An diversity officer for a children's book writers group condemned anti-Semitism and was quickly out of a job

It has only been a couple of months since there were multiple instances of Jews being verbally attacked and physically beaten in the streets by caravans of Palestinian supporters. At the time that was happening the Equity and Inclusion Officer for a children’s book group called The Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators issued a condemnation on Facebook.

“The SCBWI unequivocally recognizes that the world’s 14.7 million Jewish people (less than 0.018% of the population) have the right to life, safety, and freedom from scapegoating and fear.” The June 10 post went on to condemn antisemitism as “one of the oldest forms of hatred,” and asked readers to “join us in not looking away.”

Her name is April Powers and soon after posting this unobjectionable message she was out of a job. There’s no real mystery about how it happened. A Palestinian member of the group named Razan Abdin-Adnani responded to the post on Facebook demanding to know when a condemnation of Israeli attacks would be forthcoming. Powers, who is black and Jewish, replied.