We can disagree without dehumanizing others. In honor of the holiday season, I'm sharing a simple message: If we truly want to bring peace to the world, we need to live it. If you are sickened by the hate, violence, and the deep divisions in our world, take a positive step, even a small one, to build more constructive dialogues in your next meeting, at a holiday gathering, on your campus, or on social media.

It’s time to call out the trend of American conservatives weaponizing our fight against antisemitism for their own reactionary agenda. Good for the Jews? Not so much. I am referring to the Education Department hearing in which the Presidents of Harvard, MIT and UPenn (my alma mater) were grilled by lawmakers about rising antisemitism on their campuses.

I have a heavy heart because the truce ended. I fear a future of endless war and a wider, even more devastating conflict in the Middle East.

Antisemitism is not anti-colonial struggle. Islamophobia is not counterterrorism. I’m deeply disappointed by those who claim to stand for equality and peace and yet incite hatred and demonize the “other side.” As I’ve repeatedly argued, refusing to recognize the humanity and suffering of the other side diminishes our humanity. My fight against antisemitism is fundamentally linked to my antiracist work, my queer activism, my feminism, and my efforts to advance justice for all. That’s why today I’m expressing solidarity with both my Palestinian and Israeli siblings.

"She's a Palestinian and I'm Jewish, but the only home we both have is the same home." I was so inspired by this powerful insight from the New York Times article about Israeli and Palestinian Activists Sally Abed and Alon-Lee Green. They are the brave leaders of Standing Together, an organization that works for peace between Israel and Palestinians. The two activists recently traveled from Israel to the US and have discovered a polarization about Gaza so intense that it might be described as a new war zone. How do we move beyond this either/or mindset?

No one should be punished for exercising their free speech rights. Suppressing speech will not make us, our organizations, or our college campuses safer. I stand against censorship, hate, and efforts to prevent any individuals or groups from participating in our democratic society—including those speaking out for Palestinian people.

What does queer mean? Who “counts” as queer? Who can say the word "queer?" These are questions that people have asked me for years. These days, I sometimes feel that people are afraid to ask so here are my thoughts. Yes, you can say queer even if you don't identify as queer. You don't have to be a member of the LGBTQIA2S+ community to be queer; same gender loving folx are sometimes the least queer folx in the room. (Yes, I said it!) Poly and kinky people are queer. Yes, asexual or ace individuals are queer.

As my beloved rabbi recently reminded us, caring about human beings does not make one either pro-Israel or pro-Palestine; we can be both.

These days, the trauma, grief, and pain is profound and unprecedented for people of diverse races, faiths, nationalities, and ethnicities. As an American Jew with family in Israel, I am directly impacted by the Israel-Hamas war. Why has antisemitism been spreading like wildfire among progressives, and where do we go from here? That’s the question I seek to answer in this piece. I argue that the left’s longstanding exclusion of antisemitism from conversations about racial and ethnic oppression is both a CAUSE and an EFFECT of its tendency to deny, minimize and even justify Jewish suffering.

I have intentionally paused my regular content in light of mass atrocities. What is happening in Gaza and Israel may feel like an ocean away to you, but it’s deeply personal to me. My family lives in Israel--not distant relatives but my immediate family. The effects of generational trauma affect not only Israelis and Palestinians but progressive American Jews like me, for whom both the genocidal violence of Hamas against Israel and Israel's genocidal "complete siege" of Gaza are trauma triggers.

The work of inclusion requires that all of us examine our “default settings.” Many white people don’t acknowledge that systemic racism exists; instead, we say that America is a society of equal opportunity…. “Not everything is about race,” we say. “There was unfairness in the past but everyone has the same opportunities now.” Whiteness is our default. We don’t recognize that we have internalized what Toni Morrison calls the white gaze, often imposing it in the workplace in ways that require people of color to expend energy and resources to accommodate whiteness.

When people ask me why I do diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) work, my answer is very personal. When I was in college and came out to my family, I was disowned and cut off emotionally and financially…. Many decades later, I love talking to leaders, teams, and educators about how we can give each other the gift of being seen, respected, and welcomed because I know what it’s like to feel invisible, disrespected, and unwelcome—even in the place I called home.

Racism does not require "malicious intent." If this is how you're defining racism, it's time to do your personal work to better understand structural racism and your role in it. There are 4 levels of racism: Internalized or Personal Racism, Interpersonal Racism, Institutional Racism, and Structural Racism. The most common understanding of racism is that it’s a form of prejudice and intentional bias in our personal interactions. But racism resides in our beliefs as unconscious bias; this is sometimes called internalized racism.

When people say that cisgender is a slur some of the questions I ask are: Do you know what cisgender means? Why do you believe it’s a slur? Do you think the term heterosexual is a slur? “Cisgender” is an adjective used to describe people whose gender identities "match" the sex they were assigned at birth. In other words, their gender identities align with what is socially expected for their birth-assigned sex.

Allyship means accepting responsibility for our mistakes instead of invalidating those who brought them to our attention. If you identify as an ally or accomplice and feel like someone from a historically excluded group has harshly criticized you for something you said or did, please take some time to process before responding or acting.

One of the oldest antisemitic tropes is the lie that Jews control the world and therefore are the cause of all of the world’s problems. How can you fight the rising tide of anti-Jewish hate? I’m so glad you asked! An important way to demonstrate your allyship is by educating others who use harmful language such as “wealthy elites” or “international elites.”

We will not be able to build a more inclusive future unless we take responsibility for our past. In many red and purple states, schools are now controlled by individuals whose goals aren’t educating students but indoctrinating them. Their tactics are so extreme that they invite comparison to the Soviet Union.

Black students carry the weight of intergenerational trauma and systemic racism into their classrooms every day. White students do not (although those of us who are racialized as white can and do experience trauma as well). Despite the impact of intergenerational trauma on Black children, current debates about teaching the history of racism are almost exclusively focused on the feelings of White children.

With an inclusive mindset ant the right tools and skills, any leader can build a more equitable and inclusive workplace. But creating meaningful and sustainable DEI change doesn’t happen overnight.

Making real progress on diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging requires deep listening and authentic communication.