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The Schmooze

The AOC ‘Concentration Camp’ Debate Has Jews Divided. 18 Jews Weigh In.

Question: When is it appropriate to describe a detention center for immigrants as a concentration camp? Meta-question: Millions of Americans, including intellectuals, politicians, and religious leaders, are engaging in this discussion — what does that tell us about America?

A fervent, raging discourse on this topic of naming immigrant and refugee detention camps has exploded in a place you might associate more with lighter fare — Twitter. The debate started with a description of the centers as “concentration camps” by lightning rod Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and snowballed with a condemnatory tweet by Representative Liz Cheney.

But considering that the controversy centers around the way we remember the Holocaust, what are actual Jewish people saying?

We collected 18 searing tweets from both sides of the debate, from Jewish people.

You can join in with your opinion in this poll:

1.Writer Seth Mandel, invoking Professor Deborah Lipstadt:

2.Comedy writer Bess Kalb

  1. Democratic activist David Nir

  1. Jewish Twitter user @kweansmom

  1. Comedian Sarah Silverman

  1. Political theory professor Jacob Levy

  1. Journalist Jonathan M. Katz

  1. Rebecca Vilkomerson, Executive Director of Jewish Voice For Peace

  1. Leah Greenberg, Co-Executive Director of Indivisible

  1. Twitter account @AG_Conservative

  1. New York Post columnist Karol Markowicz

12.Actress Rosanna Arquette,

  1. Ron Coleman, lawyer

  1. New York Times columnist Michelle Goldberg

  1. Jewish comedy tweet account, @OhNoSheTwitnt

  1. Bill Prady, TV producer

  1. Rabbi Abraham Cooper, via the Simon Wiesenthal Center

  1. Jewish writer Ariel Sobel

And a few choice tweets from non-Jews:

Chris Hayes, MSNBC host

Akilah Hughes, writer

Donald Trump, Jr.

George Takei, actor

Dr. Katie Mack, astrophysicist

Jenny Singer is the deputy life/features editor for the Forward. You can reach her at [email protected] or on Twitter @jeanvaljenny

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