Thread by @yaacovlozowick

I'm trying to wean myself off Twitter these days, but I'm so troubled on the following that I'm back for a moment. I may lose followers who disagree - but that's the advantage of weaning myself: it doesn't matter. 1/16

Last week @AOC ignited a firestorm by saying US government detentions centers on the border with Mexico holding children, are concentration camps, & that if Never Again is to mean anything, they must go 2/16

She was emotional but also eloquent & compelling. (Especially when she was momentarily speechless: then she was most eloquent). I'm not a natural follower of @AOC, but go on the merits of her specific statements. 3/16

Lots of folks responded to @AOC with varoius degrees of indignation. That's politics, & it's not my job to respond to American politics. Some said the detention policy began under Obama, but I don't see how that might make it any better. 4/16

At this point @yadvashem joined the fray blogs.timesofisrael.com/what-exactly-i…
I worked at YV for 25 years, & took their intervention a bit personally. 5/16

On this one, they're right on 1 count & wrong on 3. Right on the historical specifics. Wrong because (a). language changes over time. 6/16

(b) If anything, @AOC is respecting Jewish memory of the Nazi persecution by standing up to what she plausibly perceives as an evil policy.
7/16

(c) by setting the bar for the legitimacy to use Shoah-related teriminology as high as @yadvashem does, they've hollowed out the legitimacy to use it for anything less. In effect, Never Again thus means only the Shoah. 8/16

Coincidentially or not, this discussion happened parallel to the bizarre courtroom scene where the government defended its position, thus essentially confirming the facts 9/16

To be clear: the lawyer isn't a "Trump lawyer" (the case actually began during Obama's term). She's a typical government lawyer, arguing the case for her client: the government. Lawyers such as her exist everywhere. 10/16

The court case is explained here theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/… 11/16

From a rhetorical perspective, it's fascinating to see how the judges say the same thing @AOC says, but in clinical legalese. 12/16

Timothy Snyder - a world-class historian of these matters - looks at the history here edition.cnn.com/2019/06/19/opi… 13/16

Adam Serwer's chilling description of the reality of the policy is here theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/… 14/16

If you have children, grandchildren, or once were a child yourself, you must condemn this policy. If the only way the powerful USA can defend itself is by intentionally scarring children for life - you need to re-think. 15/16

I say all this not as a bleeding heart liberal in the US political meaning, but as Liberal in the original meaning. And as a human being.
End of thread 16/16