Jeopardy Drama: Palestine Solidarity Activist On Winning Streak

Emma Saltzberg, a progressive Jewish activist and leader, fully expected to be criticized as a result of a winning streak on Jeopardy.

By Philissa Cramer, Jewish Telegraphic Agency

From her years of experience in progressive Jewish groups, including IfNotNow, a group founded in 2014 to galvanize American Jews to oppose Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories, she knew that her appearance on one of the most popular TV shows in the United States would likely generate negative comments from those who believe criticizing the occupation is antisemitic.

So when those comments started to appear on social media, especially after IfNotNow touted her third win, and then her fourth and final contest, Saltzberg wasn’t surprised.

Jeopardy winner Emma Saltzberg is a Palestine solidarity activist.

“That was priced in to my decision to do something public,” she told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “I was totally expecting it.”

What she hadn’t counted on, she said, was her fellow contestants standing up for her. On Monday, Lawrence Long, the nursing student and self-described “stay-at-home uncle” from North Carolina who defeated Saltzberg on Monday’s episode reached out to let her know that he was distressed by the attacks and would be donating to IfNotNow in her honor.