When actor Seth Rogen, an atheist of Jewish heritage, announced that he no longer supports Israel I was fed a huge amount of lies about Israel my entire life he was criticized for his apostasy. (Being an atheist does not constitute Jewish heresy, but breaking with Israel does.)
Then, during a call with Jewish Agency chairman Isaac Herzog, Rogen learned that many Israelis and Jews around the world were personally hurt by his statement, which implies the denial of Israels right to exist. Herzog says Rogen apologized, explaining that his comments were meant to be humorous.
But Rogen has distanced himself from a statement from the Jewish Agency that claimed [he] had apologized, the Times of Israel reports. That must mean he wasnt just trying to be funny.
I stand with Rogen. His comments about Israel were spot on. I too was told lies about Israel growing up (a land without a people for a people without a land) but I hasten to add that the people close to me did not know they were lies. Id bet Rogen would say the same thing.
I am also happy to hear that he did not apologize for his comments. Why should he? The State of Israel came into being through the systematic dispossession and oppression of the Palestinians. Many Jews know this and criticize Israel for it. Not only that: many Jews would have been uncomfortable with the idea of an exclusivist Jewish state even if Palestine really had been a land without a people. (Rogen expressed the same view.) Reform Judaism was explicitly founded in the 19th century in opposition to Jewish separatism.
But what I most want to focus on here is Herzogs statement that Rogen had personally hurt Jews and Israelis. I assume he meant that Rogen had hurt their feelings. My question is: if someones feelings are hurt by condemnations of injustice, why should anyone care? Are some peoples feelings more important than other peoples very right to live free and dignified lives? I dont think so. Some feelings ought to be hurt.
This preoccupation with not hurting feelings is at the root of the ominous cancel culture and the burgeoning informal PC constraints on free thought and free speech. If you look hard enough you will find that these unfortunate things originated in attempts to inhibit good-faith criticism of Israel and support for the Palestinians by stigmatizing the speakers as anti-Semites.
As long as were talking about feelings, lets do a full accounting. Yes, Im sure Rogen hurt some peoples feelings. But Im also confident his courage to speak also made Palestinians, anti-Zionist Jews, and other champions of justice feel more hopeful. Why dont their feelings count?