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How a Kentucky lawmaker’s friendship with a Jewish woman helped inspire her viral speech decrying anti-trans legislation
(JTA) — Pamela Stevenson, a Democratic state representative in Kentucky, was chatting recently with her friend Zahava Kurland about one of Kurland’s duties at her Orthodox synagogue: preparing the dead for burial.
“She was trying to explain to me certain things that had to be done,” Stevenson, who is also a Black Baptist minister, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency last week. The seemingly esoteric topic was one of many the two women have discussed over more than a decade of weekly Friday-morning conversations — which cover anything from politics and friendship to faith and being one’s true self.
Stevenson said her conversations with Kurland have made her attuned to Jewish sensibilities. “She’s always listening for and giving me information” about Judaism and Jewish experiences, said Stevenson, who was first elected to the Kentucky legislature in 2020.
So Kurland was not surprised when, in a viral speech on Wednesday decrying her fellow lawmakers for signing off on a law that bans gender-affirming care for trans youth, Stevenson also centered antisemitism.
“First, you hated Black people,” Stevenson said, addressing the Republican lawmakers who voted for the legislation. “Then, you hated Jews. Now, you’re hating everybody. So the question is, when the only people left are you, will you hate yourself?”
Kurland said her friend is a listener and naturally empathetic, so she would be sensitive to how hatreds intersect.
“She’s truly well balanced,” said Kurland. “She truly cares about people.”
Stevenson says she looks forward to her Friday morning talks with Kurland. She said the conversations have helped give her a more expansive perspective on life, which drives her to fight bigotry.
“I really believe that I will never know as much as she knows,” Stevenson said. “But I can develop an appreciation for what it’s like and not use my view of the world as the only view of the world.”
What prompted Stevenson’s floor speech was the overwhelmingly Republican legislature’s override of Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s veto of a law that bans a range of medical treatments and practices for trans youth. It outlaws doctors from providing gender-affirming treatment to youth; requires them to cease care if it has already begun; bans conversations in schools about gender identity or sexual orientation; bans school districts from allowing transgender students to use the bathroom aligned with their gender identity; and allows teachers to refuse to use a child’s preferred pronouns.
The bill was introduced weeks after state Sen. Karen Berg’s trans son, Henry Berg-Brousseau, died by suicide. Berg, who is Jewish, said that referring to the anti-trans bill as a parents’ rights bill is an “absolutely despicable affront to me personally,” according to The Washington Post. Stevenson, who has appeared alongside Berg at rallies, called her “phenomenal” and said, “This is infinitely more personal for her.”
Stevenson said that she mentioned anti-Jewish hatred in her speech because she believes hatreds are mutually reinforcing, and she connects the anti-trans sentiment she sees with rising racism and antisemitism.
“If you have a model where you have to hate somebody to win, then you always have to have somebody to hate,” she said. “People say it was out of nowhere, but it’s really out of somewhere. We’ve gone through the cycles of the Native Americans, the Black folks have been hated for a long time, the disabled. Everybody is always on the bottom of that model. And in just recent years, it was the Muslims, then it was the immigrants, and then it was back around the Blacks again. And so because of this overflow of hate, there’s been an uptick in antisemitic actions.”
Stevenson said her mission is to make people cognizant of the roots of hatred. “People want to say that all the attacks against the Jewish temples and the Jewish people in recent times came out of nowhere,” she said, referring to reports of a spike in antisemitic attacks. “No, it did not. We just have chosen not to pay attention to what’s been said.”
Kurland, who is a member of Congregation Beth Jacob in Atlanta, and Stevenson, a retired Air Force Colonel and an attorney who is running to be Kentucky’s attorney general, met in 2006 when Stevenson was serving in the Air Force and Kurland was working as an accountant in Atlanta. They attended a three-day course with Landmark, the personal development program that presses participants to face uncomfortable truths about themselves.
“When we were closer-in logistically she came over very often for Shabbos meals,” Kurland said. “I often invite people for Shabbos meals and the holidays and I love explaining, you know, how Judaism gave more to the world than anything, anybody, any person. Torah, Judaism has given the world its whole structure for society.”
The Air Force started moving Stevenson around. “That’s when we started talking on the phone all the time, because we couldn’t get together,” Kurland said.
Stevenson is “a committed listener, someone who’s going to hear you and call you out on your stuff,” Kurland said. “It’s not a friendship where you massage each other’s egos. It’s a friendship where you hold each other to account for who you say you are.”
They each speak with outrage at the lawmakers who, they feel, would breach the relationship between a parent and a child.
“As a mother, how dare you interfere with one of the most intimate relationships?” Stevenson said two weeks ago during debate on the bill, addressing Rep. Jennifer Decker, a Republican who was its lead sponsor. “We have no right to interfere in the parental rights.”
Kurland agrees. “These are all decisions to be made between a child and his parents or her parents and their doctor,” she said. “It has no place for the government to have anything to do with anything.”
And both Kurland and Stevenson say religion is a key part of their identities.
“Judaism is the center part of my life,” said Kurland. “It’s what I am, it’s who I am, it’s what I’m about. And as a Jew, you cannot sit by and let another one of God’s human beings [be excluded]. I mean, when we honor other people, we are doing God’s work. We are honoring God. When we cut people out, then we’re not “
Stevenson likewise calls herself “a woman of faith.”
“I believe what is required, in almost every faith that I know of, is to love one another and take care of the people around us,” she said.
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The post How a Kentucky lawmaker’s friendship with a Jewish woman helped inspire her viral speech decrying anti-trans legislation appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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After Mamdani’s Win, What’s Next for ‘Globalize the Intifada’?
US Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) speaks at a press conference with activists calling for a ceasefire in Gaza in front of the Capitol in Washington, DC, Dec. 14, 2023. Photo: Annabelle Gordon / CNP/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
Minnesota Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar skipped spending time with her constituents and instead opted to use the recent 43-day government shutdown to meet with Malcolm Jallow, a virulent Jew-hating Minister of the Swedish Parliament.
Last week, Jallow posted a picture on his Instagram page of himself posing with Omar, and also anti-Zionist political commentator Mehdi Hassan.
Omar appears beaming while cozying up to Jallow, who is donning a keffiyeh-like scarf with an image depicting the complete erasure of Israel and a Palestinian State as its replacement.
In his lengthy Instagram post, Jallow gushed over his time with Omar and Hassan, writing that “every time we come together, sharing experiences, strategies and visions, we are not just building movements, we are building the future.”
The Congresswoman’s choice to meet with a radical antisemite like Jallow reflects a deliberate choice by the antisemitic politician to leverage radical Democrat Zohran Mamdani’s New York City mayoral victory earlier that week and assist in accelerating the anti-Jewish animus streaming through the Western world.
Mamdani’s success gifts Omar the political cover to learn from and replicate the Gambian-born Jallow’s success in eroding Sweden’s historic reputation as a safe and peaceful country.
Less than a week following the hard left capture of New York City, Omar’s gleeful appearance before a picture showing the elimination of Israel also serves as an ominous warning that open hostility toward Israel is no longer viewed as a political liability within the Democratic Party orbit.
In fact, it’s a position that may now be considered an asset.
The anti-Israel Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) recently boasted that it secured a “record-breaking 42 election wins.”
Armed with its Political Action Committee (PAC), the Unity and Justice Fund, the Muslim-Brotherhood aligned group, which blamed Israel for the October 7 massacre, is helping usher a new cohort of radical ideologues into the American political system.
Mamdani’s fiery address to supporters following his win was empty of humility and lacked patriotism. The word “America” was not mentioned once. For her part, Omar devotes most of her time extolling the virtues of multiculturalism and embracing a radical agenda that is not in line with the vast majority of Americans.
Despite the two Muslim foreign-born policymakers attaining extraordinary professional success, their behavior seethes with contempt for their adopted homeland. They both espouse a broader, anti-Western civilizational ethos.
Helping drive the antisemitic measures in Congress is Representative Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), who led 20 colleagues in trying to put the US House of Representatives on record last Friday as condemning Israel’s actions as “genocide.”
Mamdani has also pointedly shared that pro-Israel Democrats are not welcome in his coalition. The incoming mayor’s hatred of the Jewish State dictated his only legislative priority while serving in the State Assembly when the young socialist introduced the “Not on our dime!” act, a bill that seeks to revoke the tax-exempt status for pro-Israel charities.
All of these measures only give more power to anti-Israel activists like Linda Sarsour.
The Mamdani surrogate, who has pledged to help remove pro-Israel Democrats from power, is linked to the controversial charity, The Arab American Association of New York (AAANY), a group that’s no doubt eagerly anticipating funding beyond the nearly four million dollars it was granted from New York State and city over a period of seven years, according to the Washington Free Beacon.
The victory of Zohran Mamdani and Omar’s subsequent meeting with Jallow are poignant reminders that “Globalizing the Intifada” need not require bullets or bombs, but can begin with dangerous politicians who gain footholds in American cities. Their crowning achievement will be spreading their influence across our nation, chipping away at America’s place as a safe haven for Jews and all groups, and perhaps ultimately rendering our nation uninhabitable for Jewish Americans.
Irit Tratt is a writer who lives in New York. Follow her on X @Irit_Tratt.
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Growing Danger: Why Iran’s Nuclear Defiance Demands a New Strategy
Navy forces of the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution commandos and missile boats in Great Prophet IX Maneuver in the general area of Strait of Hormuz, Persian Gulf. Photo: Sayyed Shahab Odin Vajedi/Wikimedia Commons.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed this past week that Iran has not allowed its inspectors access to the nuclear sites bombed by Israeli and American forces in June. This sustained, deliberate obstruction has persisted for five months, rendering the verification of its nuclear material inventories long overdue.
Iran’s action is no mere technical violation; it is the creation of strategic ambiguity. Iran is actively denying the international community the ability to pinpoint the location and status of the 440.9 kilograms of uranium it had enriched to 60 percent purity, a quantity the IAEA itself assesses as potentially sufficient for 10 nuclear bombs if further refined.
The gravest threat is not just the volume of material, but the intentional collapse of verification. By keeping the IAEA blind, Iran ensures that any future military action will carry exponentially higher risks of striking a facility closer to weaponization than previously verifiable. Tehran is deliberately hedging its bets, creating a permanent deterrent shield of uncertainty.
The Synchronized Strike: Nuclear Threat Meets Naval Aggression
This nuclear defiance is not occurring in isolation. It is strategically synchronized with Iran’s kinetic threats in vital waterways.
The seizure of a Marshall Islands–flagged oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz last week by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps is a clear act of economic and military blackmail. This move directly targets a vessel operated by British and German interests, sending a hostile message to the E3 nations — France, Britain, and Germany — that any diplomatic pressure, like the new anti-Iran resolution they are planning at the IAEA, will be met with immediate, tangible military retaliation in the Persian Gulf.
Iran is attempting to dictate the diplomatic price of its own proliferation. It is leveraging its strategic nuclear advantage and its tactical naval aggression simultaneously. When the E3 countries threaten diplomatic action, Tehran responds not with words but with seized ships. This is an integrated campaign designed to impose asymmetric costs on the West, forcing economic decisions to override security principles.
The Allied Betrayal and the Failure of Pressure
The deepest source of vulnerability lies in the exposure of systemic differences within the allied camp itself. The US Treasury sanctions announced last week exposed a critical failure: entities operating within key allied countries — specifically Turkey — are actively running procurement networks that supply Iran’s ballistic missile and UAV programs.
This exposure is a profound betrayal of the maximum pressure campaign. It proves that, despite diplomatic assurances, allied nations are prioritizing transactional gains over the existential security of the international community. Iran’s ability to exploit the financial systems of NATO members and crucial Gulf partners confirms that the campaign against Tehran is critically compromised by internal sabotage and greed.
This internal compromise is what gives Iran the confidence to engage in its dual-domain aggression. When Turkey insists on maintaining its Russian S-400 system, defying US security mandates, and simultaneously enables Iran’s missile growth, it is acting as a strategic liability, not a partner.
The Mandate for Decisive Action
Israel, with the full backing of the United States, cannot afford to wait for the consensus-driven paralysis of the United Nations. The current diplomatic landscape offers little comfort: Russia and China are actively undermining the US-led stabilization plan for Gaza, and Saudi Arabia is holding normalization hostage to impossible political demands. The enemy is exploiting the West’s focus on internal squabbles.
Iran is at the 10-bomb threshold and actively preventing the verification required to pull it back; Iran is using military seizures to retaliate against diplomatic pressure; and allied nations are enabling Iran’s most destructive weapons programs.
Diplomatic pressure should be immediately paired with credible joint military deterrence in the Strait of Hormuz to secure the free flow of commerce. Furthermore, Washington must enforce strict accountability on its allies, making it clear that funding Iran’s missile program is an act of geopolitical sabotage that will incur severe and immediate penalties.
The window for a diplomatic solution is closing rapidly. If the current trend of non-compliance and synchronized defiance continues, the world will soon have to face the fact that Iran’s pursuit of nuclear capability has crossed the point of no return.
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Palestinian Economist: Because of Pay-for-Slay, ‘There Is No Money’
People hold Fatah flags during a protest in support of the people of Gaza, as the conflict between Israel and Hamas continues, in Hebron, in the West Bank, Oct. 27, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Mussa Qawasma
Just a week after a senior Palestinian Authority (PA) education official acknowledged that the PA prefers to fund terrorists rather than its children’s education system, a prominent Palestinian economist has now admitted that the PA cannot pay civil servants because it has chosen to pay terrorists first.
General Union of Palestinian Economists Secretary Nasser Atyani: “We are talking about around 280 million shekels ($85.5 million) that are being deducted [by Israel] every month [of the Gaza war], which were earmarked for the Gaza Strip, aside from an additional amount of 55-60 million shekels ($16.8-18.3 million) that were earmarked for the families of the Martyrs [i.e., Israel deducts the amount of PA terror salaries]
… We are saying that we have a problem with the [PA] budget and that there is no money, for example, to pay the salaries of the [PA] employees and cover the expenses.” [emphasis added]
[Official PA TV, The Economic Discourse, Oct. 29, 2025]
Atyani intended this as a complaint against Israel, but his words confirm the real story — the PA has no money for civil servants because it deliberately allocates massive funds to terrorists and their families.
Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) has repeatedly shown that the PA’s budget crisis would end immediately if the PA stopped its “Pay-for-Slay” rewards for terrorists serving prison sentences, as well as released terrorists, and the families of dead terrorists.
Instead of paying teachers, nurses, and other public employees, the PA continues to funnel tens of millions of dollars every month to incentivize terror.
The PA leadership enters each budget year knowing precisely how much money will be deducted by Israel — the same sum the PA allocated to terror salaries the previous year. And yet the PA refuses to stop prioritizing terror. This admission has been made on PA TV twice in just over a week — there is money, but it is reserved for terrorists first.
The bottom line is unavoidable. The Palestinian Authority’s financial crisis is not caused by Israel. Rather, it is the direct result of the PA’s unwavering commitment to reward terrorism at the expense of its own people.
Ephraim D. Tepler is a contributor to Palestinian Media Watch (PMW). Itamar Marcus is the Founder and Director of PMW, where a version of this article first appeared.