ACTIONS » The First Annual Greasy Latke Awards

TOO STRONG TO PRINT?

JEWISH WOMEN WATCHING CENSORED IN THE JEWISH PRESS

December 17, 2003 -- On the eve of publication, both the Forward and the Jewish Week refused to print ads submitted by Jewish Women Watching, the infamous collective of Jewish feminist rabble-rousers. The papers cut the ads -- which announced JWW's First Annual Greasy Latke Awards -- for what the Jewish Week called "strong language."

"We certainly agree with the Jewish Week that our ad is full of 'strong language,'" said Sophie Tucker of Jewish Women Watching. "Criticizing Jewish organizations for sexism, homophobia, and strange political bedfellows is such strong language that only JWW will say it."

What was too strong for the Jewish Week and the Forward to print?

The censored ads criticized eight Jewish communal institutions for their "greasy" behavior. The awardees include:

• The United Jewish Communities, for taking $1.5 million from fundamentalist Pastor John Hagee;
• The Jewish Community Center of Manhattan, which fired its long-time executive director suspiciously soon after she ventured too far out of the closet; and
• The one-time civil rights advocate American Jewish Congress, for abandoning their progressive purpose and purging their left-leaning leaders.

"Jewish Women Watching spoke out against censorship in the past," member Clara Lemlich noted. "We take this latest outrage as proof that the Jewish Community needs a group like us to keep it honest."

Ironically, the yanked ads printed only the titles of the Greasy Latke Awards. The full text can be found on JWW's website, www.jewishwomenwatching.org.

You can also hear the full story at a live awards ceremony.

JWW will present the Greasy Latke Awards in front of the United Jewish Communities building, 111 Eighth Avenue, on Friday, December 19, at 12 noon.

"It is a sad day for the Jewish community when clever criticism is frozen out of the public square," said JWW's Dona Gracia Nasi. "We'll just have to work harder -- and scream louder -- in order to get our message heard."

About Jewish Women Watching (JWW)

Jewish Women Watching is an anonymous activist collective that aims to rouse the public to challenge and change the sexist and other discriminatory practices in the American Jewish community. Since 1999, JWW has been criticizing the Jewish community's narrow-minded priorities in online, print, and street actions. For more information, visit JWW's web site at www.jewishwomenwatching.org