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In ‘Black and Jewish America,’ Henry Louis Gates Jr explores the history of Black-Jewish partnership and conflict
The new PBS series Black and Jewish America: An Interwoven History is not the first piece of media to investigate the relationship between the two communities. But what’s unique about the program, narrated by scholar and Finding Your Roots host Henry Louis Gates Jr., is that it doesn’t shy away from the historic complexities of this partnership — and the many times it almost fell apart.
Alarmed by the recent rise in white supremacist hate crimes, Gates reconnected with Paul Bertelsen and Sara Wolitzky, who had worked on some of his past projects and are co-directors and co-producers of the series.
“I think we all felt collectively the same kind of revulsion at this rise of white supremacist hate,” Bertelsen, who was a producer on Gates’ Peabody Award-winning series The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross, told me over Zoom. “The hoods came off, you know, and so we all, as storytellers and historians, grew concerned, and found this to be a great opportunity to kind of show the importance of shared experience and coalition building.”
Narrated by Gates, the four hour-long episodes recount chronologically Black and Jewish history in America from 1492 through the present using archival footage and interviews with historians and cultural scholars, such as Cornel West and Derek Penslar. From the first episode, they establish that the two identities have never been mutually exclusive. Gates sits around a seder table with white Jews, including author Abigail Pogrebin, and Black Jews, such as chef Micahel Twitty and Shais Rison, the African-American Orthodox Jewish writer known as Ma Nishtana.
By describing times when Black and Jewish people were allies as well as when they were in conflict with one another, the series feels more authentic — and more convincing — than other media about allyship that are often rooted in platitudes and a romanticization of the past. It’s impossible to have honest partnership without confronting uncomfortable truths: There were Jewish slave owners, there were members of the Black Power movement who subscribed to virulent antisemitism, and not all Jews were allies with the Civil Rights movement.
Wolitzky told me that Susanna Heschel, daughter of Rabbi Abraham Heschel, who famously marched with Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma in 1965, recounted a department store called Tepper’s that was near the march. It was owned by Jewish businessman Sol Tepper who was a member of the supremacist organization the White Citizens Council.
“These communities are not monoliths in any shape or form, and at every moment you have differences of opinion,” Wolitzky said
Because many Jews were seen as white, they had legal and economic advantages that weren’t afforded to their Black neighbors, even while they faced social discrimination, such as university quotas and country club bans. Some Jews used this privilege to help Black people, and others used it to take advantage, such as Louis Armstrong’s manager Joe Glaser, who, according to jazz artist Ben Sidran, was likely not giving Armstrong his fair share of money.
The Jewish manager-Black artist dynamic has caused conflict throughout music history, in rock, rap, and hip-hop, although these other incidents aren’t mentioned directly in the series. Given the depth of the history of Black and Jewish relations, some stories and details had to be left on the cutting room floor.
“One of the things we couldn’t afford to do is tell the same story twice, even if it featured different characters,” Bertelsen said. “We were very eager to kind of look at Def Jam Records, and Rick Rubin, and Russell Simmons, and that crew. But we had told it in Episode #2, in essence, through Louis Armstrong and Joe Glazer.”
The creators have packed a lot into a relatively short amount of time, including both well-known incidents of Black and Jewish allyship — such as Jews co-founding the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People — and stories that aren’t as broadly discussed — such as Black-Jewish partnership in Merriam, Kansas, to advocate for better Black educational facilities in the 1940s.
Black and Jewish ends by touching on the political fallout after Oct. 7, but offering hope in the form of an intercultural student dialogue group at UCLA founded in the wake of campus protests and led by professor David Myers, an occasional Forward contributor.
Of course, the story isn’t over. Since filming ended in 2025, new developments in national politics and concerning Israel have already popped up. The show mentions the Anti-Defamation’s League role in combatting Black labor exploitation in the Bronx, even as the organization has recently stepped back from broader civil rights causes.
Wolitzky mentioned the recent accusations of antisemitism in DEI initiatives as another issue that’s relevant to the ongoing story of how Black and Jewish people relate in America. However, like the changing ADL, it’s a story that we are still living through.
“These films are really a historical lens, and it’s always really hard to have that same sense of perspective on the current moment,” Wolitzky said.
The first episode of Black and Jewish America: An Interwoven History premieres on PBS on Tuesday, February 3rd at 9pm EST. On Feb. 5, Henry Louis Gates Jr., the filmmakers, and Sen. Corey Booker will discuss the series at 92NY.
The post In ‘Black and Jewish America,’ Henry Louis Gates Jr explores the history of Black-Jewish partnership and conflict appeared first on The Forward.
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High-Stakes US Special Forces Mission Rescues Airman From Iran After F-15 Crash
FILE PHOTO: A U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft takes off for a mission supporting Operation Epic Fury during the Iran war at an undisclosed location, March 9, 2026. U.S. Air Force/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
US forces staged the audacious rescue of an airman behind enemy lines after Iran downed his fighter jet, officials said on Sunday, resolving a crisis for President Donald Trump as he weighs escalating the war, now in its sixth week.
The airman rescued by special operations forces, who Trump said was a colonel, was the weapons-systems officer on the downed F-15, a US official told Reuters.
“Over the past several hours, the United States Military pulled off one of the most daring Search and Rescue Operations in US History,” Trump said in a statement, adding that the airman was injured but “he will be just fine.”
The officer was the second of two crew members on the warplane that Iran said on Friday had been brought down by its air defenses. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said several aircraft were destroyed during the US rescue mission, Tasnim news agency reported.
Reuters reported on Friday that the first crew member had been retrieved, triggering a high-profile search by both Iran and the United States for the remaining airman.
Iranian officials had urged citizens to help find him, hoping to gain leverage against Washington in the war Trump and Israel launched on February 28.
Trump has threatened to escalate the conflict in the coming days with attacks on Iran’s energy infrastructure.
Had Iran captured the airman, the ensuing hostage crisis could have shifted American public perception of a conflict that opinion polls show was already unpopular.
Trump said the airman was rescued “in the treacherous mountains of Iran” in what he said was the first time in military memory that two US pilots had been rescued, separately, deep in enemy territory.
The official told Reuters that as the weapons-systems officer was moved from near a mountain to a transport aircraft parked within Iran, US forces had to destroy at least one of the aircraft because it had malfunctioned.
U.S. AIRCRAFT HIT
The rescue effort, involving dozens of military aircraft, encountered fierce resistance from Iran.
Reuters reported on Friday that two Black Hawk helicopters involved in the search were hit by Iranian fire but escaped from Iranian airspace.
Separately, a pilot ejected from an A-10 Warthog fighter aircraft after it was hit over Kuwait and crashed, the officials said, though the extent of crew injuries was unclear.
Still, Trump was triumphant.
“The fact that we were able to pull off both of these operations, without a SINGLE American killed, or even wounded, just proves once again, that we have achieved overwhelming Air Dominance and Superiority over the Iranian skies,” he said in his statement.
US air crews are trained in what to do if they go down behind enemy lines, measures known as Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape, but few are fluent in Persian and face a challenge in staying undetected while seeking rescue.
The conflict has killed 13 US military service members, with more than 300 wounded, US Central Command says. No US troops have been taken prisoner by Iran.
While Trump has repeatedly sought to portray the Iranian military as being in tatters, they have repeatedly been able to hit US aircraft.
Reuters reported on US intelligence showing that Iran retains large amounts of missile and drone capability. Until just over a week ago, the US could only determine with certainty that it had destroyed about one-third of Iran’s missile arsenal.
The status of about another third was less clear, but bombings probably damaged, destroyed or buried those missiles in underground tunnels and bunkers, Reuters sources said.
The US and Israeli war on Iran has spread across the Middle East, killing thousands and hitting the global economy with soaring energy prices that are fueling fears of inflation.
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On Easter, Pope Leo Urges World Leaders to End Wars, Renounce Conquest
Pope Leo XIV waves from the main balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica after delivering his “Urbi et Orbi” (To the city and the world) message, on Easter Sunday at the Vatican, April 5, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Remo Casilli
Pope Leo urged global leaders in his Easter message on Sunday to end the conflicts raging across the world and abandon any schemes for power, conquest or domination.
The pope, who has emerged as an outspoken critic of the Iran war, lamented in a special message to the thousands gathered in St. Peter’s Square that people “are growing accustomed to violence, resigning ourselves to it, and becoming indifferent.”
“Let those who have weapons lay them down!” the first US pope exhorted. “Let those who have the power to unleash wars choose peace!”
Leo did not mention any specific conflicts in the message, known as the “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and the world) blessing. It was unusually brief and direct.
The pope said that the story of Easter, when the Bible says Jesus rose from the dead three days after not resisting his execution by crucifixion, shows that Christ was “entirely nonviolent.”
“On this day of celebration, let us abandon every desire for conflict, domination, and power, and implore the Lord to grant his peace to a world ravaged by wars,” Leo urged.
Leo, who is known for choosing his words carefully, has been forcefully decrying the world’s violent conflicts in recent weeks and ramping up his criticism of the Iran war.
In a sermon for the Easter vigil on Saturday night, he urged people not to feel numbed by the scope of the conflicts raging across the world but to work for peace.
The pope made a rare direct appeal to US President Donald Trump on Tuesday, urging him to find an “off-ramp” to end the Iran war.
In his address from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica on Sunday to the Square below, decorated with thousands of brightly colored flowers for the holiday, Leo offered brief Easter greetings in ten languages, including Latin, Arabic and Chinese.
The pope also announced he would return to the Basilica on April 11 to host a prayer vigil for peace.
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Temple Mount Set for Limited Reopening to Jews and Muslims
Israeli National Security Minister and head of Jewish Power party Itamar Ben-Gvir gives a statement to members of the press, ahead of a possible ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Jerusalem, Jan. 16, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Oren Ben Hakoon
i24 News – Israeli authorities are preparing to partially reopen the Temple Mount in Jerusalem to both Jewish and Muslim worshipers for the first time since the start of the war with Iran, under a tightly controlled and highly restricted security arrangement, i24NEWS has learned.
According to details obtained by i24NEWS, the Israeli police, backed by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, are also expected to permit limited access for Jewish worshipers to the Western Wall as part of the same phased plan.
Under the framework, access to the Temple Mount and surrounding holy sites would be restricted to small groups of up to 150 people at a time. In the event of a missile alert, all visitors would be immediately evacuated in accordance with emergency protocols.
The decision follows a recent Supreme Court ruling allowing demonstrations in a limited format. Police argue that a consistent standard must apply across both civic gatherings and religious sites, with Ben-Gvir insisting that “there cannot be one rule for demonstrations and another for the Temple Mount.”
However, the reopening contradicts recommendations from the Home Front Command, which has advised keeping sensitive sites closed due to the ongoing risk of missile attacks.
Israeli Justice Minister Yariv Levin has proposed transferring authority over such security-related decisions exclusively to defense officials, an initiative that could reshape the balance between the judiciary and security establishment regarding restrictions on public access.