise the experience many Jewish colleagues in our industry who have contacted me have had this past week. They have expressed a deep sense of isolation and anxiety after the terrible events of last Saturday in Israel. Their anxiety is not just about the atrocities committed, but also about the reactions from their colleagues within the industry and within the companies they work.
The absence of messages of solidarity, or about how to help our Israeli publishing colleagues has left many feeling isolated. I know why this is. People simply don’t know how to talk about the Middle East and would rather avoid what they would call a "political conversation".
I understand that. However, the murder of babies, young people at a music festival, people sleeping in their beds on a holy day is not a political act.
It is a pogrom.
And for every Jewish person in the world, the images of decapitated children and old people being rounded up and shot brings back only one collective trauma – the Holocaust.
What Hamas did on Saturday 7th October was not about the Arab-Israeli conflict. We will all have views on Israel, and the history of the conflict and we all see the suffering in Gaza. Many working in the publishing industry will no doubt be highly critical of the Israeli government and they have every right to express those views. But last Saturday went beyond geopolitics.
It is perfectly possible to empathise with the Jewish community here and with Israeli publishers and hold strong views about Palestinian rights of self-determination. The two are not related
I remember watching 9/11 in my office, surrounded by colleagues, horrified, and also scared about what that would mean to the world. Nobody thought about context, nobody argued about the veracity of Osama bin Laden’s motives. They watched the twin towers fall in horror and felt deep empathy with the victims.
We work in a liberal and egalitarian industry, a place of ideas, imagination, and we have chosen this path in a genuine hope that we will change the world by spreading the great work of writers.
It is perfectly possible to empathise with the Jewish community here and with Israeli publishers and hold strong views about Palestinian rights of self-determination. The two are not related.
Writing a note to a Jewish colleague, going up to someone who you know has Jewish friends or those who have worked in Israel, or visited on holiday or those who have any connection whatsoever with the community should be gratefully received. In the same way, publishing reached out to those who are suffering in Ukraine, or other worthy causes, it must follow that by not reaching out to the Jewish community makes the isolation worse for the community.
I understand the situation in Gaza and Israel is distressing and for many hard to understand. The suffering of Israeli and Palestinian innocent people is beyond question and we all call for peace. What lies ahead leaves everyone filled with dread.
Please remember it is OK to reach out to Jewish friends to express your sympathy while supporting either side. Empathy doesn’t demand context.
