“A museum of tolerance has become intolerant.”
Elliott Abrams and Eric Cohen, co-chairmen of the Jewish Leadership Conference, wrote that sentence in The Wall Street Journal. They lashed out at cancel culture after New York’s Museum of Jewish Heritage told them to disinvite Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Tikvah hosts the Jewish Leadership Conference. Abrams is chairman, and Cohen is CEO of the organization. The men thought it’d be great to have DeSantis speak since the Jewish community in Florida is flourishing:
A remarkable Jewish renaissance is under way in Florida. Jewish schools and synagogues are rapidly expanding. Jews from the Northeast and Midwest, as well as Latin America and Israel, are migrating to the Sunshine State in significant numbers, making the Jewish communities there lively and varied. Florida’s booming and low-tax economy is no doubt one of the attractions to young Jews seeking to build a prosperous future for themselves and their families. So is Florida’s educational system, which provides tax credits that assist many parents in sending their children to Jewish day schools.A few years ago, we helped launch the Jewish Leadership Conference, an annual gathering to consider the challenges facing the Jewish people and Israel. It is hosted by Tikvah, a 20-year old Jewish educational and cultural institution whose main activity in America is teaching young Jews about Jewish history and civilization. We thought it would be interesting to invite Gov. Ron DeSantis to discuss how the “Florida model” has contributed to the growth and vitality of Jewish life in his state. The event was to be held at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York City. Until, as the saying goes, we got canceled.
It sounds like Abrams and Cohen have never had a problem with speakers before at the museum. The conference has hosted speakers with “various political and religious views.”
But when it comes to DeSantis, the Museum of Jewish Heritage said he doesn’t “align with the museum’s values and its message of inclusivity.”
Tikvah had to disinvite DeSantis, or the museum would not host the conference.
“But we know things are bad when a Jewish institution—in this case, a museum whose purpose is to keep Jewish heritage alive by remembering the Holocaust—turns on its own and tries to make a virtue of its own intolerance,” wrote Abrams and Cohen.
Yikes. They’re correct, though. Why do these institutions freak out over people like DeSantis?
“In many cases, the explanation is sheer cowardice,” answered Abrams and Cohen.
Abrams and Cohen also pointed out the museum’s hypocrisy in its “inclusivity” explanation:
A lot of people dislike Mr. DeSantis, and the museum staff must have asked: What if there are protests? What if our progressive donors complain? In the current environment, protecting free speech requires moral and political courage. Many administrators, corporate CEOs and college presidents have weak spines. Preserving a free society requires at least some ability to respect other viewpoints and other people. The new czars of cancel culture seem to have little such moral imagination or civic tolerance.The new thought police don’t see themselves as acting solely or primarily out of fear. They believe they are defending the good: inclusion against hate, equality against discrimination, victimized minorities against white privilege. Yet the pseudo-gospel of inclusion breaks down quickly. In the name of inclusivity, a Jewish museum sent us a clear message: Some people are to be excluded. In the name of fighting hate, the museum decided that the millions of Floridians who support Gov. DeSantis—including many Jews—are so hateful that they don’t even merit a voice in the great American conversation. A museum of tolerance has become intolerant.
Weird. The museum allowed then-Democratic Congressional candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to speak in August 2018. She’s always been a critic of Israel, yet the museum had no problem with the Immigrant Arts Coalition inviting her to talk despite the widespread criticism from Jews and the media.
US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield spoke at the museum in April. She has said America is “a society plagued by white supremacy and lauded America’s re-entry into the anti-Israel Human Rights Commission.”
The Museum of Jewish Heritage forgot DeSantis’s appearance at a synagogue in June 2021. he denounced anti-Semitism and pledged to stand by Israel. He praised The Shul of Bal Harbor for helping and feeding the community.
DeSantis also signed two bills at the Shul, one of which was incredibly important to the Jewish Orthodox community:
The ambulance bill allows some volunteer first responders, including those run by faith-based groups, to use emergency lights and sirens when responding to emergencies. Some Orthodox Jews rely on these volunteer ambulance services to help overcome religious sensitivities that prevent some people from using traditional emergency services.The ambulance bill was championed in the state Senate by Democrat Jason Pizzo, the only elected Democrat to take the stage with the governor during the bill signings.
Abrams and Cohen refused to disinvite DeSantis. Tikvah will hold the Jewish Leadership Conference in a different location.
“But it is sad to see that the misguided leadership of a Jewish museum won’t allow alternative ideas a seat at the Jewish table,” the men concluded.
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