Hilda Silverman’s Finally Getting Her ‘Nakba’ Meeting With Paul Newman

by on September 28, 2008 10

Last spring my friend Hilda Silverman died, a leader on pro-Palestinian issues and a mentor to me on the idea that Jewish identity doesn't have to be captured by Israel. I think of Hilda now because one of her issues was  getting Paul Newman to make up for the fact that he played the militant Zionist (and Holocaust survivor) Ari Ben Canaan in the movie Exodus, thereby solidifying the American understanding of Partition and Israeli history forever and also contributing to Nakba denial in the Jewish community for 60 years. Hilda wanted Newman to make up for it by doing an ad about the Nakba. Well Hilda never got the call back, and then she died, and I guess Newman has missed his chance to make up, too. But if I know Hilda, she's giving him a piece of her mind right now.

About Philip Weiss

Philip Weiss is Founder and Co-Editor of Mondoweiss.net.
Posted in Nakba

{ 10 comments... read them below or add one }

  1. Brad MacKenzie says:
    September 28, 2008 at 8:51 pm

    Missed his chance? Yeah, right. Paul Newman was unlike you Phil, a proud Jew who went out of his way to identify with Israel. It wasn't an accident of history that he never became an "oy vey my people my people Nakba oy vey" Jew–he just wasn't made that way.
    I'm not so big on the afterlife, but I'm pretty sure that scum like Hilda have even less chance of meeting Paul Newman now . . .

  2. Brad MacKenzie says:
    September 28, 2008 at 8:51 pm

    Missed his chance? Yeah, right. Paul Newman was unlike you Phil, a proud Jew who went out of his way to identify with Israel. It wasn't an accident of history that he never became an "oy vey my people my people Nakba oy vey" Jew–he just wasn't made that way.
    I'm not so big on the afterlife, but I'm pretty sure that scum like Hilda have even less chance of meeting Paul Newman now . . .

  3. Joshua says:
    September 28, 2008 at 9:24 pm

    You are the epitome of tact, Brad MacKenzie.

  4. Joshua says:
    September 28, 2008 at 9:24 pm

    You are the epitome of tact, Brad MacKenzie.

  5. Ed says:
    September 29, 2008 at 12:49 am

    Newman's father was Jewish and his mother Catholic, which according to Jewish race law makes him a goy. Joanne Woodward, his long time wife to whom he was notably dedicated (their 50 year marriage must have set a record for movie star nuptials) was what Jewish bigots refer to as a shiksa. He was involved in all kinds of charity work, and didn't distinguish between Jew and gentile in terms of who benefited.

    Most Jewish purists would consider him a gentile, while those who might not would likely consider him a race traitor and heretic.

  6. Paul Easton - Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, Belly of the Beast says:
    September 29, 2008 at 1:07 am

    Is Brad MacKenzie Jewish? If not he is missing out. He should become ultraorthodox and go to Israel and be supported by the State. Maybe he already thot of that and is establishing his bonafides.

  7. John Dickerson says:
    September 29, 2008 at 9:35 am

    Paul Newman was a wonderful human being!

    HUD Bannon: "Well, I've always thought the law was meant to be interpreted in a lenient manner. Sometimes I lean one way and sometimes I lean the other."

    Thanks for the memories, Mr. Newman!

    http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3981154304/tt0057163

  8. Janice says:
    September 29, 2008 at 3:51 pm

    Using lashon hara against the deceased (in this case both Paul Newman and Hilda Silverman) in an attempt to protect the honor of the state of Israel… Oy vay. That is like throwing out the religion to save an ideology. Perhaps you never studied Jewish law? Lashon hara (gossip or speaking badly against someone) is particularly prohibited against the dead since they can no longer defend their reputation.

    I also find equally offensive the use of derogatory terms like "shiksa" and "goy".

    Can we agree to disagree on politics without lowering ourselves to Ann Coulter tactics?

    Janice

  9. Brad MacKenzie says:
    September 29, 2008 at 7:18 pm

    Thanks for the talmud Torah, Janice, but you're wrong. Judaism not only permits attacking the dead, it compels it. Those of Amalek (Haman, Hitler, Hilda Silverman) MUST be denounced, because not acknowledging their evil is allowing it to return. Paul Newman was an honorable man, so we Jews say of him "ZT''L"
    Of Hilda Silverman, we say "yimach schmo" or "may her memory be erased."

  10. MM says:
    September 30, 2008 at 9:30 am

    With zeal like that Brad there's hilltops to be claimed, Brad. Evil former residents to be vanquished. Memories to be erased.

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