When I saw that there was an opinion piece in The Forward, making the case that it’s yeah maybe not the best idea to ban mask-wearing on the New York City subways in the name of fighting antisemitism, I thought, yes, thank you. It’s an absurd proposal, not least because once you allow for medical exceptions (and this gesture’s been made), anyone can rightly say that their masking—unless you’re talking something like the Phantom of the Opera mask—lessens the spread of germs.

How is mask-banning meant to fight antisemitism, you might wonder? Think keffiyeh-wrapped faces at encampment protests. Consider the way COVID masks have been quasi-repurposed as a way of both signalling you’re still coronavirus-aware and that you don’t want to be easily identifiable in a crowd of protesters lest the law firm considering hiring you puts two and two together. Two birds, one N95.

A subway mask ban won’t fight antisemitism, but it will punish immunocompromised Jews like mehttps://t.co/xxWG4Jj1tn

Then I read the author’s bio and my heart sunk a little:

“With over a decade of experience organizing on issues ranging from public health to Palestinian rights, they are most motivated by issues of disability justice, queer justice, tenants’ rights, and workers’ rights.”

The sinking was caused by the complete predictability of the messenger, and the effect this has on a message. Of course the person saying it’s wrong to ban masks on the subway is a pro-Palestinian activist who uses they/them pronouns.

This is unfortunate not because it’s wrong to be those things but........

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