In the wake of the Hamas terror attacks on Israel, young people have taken to social media to show just how far down the rabbit hole they’ve gone. Before this week, we could have granted plausible deniability to young people…
Satire: Student Rips Down Poster of Israeli Hostage, Frees Palestine
Notes: This story is inspired by recent events in the larger world and on campus. The character and situation in this story are exaggerated and not meant to resemble any one student in particular. The views expressed in this post…
Beyond the Buzzwords: Debunking the Accusation of Israeli Pinkwashing
In the world of BDS activism “pinkwashing” has become the new black, but like most fashion trends, it’s all style and no substance. The BDS movement often incorporates catchy, but unsubstantiated phrases like “ecological imperialism,” “homonationalism,” and “pinkwashing” into their…
Keith Morris- A Jewish Perspective from the Punk Rock Legend
Playlist- https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1jeIT2vcF7Gep9WGBT7bJX Continuing our series on Judaism and punk rock, Ha’Am interviewed the half-Jewish, punk icon, Keith Morris. Morris’s influence on American hardcore punk rock cannot be understated. The genre began as a rebellion against the commodification of punk rock,…
Toys Were Us: The Decline of Youth
—- “Youth is dead” is a doozy of a claim, but it’s a valid claim. Maybe youth itself isn’t what’s dying, but youthhood. When I talk to my parents, my Jewish Papa, or my hometown Rabbi, they reminisce about the…
“Love Punk Rock, Hate Nazis”: How Punk Rock Mobilized Against Fascism and An Interview with Brian Brannon of JFA
Playlist to accompany ofc- https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3sqFbCB2Y5L0sQ4tr6Tsky NAZI PUNKS FUCK OFF! A hundred thousand punk rockers, adorned with anti-Nazi paraphernalia, band merchandise and crude denim jackets, walk seven miles through bustling Central London. Their march crosses key National Front strongholds. A masked…
A Love Letter to Jonathan Richman: The Punk Rock, Nice Jewish Boy
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7JoikWz5i62uwvidMTjRuM– playlist In a dizzying era of hedonism and bloated art-rock, Jonathan Richman’s music was “A Plea for Tenderness.” Finding joy in little pleasures is a cornerstone of Richman’s lyricism. “New England” celebrates Maine’s magnificence just as the sweet, nostalgic…
Rocking it from the Casbah to CBGB’s: How Jews Pioneered Punk Rock
Playlist to accompany- https://open.spotify.com/playlist/169oIfuoRJ1HVBo0AxE8lN With its blaring power chords, anti-establishment overtones and do-it-yourself fashion, the early punk scene is the last place you’d expect to find angsty Jews. Yet from Sylvian Mizrahi and Johnny Thunders of the New York Dolls…
At Home at UCLA
On a humid Westwood night, my roommates, Mai and Chelsea, and I were walking back to our dorm. Our stomachs ached with laughter and our bellies were full from a night out. “Which way should we take home?” Mai asked.…