Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators @scbwi forces out Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer for issuing a statement condemning antisemitism

Earlier this month, when the nation briefly noticed the attacks on Jews that crested during the 11 day Gaza war, the Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer for the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators issued a statement condemning antisemitism:

The SCBWI unequivocally recognizes that the world’s 14.7 million Jewish people (less than 0.018% of the population) have the right to life, safety, and freedom from scapegoating and fear. No person should be at risk because of their heritage, religion, disability, or whom they love. In the last several years, antisemitism has been on the rise globally, and has fueled a 75% increase in hate speech and random violence against Jewish people in the last few weeks alone. Because antisemitism is one of the oldest forms of hatred, it has its own name. It is the example from which many forms of racism and violence are perpetrated. As writers, illustrators, and translators of children’s literature, we are responsible for promoting equity and humanizing people in our work-all children and all families.

Silence is often mistaken for acceptance and results in the perpetration of more hatred and violence against different types of people. As proof, it saddens us that for the 4th time this year we are compelled to invite you to join us in not looking away and in speaking out against all forms of hate, including antisemitism. 

#StopAntisemitism #StopJewishHate #NeverAgain #UniteAgainstAntisemitism #WeStandAgainstAntisemitism

For this, she was forced to resign.

You see, when one condemns antisemitism, one must "all lives matter" Jews. And one must mention Palestinians and Muslims. Those are the rules of the disgusting Left. 

Here is the apology issued by the SCBWI:

Our Apology

To our SCBWI community from Lin Oliver

I want to respond to the events of the last week. Thank you all for your patience. I have been away with my family after over a year’s absence and with no social media, so I apologize for this tardy response. On behalf of SCBWI, I would like to apologize to everyone in the Palestinian community who felt unrepresented, silenced, or marginalized. SCBWI acknowledges the pain our actions have caused to our Muslim and Palestinian members and hope that we can heal from this moment. I also want to offer my apologies to Razan Abdin-Adnani for making her feel unseen and unheard by blocking her. She has been unblocked from our feed.  

As a remedy to these events, we have taken some initial steps:

Effective immediately, we have accepted the resignation of April, our Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer. 

We are creating board seats and Equity and Inclusion Committee slots for Muslim members of the SCBWI.  

Our E&I committee will specifically review our policies regarding freedom of expression for all underrepresented members to make sure no one is silenced or unsafe.

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU. Please send us your suggestions as to what further actions we should take. We will give every suggestion serious consideration and will report back with more changes. Please send emails to equity@scbwi.org.

Finally, in resigning, April, our Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer, has asked that we share this message with you: 

“By posting an antisemitism statement, our intention was to stay out of politics. I removed both anti-Palestinian and anti-Israeli posts, which in hindsight was not the right thing to do. I neglected to address the rise in Islamophobia, and deeply regret that omission. As someone who is vehemently against Islamophobia and hate speech of any kind, I understand that intention is not impact and I am so sorry. 

While this doesn’t fix the pain and disappointment that you feel by my mishandling of this moment, I hope you will accept my sincerest apologies and resignation from the SCBWI. I wish all of you success in your work because the world’s children need your stories. All of them.  – April”

As executive director of the SCBWI, I can assure you that this painful week has been a crucial learning experience for SCBWI. As we approach our 50 year anniversary, we pledge to correct any harm we have done and to redouble our efforts to promote equity and inclusion in the children’s book field. 

What the hell is wrong with people?

If Muslims or Palestinians are complaining about a statement against antisemitism, it means they are antisemitic! 

Why does a statement against antisemitism have to mention Palestinians or Muslims? Why on Earth would it make them feel invisible? If they want a statement about Islamophobia, they can ask for one - I'm sure April would have accommodated them!

This is bigotry masquerading as inclusion. 

The only person who was truly hurt by this episode was April, who happens to be a Jew of color. She calls herself a "Jewbian Princess." Apparently she has been hounded so much she has closed her Twitter account. 

She did everything right. She checked all the boxes. She issued an excellent statement against the antisemitism that is responsible for, by far, the most hate crimes against a religion. But she made a mistake: she didn't realize that a high percentage of the "woke" are closet antisemites themselves.

Let's be clear: If you say that a statement against antisemitism must automatically include a statement of support for Palestinians, you are a Jew-hater. You would never demand the same about a statement against any other kind of bigotry. Only Jew-hatred must be "balanced" with words of appeasement for the very people who, statistically, are the most antisemitic on the planet. 

This episode is outrageous and sickening. The SCBWI should remove their craven apology and apologize to the Jewish authors and illustrators that they represent - because they just made all of them feel victimized all over again. 

---

---