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MIKE DEAL \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n
Jacob Brodovsky\u2019s new album is his attempt at wrestling with the future of humankind.<\/p>\n
But that changed in April 2024, says Brodovsky, who elected to resign from the position under duress.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt became very clear to me that the community I had been serving \u2014 not the camp itself, but the Winnipeg Jewish community \u2014 was no longer interested in me being a part of it because I expressed sympathy and solidarity for the Palestinian people, which I think is a very Jewish thing to do,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
That spring, when the Winnipeg-based Palestinian-led rock band Op-Ed was scheduled to perform at the West End Cultural Centre, several right-wing Israel advocacy groups challenged the venue for its support of what they deemed a \u201cterrorist-supporting concert,\u201d says Brodovsky, who calls the band\u2019s songwriter Tarek Abdel Aziz a friend.<\/p>\n
In the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas on Israel, Op-Ed\u2019s Art Antony was the first person to check in on Brodovsky to say that his family was praying for him.<\/p>\n
Brodovsky sent an email to the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg expressing his concern about the way organizations aligned with the federation were depicting artists with whom they disagreed; he received a kind response from the federation, he says.<\/p>\n
But in the days leading up to the show, fringe right-wing blogs posted screenshots of Brodovsky \u201cliking\u201d posts by Op-Ed, along with anonymously sourced \u201ctestimonials\u201d about his political leanings. People Brodovsky grew up with, their parents and people he had never even met began calling him a traitor, a terrorist, or a kapo or worse.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t find out about all these horrible things people were saying about me until the day my kid was born. We were in the delivery room, and my phone started blowing up. It kind of snowballed from there: for a month and a half, every time my phone buzzed, there was a new horrible thing that I was,\u201d says Brodovsky.<\/p>\n
Brodovsky says the online vitriol was terrifying.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I also know I didn\u2019t do anything wrong, and I think that\u2019s something that comes from being a dad now, too. You want to interrogate your own actions in a different way because you also have to think about how your kids are going to look at you, and how you\u2019re going to explain your behaviour and actions to them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Though he says the camp\u2019s board of directors stood behind him, Brodovsky saw the writing on the wall and decided to resign.<\/p>\n
\u201cI did not want to be a detriment to the campers\u2019 or the staff\u2019s ability to have a great summer at camp, and I didn\u2019t want to subject my family to any more abuse or harassment or potential violence,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Brodovsky is quick to put his own life\u2019s changes in perspective.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I look at what people are putting on the line, what Palestinian activists are putting in the line \u2014 I lost a job, absolutely \u2014 and I lost a lot too, but I live a life of luxury and comfort because I\u2019m a white person in Canada, and I only turn on my Jewish identity when I want to, right?\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n \t\t\tWinnipeg Gardener<\/p>\n Monthly<\/p>\n What you need to know now about gardening in Winnipeg. An email with advice, ideas and tips to keep your outdoor and indoor plants growing.<\/p>\n \t\t\tSign up for Winnipeg Gardener<\/a><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t Still, what Brodovsky experienced was a loss of place and community, with ties severed to dozens of people he knew, cared about and had previously respected.<\/p>\n \u201cSince then, I don\u2019t really go into Jewish spaces or interact with the Jewish community at all,\u201d he says. \u201cI see people all the time that I knew in my past life, and generally I either get dirty looks or people just pretend not to notice me, which is fine, but you know, these are people that I had known for a decade, people whose kids I watched grow up, people who I bent over backwards to support.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been trying to carve out space for myself to exist as both someone who cares deeply about the Jewish community and supporting young people, but who also does not jibe with Zionism. This essentially confirmed that there is no space for someone like that at this moment.\u201d<\/p>\n That pain fuels the simplest but most effective song on Brodovsky\u2019s newest record. Beneath It All, a duet with Charlotte Cornfield, is about \u201ctrying to hold onto a community while it shrinks into itself. A community of mostly good people blinded by trauma, grief and a refusal to acknowledge harm.\u201d<\/p>\n Alongside his new record, Brodovsky is releasing an alternate version of the track to Bandcamp, with all proceeds going to the Palestinian Children\u2019s Relief Fund.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t Ben Waldman Ben Waldman is a National Newspaper Award-nominated reporter on the Arts & Life desk at the Free Press. Born and raised in Winnipeg, Ben completed three internships with the Free Press while earning his degree at Ryerson University\u2019s (now Toronto Metropolitan University\u2019s) School of Journalism before joining the newsroom full-time in 2019. Read more about Ben<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Ben produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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