Phyllis Chesler

Dear Readers–One and All:

I’ve not been missing in action, far from it. I’ve been rather busy turning out about 15,000 words on American Feminism and Antisemitism–The Death of Feminism–as the basis for my upcoming interview, to be recorded, but not yet aired, with the extraordinary new British-based group that bears that name.

My goal is to have this published–but where, oh where? With some exceptions, faux feminists rule the media, the academy, the NGOs, and world governments at every level. They will not be overjoyed by what I’ve written, nor should they be.

Conservatives are far more tolerant and yet, while they are happy enough to disparage, they are happier still to omit feminist ideas entirely. Most of such venues are not particularly eager to read about the difference between radical and faux-feminism and why this difference is important—nor are they eager to read a report that’s been written by a still-standing feminist and insider.

Oh, ye media venues: Prove me wrong.

Yes, of course, I “name the names” of all the antizionist/antisemitic/pro-radical political Islam delusionists I have been lucky enough to encounter since 1971. I did this for the historical record. And, as much as pro-Israel feminists have been punished–those who stand against radical Islam have been even more punished. I say that we had better join forces now before it is even later than it already is.

I am also even more firmly committed to the importance of a coalition of all those who have been warning the West about radical political Islam (this includes both religious and secular Muslims, ex-Muslims, Christians, Hindu Conservatives, Sikhs, Jews, etc.) and those who have been arguing the case for Israel, the Jews, and Western Civilization. Now is the time to really form alliance in a very vigorous way.

I am covering the genocide of Iranians by their theocratic rulers. The silence about this atrocity is as deep as it was after 10/7. This is the crime of the bystander who is complicit in evil.

Even as I’ve been working on this report from the frontlines of memory (a completely exhausting undertaking), I’ve slowly been reading and savoring Maggie O’Farrell’s novel Hamnet. Unlike the extraordinary film version of the same name, O’Farrell presents what is primarily a woman’s story, a close and detailed resurrection of women’s non-stop round-the-clock labors. Oh, the vegetable gardening, the cooking, the serving, the feeding of entire households, the making of soap and of herbal medicines, the feeding of all the barnyard animals (and the dogs), the buying, the selling, the child-bearing, the laundry, the sewing–my God! I cannot list it all. There are too many such tasks.

O’Farrell brings us so close to Stratford in the 16th century–we can almost smell it, taste it, see it, feel it–and we are there. O’Farrell’s hero is Agnes, Will’s wife; Will matters but only a wee bit; he is not as central as Agnes or the women and children. Only the novel can so successfully imagine what Agnes sees, thinks, knows. We believe it to be true.

The film, with the amazing Jessie Buckley, shows us what Agnes does; only her emotional expressions suggest, but powerfully, what she probably thinks, sees, notes, and feels.

This is one of the few times that I think that the film is quite as good as the book–but they show us very different things and in very different ways.

I had a wonderful visit with Zainab Al-Suwaij, and we’ve continued talking via Zoom. I’m also trying to help a woman who’s in a psychiatric institution; I attended a class about the Breslover’s stories; attended another wonderful Torah and Aggada/Talmud class. I’ve been consulted about my views on hijab as opposed to niqab or the burqa. I shared those views at length.

At the same time, I’ve been studying the Torah parshiot and reading some commentaries. We are so swiftly enslaved there and, with God’s help, we are just as swiftly about to leave Egypt again–but mark this: Each year, we are always back there again. What can this mean? What is this meant to teach us?

I’m slowly reading Amit Segal’s wonderful book A Call at 4AM. It is a thrilling read but a challenging one. I do not understand how the Israeli nation can actually function given all the realities that Segal lays out.

On the matter of Greenland? Please read what Jonathan Tobin has to say about it at JNS. Apparently, this deal may not be as crazy we all think it must be. Europe’s refusal to fund NATO as equally as America does in defense of Europe may also be at the heart of this otherwise Orwellian-sounding deal. Also, I looked at a map and now see how very close Russia is to Greenland and how close, geographically, Greenland is to America. Surely, we should at least reopen our air force bases there. But invade it? Buy it in order to own it?

As to President Trump’s choice of a one-billion-dollar membership in the Board of Peace to govern Gaza–is he kidding? Turkey and Qatar will not use their billions to rebuild Gaza but rather to re-arm Hamas. What am I missing about this deal? Anyone out there?

Oh yes–late in the evening, I watch livestreamed movies. Saw Emma Thompson in The Child Act, and I recommend this highly. Thompson plays a judge in the UK who must render decisions in matters of life and death where children are concerned.

For lighter fare: Harry Potter (again, again), Call the Midwife (again, again) and the most whimsical British mystery dramas: The Seven Dials Mystery and Bookish. I love all those mysteries set in a bookstore, or in a Book Club, or involving an author or book-lover detective. Wonder why.