Upstanders: How Paula Kweskin of ‘The 49%’ Is Standing Up Against Antisemitism, Racism, Bigotry, and Hate
Make small shifts, no matter what. If you’re in conversation with someone who makes a joke that is bigoted, don’t just “let it go.” See if you can find ways to stand your ground as an Upstander.
An upstander is the opposite of a bystander. A bystander is someone who stands by while others are being bullied, maligned, or mistreated. An upstander is someone who stands up to protect and advocate for the victim. We are sadly seeing a surge of hate, both online and in the real world. Many vulnerable minorities feel threatened and under attack. What measures are individuals, communities, and organizations taking to stand up against Antisemitism, Racism, Bigotry, and Hate? In this interview series, we are talking to activists, community leaders, and individuals who are Upstanders against hate, to share what they are doing and to inspire others to do the same. As part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Paula Kweskin.
Paula Kweskin is a human rights lawyer, filmmaker and founder/director of the women’s rights non-profit, The 49%. After October 7th, she joined forces with Muslim friends and colleagues to create a grassroots initiative called The Collective, a group of Muslim and Jewish women committed to ending extremism, antisemitism, and hatred in all its forms. She’s married, a mom of three, and speaks fluent Spanish and Hebrew.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you tell us your “Origin Story”? Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?
I grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina. I went to the local public school, and I was usually the only Jewish kid in my class. I was very proud to be Jewish, but as a kid, it can be very challenging to explain yourself all the time. One year, the teacher decorated the classroom with paper candles for Christmas. Everyone’s candle was red; mine was blue. I think she did it to be sensitive, but I’ll always remember staring at my lone blue candle.
I was a theater kid. I loved drama, dance, and music. I am still friends with some of the zany and creative people from the show choir and the high school musicals. Those experiences shaped my life and the arts have always been a place of comfort and expansion for me.
From the time I was sixteen years old, I knew I wanted to dedicate my life to human rights work. I met Chinese dissident Harry Wu, activist Kerry Kennedy Cuomo, and the translator of Anne Frank’s journal all while I was in high school thanks to a local human rights organization in my town. These encounters with great thinkers and iconoclasts made me realize that ordinary people are the ones who shape history. I always felt it was my responsibility to pursue justice.
Can you share a personal story of how you experienced or encountered antisemitism, racism, bigotry, or hate? How did that experience shape your perception and actions moving forward?
Throughout my childhood and adolescence, I always felt a little bit different than many of my peers. It was pretty standard for folks to try and convert my family and me to Christianity, or at least try to tell us why we were wrong to have our set of beliefs. One day in elementary school, a girl got mad at me and just screamed at me “Jew Girl!”. I was shocked. I took a lot of solace in our tight-knit Jewish community and a lot of my close friends were also from minority communities.
Can you describe how you or your organization is helping to stand up against hate? What inspired you to take up this cause?
In the past 10+ years, I’ve been working in documentary filmmaking, telling stories of the most urgent women’s rights and human rights issues. I’ve built a beautiful community of artists and activists. My most recent film, Samira’s Camera, tells the true story of an Afghan wife, mother and filmmaker. We made that film to demand action on behalf of Afghan women and girls who have been denied an education and basic freedoms for nearly 3 years. In 2024, my team and I were in production on a film about women’s protest movements. Everything changed on October 7th. I live in Israel, and the world that I knew and lovingly and deliberately built, came crashing down. That day, 1200 people were murdered and countless women were systematically raped; over 200 people were kidnapped. Within hours of the attack, I saw posts on Instagram praising the terrorists; within days, there were protests against Israel that former colleagues of mine attended. There were articles giving “context” to the horrific attacks as if they could be justified. I was broken, all while living through war: air raid sirens, terrorist attacks, and a peace and sense of security which was entirely shattered. I am still reeling from the trauma and grief. In those initial days, I also received many calls and texts from friends, family members and colleagues. One by one, many Muslim friends and colleagues reached out to me. They expressed their pain, solidarity, and sisterhood. Those messages became a lifeline for me. They were the sparks of light I desperately needed in an impossibly dark time.
I asked a dear friend and mentor, Pakistani-Canadian activist Raheel Raza, what should we do? She said, “We don’t do anything yet. Let’s just meet.”
So, we did. About 10 of us gathered on Zoom only a few days after the 7th. These were friends and colleagues I had worked with on various campaigns and human rights projects over the last ten years. They came from Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Somalia, and Afghanistan. We spent the first 20 minutes weeping; the next 20 minutes we committed ourselves to action.
And we’ve been meeting regularly ever since.
We call ourselves The Collective and we are dedicated to a better future for our children, one that is free from terrorism, extremism, antisemitism, and hatred in all its forms. We have an alternative narrative to share, and we work tirelessly to amplify our message with the media and in communities. Women of The Collective have hosted interfaith iftars, they’ve spoken at Congress, and they’ve shared their messages with synagogues and universities. We desperately need a paradigm shift in the way we speak about the Middle East, terrorism, and antisemitism.
Could you share an inspiring story that demonstrates the impact your efforts have had on an individual or community?
When the Taliban came to power in 2021, my partner, Dana Wilsey, and I were fielding several requests from Afghan filmmakers and activists we had worked with over the years. One such request came from, Samira,* who was being chased by the Taliban for her human rights work. Dana and I desperately tried to figure out a way to keep Samira, her husband, and her one-year-old baby safe. We raised money for safehouses, provided food and medicine, and worked tirelessly to try and find her a way out of the country. Her story inspired the short film, Samira’s Camera.
Miraculously, in September 2023, Samira and her family immigrated to Germany.
In your opinion, why do you think there has been such a surge of antisemitism, racism, bigotry, & hate, recently?
There is not enough critical thought or nuance in our society, nor on campus. Social media has created an environment in which all issues and ideas must be explained in 90 seconds or less. How can we unpack the Middle East crisis in 90 seconds? How can we unpack any crisis or issue facing our world in 90 seconds? We must learn to slow down, have tough conversations, and wade through the uncomfortable details of history and divergent voices and opinions.
Are there three things the community/society/politicians can do to help you address the root of the problem you are trying to solve?
We have to teach everyone that they can have empathy for multiple sides. Why can’t one feel empathy and pain and demand justice for Palestinians AND Israelis? As a friend of mine said, not everything is a Disney movie where there is a good guy and a bad guy. Media and the algorithm reward extreme viewpoints and fraught headlines; we need to move past this and really celebrate nuance and discomfort. Most of the world’s most pressing problems can’t be tied up into a nice, neat bow — that’s why they’re the world’s most pressing problems! Probably the best thing we can do is learn to encourage debate, disagreement, critical thought and nuance. How can we reward institutions, schools, and organizations who espouse these values?
What are your “5 Things Everyone Can Do To Be An Upstander”? If you can, please share a story or an example for each.
1 . When you feel that queasiness in your stomach, or that ache in your heart, knowing that something is wrong — don’t ignore it! Do anything you can to stand up for what you know is right.
2 . Educate yourself on complex issues. Go deep and then deeper on issues that concern you or you might have questions about. Don’t just learn the facts from Instagram or Twitter; take a trip to the library and read a (very long!) book on the topic. Read an article by someone you don’t agree with; read newspapers that might not fit your political preference. Challenge yourself at every turn.
3 . Find a mentor who you trust and whose work you admire. What can you glean from this individual?
4 . Join a community of like-minded people who care about similar issues so that you don’t feel that you’re on your own. Or, if you can’t find a community which already exists, start reaching out to friends and colleagues to see if you can start your own group.
5 . Make small shifts, no matter what. If you’re in conversation with someone who makes a joke that is bigoted, don’t just “let it go.” See if you can find ways to stand your ground as an Upstander.
How do you handle the emotional toll that comes with being an Upstander?
Some days are easier than others. My kids really help me turn off and focus on the beauty and joy of life; I’d probably just work all the time if it weren’t for them! I meditate every day. I study the Torah and love reading the insights of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks; it helps me zoom out and see that we are all part of something bigger.
If you were in charge of the major social media companies, what would you do to address the hate on the platforms? Could you share specific strategies or policies that you believe would be effective in addressing hate on social media platforms?
First and foremost, I would ensure that no terrorist organizations have access to social media accounts or platforms. I would also work tirelessly to ensure that authoritarian governments would not be allowed to abuse the platforms to crack down on human rights activists and dissidents.
I don’t know all the ins and outs of social media, but I would work to reward nuanced speech and not polarized speech. It’s almost as if we interact with social media to be enraged. There’s got to be a better way.
How would you answer someone who says: “Hate speech is permitted under the US Constitution. Why are you so worried about permitted, and legal speech?”
I’m less worried about permitted and legal speech as I am about the ideas and institutions which underpin and facilitate hatred and misinformation. I strongly believe in the First Amendment and its robust protections. We will always have individuals employing hateful rhetoric. I don’t believe their voices should be curbed.
However, I am deeply concerned about universities, organizations, and institutions who aren’t calling out this hate speech. Folks should be able to exercise their First Amendment rights, and institutions and individuals should be right there next to them, drowning them out and criticizing their voices!
Are you optimistic that we can solve this problem in the United States? Can you please explain what you mean?
I am cautiously optimistic that we can solve this problem in the USA, but we have a lot of work to do and there is no time to waste. We must start with our educational systems and our local institutions. How can we ensure that there is space for nuance and true, deep, authentic conversations. I’ve been astounded to see folks in my professional circle post content which is antisemitic and prejudiced. Did they not realize that this language was deeply hurtful? What led to their ignorance on these matters? These are difficult questions to ask, but we have to start untangling the painful discourse.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to become an Upstander but doesn’t know where to start?
I think there are two crucial ways to start: one, get to know people who are Upstanders. Try to be in their presence or hear them speak, even if it’s from a YouTube conversation or interview. I was deeply impacted by activists and Upstanders as a teenager, and I would encourage everyone to try and get to know people who really see the world in a different way and are relentless in their pursuit of changing the status quo.
Next, I would say that education is crucial. I am concerned that we are not getting a robust, diverse, and complex education. Head to a library, read the classics (!), read books or read articles from different time periods. For example, what were thought leaders saying right before the Berlin Wall fell? How did everyday individuals react to 9/11? We have so much access to information — let’s use it!
In what ways can education be leveraged to combat antisemitism, racism, bigotry, and hate?
School curriculums from elementary school through to college should have multiple viewpoints. History should be vigorously taught from diverse perspectives. There should be mandatory curricula on the Holocaust. Shockingly, there are large gaps in the education about the Holocaust and a majority of Americans believe the Holocaust can happen again.
I believe school should be the antidote to social media. What do I mean by this? Schools should be a place where students are presented with many diverse opinions and have in-depth conversations about challenging topics.
We also need to amplify the voices of human rights activists, political dissidents, and local historical ‘heroes’ so that students understand that it’s everyday people who make a difference. Do local students know the names of the local civil rights activists in their town? Who was the first woman elected to city council in their community? There rae everyday heroes who can inspire a world of change and create a meaningful ripple effect.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“I shut my eyes in order to see.” — Paul Gaugin. I believe we have all the answers we need within us, and we must get really comfortable with accessing all the many parts of ourselves which can provide us with wisdom.
Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂
I would love to connect with Sheryl Sandberg. I am in awe of the way she reinvents herself, and challenges herself, no matter the difficulties she has endured. I believe she has been an extraordinary role model for women in the workplace, but she also is transparent about her shortcomings or places for improvement. Most recently, I am deeply moved and inspired by her work to tell the stories of sexual violence perpetrated by Hamas against Israeli women. She is using her platform to educate and bear witness for some of the most horrific crimes of our generation. It would be an honor to meet her and learn about where she finds her strength, and what is next for her!
How can our readers further follow your work online?
Check us out at www.the49percent.org or on Instagram, www.instagram.com/the49percent
This was very meaningful, thank you so much. We wish you only continued success in your important work!
Upstanders: How Paula Kweskin of ‘The 49%’ Is Standing Up Against Antisemitism, Racism, Bigotry… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.