Believe Jewish Students: Antisemitism at Berkeley High

Imagine being a Jewish student at Berkeley High. Imagine being an Israeli-American student. Imagine walking into your classroom and seeing this. No nuance. Nothing with educational content or promoting critical thinking. One sided platitudes. 

Anti-Israel propaganda in a Berkeley High Classroom

What would you do? Would you say something? Or would you just remain silent, hoping that nothing slips out that might affect your grade or college recommendations?

Earlier this year,  the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law filed a federal civil rights complaint alleging antisemitic bullying by both peers and teachers in Berkeley K-12 schools.

From the ADL 

The complaint documented how BUSD teachers are weaponizing disciplines such as art and history to promote anti-Semitic tropes about Israel. At Berkeley High School, a history teacher screened an anti-Zionist video and forced students to analyze Israel as an apartheid state. This teacher sharply squelched dissent, stating that materials which oppose the apartheid narrative are “laughable.” A high school art teacher showed students violent pro-Hamas videos and displayed anti-Israel and anti-Semitic images during class, including a fist punching through a Star of David. Indoctrination attempts occur in classes for young children. In one second-grade classroom, a teacher hung a Palestinian flag in the window and encouraged students to write “Stop Bombing Babies” on sticky notes to be posted next to the classroom of the only Jewish teacher.

Read this heartbreaking first hand account of one family's struggles with systemic antisemitism in the Berkeley Public schools.

Its a sad testament that no local news source would carry this- and that it had to published in the New York Post.

Written by  Ilana Pearlman, a Berkeley mother of three. Check out How DEI is failing my diverse, Jewish Berkeley, California family.

"Because rather than study free from fear, our kids now endure chants such as “Kill the Jews.” They must study in classrooms with posters asking, “How’s the school/work/life/genocide balance going for you today?” There’s been graffiti at the bus stop in front of Berkeley HS stating “Kill all Zionists.” Jewish students share stories of being told to pick up pennies or having their yarmulkes pushed off of their heads. 

School administrators are well aware of this abuse, but to no avail. “I just stopped reporting things because . . . all it did was make the bullying worse,” one student told me. "

The Berkeley Unified school District now faces a federal investigation.The goal- to determine whether the harassment of Jewish students violated’ protections under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and to determine whether there was retaliation against parents who complained about harassment.

If you or your children have faced antisemitism or bullying in the  Berkeley Unified School District , now is the time to speak up.  More first hand reports will strengthen the complaint and ensure that the district is held accountable for their actions.

  

Chutzpah Re-defined. SJP demands that JVP teach workshops on anti-Semitism at UC Davis.

UC Davis has  the ignoble distinction of being on the top ten list of antisemitic universities in America.  Over the years, events put on by Jewish organizations have been disrupted  There has been anti-Semitic graffiti and vandalism on campus. Anti-Semitic flyers  have been distributed on campus. Swastikas were painted on a Jewish fraternity house.

Last year, Jewish student leaders and UC Davis officials met with the intention of improving campus climate for Jewish students  and combating antisemitism. The administration agreed to  host a town hall and a series of workshops with the ADL. 

Following outcry from Students for Justice in Palestine, the workshops were never held. An SJP petition , with 149 signatures was presented , with the demand that Jewish Voice for Peace instead conduct the workshops.

From the Daily Aggie 

Following the submission of a petition from Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) against the ADL workshops, however, none of the planned ADL-hosted workshops have presently been scheduled, according to Associate Vice Chancellor Sheri Atkinson.

In early December, Chancellor May mentioned in an interview with The California Aggie the mutually-agreed upon commitments made with Jewish students and administrators.

“We came up with a series of things we were going to do, including a town hall and some training from the ADL to improve the campus climate,” he said at the time. “I think after that meeting, everyone came away feeling like we were in a partnership mode rather than an adversarial mode.”

It is now unclear whether the university plans to follow through on this commitment in the near future.

A recent editorial in the UC Davis student run paper, the Daily Aggie called the University officials out on their failure to satisfactorily address the issue of antisemitism, writing

Well-intentioned groups must also understand that anti-Semitism exists on both the right and the left — in both explicit and implicit forms. Certain leftist groups have historically excluded Jews from liberal spaces because of actual or assumed Zionist ideologies. Anti-Semitism is often wrongly delegitimized. Like any other reprehensible form of discrimination, this form of hatred must be unequivocally and unilaterally condemned and denounced by university and student leaders.
It is undeniable that anti-Semitism is present on campus and in the Davis community. This is not a solitary incident and should not be treated as such. Discrimination in this form requires and deserves both short-term and long-term action. The campus community must know that anti-Semitism of any kind will not be tolerated.

Another Jump the Shark Moment from JVP

The latest email from Jewish Voice for Peace's Deputy Directory Stefanie Fox may be a jump the shark moment for the anti-Israel group.  The subject line reads  "Why is the ADL training ICE in Israel?"  Maybe Stefanie is secretly hoping you don't bother to read the rest of her offering.  (Spoiler alert: they aren't)

Stephanie claims ICE has been learning techniques and tools from the Israeli military.  She doesn't care if Peter Edge was in Israel studying cyber-security or attempting to learn from Israel's remarkable sucess at curtailing human trafficking.  If it involves Israel, it must be made to be nefarious.  Stefanie Fox spews typical JVP vitriole:   "The real-world results of these trips have been Israeli & US officials sharing “worst practices” -- deportation and detention, shoot-to-kill policies, massive spying and surveillance -- that have become the go-to policies of agencies like ICE."    

Why the hyperbole?  Because 3 years ago, during the Obama administration the Deputy Associate Director of Homeland Security Investigations, one man,  Peter Edge joined a delegation to Israel sponsored by the ADL.

From Peter Edge's Linked in profile:

The ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) directorate is a critical asset in the ICE mission, responsible for investigating a wide range of domestic and international activities arising from the illegal movement of people and goods into, within and out of the United States.
HSI investigates immigration crime, human rights violations and human smuggling, smuggling of narcotics, weapons and other types of contraband, financial crimes, cybercrime and export enforcement issues. ICE special agents conduct investigations aimed at protecting critical infrastructure industries that are vulnerable to sabotage, attack or exploitation.
In addition to ICE criminal investigations, HSI oversees the agency's international affairs operations and intelligence functions. HSI consists of more than 10,000 employees, consisting of 6,700 special agents, who are assigned to more than 200 cities throughout the U.S. and 47 countries around the world.

JVP claims to have made a FOIA request, but they aren't sharing the report.   JVP's not going to tell us, because their mission is to erode support, not only for Israel but for all Jewish institutions.  

One man from the Homeland Security Investigations team visits Israel during the Obama Administration,  3 years ago.  This is what JVP calls the "Deadly exchange."

For more information about the anti-Semitic undertones of JVP's Deadly exchange campaign, read Andrew Bennett's essay  The Antisemitism of the so-called Jewish Voice for Peace.

IJAN"s irrational assault on the venerable ADL

In response to the grand jury decision not to issue an indictment against the white police officer who shot and killed Michael Brown, an unarmed African-American in Ferguson, Missouri, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) called the tragedy a wake-up call, “reminding us that the problems we face as a nation transcend Ferguson.”

Karen J. Aroesty, ADL St. Louis Regional Director, and Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director issued the following statement:

The events in Ferguson, Missouri should prompt all of us to do some very serious soul-searching.
We start from the premise that America is a nation governed by the rule of law. We were not in the grand jury room, we did not see the evidence, but we respect the grand jury’s integrity and their commitment to meeting the heavy responsibility thrust upon them. Friends of the Brown family, members of his community, and people across the nation may disagree with the outcome, and that is their right. But disagreement is never an excuse for violence.

At the same time, this tragedy should be a wake-up call reminding us that the problems we face as a nation transcend Ferguson. Fifty years after the passage of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964, our society is still not free from bias, racial prejudice, and discrimination. African-Americans are still the most frequent targets of hate crimes in America, black students are suspended or expelled from our public schools at a much higher rate than white students, and there are many other examples that show the continuing racial divide.

Michael Brown’s father has said that he does not want his son’s death to have been in vain. Rather, he wants it to lead to positive change, “change that makes the St. Louis region better for everyone.” We commend him for that, and hope that we can all come away from this tragedy with an understanding that will help not only St. Louis, but our whole nation. This is an appropriate moment to look at ourselves honestly, to confront the prejudice and bigotry that tarnish our society, and to commit ourselves to ensuring that we have a justice system that all Americans can trust.

*************

The ADL statement  was widely condemned by the IJAN, the extremist International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network,  who wrote

The ADL's decision to firmly support the police and attempt to silence nation-wide collective action is no surprise given their history of collaboration with and support of police violence and surveillance in the US. The ADL directly trains tens of thousands of police and other “security forces” and leads population control training of US Police by Israeli military and police forces. By facilitating the training of US police in Ferguson and other cities, the ADL acts as a driving force in the cross-pollination of the most repressive practices and the increasing militarization of police forces in the US and Israel.

We are disgusted that the ADL continues to stick to what it knows best: racism.

Why would the extremist IJAN deliberately  mischaracterize the ADL’s statement? What kind of  irrational moral inversion does it take to call a statement that urges Americans to engage in 'soul searching" because their nation is still not free from free from “bias, racial prejudice, and discrimination.”, racist?

You’ll find the answer at the Mike report

Jeff Robbins in a guest post at the Mike Report, has provided the answer, writing,  “The plan” as far as the Arabs were concerned was to “peel” American Jews away from the major American Jewish organizations, and in that way dilute American support for Israel.

Robbins provides the background:

In late 2004, as I was nearing the end of my tenure as President of the World Affairs Council of Boston, a foreign policy forum, we invited Nabil Fahmi, the then-Ambassador of Egypt to the United States, to speak to a group of Boston’s civic leaders about the Mideast. Fahmi delivered the predictable fare, blaming Israel not only for the Arab-Israeli conflict but for the region’s problems more generally. Straying somewhat from my proper role as host, I questioned him directly, and sharply, about his version of events, and insisted that he address the recently-released United Nations Arab Human Development Report written by Arab social scientists that placed blame for the Arab countries’ woes on the Arabs.

When it was time for him to leave, Fahmi made a special point of coming to see me to say goodbye, and asked me to come see him the next time I was in Washington, D.C. This was a gracious act on his part, particularly given my critical questioning of him in a public setting, and I did go see him at the fortress-like building that is Egypt’s Embassy to the United States. The meeting took place on November 22, 2004 in Ambassador Fahmi’s office, with only the two of us and his note-taker present. For an hour, Fahmi leaned back in his chair and explained to me that “the plan” as far as the Arabs were concerned was to “peel” American Jews away from the major American Jewish organizations, and in that way dilute American support for Israel.

We've seen JVP's childish rants against AIPAC and StandWithUs.  The IJAN has the JNF and the ADL in its crosshairs.  Other Jewish organizations are also under attack. This is not a spontaneous grass-roots response- its a concerted, coordinated Arab-lead effort.

Jeff Robbins' answer to to this challenge? "Israel Advocacy Organizations Need To Up Their Game"

ADL's first Global survey on anti-Semitic attitudes

The Anti-Defamation league has released the results of its first-ever global survey on anti-Semitic attitudes. 53,100 adults in over 100 countries and territories were surveyed. Respondents were asked 11 questions based on stereotypes about Jews, including about Jewish power, loyalty, money and behavior.


Jews talk too much about what happened to them during the Holocaust;
Jews are more loyal to Israel than to the countries they live in;
Jews think they are better than other people;
Jews have too much power in international financial markets;
Jews have too much power in the business world;
Jews have too much control over global affairs;
People hate Jews because of the way Jews behave;
Jews have too much control over the U.S. government;
Jews have too much control over global media;
Jews are responsible for most of the world’s wars;
Jews don’t care about what happens to anyone but their own kind.

Those who responded affirmatively to six or more negative statements about Jews were considered to hold anti-Semitic attitudes.

The highest concentration of respondents holding anti-Semitic attitudes was found in the Middle East and North Africa, at 74 percent. 93% of those surveyed in the West Bank and Gaza held anti-Semitic beliefs.

Other results were as troublesome. 26% of those surveyed held deeply anti-Semitic attitudes.  Only 54% of respondents had heard of the Holocaust. Two out of three surveyed either had not heard of, or did not believe in, the Holocaust. 74% percent of respondents indicated that they never met a Jewish person and yet, of those 25% harbored anti-Semitic attitudes.

 ADL National Director Abraham Foxman remarked about the survey  “The data clearly indicates that classic anti-Semitic canards defy national, cultural, religious and economic boundaries.”

Jewish Voice for peace: Choose between us and the ADL.

In which JVP pleas for money.

I received an email from Rebecca Vilkomerson of JVP. Its a plea for money.  She asks me to chose between the ADL and JVP.
Really Rebecca.  Really?
As a Jew, as a Zionist,  do you really think there  is a choice?
Do I side with conspiracy theorists whose stated goal is to "drive a wedge" through my community?

Jewish Voice for Peace  from the Zombietime website

Do I side with a venerable organization that’s taken the lead in securing justice and fair treatment for  all people?

Sorry, Rebecca. It’s a no brainer for me.

You are absolutely correct about one thing.  This is about two very different world views,

I reject JVP primarily for its hypocrisy. For promoting a concert featuring vile anti-Semite Gilad Atzmon, after publicly denouncing him. For taking him out to coffee and offering him "support" if only he used the term "Zionist" instead of "Jew".

JVP courting Gilad Atzmon

I reject JVP for consistently standing shoulder to shoulder with the enemies of our people. For embracing those that would destroy us.
I reject JVP for its refusal to acknowledge the right of the Jewish people to self determination in our ancient homeland.
I reject JVP for giving lip service to the very real threats facing the Jewish people, without ever taking affirmative action to help.

Conversely, I support ADL for taking a principled stand- for rejecting controversial bus ads   as “inflammatory and anti-Muslim.”
I support ADL  for its condemnation when any group is unfairly singled out for attack and persecution.
I support ADL for its vision.


Rebecca concludes her email :"We know which side you're on. But we need you to show it."

No, Rebecca, you really don't have a clue.

Jewish Voice for Peace to protest Baltimore Synagogue

JVP is organizing a  protest of a Baltimore synagogue, for daring to host a  fundraising event for the friends of the IDF.  The extremist group is encouraging the harassment of attendees.    JVP has a long, checkered history of disrupting Jewish community events.  This is just the  sort of activity that earned JVP a place on the ADL's list of anti-Israel groups.

Protesting a synagogue.  Really, JVP.  Can you get any lower?

JVP's announcement follows

Join Baltimore Jewish Voice for Peace for a picket of the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF), which is holding a fundraising gala on Tuesday, October 29 at Chizuk Amuno Congregation in Pikesville.

FIDF initiates and helps support educational, social, cultural and recreational programs and facilities for Israeli soldiers. They financially support the IDF, which is the chief enforcement arm of Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine.

The IDF's violations of Palestinian human rights are notorious and well documented. While Israel shuts down Palestinian and international humanitarian aid organizations, more land and resources are stolen in the West Bank, Gaza is under siege, and the Israeli Knesset votes to forcibly relocate tens of thousands of Bedouin citizens of Israel from their traditional lands. All the while, Israeli soldiers kill Palestinian civilians.

Join Baltimore Jewish Voice for Peace to say Baltimore does not support the occupation of Palestine! Bring signs, banners and noise makers, and meet by the entrance on Stevenson Road to greet gala visitors as they come into the parking lot.

When: Tuesday October 29, 5:00 PM

Where: 8100 Stevenson Road, Pikesville, Maryland

Directions: From Baltimore/East, take I-695 west towards Pikesville. Take exit 21: Stevenson Road. Turn right at the stop sign onto Stevenson Road and Chizuk Amuno is immediately on the left. From Columbia/West, take I-695 east towards Towson. Take exit 21: Park Heights Avenue/ Stevenson Road. Cross Park Heights Avenue to the service road that parallels I-695 (Brooks Robinson Drive). Proceed to the next light, Stevenson Road. Turn left onto Stevenson Road. Turn left into the Chizuk Amuno entrance.

If you're coming, please let us know at baltimorejvp@gmail.com. If you want to carpool from Baltimore, let us know.

JVP: Jewish disagreement on Israeli policies is not the issue; but assisting Israel’s enemies is beyond the pale.

Throughout the world, the Jewish people gather in communal prayer on Yom Kippur. Yet in Sacramento, California, members of  Jewish Voice for Peace spent the day picketing Target for daring to sell SodaStream, a home carbonation device based in Israel.   No one familiar with JVP would be shocked that their activists would spend the holiest day in the Jewish calendar protesting Israeli products.

From the Times of Israel: When Dissent Becomes Abandonment, by Yitzhak Santis

In an environment of demonization and double standards targeting Israel, JVP tries to project itself as a legitimate member of the mainstream American Jewish community.  But JVP actively supports the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign, and the demonization strategy adopted by the 2001 NGO Forum in Durban, South Africa. JVP is instrumental in bringing these campaigns to mainline churches, on campuses, and within the Jewish community.

For the overwhelming majority of American Jews, these goals and activities lie far outside the broad communal tent.  There has always been room for dissent within the community regarding Israeli policies.  But responsible dissenters accept Israel as a Jewish and democratic state within secure and internationally recognized borders, seeking a two state solution.

On the core question, JVP claims to be neutral on “one-state” elimination or a two-state solution.  “One-state” means a bi-national framework open to thousands of “returning” 1948 Palestinian refugees and their millions of descendants.  Jews will be a minority, meaning no national self-determination and Zionism. And given the reality faced by minorities elsewhere in the Arab world, Jews would be unwelcome and endangered.  Yet, JVP’s amorphous position on whether Israel should exist is explained by them as follows: “we have members and supporters on both sides of this question, as well as many others who, like the organization as a whole, are agnostic about it.”

“Agnostic” on whether Israel should exist is not dissent.  This is abandonment.

Jewish Voice for Peace has a long history of standing alongside those committed to the destruction of Israel, literally sharing a tent with Alison Weir's notorious group "If Americans Knew" and the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) at the Marin County fair.  At a JVP sponsored rally in San Francisco last year, supporters of Israel were besieged by opponents chanting "Zionist Scum, your time has come" .  Santis takes JVP to task for consistently aiding and abetting groups with an anti-Semitic agenda.

Nor is JVP averse to working with groups espousing antisemitism.  One of JVP’s principal partners in the church BDS effort is Sabeel, which promotes historic Christian anti-Jewish teachings of replacement theology and deicide imagery.   Sabeel’s founder, Naim Ateek, has said, “The establishment of Israel was a relapse to the most primitive concepts of an exclusive, tribal God…”  Despite this anti-Judaism, JVP’s Rabbinical Council – headed by Brant Rosen – issued a “Statement of Support for the Sabeel Institute” declaring, “We stand in solidarity with the work of Sabeel.”

Similarly, in June 2013, JVP’s Sacramento chapter sent an email forwarding an action alert by Charles E. Carlson’s Strait Gate Ministries.  Carlson has written of “the Zionist influenced banking fraternity” that is “in league with world Zionism.”  In 2011, JVP’s Colorado chapter co-sponsored an anti-Israel vigil with Carlson’s group.

He concludes

JVP’s hope is to gain admission to the Jewish communal table so as to inject BDS and anti-Zionism into Federations, Hillels, JCCs, and synagogues.  This hope should remain unfulfilled. 

Interested in reading more about Jewish Voice for Peace?

From NGO Monitor: Driving a Wedge: JVP's Strategy to Weaken US Support for Israel by Dividing the Jewish community

From the Anti-Defamation League: Profile : Jewish Voice for Peace

Jewish Voice for Peace gets noticed

The attention seeking group Jewish Voice for Peace must be glowing with pride. They've been noticed.

First NGO Monitor released a scathing indictment. 

The strategy, as stated by JVP’s executive director Rebecca Vilkomerson, is to create “a wedge” within the American Jewish community to generate the impression of polarization over Israel.  The tactic is to dilute support for Israel in the Jewish community, toward the goal of reducing or eliminating the United States government’s economic, military, and political support for Israel.

That was followed by a report from the venerable Anti-Defamation League  stating:

The group’s positions on BDS, its willingness to partner with anti Israel organizations that deny Israel’s right to exist and legitimize terror, and its refusal to support a two state solution to the Israeli Palestinian conflict, demonstrate JVP’s hardline stance. 

 In fact, JVP consistently co-sponsors rallies to oppose Israeli military policy that are marked by signs and slogans comparing Israel to Nazi Germany, demonizing Jews and voicing support for groups like Hamas and Hezbollah. JVP has never condemned or sought to distance itself from these messages. Indeed, JVP’s Executive Director Rebecca Vilkomerson recently gave an interview to American Free Press a conspiracy-oriented anti- Semitic newspaper.

Jewish Voice for Peace embracing conspiracy theories at SF rally. Photo by  Zombie

The unbridled hypocrisy of Jewish Voice for Peace may very well be their most defining characteristic. Both the NGO Monitor and the ADL report highlight JVP's willingness to partner with some of  the most extremist groups in the country. For all their "we are against the occupation" rhetoric, they have no trouble partnering  with some of the most committed Israel-haters out there- groups that would not accept the existence of Israel within any borders.

Just recently, in our own Bay area, JVP partnered with the Arab Resource Organizing Center for their Day of Rage against investment Giant Tiaa-Cref

Arab Resource Organizing Center partnering with JVP  

In this announcement from the  Arab Resource Organizing Center, a  "Day of Divestment from Israel" is promoted, with "solidarity" groups JVP, Sabeel and the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC). Carol Sanders of JVP is listed the contact person.

How extreme is AROC? At the recent fundraiser for their Youth Group AYO, geared toward young Arabs ages 14-22, they featured bumper stickers  "Support the Intifada" - the uprising that left thousands of civilians dead on both sides of the conflict. Hardly the words of a peace group.

In spite of their grandiose self-serving proclamations regarding racism and anti-Semitism, the Los Angeles chapter of JVP promoted a May 17  event featuring the man who described the burning of synagogues as "a rational act",  notorious anti-Semite Gilad Atzmon.

Hosting BDS summer camps,  sponsoring rallies where "Zionist Scum your time has come" is chanted, aiding and abetting those that would destroy Israel as the state of the Jewish people- all in a days work for Jewish Voice for Peace.

MUNI Buses: The latest battleground for the war in the Middle East?

The war in the Middle east has moved to our MUNI buses, with the arrival of yet another series of deeply disturbing ads, this time sponsored by the American Muslims for Palestine. A consortium of local Jewish community organizations have joined together to condemn anti-Israel ads, in much the same manner as they did several months ago, to condemn ads that demeaned Islam. While acknowledging the constitutionally protected right of these organizations to run political ads, the statement expresses its concern regarding their polarizing and divisive nature.


The joint Statement from the Jewish Community Relations Council, The Anti-­Defamation League, and the American Jewish Committee reads:

Today, another misleading advertisement appeared in San Francisco targeting one segment of our community in an attempt to sow division in our city.

The Bay Area’s organized Jewish community strongly condemns the ad’s deceitful claim that Israel is an apartheid state. Placed by American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), the ad is morally reprehensible as it employs inflammatory rhetoric designed to delegitimize Israel’s very existence. The ad’s false claims diminish the suffering of the millions of people who were truly subjected to apartheid. The term “apartheid” describes the systematic oppression of the racial majority population by South Africa’s minority through comprehensive racial discrimination.

In sharp contrast to Apartheid South Africa, Israel is a diverse democratic country that affords equal political and civil rights to all its citizens.We hope for a just and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians and an end to the suffering on both sides.

In stark contrast, AMP’s apartheid rhetoric is profoundly misleading, and harms good faith efforts toward a peaceful resolution based on two states for two people.

Locally, the campaign promotes polarization and division among San Franciscans, who pride themselves on fostering Strong inter-­ethnic and inter-­religious relations.

The Jewish Community has long stated our concern that the repeated appearance of offensive anti-­Israel and anti-­Muslim ads is making our Public transit system a battleground for the Israeli-­Palestinian conflict. While protected by the First Amendment, extremist language directed at any group has no place in our city. We call upon all civic, ethnic and religious leaders who oppose bigoted lies and demonization to exercise their constitutional rights by condemning these inflammatory advertisements.

************
In the Orwellian world of the AMP, the JCRC statement, expressing its profound disappointment that our public transit system is being used in this manner has been labelled an "attack", an "attempt to stiffle open debate" and a "smear tactic used to shut down free speech". In classic AMP manner, the laundry list of  imagined slights is followed by a plea for donations.

The response of the American Muslims for Palestine is so far divorced from reality, I can't help but wonder if they even read the JCRC statement.  Perhaps Hatem needs  to work on his reading comprehension- the statement at no point  characterizes his efforts as "anti-Semitic", and his straw man arguments simply belie the failure of his organization to justify their actions.

...AMP has come under renewed attack by the Anti-Defamation League and the Jewish Community Relations Council, which are attempting to stifle open debate on these important issues by labeling any public critique of Israel as hateful and anti-Semitic.

“The attempt to characterize our efforts as anti-Semitic is a time-worn smear tactic used by pro-Israel organizations to shut down free speech. It is no more anti-Semitic to critique Israeli policies than it is Islamophobic to criticize Iran,” Dr. Bazian said.

AMP considers Jewish participation in our work to play an essential role in advocating for a better future for all the people of the Middle East. AMP has worked with such organizations as: Jewish Voice for Peace, Jews for Justice in Palestine, Jews for the Palestinian Right of Return and the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network. AMP routinely features Jewish speakers at its conferences and lectures.

While Israel denies its policies constitute apartheid, Tutu has said, “I’ve been very deeply distressed in my visit to the Holy Land; it reminded me so much of what happened to us black people in South Africa.”

The Jewish Voice for Peace has come out strongly in support of AMP and against attempts to stifle constitutionally protected political speech.

"Jewish Voice for Peace supports SF bus campaign criticizing Israeli human rights violations, condemns local Jewish Community Relation Council’s attempt to muzzle political speech."

"AMP remains determined to bring the truth to the American people, despite the scurrilous and false attacks by Zionist groups," said Kristin Szremski, AMP director of media and communications. "The fact the JCRC and the ADL are attacking us show that our efforts to educate the public are working and we remain more committed than ever to our mission."

AMP needs your support to continue its work. Help us bring the truth about Palestine to the American public. Donate now.   ********* To Kristin Szremski and to Hatem Bazian :  A campaign based on falsehood rests on a very shaky foundation. If your efforts are working so well, why do you feel the need to  lie, not only to the public, but to your core constituency?

American Muslims for Palestine Declare a Rather Premature Victory

To the extremist American Muslims for Palestine, the 25 ads in Metro North stations in New York and Connecticut were little more than a cheap and cynical publicity stunt.  They've made that perfectly clear with an email they sent out today, proclaiming their 2 day old campaign a "huge success":.

Keep the momentum going!AMP’s new ad campaign is getting nationwide, and even international attention! And the term ‘Israeli Apartheid’ has made it into mainstream media reports – from ABC, CBS and NBC to Haaretz. The ad will be posted at 25 stations on the Metro North line in New York and Connecticut for four weeks. It's purpose is to raise awareness about the occupation and Israel's apartheid policies, as well as to reclaim our narrative from those who have been posting virulently anti-Arab and anti-Muslim ads. AMP's ad campaign is slated for several cities throughout the country and may next appear on buses in San Francisco. More than a dozen media outlets attended our press conference in NYC on Tuesday to kick off the campaign! 

 The interest  shows the American public is ready to accept the Palestinian narrative! 

No. I don't think so.

At least one of those media outlets, the New York Daily News saw right through the incendiary rhetoric and reported:

 Why is this day different from all other days? Because a pro-Palestinian group picked the first day of Passover to unveil a button-pushing new ad campaign that compares Israel to racist South Africa.The ads, which demand “End Apartheid Now! Stop U.S. Aid to Israel,” are being plastered at 25 Metro North train stations for the next four weeks. The head of American Muslims for Palestine insisted Tuesday they didn’t time the unveiling of the ads to coincide with the Jewish holiday, which celebrates freedom.“We timed the release of our ads with President Obama’s visit to the Middle East,” said Dr. Hatem Bazian. Obama visited Israel last week.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) issued the following statement on the anti-Israel ads

We are deeply disturbed that American Muslims for Palestine is undertaking a billboard campaign that falsely accuses Israel of "apartheid." Their ad campaign ignores the complicated nature of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and is part of the campaign to delegitimize and demonize the Jewish state.

It shows a profound lack of sensitivity that they chose the first day of the Jewish holiday of Passover to announce this malicious and false ad campaign.

And the American Muslims for Palestine responded:

We can’t let these Zionists and Islamophobes win! Help AMP take this ad campaign to cities across the nation.

The ADL has released a background paper on the American Muslims for Palestine.  The organization has roots in the Islamic Association of Palestine (IAP), an anti-Semitic group that served as the main propaganda arm for Hamas in the United States until it was dissolved in 2004. Since its creation in 2005, AMP continues to work closely with some former IAP leaders who currently hold positions as AMP board members.

Read the paper here.  This is what we are facing.  And decide now how your community will react when this special brand of AMP hate shows up in your neighborhood.

Papal Contender Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga of Honduras : anti-Semitic canards

From the Times of Israel:

In a letter to the editor of the Miami Herald, Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz said that one of the leading candidates to replace Pope Benedict XVI is an anti-Semite.

Responding to a list published last week after the resignation of Benedict, which identified Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga of Honduras as a possible successor to the current pope, Dershowitz wrote:  "He has blamed the Jews for the scandal surrounding the sexual misconduct of priests toward young parishioners! He has argued that the Jews got even with the Catholic Church for its anti-Israel positions by arranging for the media — which they, of course, control, he said — to give disproportionate attention to the Vatican sex scandal. He then compared the Jewish controlled media with Hitler, because they are 'protagonists of what I do not hesitate to define as a persecution against the church."

Maradiaga, in a May 2002 interview with the Italian-Catholic publication "30 Giorni," claimed Jews influenced the media to exploit the current controversy regarding sexual abuse by Catholic priests in order to divert attention from the Israeli-Palestinian crisis.

From the ADL, written in 2002

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today expressed outrage at comments made by a Honduran Catholic Cardinal that implied an alleged Jewish manipulation of the American media. Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga, in a May interview with the Italian-Catholic publication 30 Giorni, claimed Jews influenced the media to exploit the current controversy regarding sexual abuse by Catholic priests in order to divert attention from the Israeli-Palestinian crisis. 

"The Cardinal’s odious anti-Jewish conspiracy theory must be immediately and forcefully condemned by responsible voices in the Catholic Church," said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director, in a letter sent to Cardinal Walter Kasper, of the Pontifical Commission for Religious Relations with Jews. "We are outraged by Cardinal Rodriguez Maradiaga’s implication and, as John L. Allen, Jr. states in the July 19th Catholic Reporter, ‘the logic of his comments seems clear: Someone in America doesn’t like the pro-Palestinian tilt of the Catholic Church, and used their media clout to deliver payback. It’s not much of a reach to imagine who Rodriguez might suspect that ‘someone’ to be.’" 

Cardinal Rodrigues Maradiaga stated: "It gave me considerable food for thought that, at a time of total media focus on developments in the Middle East with all the injustices being perpetrated against the Palestinian people, U.S. television and press people were obsessed with sex scandals of 30 or 40 years ago." 

In a later conversation with  ADL national director Abraham Foxman, , Maradiaga apologized and said he did not intend for his remarks to be taken as perpetuating an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory about Jewish control of the media.

We're # 1. California leads the nation in anti-Semitic incidents

 According to report released Wednesday by the Anti-Defamation League incidents of anti-Semitic hate crimes declined by 13 percent nationwide in 2011.  California continues to lead in  anti-Semitic acts of vandalism, harassment, and assault .

According to the ADL, a  total of 1,080 incidents were reported across the U.S. last year, compared to 1,239 recorded in 2010.  This is the  lowest number of anti-Semitic incidents recorded by  the ADL in the past two decades. 

In California, the number of incidents against Jews declined by 21 percent, from 297 to 235. That includes 175 threats, 54 acts of vandalism, and 6 assaults. The states with the largest Jewish communities showed the most hate crimes: New York reported 195, New Jersey followed with 144 and Florida with 111.


But how seriously can we take these statistics when incidents such as the harassment of kosher restaurants and  Jewish bookstores go unreported?

Sabeel : Just Anti-Semitism

 The  Sabeel conference is coming to Albuquerque, New Mexico. Sabeel  demonizes Israel using offensive Holocaust imagery  and spurious theological arguments and is a driving force behind the campaign to pressure mainline churches to divest from Israel.

FOSNA Philosophy Just Anti-Semitism was written by Sam Sokolove / Executive Director, Jewish Federation of New Mexico and Todd Goldblum / Chair, Israel Action Network, New Mexico

 As the Sept. 15 Albuquerque Journal article detailed, Friends of Sabeel in North America will be holding a “Justice & Peace in Palestine and Israel” conference in Albuquerque later this month. What the article failed to convey, however, is that while Sabeel hides behind a language of peace and reconciliation, FOSNA – listed by the Anti-Defamation League as one of “The Top Ten Anti-Israel Groups in America” – actively promotes a rejection of Israel as a Jewish state.

An integral part of the global anti-Israel Boycott, Sanctions and Divestment movement, Sabeel promotes the idea that Zionism is based on a false reading of the Bible and that it stands for injustice and in opposition to God.

 In addition, Sabeel often compares the Palestinians to the crucified Jesus, and Israel to his murderers, alluding to the ugly deicide charge against all the Jewish people. Examples include referring to Israeli actions with deicide language such as “The Israeli government crucifixion system is operating daily” or “Israel has placed a large boulder, similar to the stone placed on the entrance of Jesus’ tomb. This boulder has shut in the Palestinians.”

 Sabeel conferences are notorious for featuring speakers who vilify Israel and routinely lift the voices of anti-Zionist Jews as a means to disingenuously suggest that they bring Christians, Jews and Muslims to the table. They continually reject almost all mainstream Jewish voices, including progressive or dovish Zionists.

When the Jewish Federation of New Mexico and Jewish clergy first became aware of the FOSNA conference last summer, we also learned that friends in the interfaith community had been approached to serve as conference sponsors. Given the positive history of interfaith relations between Christians and Jews in Albuquerque, it was our responsibility to offer a mainstream Jewish perspective on this conference.

 As a result, it was heartening to garner the support of friends like the New Mexico Conference of Churches and Episcopal Cathedral Church of St. John who distanced themselves from FOSNA in demonstration of sensitivity to Jewish community concerns and civic discourse.

Characterizing these conversations as “bullying” and “harassment” is profoundly incorrect, but an expected part of the BDS campaign. We are confident that other church representatives who have lent their endorsement to the Sabeel conference will come to recognize the one-sided, inflammatory and destructive nature of the movement.

To be sure, the Jewish community of New Mexico is in no way monolithic, and many of us often vocally criticize the policies of Israel’s government. However, the overwhelming majority of Jews in New Mexico and around the globe recognize Israel as a miraculous return of our homeland after a 3,500-year exile, and a vibrant, if young and imperfect, democracy for people of all religions within a region surrounded by intolerance and brutal dictatorships that conspicuously escape Sabeel and BDS scorn.

 The conflict in the Middle East is about finding a peaceful path to establish two states for two peoples, not about preventing a group from exercising its right to self-determination.

There are appropriate and meaningful forums for interfaith discussion on all issues pertaining to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that engender dialogue and increased understanding. Sadly, Sabeel’s commitment is not to promoting this goodwill, but instead to spreading vicious propaganda to assault Israel’s legitimacy

Sabeel, and FOSNA (Friends of Sabeel North America) wrap their old fashioned anti-Semitism in the feel good rhetoric of " peace ".  To those of you in Albuquerque and  elsewhere- if you believe our best hope for peace are two states living side by side, then keep your distance from this extremist organization

Anti-Semitism on the Rise in America

The number of anti-Semitic incidents in the United States increased slightly in 2010 from 2009, according to the Anti-Defamation League. The highest number of incidents occurred in California, New York and New Jersey. A total of 1,239 incidents of assaults, vandalism and harassment were reported during the calendar year, compared to 1,211 incidents reported in 2009.

This is the second year California has led the country in anti-Semitic incidents, with 297 reported to the Anti-Defamation League in 2010 – an 8 percent increase over the year before. One of the most notorious incidents occurred in La Quinta, where high school students played “beat the Jew.” Promoted through Facebook, the game involved a car of “Nazi” students chasing a student “Jew” on foot. Of the nearly 300anti-Semitic incidents reported, half occurred in Los Angeles, Kern, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

The 2010 ADL Audit identified:

22 physical assaults on Jewish individuals
900 cases of anti-Semitic harassment, threats and events
317 cases of anti-Semitic vandalism

Read the full report here

The ADl's audit does not include the thousands of anti-Semitic events that are a daily occurance on the Internet. Many incidents of hate speech and violence against Jews remain unreported.

MAS: A Week to Remember Gaza

The curiously named "Muslim American Freedom society" has just declared the week of January 24-30, 2011 , a Week to Remember the Plight of Gaza. What exactly is the plight they are referring to? Is it getting too hard to get reservations at Roots, the gourmet destination of Gaza City? Is the new Olympic sized swimming pool too crowded? Or is the waiting list too long for one of the new25,000 new housing units being built in Gaza? (Here's a hint: families of martyrs have priority in grabbing one of the new units)

From the MAS (their mailing in italics):
As part of our year-long commitment to the End the Embargo-Let Gaza Live Campaign, the Muslim American Society Freedom announces the Gaza Not Forgotten week of January 24-30, 2011 .

How can Gaza be forgotton, MAS? How much is being spent on flotillas du jour? How much is being spent on teach-ins, speakers tours and moblizing the red/green alliance? Haven't you turned every week into a week to "remember " Gaza?

This week is planned as a time of information dissemination, public engagement, and mass appeals for the end of the nearly five years of a crippling economic blockade

Don't you think it would help the cause of peace to can the hyperbole, people? What crippling economic blockade? Bloomberg Financial news reported 16 % economic growth in Gaza, in the first half of this year.

… imposed on the people of Gaza by Israel, and to a lesser extent, Egypt, that had imposed overwhelming hardship and deprivation on the lives of nearly 1.5 million people in the Palestinian territory.

Some photos of that deprivation:








….We do not accept that any trickle of token humanitarian relief to Gaza is a substitute for the complete end of the blockade, and we continue to call on President Obama to use the power and influence of his office to persuade his Israeli and Egyptian allies to end this embargo."

Some trickle. Aid to the Palestinians is the highest per capita in the world. Just this week , 1083 truckloads (26,167 tons) of goods were unloaded at the crossings, in addition to fuel. This "trickle" included rice, spices, wheat, salt, cooking oil ,legumes, produce (Fruits and Vegetables) meat, chicken and fish, flour, dairy products and sugar.

Additionally 4 truckloads of strawberries and flowers were exported from the Gaza Strip this week to the markets of Europe.

The Muslim American Society has been identified by the ADL as a " cover for anti-Semitism and extremism" , Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director described their annual conference as providing " a platform for extremist views calls into question the sincerity of the effort to serve as a legitimate counterbalance to radicalization. No legitimate blueprint for change can emerge from a convention permeated by messages conveying hatred of Jews, the denial of Israel's right to exist and the idea that the U.S. is at war with Islam.". Looks like "Gaza not Forgotten Week" will be more of the same