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The cultural gaslighting of the Jewish community is becoming increasingly impossible to ignore in the cannabis industry, as young cannabis activists are publicly calling for the death of Zionists and the destruction of the state of Israel on social media. Just this week, a young activist in the industry called for the death of all Zionists by way of explaining their objection to the presence of Israelis on any panels at cannabis conferences.
The fact that they cannot see the patent absurdity and cruelty of their “advocacy” indicates just how effective the cultural gaslighting of the Jewish community has been in distorting the reality of 07 October and inciting more violence against Jews. This is not surprising, as we know that discourse plays an important role in how we see and think about minority groups.
However, in the case of gaslighting, discourse also serves to “erase” the violence that victims have suffered from the public forum and deny them the empathy they deserve. This is why Jewish advocates have called out the media and advocacy groups for their complicity in the erasure of Jewish suffering. For example, the hashtag “#metoounlessurajew” serves to advocate for the Jewish women raped by Hamas and oppose the erasure of the crime by women’s groups that refuse to acknowledge it or express their support. (For more information, visit https://www.metoo-unlessurajew.com/).
Since 07 October, in my position as the Editor-In-Chief of Cannabis Jew Magazine, I have personally been disinvited from appearing on a Christian cannabis podcast ( I would not agree to remain silent about the Jewish hostages; for the host, a matter of “politics” not relevant to health, wellness and ethics), trolled for supporting the right of Israel to exist and for identifying as Jewish (in all fairness, it might be bots telling me that I’m not a Jew but instead should identify as a “Hebrew”).
All of this speaks to the importance of a Jewish voice in the cannabis press, Jewish representation on diversity panels and statements of support for the Jewish community from advocacy groups that claim to care about supporting minorities in the cannabis industry.
In response to the nature and extent of this cultural gaslighting, Cannabis Jew Magazine is launching a directory of Jewish friendly companies in the cannabis industry next month, available only to subscribers. The Jewish community has a vested interest in working with professionals who do not believe the antisemitic hype, and are capable of solidarity and empathy with Jewish suffering.
Imagine how different the narrative about the war would be if the discourse about Israel was informed by what Hamas actually did and what Jews have suffered:
It’s hard to explain how the sheer volume of cultural gaslighting of Israelis and Jews inflicted through every media outlet, every day, affects our psychic life and temperament. Let’s just say I understand why Larry David was triggered when Elmo was lecturing him about mental health, and comically tried to shut him up on the Today Show. I was also not surprised that public opinion sided with Elmo rather than the Jew who lost his temper because apparently, it’s easier for the world to respect a puppet rather than the right of Israel—and the Jewish people—to exist.
