I just learned that the great Hilda Silverman, activist, teacher, and writer, died yesterday, surrounded by family.
Hilda had tons of friends. I was one, though I never met her (we came close on a day last September, till her cancer treatment kept her from going out). But I corresponded with her frequently, sometimes signing my notes to her, "Love," because I found her to be such a nonjudgmental teacher and mother figure. She showed me that Jewishness was absolutely not a bar to criticizing Israel, in fact her Jewishness compelled her do so. Also I loved her because she was so straightforward. She wasn’t shrill or crazy, she was always logical and warm, and she could bark when she disagreed, but never meanly. And by the way, she didn’t want to be a mother figure; talk to your own mother about your mishigos, she would say, talk to me about human rights!
Here she is writing about a meeting with Yasir Arafat in the 80s. Here is her poem about Rachel Corrie. Here is her note to me about getting Paul Newman to undo the damage of "Exodus" by talking about the Nakba:
My argument to get funds from Newman is that having contributed (albeit unwittingly) to the cause of Nakba denial and glorification of the founding of Israel, he should help support efforts to tell “the other side of the story.” (My secondary argument is that I’ve purchased enough Newman oil and vinegar salad dressing over the years that some of that Foundation money is *my* money, but I’m not sure I’d feel comfortable raising that, especially in person)…. Lately I’ve had a fantasy of a series of TV ads, where Paul Newman comes on screen and starts out, “This is Ari Ben Canaan” and then goes on to describe some incident that is indicative of the real story of what happened—and is still happening–to Palestinians. Ideally, he would also in some way allude to the almost-60-year cover-up, in which, however innocently, he played a significant part.
Last summer Hilda was outspoken in the controversy over the recognition of Armenian genocide.
[W]hat we are talking about here is the notion of expendable people. Most of us who identify as Jews have a deep and visceral understanding that at many times and in many parts of the world—and today still in *some* parts of the world—we have been considered expendable. I think the extraordinary passion and rage of the Armenian community in recent weeks has shown that this is a community mobilized to say, in effect, “neither we as a people nor our history are expendable”;
So long as Palestinians (and, in some contexts, Arabs and Muslims more generally) are still considered expendable—defined as “enemy” “terrorist” “other” by organizations, individuals, and governments with enormous power—none of us is truly safe. As we in the Boston area have seen first hand in recent weeks, the wheel can turn very, very quickly indeed!
A great spirit–now arcing across the sky. Bye Hilda! (I will let readers know about the family’s plans re donations, etc., later this week.)
Related posts:
- Hilda Silverman’s Finally Getting Her ‘Nakba’ Meeting With Paul Newman
- Does Paul Newman Owe a Spiritual Debt to the Palestinians?
- When will ‘Rabbis for Human Rights’ speak out for human rights in Gaza?
- 6 of 7 killed were civilians, says Palestinian human-rights group
- A Human Rights Group Sues a Right Wing Thinktanker
{ 8 comments }
Goodbye.
It was wonderful to hear of your commitment and concern.
Hilda Silverman was a wonderful person. I liked her very much.
http://eaazi.blogspot.com/2007/10/zionist-film-exodus-terrorism-is-good.html contains a clip from Exodus, whose production the Israeli government as well as important members of Judonia directly and indirectly aided and funded.
http://members.aol.com/ThorsProvoni/JudoniaII/JudoniaIIb.htm#_ftnref220
A good number of Yiddish Americans, who generally had some connection to Eastern European cinema or theater (see Followup (II): Origins of Modern Jewry[220]), fairly quickly managed to stake out Hollywood as an “empire of their own,” whose Yiddish elite became the “Hollywood Crowd.”
Sander Gilman points out in Smart Jews: The Construction of the Image of Jewish Superior Intelligence[221] on p. 178 that the “German Jewish ancestry of [the ’boy genius’ Irving Thalberg] was almost unique among the Eastern European Jews of Hollywood.”
Despite the wishes of Yiddish studio owners, Hollywood Yiddishkeyt often expressed itself during the 20s and 30s by presenting a positive image of communism and the Soviet Union. (See Re: Report: Finkelstein Lecture at MIT.[222]) After the start of the Cold War, the Blacklist, and the Rosenberg Trial, Yiddish Hollywood discovered its love for Zionism, and since the 1950s the Hollywood Crowd has played an immense role in the Zionist indoctrination of America. Films like Rules of Engagement (2000)[223] are as sinister as any German Nazi anti-Jewish production, and many members of the Hollywood Crowd deserve imprisonment for incitement to genocide of Arabs, Muslims and Palestinians as well as related crimes against humanity at least as much as Otto Dietrich, who was the Third Reich Press Chief.
[See Ghada Karmi's Boston College Talk,[224] The Jewish Enemy: Nazi Propaganda During World War II and the Holocaust[225] by Jeffrey Herf, Zionist Film: Exodus – Terrorism is Good,[226] Married to Another Man, Married to Another Woman,[227] Zionist Film: Even Costa-Gavras Makes a Zionist Propaganda Film,[228] and Zionist Film: Normalizing Jewish Dual Loyalties.[229]]
Hilda was a beloved member of our group, Jewish Women for Justice in Israel/Palestine. When we heard the news this morning, we were remembering that she was still making it to our meetings, through her treatment, despite her exhaustion. Hilda's commitment to justice was stronger than any disease. She leaves a massive gap in our group and our lives.
Sue
Thanks for that memory, Phil. Hilda was all you say, and of course more, in person. There was no one I trusted and respected more on the subject of Israel and Palestine. When the Second Intifada roused me from my lifelong avoidance of involvement in the I/P conflict, and I realized that progressive Jews above all should take this on, I looked and looked around the Boston area for how I could plug in, and finally found my way to Hilda, who spent maybe an hour on the phone with me, sight unseen and out of the blue. Her clarity, her humanity, her commitment to justice never failed to inspire me. In this period of loss, I'm having trouble imagining a Hilda-less world…
"I have a home.
I am allowed to go see the ocean."
I think this is what Witty et al want to insure. I never met him, except by his postings on this blog. This is the part of Zionism that is honest and understandably righteous.
Yet it is about means and ends.
Phil sees this. There cannot be expendable people.
Otherwise, the group injustice comes around, eventually.
The whole thing reminds me of Affirmative Action.
We can see why.
But two wrongs don't make a right.
That's why Obama now has to face the white working class, has to actually go have a can of beer with them, and bowl.
That's why Hillary is pretending to champion them.
That's why McCain is a senile fool.
Fly-over country, is it the Irish working Class in W VA? The camel jockeys and rag heads the world over?
Look at Bolivia.
Thanks for your memories, references and thoughts. As you note, Hilda had an incredible impact on many of us. I would be a decidedly different person – and Jew – had it not been for her. Like, I know, so many others I already feel a huge empty place in my life knowing that Hilda won't be around any more. She will, indeed, be missed and your words are greatly appreciated.
Thank you so much to your loving tribute to Hilda Silverman, who I feel so fortunate to have had as a dear friend for almost 20 years. I met Hilda on a delegation to Israel/Palestine. Despite our almost 30 year age difference, we quickly became and stayed close friends all these years, sharing many birthdays, holidays, films, forwarded articles and picket lines. Like others have said, Hilda had an uncanny, almost innate understanding of fairness and justice, and never hesitated to speak out with great honesty and feeling. She possessed an ever-reliable and well-grounded moral compass, particularly when it came to Israel/Palestine. I trusted implicitly her nuanced and principled positions on this subject.
Hilda exuded tremendous warmth, intensity, empathy, and emotional immediacy that did not cloud, but rather sharpened her political analysis. She never took herself too seriously, and understood that even if her actions might have little impact in the realm of "realpolitik", they were necessary – to make herself feel a little better, and, more importantly, so that those who are oppressed and maligned do not have to suffer without solidarity. Another wonderful attribute was her understated, but impeccable aesthetic that always made her apartment(in various incarnations as she moved over the years) an oasis of peace and calm. Hilda inspired and influenced so many of us and will be dearly missed.
Comments on this entry are closed.