KCBA received dozens of comments from members, nonmembers and community partners regarding the publication and subsequent decision to remove Ms. Abudiab’s article. We received many expressing hurt, sadness, and anger for publishing the article, and others from people hurt and angry that we had taken the article down from the KCBA website. While we do not have space to print all the comments and letters received, we believe it is important to provide a sample.
As a member of the King County Bar Association, I am greatly disheartened by the KCBA’s decision to publish a propaganda piece in the February Bulletin which can only serve to alienate a good portion of its membership. Not only does the piece pursue an anti-Israel agenda, it is also anti-American. It is most concerning that it appears to have been written by the deputy executive director of the WSBA and former executive director of the KCBA. I can say for certain, her opinions do not represent me, nor do they represent the opinions of the membership that KCBA is expected to act for. I understand an apology has been offered; however, the damage has been done, as the piece was placed in a prominent position of the February issue. Additionally, the writer’s militant misuse of the term genocide is both troubling and highly offensive to those who have experienced and witnessed true genocide. It begs the question why our publication would choose to showcase this at all, let alone as the headline article.
I hope proper vetting will occur in the future, and that an apology in the next issue will be forthcoming.
Thank you for attention to this matter.
— Taliah Ahdut, Fox Ballard PLLC
I am deeply disappointed that you called the publication of Dua Abudiab’s piece a “mistake.” It only shows that KCBA’s commitment to diversity and justice has its limits and will be curtailed when it makes the white majority uncomfortable. I don’t plan on renewing my membership in the future or participating in other KCBA events.
— Attorney Member
I just received written notice from the KCBA Board and Leadership that a Pro-Palestinian article was censored and deleted. How was it a “mistake” to publish this piece? What “harm” was caused?
To not publicly speak out against genocide is harm. To not condemn the atrocities happening to the Palestinian people is harm. Your stance is shocking.
I cannot be part of an organization that claims to be in favor of human rights and then refuses to stand on the side of humanity.
I’ll be cancelling my membership and will not be renewing. Shame on you.
— Kati Ortiz, Attorney, Ortiz Law Office, PLLC
I am without words to describe my shock and pain that the King County Bar Bulletin chose to publish — as a featured piece — the shrill, misleading, historically and legally inaccurate opinion piece, “From the River to the Sea.”
As a Jewish lawyer in Washington, I cannot emphasize how damaging this piece is. At a time when global anti-
semitism is rising to terrifying levels, the need for society at large — and lawyers in particular — to engage in factual, historically accurate, rational, discussions about the Hamas-Israel war has never been greater. By publishing this piece, the KCBA has significantly imperiled efforts to elevate these debates within our profession — a profession committed to rational discourse and justice. Today I am ashamed to be a member of this Bar Association.
I hope that you will take the time to actually inform yourselves about basic history of the region and issue a correction and explanation as to what contributed to your lapse in editorial judgment, causing your publication as a feature in the first place.
If you choose to publish such a poorly reasoned, historically and factually inaccurate propagandist rant as an opinion piece, that is certainly within your discretion to do.
— Aline Flower
I just received a letter from the KCBA apologizing for printing the From the River to the Sea by Dua Abudiab in the most recent edition of the Bar Bulletin. There is nothing within the piece that could be deemed offensive or harmful. The article presented a thoughtful perspective that contributed to a diverse and open dialogue — something I believe is crucial in our legal community. I appreciate the Bar Bulletin as a platform for fostering discussion on various viewpoints, and it is disheartening to witness the organization backtrack on its initial decision to publish the piece.
What concerns me even more is the apparent shift in the KCBA’s stance towards neutrality on an ongoing genocide. The importance of standing against injustice and promoting human rights should not be compromised, and I expected the KCBA to uphold these values. By retracting the article and apologizing, it seems as though the organization has chosen a stance of neutrality that contradicts the principles we hold dear.
As a dedicated member of the KCBA, I believe in the importance of maintaining a space for diverse perspectives within our legal community. It is disheartening to see the organization succumb to external pressures and compromise the integrity of its commitment to fostering open discourse. I urge the KCBA to reconsider its decision and to stand by its original choice to publish diverse opinions, even when they may be uncomfortable or challenging.
I appreciate your attention to this matter and hope that the KCBA will continue to uphold its commitment to promoting a robust and inclusive legal community.
— Aida Almasalkhi, Bennett Bigelow & Leedom, PS
Letter from The Seattle Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild
The Seattle Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild is dismayed that the KCBA caved in to pro-Israel pressure when it censored Dua Abudiab’s article “From the River to the Sea” from the February 2024 Bar Bulletin. Anyone reading the article would know that the thoughts Ms. Abudiab expressed were very personally her own, and the removal of this article from the on-line edition of the Bar Bulletin is very harmful to our ability to discuss issues of importance in our legal community.
Given the vital issues of international law at stake in the Palestine/
Israel conflict and the critical questions about the First Amendment raised by Ms. Abudiab, it is simply not the case that the article exceeded the mission of the KCBA.
We are aware that the KCBA has been in touch with certain organizations that claim to speak on behalf of Jewish lawyers in Seattle. Given the diversity of opinions within the Jewish bar about Palestine and Israel, those groups have no authority to speak on behalf of the entire Jewish community. Certainly, the many Jewish members of our local and national organization do not believe that our religious, ethnic, or cultural identity is in any way tied to support for Israeli war crimes in Gaza. We also believe that to conflate criticism of Israel with antisemitism is itself insultingly antisemitic.
We hope that the KCBA can begin to repair the damage it has caused by its censorship of Ms. Abudiab’s article. We want the KCBA to re-post the article on its website, and that it will offer those who support the Israeli attacks on Gaza a chance to post a similar opinion piece explaining their position.
Lamentably, our profession has a bad track record when it comes to silencing the voices of women of color, and we hope that the KCBA does not end up perpetuating that harm now. On behalf of our organization, including its Jewish members, we hope that the KCBA can stand up to those who are intolerant of Palestinian voices.
— Neil Fox, Ralph Hurvitz, Jenn Kaplan, Rachel Levy, Michael Schueler, Gráinne Griffiths, Will Gelvick, Emma Yip, Janet Thoman, S-U Law School NLG Chapter, and UW Law School NLG Chapter
Letter from StandWithUs
Dear King County Bar Association Board of Trustees,
We write to you from StandWithUs, an international, non-profit organization with the mission of educating about Israel and combatting antisemitism. On behalf of StandWithUs, thank you for your public apology and corrective action after your Bar Bulletin’s apparently unauthorized decision to publish Dua Abudiab’s “From the River to the Sea,” a blatantly anti-Israel work that attacked Zionism, which is an integral component of identity for most Jews.
Now more than ever, in the wake of Hamas’ massacre in Israel on October 7, 2023, it is critical that organizations such as yours do what they can to prevent the normalization of anti-Zionist antisemitism and instead to include the voices of and interests of Jews and Israelis. As Israelis and Jews around the world continue to mourn their losses and face surmounting bigotry worldwide, including antisemitic discrimination, harassment and attacks in rising numbers, your public commitment to ensuring that this never happen again shows reassuring moral leadership and guidance for all your members.
We thank you for your efforts to restore the “diverse and collegial” environment referenced in your mission, and we look forward to this environment including Jewish and Israeli members for years to come.
The work of our organization focuses on educating about matters related to antisemitism and engaging in both proactive and responsive efforts to combat it. To that end, we regularly host CLE workshops for attorneys and provide guidance on how to identify and respond to antisemitism. We hope that you will let us know how our partnership may be useful to you.
— Roz Rothstein, Yael Lerman, Carly F. Gammill, and Randy Kessler
Repairing Harm and Honoring Our Collective Humanity
We were deeply concerned by the publication of the piece “From the River to the Sea” in the KCBA bulletin and blog last month. We are grateful for steps KCBA leadership has taken to understand and repair the harm caused by the piece, yet we feel compelled to ensure this harm is also understood by KCBA’s membership. We share the author’s value for freedom of speech and pain at the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. And yet, we believe it is critical when discussing these issues to do so in a way that honors the history and humanity of all people. Unfortunately, the piece published last month failed to do so.
In addition to the title of the piece “From the River to the Sea” which in and of itself is understood by many in the Jewish community as a call for the elimination of the Jewish population of Israel, the article trafficked in antisemitic ideas in its presentation of the current conflict and the repercussions for people in America. The article reflected and perpetuated a fundamentally flawed understanding of Jews and Israel. The narrative it espoused included erasure of thousands of years of Jewish history — the formation of our identity as a people in the land of Israel, our forced expulsions and experiences of state-sponsored violence anywhere we settled, and the intergenerational trauma that our skin color or relative status in society has never protected us from. By associating Jews and Israelis with European colonialism, white supremacy, and genocide, this type of narrative closes off space for empathy and can lead to the dehumanization of Jews and Israelis around the world.
Antisemitism is ever-present in our society, and has been on the rise for many years including a nearly 400% increase since October 7.1 The publication of this piece falls against the backdrop of a world in which nearly 2/3rds of Jews feel less safe than they did a year ago.2 Regardless of intentions, articles like “From the River to the Sea” serve to isolate Jews and the Jewish community which undermines our collective safety. Given the incredible pain and challenge of this moment for Israelis, Palestinians, Jews, and Muslims, it is critical that our communal leaders ensure all voices are heard and create space for complexity and nuance that honors our individual and collective humanity. We remain committed to working with KCBA to ensure it remains a safe and welcoming place for all its members.
— Max Patashnik, Director, Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle; Miri Cypers, Regional Director, Anti-Defamation League Pacific Northwest
1 https://www.adl.org/resources/press-release/adl-records-dramatic-increase-us-antisemitic-
incidents-following-oct-7
2 https://www.ajc.org/AntisemitismReport2023/AmericanJews
