6 | OCTOBER 31 • 2024 
J
N

1942 - 2024

Covering and Connecting 
Jewish Detroit Every Week

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people of greater Detroit and beyond, and the State of Israel.

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Detroit Jewish community, reflecting the diverse views and interests of the Jewish community while advancing the 
morale and spirit of the community and advocating Jewish unity, identity and continuity.

DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
32255 Northwestern Hwy. Suite 205,
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thejewishnews.com

 
 
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| Board of Directors:
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 Secretary: Robin Axelrod
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 Founding Publisher 
 Philip Slomovitz, of blessed memory
 
 The Detroit Jewish News 
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 Nancy and James Grosfeld
 The Honorable Bernard Friedman

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 Michelle Sheridan 

PURELY COMMENTARY

essay
An Island in a Sea of Warriors
L

et me tell you about my social 
justice cause. It is the one that 
gets discounted and erased, 
talked over and condemned. I want 
to acknowledge that absurdity for 
a moment: that I 
cannot be passion-
ate about something 
that encompasses my 
whole world, out of 
fear of social suicide 
or being subjected to 
cancel culture.
Here is an analogy. 
Have you ever sat in a room and felt 
like you’re on an island? Everywhere 
around you are waves crashing to 
the same rhythm. It is an impene-
trable wall of force, loud and angry, 
and all in sync. The waves mask 
themselves with beauty, almost 
harmless from afar. But the closer 
one comes to those waves, the clear-
er it becomes that if you don’t join 
them, they’ll swallow you alive. That 
is what it feels like to be a Jewish 

Zionist on a university campus 
today. 
My island is surrounded by men-
acing waters. Waters that call out 
“we support everyone,” we believe in 
“equal rights” and “diversity.” These 
waters seem so inviting, the promise 
of unity. But unity has turned into 
uniformity. The waves call for us to 
join them, swim with the current, 
never against it. The promise of 

universal human rights is often con-
ditional in practice, operating on an 
implicit “if-then” logic: If you align 
with certain beliefs, you’re deserving 
of rights; if not, your entitlement is 
questioned. Because I am a Zionist, 
everyone around me is saying I 
could not possibly be a human with 
a heart, conscious or soul, I become 
inferior and then a victim seen as 
the oppressor. 

Each time someone like me 
tries to step into the water — to 
join the world of “social justice” 
movements — we get torn apart, 
devoured, while the bystanders 
watch in silence. It is the beginning 
of the end for another golden era for 
the Jews. Both sides of the political 
spectrum pose legitimate threats to 
Jews in America, but the neo-Na-
zis and the white supremacists are 
condemned by all but their own, 
whereas “woke” culture is praised 
and put on a pedestal. That is what 
I have learned from the school of 
social work; that is what universities 
all over the country are telling peo-
ple like me. 
I have no faith in the people who 
blindly listen to what they are told 
to believe. In this world of social 
media infographics, my faith in 
humanity is lower than ever. We are 
taught what to think, not how to 
think. 
We are a silenced majority that 

Julia Diskin 

