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Cancel culture in Israel: Trans activists disturb US author’s speaking event, limit book sales

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Rather than dispute the content or the facts presented in Abigail Shrier’s book, the radical trans activists instead frame the author as being a hateful bigot.

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

American author Abigail Shrier was targeted by transgender activists during her recent trip to Israel, causing her Hebrew-language publisher to cancel a reading of her book at a Tel Aviv venue and move the event to a secret location – which was later swarmed by demonstrators.

Shrier, a longtime writer for the Wall Street Journal, penned the bombshell book Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing our Daughters in 2020.

The best-selling book outlines a number of concerns regarding gender transition among American children and teenagers, specifically focusing on the explosion in the number of biological girls now identifying as boys.

The Israeli publishing house Sella Meir translated Shrier’s book for an Israeli audience and invited the author, who is Jewish, to Tel Aviv to speak at an event celebrating the publication of the text in Hebrew.

However, transgender activists immediately attempted to prevent Shrier from speaking, launching a social media campaign that presented the author as “dangerous” to trans teens and declaring that her “goal” is “controlling the public discourse in Israel and importing messianic American conservatism.”

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The event, which was originally scheduled to take place at the ZOA House in Tel Aviv, was canceled for security reasons and moved to a secret location.

The day of the event, organizers told those who had purchased tickets that the talk had been moved to a smaller location in the neighboring city of Ramat Gan.

Within hours, demonstrators discovered the venue and loudly protested on the sidewalk and street nearby, chanting “Shame!” at Shrier as she was hustled into the venue under heavy security.

But rather than dispute the content or the facts presented in Shrier’s book, the trans activists instead framed the author as being a hateful bigot.

Notably, one protester who identified as a transgender man told Haaretz that “they” had not read Shrier’s book. Rather, “they” vehemently disagrees with the message that teens who transition may regret doing so later in life.

But the intense pushback against the reading may have backfired for the activists, as their protests sparked interest and support from some who otherwise may not have purchased the book or attended the event.

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“I saw that they tried to silence [Shrier] so I even bought the book online from Sella Meir,” Robert, an immigrant to Israel from Germany, told Haaretz.

“Now I’m even happier because the protest outside shows that they don’t accept freedom of speech, so it’s even more important to listen to her.”

Dina, an Israeli-born attendee, told Haaretz that she was worried about “the ideological wave coming here from Western countries – mainly from North America, mostly from academia – which tells teachers to spread identity politics in the education system.”

In a series of tweets, Shrier disputed the Haaretz report regarding the event, which downplayed the number of attendees.

She also noted that the two largest booksellers in Israel have refused to carry hers, caving to pressure.

“One protester rushed the stage and had to be wrestled to the ground by audience members – something anyone who bought a ticket knew might happen. And *still* it was standing room only.

“Leftist media declares: ‘only a few’ attended,” Shrier wrote. “It’s a technique totalitarians have always used to make their opponents appear small and marginal. It’s an optical illusion. It’s shameless, it’s false, and a situation the Left worked to create – which they now report on as if it were an organic result. Don’t fall for it.”

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