You repeatedly present yourself as someone who stands for the First Amendment, builds community, and supports family values. But your actions and your treatment of people who disagree with you raise serious questions about whether those principles actually apply when the speech is something you personally dislike.

So I am asking you directly:

You say, “I will forever stand for the First Amendment.” Do you actually mean that—even when the speech is directed at you or expresses an opinion you strongly oppose? When I exercised my own right to speech by putting up a billboard, you opposed it and personally bullied me. How is that consistent with your claimed commitment to free speech?

Is your commitment to free speech conditional on agreeing with you? If someone publicly disagrees with you on Israel, Zionism, Palestine, BDS, or any other controversial issue, do you believe they deserve the same respect and protection that you claim for speech you agree with?

Your website talks about “building community together” and “family values.” How exactly do you build a community together while attacking, intimidating, or attempting to silence people whose opinions differ from yours?

Let’s be clear about something: supporting Palestinian rights does not require opposing Israel’s existence. A person can support a Palestinian state, Palestinian dignity, and Palestinian self-determination while also supporting Israel’s right to exist and its security. Do you support that position?

Do you condemn Hamas and jihadist violence without qualification? Do you reject the idea that Hamas or the destruction of Israel represents legitimate “resistance”?

Now to the issue that concerns me most: you have demonstrated a pattern of hostility toward people who express views you oppose, while simultaneously claiming to be a defender of free speech with strong family values. Your YouTube channel shows you humiliating people who chose to speak at City Council meetings because their  opinions were apparently different than yours. Why should Arcata voters believe you will behave differently once you have the authority of elected office?

You chose to pursue public records concerning the only Jewish member of the City Council. Of all the council members whose records could have been requested, why did you specifically target the only Jewish council member and even highlight the word “Jewish” her messages?

Do you understand why singling out the only Jewish council member would reasonably cause members of the Jewish community to question your motives? What evidence can you provide that this had absolutely nothing to do with her being Jewish or with her views concerning Israel?

If you insist that your actions were completely unrelated to antisemitism, will you explicitly acknowledge that Jews should not be collectively held responsible for the actions of the Israeli government and that Jewish residents should not be treated differently because they are Jewish, Zionist, or supportive of Israel?

You are asking voters to trust you with political power. Can you honestly say that you will represent Jewish residents who disagree with you just as fairly as residents who share your political views?

And perhaps the most important question: How can you claim that you can serve the entire Arcata community when your own conduct suggests that people who disagree with you may be subjected to bullying, hostility, or attempts to silence them?

Free speech is not a principle you get to invoke only when it protects speech you like.

Community means including people with whom you disagree.

And representing the entire community means representing people whose political beliefs you find deeply objectionable—not trying to intimidate them into silence.

Before asking Arcata voters for their trust, I believe you owe the community clear answers to these questions.

— Tamar Krigel

Response

Dan Shahin

Dear Ms. Krigel,

Thanks for your questions.  I believe I have already answered some of them but thank you for giving me a chance to clear up some misconceptions. You asked a LOT of questions, so here are some answers:

1.  My commitment to the First Amendment and the Constitution is absolute.  If you read my previous answers, you would know that I completely support the right to opinions I do not agree with.  I have never and will never attempt to stifle free speech, even speech that is personally offensive to me or Palestinian people like me.

The correct response to speech we disagree with is always more speech, never censorship.  I promise that I will always respond to racist comments made by the public, as is the right of Council Members.  

Let’s remember that every single Arcata City Council meeting begins with a dedication to “ending the legacy of Settler Colonialism”.   I will not remain silent while any group of people is insulted in front of the Council.  This of course includes any other marginalized groups being denigrated in public.

2. I have never made any public statements about the existence of Israel.  But I believe, like many that Israel has the right to exist, preferably as a state with equal rights for all.

3. I am a pacifist and non-interventionist.  I condemn all forms of violence as a method of political change.  That includes terrorism, be it from Hamas in Gaza or from violent settler colonialists in the West Bank, or to those in this country who think violence has any place in our political discourse.  

4.  I had nothing whatsoever to do with the public records request for Meredith Matthews emails.   I was as surprised as anyone by what they revealed, but don’t find it pertinent to this election.  I made no highlights since I had absolutely nothing to do with the project.  

I don’t think being the only Jewish member of the Council gives anyone special rights any more than I would expect special rights if I were the only Palestinian elected.  I don’t care at all about what religion or culture people come from, and all people would receive equal consideration from me if elected.

5. As for my YouTube channel, I made reaction videos to the very hateful, racist (and constitutionally protected) comments given in public.  Those comments are already preserved in the longer videos of the Council sessions they were made in.   I used my right to free speech to offer a counter-argument to the absurdly racist hate that was  made in public without any remarks from Council. 

Anybody, including you are free to make a response video if you really want to stick up for the racism that was spewed by those members of the public.  I suggest people watch the videos and decide for themselves who is truly being hateful.

6.  I don’t believe in collective blame, and have too many friends in the local Jewish community to blame them for the actions of a foreign nation.  Collective punishment is what has happened to the thousands of innocent Palestinian families in Gaza destroyed when they had nothing to do with Hamas.

 7.  Finally, I never bullied anybody about the billboard you helped erect stating “Go ahead, call me a Zionist. It only makes me prouder“.   It was your right to waste your time and money on a sign meant to sow division in our community.   You had a chance to educate people on what your definition of the “Z-word” is.  (I personally don’t find it helpful to use that term.)

You could have made a plea for peace and unity in our community, or any number of positive messages.  You could have saved the thousands of dollars you spent on a divisive message and used it to feed the hungry or advocate for peaceful political change, but you chose not to.  You chose to use your rights to post a divisive message that did not resonate with most people in this community.

That was your right under the First Amendment and as harmful and wrong-minded as I felt your message was, I do not disagree with your right to say it.   That is part of what makes America an amazing place.  We get to use our rights to advocate for whatever we want, even when the message is drastically out of step with community values.

So the answer is that I will always defend your right to speak your mind.  But I will never give up my own right to speak mine and to oppose the views of those who think their own background should make them immune to public criticism.  

That is what being an American is all about, Tamar.

I will end with a really kind email quote from Council Member Meredith Matthews who reached out to me personally about your billboard shortly after it went up:

“Hope you are well. I just want to let you know that I had nothing to do with that billboard, it came as a surprise (and shock) to me. I find it incredibly inappropriate, divisive and unnecessary, and am honestly afraid of the damage that it will cause. If it is still up by the next Council meeting, I will state as such. “

Dan Shahin

 

 

 

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