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Abe Silberstein

@abesilbe.bsky.social
739 followers 199 following 315 posts

Writer, Ph.D. student in History and Jewish Studies at New York University. Interested in modern political history, labor, migration, diaspora, and religion.

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Abe Silberstein @abesilbe.bsky.social · 5h
This is the closest approximation to how I'm feeling today. Thank you.
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Abe Silberstein @abesilbe.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
To me, the whole UK Green Party saga is a sad reminder that more than a decade into the resurgence of the nationalist right, so many remain under the peculiar illusion that labeling an ideology "racist" will somehow disable or weaken it. You might as well believe in a "right side of history."
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Abe Silberstein @abesilbe.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
It's clear the governor, whoever that is, prefers to have a weak state party chair. Jay Jacobs always ready to offer that service.
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Abe Silberstein @abesilbe.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Now, I am not the harshest grader. If you complete the work according to stated expectations, you get an A from me (with A+ reserved for distinction). But even if I was being a stickler for the college's recommended grade distribution, the average would probably be around B+.
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Abe Silberstein @abesilbe.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
This is my first semester directly teaching undergrads and I have to say the horror stories have not materialized. Most of them are great and are eager to talk in recitation. I was worried about the blue-book writing assignments but most of them have done really well on them too.
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Abe Silberstein @abesilbe.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
They didn't expect to have to campaign in Florida this year. All else is noise.
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Abe Silberstein @abesilbe.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Yes, there were cosmetic pauses in arms sales until a rigged election was held and the administration could half-plausibly say a civilian government was in charge. Look, I'm not raking Obama over the coals for this. But these are the facts.
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Abe Silberstein @abesilbe.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
The military did murder nearly 1,000 protesters a month after the coup. Arrested thousands more. But I agree Obama didn't have great options if he didn't want to get sucked in.
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Abe Silberstein @abesilbe.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Yeah, I knew about this. IIRC, the Saudis, Emiratis, and Israelis were all whining since 2011 about how Obama didn't protect Mubarak. He was consistently hands-off throughout, but with the military relationship remaining consistent.
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Abe Silberstein @abesilbe.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Unless I've missed a development (very possible), I think this was all after the fact? Obama and Kerry were not encouraging a coup against Morsi.
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Abe Silberstein @abesilbe.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Happy Birthday!
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Abe Silberstein @abesilbe.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Daniel May on why Jewish Currents invited Hasan Piker to their October 11 event at BAM. (I will be there, by the way. Please say hello if you're coming!)
jewishcurrents.org
Why We Invited Hasan Piker to JC Live
Jewish Currents publisher Daniel May on our upcoming conference
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Abe Silberstein @abesilbe.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Jonathan making it clear that he won't take yes for an answer until Mayor Mamdani cries uncle on Israel/Palestine and now his DSA membership. Thank goodness the Nexus Project exists or else there would be no Jewish community organization dedicated to countering antisemitism.
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Abe Silberstein @abesilbe.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Really happy to see this coalition of liberal Jewish groups coming together, from JCPA to J Street to JFREJ.
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Abe Silberstein @abesilbe.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
When I was a liberal Zionist, I would have considered this an outrage and a scandal. Today, I can't but welcome news that Israel itself is clarifying that it is not a state of all the world's Jews.
haaretz.com
Israel freezes aliyah for two Jews over activism protecting Palestinians
In both cases, the protective-presence activists, who did not know each other, had their passports photographed by a soldier or settler. These are the first known cases in which Israeli authorities ap...
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Abe Silberstein @abesilbe.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
If you're coming to AJS this year, stop by my panel on December 22 at 10:30 AM.(Will repost in December as well.)
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Abe Silberstein @abesilbe.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Mazel Tov! Wonderful news (your impending marriage, not the rain).
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Abe Silberstein @abesilbe.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Netanyahu's seemingly alienating English-language speeches make more sense if you understand that he has basically written off the Democratic Party. The goal is to extract as much as possible out of Republican administrations while the white boomer+ demographic holds sway there.
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Reposted by Abe Silberstein
Brad Lander @bradlander.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
War criminals are not welcome in New York City. I stood alongside a diverse set of Jewish New Yorkers and allies — at several protests today organized by @jvp.bsky.social, by @truahrabbis.bsky.social & @jstreetdotorg.bsky.social, and by Israelis for Peace.
Standing with a large group of demonstrators to protest Netanyahu
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Abe Silberstein @abesilbe.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Let this be the last year of Benjamin Netanyahu's embarrassing "leader of the Jewish people" farce at the UN, and the first of 8 years of Zohran Mamdani overseeing the city during General Assembly weekend.
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Abe Silberstein @abesilbe.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
A more positive assessment of Benjamin Moser's "Anti-Zionism" by Shaul Magid.
lareviewofbooks.org
Snow Globe Palimpsest | Los Angeles Review of Books
Benjamin Moser delivers biographical sketches of Jews who refused to abandon the Diaspora.
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Abe Silberstein @abesilbe.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Gilbert Achcar on why, contra the legacy of Walt and Mearsheimer, the Iran War is the responsibility of Trump and US imperialism.
jacobin.com
Reasons of Empire
John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt blamed Israel for America’s Middle Eastern fiascos. But from Iraq to Iran, Washington has had its own reasons for war in the Gulf.
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Abe Silberstein @abesilbe.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
There has not been a serious effort to desegregate public schools in decades. What usually gets proposed are "reforms" like charters and attacks on unions in the name of teacher accountability. That this route has been seemingly exhausted is a good sign.
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Abe Silberstein @abesilbe.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Broadly speaking, among liberals and progressives, it looks like we are finally beyond the notion that education reforms of any kind can transform neoliberalism into a fairer or more just economic paradigm. That is one dead-end thankfully foreclosed.
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Abe Silberstein @abesilbe.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
The typical private school in the US is a very mediocre parochial school that doesn't necessarily compare favorably on academics to local public alternatives?
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Abe Silberstein @abesilbe.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Herzog is part of the rot. Always has been.
haaretz.com
Herzog pardons IDF soldier convicted of killing wounded Palestinian assailant
The IDF has previously objected to pardoning Azaria, citing his lack of remorse over his actions. Defense Minister Katz, who requested the pardon, said it sent a message that 'we do not leave our sold...
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Abe Silberstein @abesilbe.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
That is, if they even bothered with him *in* graduate school. When I was considering this route a decade ago, I distinctly remember it being possible to complete an MIA at SIPA while exclusively taking professional-track courses. I don't believe any graduate work in Political Science was required.
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Abe Silberstein @abesilbe.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
This is true but the DC foreign policy establishment is contemptuous of academic scholars of international relations, mainstream or not. It is basically part of the professional socialization process. Few in the blob bother with Kenneth Waltz after they graduate from SIPA, SAIS, HKS, Fletcher, etc.
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Abe Silberstein @abesilbe.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
2018 "Mueller Time" vibes. This is not happening.
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Abe Silberstein @abesilbe.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
In fairness, I haven't read the book which is why I said 'appears'. But I will delete the screenshot if you contend he's distorting your words with that parenthetical.
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Abe Silberstein @abesilbe.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
It appears from this review that Benjamin Moser's long-awaited book on anti-Zionism is a major disappointment, laden with errors of fact and citational judgment.
newyorker.com
Is Zionism’s Moral Crisis About Roads Not Taken—or Original Sin?
Where Benjamin Moser replaces one story of Jewish exceptionalism with another, Omer Bartov shows what’s lost when polemic takes the place of history.
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Abe Silberstein @abesilbe.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
I’ve always admired the scholarship and leadership of David Myers. But I don’t think I ever expected him to write something quite like this. “The path to rebuilding a sustainable, morally tenable Judaism for the future will be paved by the embrace of Palestinian liberation as a moral necessity.”
shaulmagid.substack.com
Guest Essay: David Myers - “Shevirat Ha-Kelim (Rupture) and Tikun: (Fixing)”
Toward a New Paradigm of Jewish Identity
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Abe Silberstein @abesilbe.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
In the long-running saga of "Are white Jews really white?", eligibility for refugee status according to the Trump administration would be quite the weight on the scale.
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Abe Silberstein @abesilbe.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Journal article I submitted in June is "Under Review" with no indication of whether this means the editorial desk or blind reviewers. Email I wrote two weeks ago via the submission portal—does that function even work?—has not been acknowledged. Best case scenario post-PhD is decades of this.
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Abe Silberstein @abesilbe.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Christian Zionist supersessionism at its most naked.
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Abe Silberstein @abesilbe.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
I'm honestly afraid to check how much I've spent on cases of Polar Black Cherry over the years. It might be over 4 digits.
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Abe Silberstein @abesilbe.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Aaron Jakes, via a review of Angela Buchdahl's memoir, on US Reform Judaism failing to meet the moment.
nplusonemag.com
The Right Reform Rabbi | Aaron Jakes
When Buchdahl professes that she can understand “how even white men in America are feeling,” she unwittingly reveals a structuring affinity between the politics of white reaction and her own anti-anti...
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Abe Silberstein @abesilbe.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
I'm comparing the weirdness. I would be lying if I said I was hurt or offended by Brianna. I'm just puzzled by her Jewish supporters not finding this cringeworthy.
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Abe Silberstein @abesilbe.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
How do people on the receiving end of this "allyship" not find it incredibly weird and off-putting? I would be totally mortified if my mainline Protestant political allies (for example) started lecturing right-wing Jews about Tikkun Olam or whatnot.
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Abe Silberstein @abesilbe.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
It's not online yet, but the Fall issue of n+1 includes a devastating takedown by Aaron Jakes of Angela Buchdahl's memoir and career. Look out for it.
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Abe Silberstein @abesilbe.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
He's not a real Trot. He's supported by the David North/World Socialist Website cult.
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Abe Silberstein @abesilbe.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
I renewed my AHA membership on the advice of friends and colleagues who are leading the good fight from within. I'm not sure for how long I will continue to do this, though.
chronicle.com
Opinion | A Scholarly Association’s Secretive Washington Playbook
Did the American Historical Association ask a corporate lobbying firm for advice on how to silence its members?
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Abe Silberstein @abesilbe.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
I was very proud to vote for Shawn Fain and the United UAW list in the international officers election. Shawn has been a tremendously effective and principled progressive leader on the national stage. If you are a member, please remember to send in your ballot.
jacobin.com
The United Auto Workers Are Voting for Their Top Leadership
United Auto Workers members are now voting by mail ballot for their top officers. The election will decide whether President Shawn Fain, who led 2023’s stand-up strike against the Big Three automakers...
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Abe Silberstein @abesilbe.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Oh yeah. His wife is definitely not voting for a Trumpist. She was considering Cynthia Nixon for Governor in 2018!
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Abe Silberstein @abesilbe.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Not pointing out a downside, just clarifying the contours of the potential coalition.
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Abe Silberstein @abesilbe.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
It is defensible in theory and J Street will defend it. But liberal Zionists to their right will have a conniption.
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Abe Silberstein @abesilbe.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
I can’t believe I’m about to enter year three of my PhD program and that I just finished my prospectus workshop. Time flies when you’re having fun, and in my case gaining a dozen new close friends through my cohort. No conflicts or beefs, only love and support. Literally zero complaints or regrets.
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Abe Silberstein @abesilbe.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Hamid Dabashi writes, "You are either on the side of the genocidal mass-murdering bombers, or on the side of those being bombed." Yes, and the Guardian letter made very clear the signatories were on the side of Iranians being bombed, not the US and Israel. No ambiguity there.
middleeasteye.net
War on Iran: Left-wing luminaries behind Guardian letter have lost the plot
By equating the bombers with the bombed, the appeal signed by Angela Davis and Judith Butler lends moral cover to western imperialism - and its backers are already deserting it
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Abe Silberstein @abesilbe.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Hal Foster: "My wager is that ‘the people’ may have now become a force of the anti-commons, of enclosure, in whose name detention camps and data centres are being built. Hence my vote for a temporary moratorium on the word, and a search for its utopian antithesis."
tribunemag.co.uk
Abolish the People
Socialist politics in the 2020s is a search for the commons, whose utopian energies are buried in our lost histories and lurking in the ruins of our present.
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Abe Silberstein @abesilbe.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
*Giuliani
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