by Phyllis Chesler American troops are withdrawing from Afghanistan, leaving the country's women to Taliban's rule. I said that I would not publish anything further at this time about the tragedy of Afghan women. And yet—one brave soul just wrote to me at length and urged me to publish her words, ...Read More...

by Phyllis Chesler Listen: I’ve been told that the Afghan men who Western countries have rescued, have left their first, older wives behind, taking all the children, together with their second, younger wives. Such men are not likely to assimilate. Who will? The educated women, those with careers. ...Read More...

by Phyllis Chesler With the last American soldier now slated to leave Afghanistan by the end of August, the Taliban are already reinstituting their Sharia rules about women never being able to leave their homes naked-faced or without a male minder.  According to Foreign Policy, "a newly declassified ...Read More...

by Phyllis Chesler I am holding a precious volume in my hands. It is 447 short pages — but contains multitudes. I am talking about an anthology which features 56 Second Wave radical feminists, all of whom are, blessedly, still alive and kicking. Published by Spinifex Press of Australia, the book ...Read More...

by Phyllis Chesler The country in which I was once held hostage so very long ago is swiftly returning to the Middle Ages. It has done so many times before. King Amanullah allowed women to remove their veils in the 1920s, a crime for which he was forced into exile in Italy while his country was plunged by ...Read More...

by Phyllis Chesler American Jews are planning a rally Sunday in Washington, D.C. They are calling it "No Fear: A Rally in Solidarity with the Jewish People." It is supported by more than 60 advocacy groups, including the American Jewish Committee, Anti-Defamation League, Hadassah, The Jewish ...Read More...

by Phyllis Chesler Driving on a back road under lush and lovely greenery, the trees overhead reach for one another, creating a canopy of sorts, an ancient ritual embrace….Nature consoles, Civilization fails that task. The town is far too crowded to navigate, there are too many people on the street, ...Read More...

by Phyllis Chesler As I was curating some photos, I came across my sixth-grade graduation album. And there we all were, as if it were only yesterday, preserved in tiny little black and white snapshots. The girls are all dressed in white and wearing short white gloves. We each have flowers pinned ...Read More...

by Phyllis Chesler Right now, most white people are afraid to talk publicly about race and racism, especially about anti-black racism. “Progressive” white people are either silent—or they monitor other white people’s speech about race. Everyone is very nervous. If a white person says the wrong ...Read More...

by Phyllis Chesler Lodz, Poland And so, the Polish government no longer wishes to be held responsible for German Nazi crimes committed on occupied Polish soil. In 2018, Polish President Andrzej Duda signed legislation that threatened up to three years imprisonment for anyone who “publicly and ...Read More...

by Phyllis Chesler I know that France deported so many of its Jewish citizens, including the wealthiest of Jewish art patrons, to Drancy and from there to be murdered in Auschwitz. And I also know what the French did in Algeria. So this is a “smaller” incident, and yet, and yet: How dare the ...Read More...

by Phyllis Chesler Last evening, a hero came uptown to visit me. Her name is Dr. Julie Ancis and she is the founder of Psychologists Against Antisemitism. Dr. Julie was once a diversity and anti-racism expert—and she still is—but she is now also an expert in Cyber Psychology which sounds utterly ...Read More...

by Phyllis Chesler , I sit here, reading and writing, as I do every day, all day. This is my life, and on a good day, I love being able to do so. Today, the first thing that caught my eye was a short story by Cynthia Ozick in the current New Yorker. Titled, most improbably, “The Coast of New ...Read More...

by Phyllis Chesler  Chimimanda Ngozi Adichie And so, Fortune’s Favorite, Lin-Manuel Miranda, has been accused of choosing performers for the movie version of his play, “In the Heights,” who indeed may be Latinx—but who are too “light skinned.” Once this kind of “race” rage and anguish is unleashed, ...Read More...

by Phyllis Chesler And so, Janet Malcolm—she of the exquisite and considered phrase—has died. We did not know each other personally but I followed her work. Didn’t everyone? We were both involved in different ways with the case of a mother who was accused of having had her ex-husband killed because ...Read More...