Brady Corbet’s epic Academy Award-nominated film, The Brutalist, traces the career and personal life of fictional architect and Holocaust survivor László Toth, played by Adrien Brody, as he seeks to find his place in the United States after World War II. In this episode of On the Nose, contributing writer Rebecca Pierce, associate editor Mari Cohen, contributing editor Siddhartha Mahanta, and contributor Noah Kulwin unpack the film’s symbolic use of Israel and Zionism as an apparent solution to the racialized antisemitism faced by its Jewish characters upon their arrival in the US. The conversation delves into the film’s explorations of post-Holocaust Jewish life and American racialized white supremacy, as well as the contrast between its clear artistic vision and ambiguous politics. This episode includes spoilers for the film and discussions of its onscreen depictions of sexual violence.

Thanks to Jesse Brenneman for producing and to Nathan Salsburg for the use of his song “VIII (All That Were Calculated Have Passed).”

Texts Mentioned and Further Resources:

“About the Destination: The Brutalist and Israel,” Noah Kulwin, Screen Slate

“Adrien Brody Addresses Backlash Over Halle Berry Oscars Kiss—but Stops Short Of Apologizing,” Kelby Vera, Huffington Post

“The Suppressed Lineage of American Jewish Dissent on Israel,” Emma Saltzberg, Jewish Currents

The Tribes of America by Paul Cowan

Israeli warplanes have stopped dropping bombs on Gaza, at least for now, but there’s no ceasefire in the occupied West Bank. Since October 2023, and especially since this January, the intensity of Israeli military operations in the West Bank has escalated to a degree unseen since the Second Intifada. On January 21st, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced “Operation Iron Wall”—a bombing campaign and ground invasion centered on the city of Jenin in the northern West Bank. Jenin houses a large Palestinian refugee camp populated by families expelled by Israeli forces in 1948. As such, it has long been an epicenter of Palestinian militancy, and has faced waves of Israeli ground invasions and sieges for decades. Now, Israel’s defense minister has said that the army is returning to Jenin to apply the “lessons” it learned in Gaza—which have included the widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure, the siege of a hospital, and, in a particularly brazen act, the simultaneous blowing up of 23 buildings on February 2nd. 

To discuss Israel’s application of the “Gaza model” in the West Bank and its impact on Palestinians, Jewish Currents senior reporter Alex Kane spoke with journalist Azmat Khan and analyst Tahani Mustafa. 

Thanks to Jesse Brenneman for producing and to Nathan Salsburg for the use of his song “VIII (All That Were Calculated Have Passed).”

Articles Mentioned and Further Reading

“Israeli military operation turns Jenin refugee camp into 'ghost town,'” Ali Sawafta, Reuters

“Demolitions in Jenin signal Israel’s new approach in the West Bank,” Marcus Walker, The Wall Street Journal

“In West Bank raids, Palestinians see echoes of Israel’s Gaza war,” Raja Abdulrahim and Azmat Khan, The New York Times

“Two young children were getting ready for school. An IDF drone killed them,” Hagar Shezaf, Haaretz

“The civilian casualty files,” The New York Times

“Palestinian Authority’s raid on Jenin appeals to Israeli, Western interests,” Mat Nashed, Al Jazeera English

“Palestinian gunman kills Israeli soldiers as UN warns over W Bank operation,” David Gritten, BBC News

“The settler strategy accelerating Palestinian dispossession,” Dalia Hatuqa, Jewish Currents

On Sunday, Israel and Hamas entered into the first phase of what could become a permanent ceasefire. Under the agreement that led to the pause, Israel will release hundreds of Palestinians, many held without charge or trial, from its prisons in exchange for the release of 98 Israeli hostages by Palestinian militants in Gaza. The deal also allows Palestinians forcibly displaced from the north of Gaza to return to that area, promises a surge in humanitarian aid to a Palestinian population that was starving as a result of Israel’s siege, and leaves open the door for further negotiations resulting in a permanent ceasefire. But significant questions remain about the deal—foremost of which is whether it will lead to the permanent end of Israel’s bombardment and hermetic siege of Gaza, an assault experts have termed a genocide. To discuss why Israel agreed to stop its bombing after 15 months, whether the ceasefire is likely to last, and the future of Gaza’s governance, Jewish Currents senior reporter Alex Kane spoke to analysts Yousef Munayyer and Zaha Hassan.

Thanks to Jesse Brenneman for producing and to Nathan Salsburg for the use of his song “VIII (All That Were Calculated Have Passed).”

Further Reading

“A long-awaited ceasefire has finally begun in Gaza. Here’s what we know,” Sophie Tanno, Lauren Kent and Christian Edwards, CNN

“Jared Kushner says Gaza’s ‘waterfront property could be very valuable,’” Patrick Wintour, The Guardian

“Ben Gvir says he repeatedly foiled hostage deals, urges Smotrich to help him stop this one,” Times of Israel staff, Times of Israel

“UNRWA said preparing to shutter Gaza, West Bank operations ahead of Israeli ban,” Times of Israel staff, Times of Israel

“Gangs looting Gaza aid operate in areas under Israeli control, aid groups say,” Claire Parker, Loveday Morris, Hajar Harb, Miriam Berger and Hazem Balousha, The Washington Post

“The Pro-Israel Donor With a $100 Million Plan to Elect Trump,” Theodore Schleifer, The New York Times

On this episode of On the Nose—a recording of an online event for Jewish Currents members, co-sponsored by the Beinart Notebook—editor-at-large Peter Beinart speaks with Mahmoud Muna, Matthew Teller, and Juliette Touma, three of the editors of the new anthology Daybreak in Gaza: Stories of Palestinian Lives and Culture. This volume includes nearly 100 stories from people in Gaza, recorded both before and amidst Israel’s ongoing assault. In this conversation, the editors discuss the collection and the process of compiling it, and read some of the powerful testimonies it contains.

Thanks to Daniel Kaufman and Jesse Brenneman for producing and to Nathan Salsburg for the use of his song “VIII (All That Were Calculated Have Passed).

Texts Mentioned and Further Reading:

Daybreak in Gaza: Stories of Palestinian Lives and Culture, ed. Mahmoud Muna and Matthew Teller with Juliette Touma and Jayyab Abusafia

“Letter from Gaza” by Ghassan Kanafani, Marxists Internet Archive

“The Only Refuge I Could Offer” by Anonymous, Jewish Currents

“Exile from Gaza” by Zak Hania, Safa Al-Majdalawi, Amal Al-Majdalawi, and Mohammed Ghalayni (as told to Jonathan Shamir), Jewish Currents

“The Scenes in Rafah Are Straight From a Nightmare” by Zak Hania, Ahmed Totah, and Sameera Wafi (as told to Jonathan Shamir), Jewish Currents

“Even as We Are Trying to Help, We Are Being Attacked” by Jameel, Juliette Touma, and Mohammed Al Khatib (as told to Jonathan Shamir and Aparna Gopalan), Jewish Currents

“We Have Lost the Ability to Provide True Care” by Hammam Alloh, Yousef Al-Akkad, and Reda Abu Assi (as told to Maya Rosen), Jewish Currents

“Dispatches from Gaza” by Mohammed Zraiy, Khalil Abuy Yahia, and Rania Hussein (as told to Alain Alameddine, Maya Rosen, and Julia), Jewish Currents

Since October 2023, Palestine solidarity activists have faced a climate of McCarthyist repression, and all signs point to the incoming Trump administration escalating that campaign to silence the anti-genocide movement. Trump’s cabinet appointees and supporters have embraced plans to revoke visas of pro-Palestine student organizers, sue colleges to ensure they crack down on protesters, subject anti-Zionist students to FBI questioning, and more—all in the name of fighting antisemitism. 

In this episode, associate editor Mari Cohen and senior reporter Alex Kane join Emma Saltzberg, US strategic campaigns director for Diaspora Alliance, and Dylan Saba, a staff attorney at Palestine Legal and a contributing writer at Jewish Currents, to discuss the possible shape of the Trump repression regime. We discuss the use of civil rights law to quash student protest, the Heritage Foundation’s unnerving “Project Esther” blueprint for suppressing the Palestine solidarity movement, and Congressional attempts to attack the nonprofit status of anti-Zionist groups. We also analyze the multiple right-wing approaches at play—including the distinct but sometimes overlapping “anti-discrimination” and “anti-terrorism” paradigms—and consider possibilities for mobilizing a broader liberal-left coalition to oppose these strategies.  

Thanks to Jesse Brenneman for producing and to Nathan Salsburg for the use of his song “VIII (All That Were Calculated Have Passed).”

Texts Mentioned and Further Resources:

“Trump DOJ civil rights pick blasted campus protests, opposed Antisemitism Awareness Act,” Marc Rod, Jewish Insider 

“The Biden-Harris administration has failed to combat campus antisemitism,” Jonathan Pidluzny, America First Policy Institute

“Trump attorney general pick Pam Bondi: 5 things Jews should know,” Lauren Markoe, Forward 

“The civil rights law shutting down pro-Palestine speech,” Alex Kane, Jewish Currents

“Linda McMahon meets with Senators, addresses approach to fighting antisemitism,” Emily Jacobs, Jewish Insider

“Project Esther,” The Heritage Foundation 

“Evangelical Christians are politicizing the Jewish story of Esther,” Jane Eisner, The Washington Post

“Congressional Republicans launch 'fishing expedition' against progressive, Jewish, and Palestinian nonprofits,” Matthew Petti, Reason

“Virginia judge denies pro-Palestinian group’s bid to limit attorney general’s demand for documents,” Dean Mirshahi, WRIC ABC 8News

A Real Pain is a film starring Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Kulkin as two American Jewish cousins who take a trip to Poland to visit the childhood home of their grandmother. In this episode of On the Nose, editor-in-chief Arielle Angel, contributing editor Maia Ipp, and author Menachem Kaiser—all of whom are grandchildren of Holocaust survivors—dissect the movie’s depiction of millennial neuroses, its relationship to other Holocaust films, and its grappling with the question of how to make meaning out of inherited memory. 

Thanks to Jesse Brenneman for producing and to Nathan Salsburg for the use of his song “VIII (All That Were Calculated Have Passed).”

Texts Mentioned and Further Resources:

“Selling the Holocaust,” Arielle Angel, Menachem Kaiser, and Maia Ipp, Jewish Currents

“(Re)Writing Remembrance,” Arielle Angel and Maia Ipp, Jewish Currents

Plunder: A Memoir of Family Property and Nazi Treasure, Menachem Kaiser

“If I were a Zionist, I'd be Z: How Generations of Jews have Abandoned their Children to Face the Reckoning Alone,” Natasha Gill, Substack

Between the Temples

On this episode of On the Nose—recorded at an online event on October 30th—editor-in-chief Arielle Angel speaks with author Naomi Klein and writer and clinical psychologist Hala Alyan about the place of feelings and affect in the movement for Palestinian liberation. They discuss the role of grief and rage, how movements can accommodate affective diversity, and what it means to channel emotions politically. 

Thanks to Jesse Brenneman for producing and to Nathan Salsburg for the use of his song “VIII (All That Were Calculated Have Passed).

Texts Mentioned and Further Resources:

“How Israel has made trauma a weapon of war,” Naomi Klein, The Guardian

The Generation of Postmemory: Writing and Visual Culture After the Holocaust by Marianne Hirsch

Prosthetic Memory: The Transformation of American Remembrance in the Age of Mass Culture by Alison Landsberg

 “‘Chronic traumatic stress disorder’: the Palestinian psychiatrist challenging western definitions of trauma,” Bethan McKernan, The Guardian

“Can the Palestinian Mourn?,” Abdaljawad Omar, Rusted Radishes

“‘Resistance Through a Realist Lens,’” Arielle Angel in conversation with Abdaljawad Omar, Jewish Currents

“Mourning and Melancholia,” Sigmund Freud

The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism by Naomi Klein

“One Year,” Palestinian Youth Movement, The New Inquiry (originally published in The New York War Crimes)

Recognizing the Stranger: On Palestine and Narrative by Isabella Hammad

“A Surge in American Jewish Left Organizing,” On the Nose, Jewish Currents

“Gaza and the Coming Age of the ‘Warrior,’” Ghassan Hage, Allegra

“One Year,” Arielle Angel, Jewish Currents newsletter

The Secret Life of Saeed: The Pessoptimist by Emile Habibi

“Theses on the Philosophy of History,” Walter Benjamin

Doppelganger: A Trip Into the Mirror World by Naomi Klein

“Naomi Klein on Israel’s ‘Doppelganger Politics,’” On the Nose, Jewish Currents

“Unpacking the Campus Antisemitism Narrative,” On the Nose, Jewish Currents

“The Power of Changing Your Mind,” Hala Alyan, Time

On this special episode of On the Nose—recorded live on November 4th at McNally Jackson Books in Manhattan—Jewish Currents senior reporter Alex Kane hosts a discussion about foreign policy and the 2024 presidential election. Historian Stephen Wertheim, Arab American Institute executive director Maya Berry, and national security reporter Spencer Ackerman discuss Donald Trump’s and Kamala Harris’s foreign policy visions, regional war in the Middle East, and the bipartisan consensus on upholding US empire. 

Thanks to Jesse Brenneman for producing and to Nathan Salsburg for the use of his song “VIII (All That Were Calculated Have Passed).

Further Reading:

“Some Muslim Americans moving to Jill Stein in potential blow to Kamala Harris,” Andrea Shalal, Reuters

“New Poll Finds Arab American Voters Evenly Divided in the 2024 Presidential Election,” Arab American Institute

Reign of Terror: How the 9/11 Era Destabilized America and Produced Trump by Spencer Ackerman

“How Kamala Harris Should Put America First — for Real,” Stephen Werheim, The New York Times

“America’s Foreign Policy Inertia,” Stephen Wertheim and Christopher S. Chivvis, Foreign Affairs

In 2003, a group of Indian Americans deeply involved in India's Hindu supremacist, or Hindutva, movement established the Hindu American Foundation (HAF), an organization explicitly modeled on the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). Just as the ADL has long insisted that fighting American antisemitism requires bolstering support for Israel, the HAF committed itself to lobbying for Hindutva in the name of protecting Hindu Americans’ civil rights, an approach that helped the group's rightwing politics find a foothold in liberal, anti-racist circles. The HAF is not the only organization that has drawn inspiration from the ADL. In 2021, the Asian American Foundation (TAAF) was formed in direct partnership with the ADL as a way to address growing anti-Asian racism. While lacking connection to a single ethnonationalist movement, TAAF nevertheless drew on the ADL’s and HAF’s approaches in positioning anti-Asian racism as a unique problem requiring carceral solutions instead of solidaristic organizing. As such, TAAF debuted with ADL head Jonathan Greenblatt as the only non-Asian person on its board, and Hindu nationalist Sonal Shah as its founding president. 

The HAF and TAAF’s use of the ADL model has thus far helped them achieve support and legitimacy. However, as the ADL itself faces an unprecedented crisis of legitimacy in the wake of October 7th, affiliation with it now risks becoming a liability. For instance, following members’ criticism over its ties to an increasingly repressive Greenblatt, TAAF removed him from his board this July (while still affirming its “strategic relationship” with the ADL). As dissent continues to grow in Asian and South Asian American communities—with reporters and activists questioning ties of anti-racist groups in the US to injustices abroad—it is not just ties to the ADL but the power of the ADL model of antiracism that stands to come into question. To discuss these developments, Jewish Currents news editor Aparna Gopalan spoke to associate editor Mari Cohen, New Yorker contributing writer E. Tammy Kim, and Savera coalition activist Prachi Patankar about the similarities and differences between the ADL, the HAF, and TAAF; their embrace of a “hate crimes” approach to anti-racism and what it leaves out; their ties to supremacist movements; and their shifting fortunes in the wake of the pressures over the past year.      

Thanks to Jesse Brenneman for producing and to Nathan Salsburg for the use of his song “VIII (All That Were Calculated Have Passed).

Texts Mentioned and Further Reading:

“How the ADL’s Israel Advocacy Undermines Its Civil Rights Work,” Alex Kane and Jacob Hutt, Jewish Currents

“ADL Staffers Dissented After CEO Compared Palestinian Rights Groups to Right-Wing Extremists, Leaked Audio Reveals,” Alex Kane and Mari Cohen, Jewish Currents

“HAF Way to Supremacy: How the Hindu American Foundation Rebrands Bigotry As Minority Rights,” Savera Coalition

“The Hindu Nationalists Using the Pro-Israel Playbook,” Aparna Gopalan, Jewish Currents

“The ADL of Asian America,” E. Tammy Kim, The New Yorker

“The Asian American Foundation’s ADL partnership is a betrayal to Asian American communities,” Sharmin Hossain, Mondoweiss

Ta-Nehisi Coates, one of the most celebrated American political writers of our time, devotes much of his new book, The Message, to a withering and deeply personal critique of Israel’s oppression of Palestinians. On this bonus episode of On the Nose—a recording of an online event for Jewish Currents members, co-sponsored by the Beinart Notebook and the Foundation for Middle East Peace—editor-at-large Peter Beinart speaks with Coates about his time in Israel and the West Bank, the silencing of Palestinians in American media, and what it means when nationalism’s victims become its adherents.

Thanks to Jesse Brenneman for producing and to Nathan Salsburg for the use of his song “VIII (All That Were Calculated Have Passed).

Texts Mentioned and Further Reading:

The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates

“Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence,” Martin Luther King, Jr.

Our American Israel by Amy Kaplan

The Riot Report, directed by Michelle Ferrari

“The Case for Reparations,” Ta-Nehisi Coates, The Atlantic

“One Year of War in the Middle East,” Pod Save the World

The Yellow Wind by David Grossman

“Obama on his criticism of Israeli settlements: ‘I’m basically a liberal Jew,’” Avery Anopol, The Hill

“US media talks a lot about Palestinians—just without Palestinians,” Maha Nassar, +972 Magazine

Ta-Nehisi Coates interview on CBS

Black Panther graphic novels by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Makdisi Street podcast

“Ta-Nehisi Coates: I Was Told Palestine Was Complicated. Visiting Revealed a Simple, Brutal Truth,” Democracy Now!