Much ado about a tweet

There is a very natural impulse among members of a vulnerable group to want to hunker down when one of their own is attacked from outside — or inside. I experienced what that means firsthand last February, when I wrote a column about the practice of metzitzah b’peh, a circumcision ritual performed by a small segment of Orthodox Jews, whereby the person doing the circumcision — the mohel — draws blood out of the baby’s wound, using direct oral suction. The procedure has exposed thousands of babies to the herpes virus, which can be devastating to an eight- day- old immune system and in some cases has resulted in permanent brain damage or death.

In the column I wrote on the topic, I called the ritual “odious” (which is a label I would still argue is rather uncontroversial when we’re talking about a grown man putting his mouth on an infant’s penis) and lamented the fact that the Jewish community is often reluctant to call out impropriety in its own ranks. In return, I heard from people who called me a “self- hating Jew,” a “disgrace” and other names I cannot repeat here, and was advised that my attention would be better served reporting on the Palestinians who were stabbing Jews in Israel, or on the people who were painting swastikas on cars in Montreal. Their point was — and I accept it to a certain degree — that Jews get enough criticism from those on the outside — we shouldn’t be turning on ourselves, too.

Based on that line of reasoning, I sort of understand why members of the Black Lives Matter Toronto ( BLMTO) group all but shrugged in response to a controversial tweet put out by one of its co- founders. The tweet was originally posted back in February, but only came to light this week after Jerry Agar, a Toronto radio host, reported on it on his show. In the tweet, BLMTO co-founder Yusra Khogali wrote, “Plz Allah give me strength to not cuss/ kill these men and white folks out here today. Plz plz plz.”

It was a dumb thing to post, especially for a leader of movement that — one would think — would want to attract potential allies, rather than ostracize them. And it shouldn’t be surprising that some people found it offensive. But rather than acknowledge the inappropriateness of t he tweet, apologize for it and move on, BLMTO members dug in their heels and went on the defence: the group’s other co- founder, Sandy Hudson, refused to comment on it during an interview with a television station, and instead criticized the reporter for focusing on the tweet, rather than the issues about which BLMTO was trying to get attention. In the Toronto Star, journalist and activ- ist Desmond Cole explained Khogali’s tweet as a “common response to violence and injustice,” “an honest appeal to restraint and wisdom in the face of violence, racism and misogyny.” Khogali herself refused to comment on the issue altogether.

Meanwhile, critics of the BLMTO movement latched onto the tweet as a sort of “smoking gun,” which supposedly proved the violent intentions of the group. But to make that assertion is a pretty remarkable stretch: people say and post all sorts of hyperbolic things when they’re angry — and despite some progress in recent years, black Canadians still have plenty to be angry about — but that doesn’t mean they actually intend to act on it. And it also doesn’t mean that the group’s core message should be wholly discredited because its cofounder posted one thoughtless, offensive tweet.

None of this is to say that Khogali’s tweet was in any way acceptable, t hough her defenders have demonstrated some phenomenal mental gymnastics in attempting to explain why it’s somehow OK to post a prayer to God, asking for the strength not to kill people of a certain group and gender. It ’s not. The i mpulse to hunker down in this case is understandable, especially as BLMTO is slammed with criticism, seemingly from all sides. But it’s ultimately disingenuous: no group is, or should be, above criticism — not Black Lives Matter, not Orthodox rabbis in New York, not National Post columnists who, perhaps unwisely, wade into the most contentious of social issues.

BLMTO representatives say they would prefer we talk about carding, or wage discrepancies, or violence against blacks at the hands of police — which are all worthy topics of discussion. But at the same time, there is no better way to get people interested in a tweet than insisting that the media stop talking about it. Had BLMTO led the discussion, and heard the criticism, I suspect the conversation would have been over by now.

KHOGALI’S DEFENDERS HAVE GONE THROUGH HOOPS TO EXPLAIN WHY IT’S OK TO POST A PRAYER TO GOD ASKING FOR THE STRENGTH NOT TO KILL PEOPLE.