Why Shalzed?
I served for many years as a rabbi, and afterwards I earned a Master’s degree in international law and human rights. I pursued that degree because I believed human rights could provide people of different cultures, religions, and national identities with a shared language for dialogue and understanding.
Rights conflict. Applying them requires interpretation, judgment and trade-offs. Even people deeply committed to human rights may disagree about what they require.
For example, human rights can tell us that people have a right to be protected from discrimination. But they don’t necessarily tell us which policies will best achieve that. People can agree on the right while disagreeing about the solution.
When one proposed solution is presented as the human rights position, opposition to that policy can be made to look like opposition to human rights themselves.
I created Shalzed because I believe human rights should help us understand those we disagree with, not give us another reason to condemn them.
If you would like to contribute your own essays, have an idea, or would like to get involved, please see the contact page for how to be in touch.
- Shlomo Levin
I served for many years as a rabbi, and afterwards I earned a Master’s degree in international law and human rights. I pursued that degree because I believed human rights could provide people of different cultures, religions, and national identities with a shared language for dialogue and understanding.
Rights conflict. Applying them requires interpretation, judgment and trade-offs. Even people deeply committed to human rights may disagree about what they require.
For example, human rights can tell us that people have a right to be protected from discrimination. But they don’t necessarily tell us which policies will best achieve that. People can agree on the right while disagreeing about the solution.
When one proposed solution is presented as the human rights position, opposition to that policy can be made to look like opposition to human rights themselves.
I created Shalzed because I believe human rights should help us understand those we disagree with, not give us another reason to condemn them.
If you would like to contribute your own essays, have an idea, or would like to get involved, please see the contact page for how to be in touch.
- Shlomo Levin
Human rights should be a shared language for understanding, not another weapon in our conflicts.
If you agree, join our community.
Why an Alien?
An alien provides something that’s hard to put into essays or questions: a fresh set of outsider eyes. Shalzed assumed human rights had created a world of peace and justice, but upon arrival he’s shocked by how little they’ve accomplished. And he can’t understand how, rather than bring people together, the human rights movement to drive them apart.
Shalzed asks questions that may seem obvious, but we still often miss. Are activists truly helping the causes they claim to represent? Why is human rights so riddled with double standards?
Shalzed’s stories provide another unique lens through which to examine the human rights movement.
