>>> RAISING TEMPERATURES, THOUGH, IS THIS ONGOING CLASH OF CULTURES, REALLY, OVER THIS WAR IN THE MIDDLE EAST.

SO, CANCELED CLASSES IN JEWISH SCHOOLS, VANDALIZED HOMES, SYNAGOGUES LOCKED UP, THE REALITY OF THE UNPRECEDENTED SURGE OF ANTI-SEMITISM IN THE UNITED STATES IS CREATING A CLIMATE OF FEAR AMONGST JEWISH COMMUNITIES.

AMERICAN MUSLIMS ARE FACING A STEEP RISE IN INCIDENTS OF ISLAMOPHOBIA.

AS THE ISRAEL-GAZA CONFLICT REPLACES DEBATE WITH HATE AND VIOLENT.

AUTHOR AND JOURNALIST EMILY TAMKIN JOINS MICHEL MARTIN TO DISCUSS ALL OF THIS.

>> EMILY, THANK YOU FOR JOINING US.

>> OF COURSE, THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME.

>> HERE WITH THIS RECENT PIECE FOR "SLATE," IT REALLY CAUGHT OUR ATTENTION, AND YOU START IT BY DESCRIBING ANTI-SEMITIC INCIDENTS THAT YOU'VE EXPERIENCED FROM THE TIME YOU WERE A LITTLE KID.

AND SO, FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVE NEVER EXPERIENCED THAT, OR DON'T KNOW ANYBODY WHO HAS, WOULD YOU JUST TELL US, LIKE, ONE OR TWO OF THE THINGS THAT YOU STARTED WITH YOUR PIECE WITH?

>> I STARTED THE PIECE WITH AN INCIDENT FROM WHEN I WAS IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL THAT I STILL REMEMBER TO THIS DAY.

SOMEBODY HAD DRAWN A SWASTIKA ON A BATHROOM STALL.

THERE WAS AN ASSEMBLY, AND I REMEMBER SOBBING IN THE CAR LATER ON, BECAUSE THE IDEA THAT SOMEBODY COULD HAVE THIS SORT OF HATE TOWARD JEWS INCLUDING MYSELF WAS REALLY HEARTBREAKING.

WHEN YOU SEE THAT AT A VERY YOUNG AGE AND YOU EXPERIENCE THAT AT A YOUNG AGE, IT REALLY, I THINK, CAN HELP SHAPE YOUR IDENTITY IN A WAY THAT'S QUITE DEFENSIVE AND QUITE REACTIVE.

AND SO, I'VE ALWAYS BEEN VERY PROUD TO BE JEWISH, BUT I THINK FOR MANY YEARS, AS A YOUNG PERSON, I REALLY THOUGHT OF THAT AS BEING ABOUT FIGHTING AND STANDING UP TO ANTI-SEMITISM.

AND I STILL THINK THAT THAT'S PART OF JEWISHNESS AND JEWISH IDENTITY, BUT I ALSO THINK THAT ONLY DEFINING YOURSELF THROUGH OTHER PEOPLE'S HATRED, AND ONLY DEFINING YOURSELF THROUGH YOUR FEAR, CAN BE QUITE LIMITING, AND QUITE REDUCKIVE, AND IF YOU ARE NOT CAREFUL, CAN CLOSE YOU OFF TO ALSO SEEING THE PAIN AND THE FEAR THAT OTHERS ARE EXPERIENCING.

>> FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVEN'T HAD A CHANCE TO READ IT YET, AND I HOPE THEY WILL, YOU SAY, "WHAT SHOULD AMERICAN JEWS DO WITH OUR FEAR?

WE'RE SCARED, BUT RIGHT NOW, WE HAVE TO BE MORE THAN THAT."

SO, IF YOU COULD JUST START BY TELLING ME, WHY DID YOU WANT TO START THE PIECE THAT WAY?

AND WHY DID YOU WANT TO WRITE THIS PIECE TO BEGIN WITH?

>> OF COURSE.

I STARTED THE PIECE WITH ACKNOWLEDGING MY OWN HISTORY WITH ANTI-SEMITISM AND MY OWN FEAR, AND MORE BROADLY, WITH THE FEAR THAT I KNOW THAT MANY AMERICAN JEWS ARE FEELING RIGHT NOW.

ACCORDING TO A RECENT STUDY THAT CAME OUT AFTER THIS PIECE BY THE JEWISH FEDERATIONS OF NORTH AMERICA, 70% OF AMERICAN JEWS FEEL MORE AFRAID AND HAVE -- ARE WARIER OF INCREASED ANTI-SEMITISM RIGHT NOW WITH ISRAEL'S ONGOING WAR.

AND I STARTED WITH THAT, BECAUSE I DO THINK THAT IT'S IMPORTANT TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT PEOPLE ARE SCARED, AND THAT THERE ARE REAL THREATS TO AMERICAN JEWS RIGHT NOW, AND THAT I THINK WE SHOULD SPEAK UP AGAINST THOSE AND CALL OUT ANTI-SEMITISM WHERE WE SEE IT.

AND, NOT BUT THAT THAT FEAR IS NOT THE ONLY FEAR THAT IS BEING EXPERIENCED RIGHT NOW.

THAT IS NOT THE ONLY PAIN THAT IS BEING EXPERIENCED RIGHT NOW.

AND AGAIN, I THINK FEAR CAN DO ONE OF TWO THINGS.

IT CAN MAKE YOU QUITE TRIBAL, AND SORT OF ONLY RECOGNIZE YOUR FEAR AND YOUR COMMUNITY'S FEAR, OR, ALTERNATIVELY, AND IN A SAD WAY, IT CAN BE AN OPENING, AN OPPORTUNITY.

SO, I KNOW THAT ESPECIALLY ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES, AMERICAN JEWS ARE YOUNG, PROCESSING THIS ON THEIR OWN.

I KNOW THAT THAT FEAR IS REAL.

BUT I AM QUITE SURE THAT THERE ARE MUSLIM AMERICAN PEERS AND PALESTINIAN AMERICAN AND PALESTINIAN COLLEAGUES ARE FEELING FEAR, AND HOW COYOU HAVE -- HOW DO YOU ALLOW ROOM FOR BOTH?

SPEAKING ONLY FOR MYSELF, I DON'T THINK AMERICAN JEWISH FEAR IS AN ACCEPTABLE REASON TO SHUT DOWN DISCUSSION AND DEBATE.

EMOTIONS ARE HEIGHTENED, AND WE ARE IN A SENSITIVE TIME, BUT U.S. FOREIGN POLICY IS ALSO SUPPORTING ONGOING BOMBARDMENT OF GAZA, AND I DON'T THINK IT'S ANTI-SEMITIC TO SAY THAT.

IN FACT, I KNOW IT'S NOT.

AND I KNOW IT'S IMPORTANT TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THREATS TO AMERICAN JEWS AND -- WHICH EXIST, AND WHICH WE SHOULD BE VERY COMFORTABLE SPEAKING UP AGAINST, RIGHT?

THE KOSHER DINING HALL AT CORNELL SHOULD NOT BE THREATENED.

HOWEVER, DOES CANCELING A BOOK ABOUT -- A BOOK TALK FROM AN AUTHOR WHO WROTE A BOOK ABOUT A MAN FROM THE WEST BANK, OR CANCELLING PALESTINIAN WRITERS AND AUTHORS AND PEEKERS, DOES THAT KEEP AMERICAN JEWS SAFER?

I WOULD ARGUE THAT IT DOESN'T.

SO, THAT'S WHY I WROTE THE PIECE, AND THAT'S WHAT I WAS TRYING TO SAY.

>> THIS ISN'T THE FIRST TIME THAT JEWS AROUND THE WORLD, AND AMERICAN JEWS IN PARTICULAR, HAVE HAD DISAGREEMENTS WITH THE WAY THAT ISRAEL HAS CONDUCTED ITSELF, BOTH DOMESTICALLY AND INTERNATIONALLY, AND THEY SHOULD BE ABLE TO TALK ABOUT THAT.

YOU WANT TO TALK MORE ABOUT THAT?

>> SURE.

MY BOOK, IT LOOKS AT THE LAST ROUGHLY 100 YEARS OF AMERICAN JEWISH IDENTITIES AND HOW WE'VE FORMED OUR IDENTITIES AND RENDERED OURSELVES BOTH LEGIBLE TO THE WIDER COUNTRY, BUT ALSO TO ONE ANOTHER.

AND HOW WE TRIED TO FIGURE OUT WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE JEWISH IN AMERICA?

WHAT'S THE RIGHT SET OF POLITICS TO HAVE IN YOUR OWN COUNTRY AND WITH RESPECT TO ISRAEL, FOR MUCH OF THE 20th CENTURY, SUPPORTING ISRAEL WAS REALLY ONE PILLAR OF MANY AMERICAN JEWISH COMMUNITIES.

AND FOR YOUNGER GENERATIONS, ESPECIALLY, NOT EXCLUSIVELY, THAT'S REALLY BEEN TESTED IN RECENT YEARS.

YOU KNOW, IF YOU ARE IN YOUR 30s, YOUR 20s, YOU'VE REALLY ONLY -- AND YOU ARE AN AMERICAN JEW, YOU'VE ONLY SEEN THE SITUATION GET MORE VIOLENT, RIGHT?

AND MORE SEEMINGLY HOPELESS.

TO PUT IT ANOTHER WAY, YOU KNOW, THE YOUNGER AMERICAN JEWS CALLING FOR A CEASE-FIRE CAN COUCH THAT ARGUMENT IN JEWISH TRADITION AND JEWISH VALUES.

THE PEOPLE WHO ARE SAYING THAT THEY STAND WITH ISRAEL UNEQUIVOCALLY, THEY CAN ONLY COUCH THAT IN JEWISH HISTORY AND JEWISH VALUES.

AND TO SAY THAT EITHER ONE IS NOT JEWISH, AS OPPOSED TO GIVING THE SPACE TO MAKE THE ARGUMENT AND TO HAVE THE DEBATE AND TO HAVE THE DISCUSSION, I THINK, ONE, I THINK IT'S QUITE CRUEL TO SAY THAT A PERSON WHO IS GRIEVING AND MOURNING AND ANGRY AND AFRAID ISN'T JEWISH, THAT THEY'RE SOMEHOW AN IMPOSTER, BUT IT'S NOT AN ARGUMENT, RIGHT?

BECAUSE YOU ARE JUST SAYING, WELL, YOU'RE NOT JEWISH, YOU'RE NOT TAKING PART IN THE DISCUSSION OR DEBATE.

YOU ARE SAYING THAT IT ISN'T REAL.

AND I THINK, YOU KNOW, THERE IS AN AMERICAN JEWISH TRADITION OF DOING THAT, BUT I WOULD SUGGEST THAT THAT'S NOT THE MOST USEFUL TRADITION TO HOLD UP RIGHT NOW.

>> ARE PEOPLE BASICALLY SAYING THAT OTHER PEOPLE HAVEN'T JEWISH BECAUSE THEY DON'T AGREE WITH THE -- ISRAEL'S CONDUCT OF THE WAR, OR, AT LEAST RAISE QUESTIONS ABOUT IT?

ARE PEOPLE DOING THAT?

>> ABSOLUTELY.

WE'VE SEEN THAT JEWS WHO HAVE CALLED FOR A CEASE-FIRE HAVE BEEN TOLD THEY'RE NOT REALLY JEWISH.

WE'VE ALSO SEEN THE ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE COME OUT AND SAY THAT ANTI-ZIONISM IS ANTI-SEMITISM, AND WE SHOULD SAY THERE ARE ANTI-ZIONIST JEWS.

THERE ARE PROFESSORS WHO DO NOT CONSIDER THEMSELVES TO BE ZIONIST.

AND IT'S WORTH ASKING, IF THEY, OR PALESTINIAN STUDENTS WHO ARE CRITICAL OF WHAT HAPPENED TO THEIR OWN FAMILIES, IF THEY ARE ONLY MOTIVATED BY HATRED OF JEWISH PEOPLE.

YOU KNOW, AGAIN, I UNDERSTAND THAT THIS IS A TIME OF HEIGHTENED EMOTION AND THAT PEOPLE ARE VERY -- THAT PEOPLE ARE AFRAID, PEOPLE ARE IN PAIN, BUT IT'S PRECISELY FOR THAT REASON THAT I THINK WE SHOULD BE TREATING EACH OTHER IN GOOD FAITH.

ACKNOWLEDGING EACH OTHER'S FEAR AND PAIN, AND NOT TRYING TO SHUT DOWN DISCUSSION, DEBATE, AND ARGUMENT.

>> I DON'T WANT TO GET TOO FAR AWAY FROM THE CURRENT MOMENT, WHICH YOU'VE WRITTEN SO ELOQUENTLY ABOUT, BUT I WANTED TO ASK IF, WHAT YOU'RE DESCRIBING HERE, GROUPS OR INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE WHO SEE THEMSELVES AS PRO ISRAEL, DENOUNCING PEOPLE WHO HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT, OR WHO CRITICIZE ISRAEL'S CONDUCT IN THIS WAR, OR ITS RESPONSE TO THE, YOU KNOW, VICIOUS ASSAULT BY HAMAS ON OCTOBER 7th, PEOPLE SORT OF DENOUNCING THEM AS ANTI-SEMITIC OR ANTI-ISRAEL, IS THERE AN HISTORICAL PRECEDENT FOR THAT?

>> THERE ABSOLUTELY IS.

FOR MUCH OF THE 20th CENTURY, ISRAEL, REALLY SINCE ITS FOUNDING, BUT PARTICULARLY AFTER THE WARS IN '67 AND '73, TO BE AN AMERICAN JEW, IN MANY AMERICAN JEWISH COMMUNITIES, MEANT TO SUPPORT ISRAEL.

AND AS THE REALITY ON THE GROUND IN ISRAEL HAS CHANGED, MANY AMERICAN JEWS, PARTICULARLY OF YOUNGER GENERATIONS, HAVE BECOME LESS COMFORTABLE OF THAT.

WE WERE IN THIS MOMENT OF PUSH AND PULL BETWEEN WHAT HAS BEEN AND WHAT WILL BE AND SORT OF THE -- IT'S A POLITICAL DISPUTE, IT'S A GENERATIONAL DISPUTE.

INTERESTINGLY, FOR THE PAST, FOR MUCH OF THE PAST YEAR, BECAUSE THE CURRENT ISRAELI GOVERNMENT IS SO FAR RIGHT AND SO EXTREME AND SAYS HORRIBLE THINGS, NOT ONLY ABOUT PALESTINIANS, BUT ALSO ABOUT LGBTQ PEOPLE AND REFORM JEWS, WHICH IS THE LARGEST DENOMINATION IN THE U.S. AND OTHER GROUPS, THE LIBERAL JEWISH MAINSTREAM IN THE UNITED STATES WAS BECOMING INCREASINGLY CRITICAL OF THE ISRAELI GOVERNMENT, SUPPORTIVE OF THE PRO-DEMOCRACY PROTESTERS.

ON OCTOBER 7th, YOU SEE THESE SAME GROUPS AND ELECTED OFFICIALS COME OUT AND JUST SAY, I STAND WITH ISRAEL, WHICH, I THINK, I ALSO WROTE ABOUT THIS FOR "SLATE," I THINK IS UNDERSTANDABLE.

IN THAT MOMENT, YOU WANT TO SUPPORT PEOPLE WHO ARE REELING FROM AN ATTACK, BUT IN THE MONTH SINCE, I THINK THE SORT OF LIBERAL AMERICAN JEWISH MAINSTREAM HAS TRIED TO SORT OUT, IN A VERY POLARIZING MOMENT, RIGHT, WHAT IT MEANS TO STAND WITH ISRAEL.

DOES THAT MEAN YOU'RE SUPPORTING THE GOVERNMENT?

DOES IT MEAN THAT YOU ARE SUPPORTING THE GOVERNMENT, BUT SAYING, OKAY, NOW WE NEED A TWO-STATE SOLUTION?

DOES IT MEAN CALLING FOR NETANYAHU'S RESIGNATION?

DOES IT MEAN STANDING WITH THE ISRAELIS WHO ARE CALLING FOR A CEASE-FIRE?

SO, I THINK WE WERE IN A POLARIZED MOMENT BEFORE OCTOBER 7th, BUT IN TIMES OF CRISIS, THAT POLARIZATION IS EXACERBATED AND THAT'S WHAT WE'RE SEEING IN AMERICAN JEWISH POLITICS TODAY.

>> I'LL READ WHAT YOU SAID, I'M JUST ASKING, TO WHOM ARE YOU DIRECTING THIS?

I DO NOT WANT AMERICAN JEWS AT THIS MOMENT TO REDUCE OURSELVES TO OUR FEAR.

WE ARE ENTITLED TO OUR FEAR.

BUT WE ARE ALSO SIMULTANEOUSLY CAPABLE OF NUANCE AND EMPATHY AND SOLIDARITY AND REFUSAL TO SEE OURSELVES ONLY AS THE OBJECTS OF ANTI-SEMITISM.

TO WHOM DO YOU MAKE THIS APPEAL?

>> SO, THIS IS, OBVIOUSLY, THIS IS A PERSONAL APPEAL, AND I HOPE THAT PEOPLE, IN THEIR OWN INDIVIDUAL LIVES, CAN FIND IT IN THEMSELVES TO DO THAT, EVEN THOUGH IT MAY BE HARD, AND EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE AFRAID AND THEY ARE IN A MOMENT OF PAIN, RIGHT, TO JUST -- GOING ABOUT YOUR OWN LIFE, TO BE ABLE TO EXTEND THAT SAME THING TO OTHERS.

THAT'S AN EMPATHY THAT YOU'RE CRAVING TO OTHERS.

IT'S ALSO A POLITICAL REQUEST, YOU KNOW?

I THINK -- THERE HAS BEEN MUCH -- MANY HAVE COMMENTED ON WHAT A SCARY MOMENT THIS IS FOR AMERICAN JEWS, PARTICULARLY GIVEN JEWISH HISTORY.

I THINK THAT'S COMPLETELY VALID.

HOWEVER, WE SHOULD ALSO NOTE THAT WE ARE AFFORDED PROTECTIONS BY THE STATE, AND THAT HAS NOT ALWAYS BEEN THE CASE, IN AMERICAN JEWISH OR IN JEWISH HISTORY.

THAT'S A VERY IMPORTANT DISTINCTION.

WE ARE NOT BEING DISCRIMINATED AGAINST BY THE STATE.

AND SO, I THINK, YOU KNOW, TO HEAR A MEMBER OF CONGRESS CALL FOR PALESTINIANS TO BE DEPORTED FROM THIS COUNTRY, OR TO HEAR ISLAMOPHOBIA NOT BEEN AS FORCEFULLY DENOUNCED BY POLITICAL LEADERS, OR BY PEOPLE IN THE MEDIA, OR, YOU KNOW, I'M A MEMBER OF THE MEDIA, I'M CHASTISING MY OWN, OR GENERALLY, YOU KNOW, IT'S PERSONAL, BUT IT IS ALSO POLITICAL.

AND THE FREEDOM OF ASSEMBLY AND THE RIGHT TO POLITICAL EXPRESSION, YOU KNOW, THAT'S -- I WANT THAT FOR AMERICAN JEWS, BUT NOT ONLY FOR AMERICAN JEWS.

>> ONE OF THE THINGS THAT SORT OF STRUCK ME IS THAT -- HOW SOME OF THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE SPOKEN OUT ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED ON OCTOBER 7th HAVE REALLY SPOKEN TO THE SENSE OF BEING ALONE, OR FEELING ALONE, LIKE NOBODY ELSE CARES.

AND ONE OF THE POINTS YOU MAKE IN YOUR PIECE IS THAT, YEAH, A LOT OF PEOPLE CARE.

JEWISH PEOPLE IN AMERICA ARE NOT ALONE.

THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES HAS EXPRESSED HIS SOLIDARITY AND CONCERN AND, YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN?

SO, I'M JUST WONDERING, WHAT DO YOU THINK THE DIVIDE -- WHAT OTHER DIVIDES ARE THERE, APART FROM GENERATION?

IS IT THAT SOME PEOPLE STILL FEEL VERY ALONE AND DON'T SEE ALLIES OR, WHAT DO YOU THINK IT IS?

>> YEAH, I MEAN, I THINK YOU ARE COMPLETELY CORRECT TO POINT OUT THAT IT'S NOT ONLY GENERATIONAL.

I'VE SPOKEN TO PEOPLE WHO ARE MUCH OLDER THAN ME WHO HAVE EXPRESSED REAL CONCERN OVER WHAT'S HAPPENING TO PALESTINIANS IN GAZA, I HAVE SPOKEN TO PEOPLE MY AGE OR YOUNGER WHO HAVE -- WHO HAVE, LET'S SAY, ARE TO MY RIGHT ON SOME OF THESE ISSUES.

I THINK, YOU KNOW, AND I THINK SOME WOULD SAY, WELL, IT'S ABOUT HOW CLOSE THEY ARE TO ISRAEL, BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, ROUGHLY HALF OF AMERICAN JEWS HAVE NEVER BEEN TO ISRAEL, AND SO, IF YOU -- IF YOU FEEL A CLOSER TIE TO THAT COUNTRY TO THE COUNTRY, IF YOU HAVE FREEDS THERE, IF YOU HAVE FAMILY THERE, THAT CAN ALSO IMPACT YOUR DECISION, THOUGH I SHOULD SAY THAT MANY OF THE PEOPLE I KNOW WHO ARE MOST CRITICAL OF ISRAEL ARE CRITICAL BECAUSE THEY'VE SPENT AS MUCH TIME THERE AS THEY HAVE.

WE SHOULD ALSO NOTE, I MEAN, THERE -- THERE ARE SEVERAL FACTORS, SO, MOST AMERICAN JEWS, THEIR FAMILIES CAME OVER IN THE 19th OR 20th CENTURIES AND THEY ARE DESCENDED FROM CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPEANS.

THERE ARE AMERICAN JEWS WHOSE FAMILY CAME OVER LATER.

SO, FOR EXAMPLE, PERSIAN JEWS WHO ESCAPED IRAN OR JEWS WHO LEFT THE FORMER SOVIET UNION.

MANY ARE LIKELIER TO HAVE FAMILY IN ISRAEL, AND MANY ARE CLOSER TO THEIR OWN SORT OF PERCEIVED MOMENT OF, NOT PERCEIVED, THEIR OWN MOMENT OF TRAUMA AND DEPARTURE, SO, THE STATE OF ISRAEL LOOMS LARGER IN THEIR JEWISHNESS AND THEIR OWN UNDERSTANDING OF SELF.

AND SO, IT'S -- I DON'T THINK YOU CAN POINT TO ANY ONE THING.

>> ONE OF THE THINGS YOU POINT OUT IN YOUR PIECE IS THAT THESE KINDS OF CONVERSATIONS TAKE PLACE IN ISRAEL ALL THE TIME.

AND ESPECIALLY AMONG PEOPLE WHO SPEND A LOT OF TIME THERE.

SO, I WONDER WHY YOU FEEL LIKE PEOPLE WHO ARE HERE IN THE UNITED STATES FEEL KIND OF ENTITLED TO BE SO -- >> YEAH, I THINK THAT, I MEAN, FIRST OF ALL, I DON'T WANT TO OVERSTATE THE SIZE OF THE ISRAELI LEFT OR HOW MANY IN ISRAEL ARE CALLING FOR A CEASE-FIRE.

I DO THINK THAT OFTEN ISRAELIS ARE FAR MORE CRITICAL OF THE ISRAELI GOVERNMENT, OF WHAT THE STATE IS DOING, THAN PEOPLE IN THE UNITED STATES.

THE FIRST IS THAT, I THINK MANY AMERICAN JEWS SEE, WELL, IT'S NOT MY PLACE, RIGHT, THEY ARE LIVING THERE, SO THEY CAN CRITICIZE, I'M HERE, SO, I CAN'T.

AND IF I DO, IT WILL SORT OF ALLOW OTHER AMERICANS TO CRITICIZE ISRAEL.

AND I THINK THE SECOND THING IS THAT FOR MANY AMERICAN JEWS, ISRAEL IS -- I WANT TO BE CAREFUL HOW I SAY THIS, BUT I DO THINK THAT FOR MANY AMERICAN JEWS, ISRAEL IS STILL AN IDEA AS WELL AS A COUNTRY, AND THAT'S NOT TO SAY THAT AMERICAN JEWS DON'T HAVE FAMILY THERE, DON'T HAVE FRIENDS THERE, OF COURSE, BUT I DO THINK THAT THERE IS A TENDENCY IN AMERICAN JEWISH POLITICS TO -- TO SPEAK OF AN ISRAEL THAT IS SOMEWHAT DIVORCED FROM WHAT'S HAPPENING ON THE GROUND.

AND THERE ARE PEOPLE THAT SPEND MUCH MORE TIME ON ISRAEL THAN I DO WHO HAVE SAID THE SAME, SO, I FEEL COMFORTABLE SAYING THAT, AND I THINK THAT'S A DIFFERENCE, AS WELL.

>> DID YOU HESITATE BEFORE WRITING THIS PIECE?

>> I DID.

YOU KNOW, I FIRST WANT TO SAY THAT, YOU KNOW, OF COURSE THIS IS A CHALLENGING TIME TO BE A WRITER OR A JOURNALIST, BUT I'M NOT IN ISRAEL AND I'M NOT IN GAZA, AND I JUST THINK THAT AS AMERICAN JOURNALISTS, I FEEL A RESPONSIBILITY TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO ARE ACTUALLY IN, LIKE, THAT'S ACTUALLY CHALLENGING, THAT'S ACTUAL DANGER.

I HESITATED BECAUSE I -- NOT EVEN SO MUCH THAT, OH, WHAT IF PEOPLE YELL AT ME, BUT I WANT TO BE SENSITIVE TO THIS MOMENT, TO THE PAIN THAT PEOPLE ARE IN AND THE FEAR THAT PEOPLE ARE EXPERIENCING, AND ULTIMATELY, I DECIDED TO WRITE IT, NOT DESPITE THAT, BUT BECAUSE OF IT.

>> SAY MORE.

>> BECAUSE I THINK THAT -- I THINK THAT IT IS IMPORTANT TO ACKNOWLEDGE AMERICAN JEWISH FEAR, AND AMERICAN JEWISH PAIN, AND I ALSO THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO SEE THAT, NOT AS A REASON TO -- TO TURN OURSELVES OFF FROM THE FEELINGS OF OTHERS OR TO SHUT DOWN FOREIGN POLICY DEBATE.

YOU KNOW, I REALLY -- IT'S BECAUSE I WANT TO BE SENSITIVE IN FEAR AND PAIN, I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO BOTH ACKNOWLEDGE IT AND ALSO TO ASK PEOPLE TO CONSIDER IT AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO -- TO HEAR OTHER'S NARRATIVES AND HEAR THEIR PAIN AND FEAR, AND ALSO THAT I, YOU KNOW, SPEAKING ONLY FOR MYSELF AS AN AMERICAN JEW, I DO NOT WANT MY FEAR TO BE USED TO CHILL SPEECH OR DISCUSSION, AND SO, I FELT A RESPONSIBILITY WITH THE SMALL PLATFORM THAT I HAVE IN THAT WAY TO PUT THAT FORTH.

>> EMILY TAMKIN, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR TALKING WITH US.

>> THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME.