How to Be an Ally – Tablet Magazine
Like many Americans since 2020, I have absorbed the message that it is not the job of victims and the oppressed to educate me, and that I shouldn t center myself amid someone else s pain. After the horrific attacks by Hamas on Saturday, as person of faith myself, I prayed for peace, for the victims and their families, for the Jewish people, of course. But, despite my status as a gentile-in-residence at Tablet for about three years, I didn t want to impose on any of the Jews in my orbit during this difficult time. And to be honest, I didn t really know what else to do.
Should I post? Was that too shallow? Anyway, what would I say? Who the hell am I? With just under 460 Twitter followers and a lackluster Instagram, there weren t exactly legions of Maggie Phillips fans waiting with bated breath for my official statement on geopolitics.
But this morning, I sat my gentile ass down and listened, as they say, while my Tablet colleagues talked about their experiences as American Jews over the past few days. And I realized that what we have right now in this moment is a crisis of allyship.
So let me help you, Jews and gentiles alike, bridge the gap that s keeping us from really being there for each other.
Maggie Phillips.