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"
Showing posts with label International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network. Show all posts
Showing posts with label International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network. Show all posts
Thursday, February 12, 2015
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Is Jewish voice for Peace Edging Towards a full boycott of Israel?
The ADL blog asks an interesting question: Is Jewish Voice for Peace Edging Toward a Full Boycott of Israel? They write:
What the ADL blog doesn't mention is that Narrow Bridge Candles is run by Jonah Aline Daniel, an anti-Israel activist from IJAN- the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, and that the JVP recommendation comes straight from an IJAN mailing.
Jonah Aline Daniel (aka Joanna Aline Daniel) is a member of the Sick collective , and prefers a collective plural pronoun, describing themself as
Ok, then.
The ADL blog continues:
You know what to do. This Hanukkah, make a point of buying made in Israel candles. If you are local, check out Afikomen, for a wide selection of beautiful tapers from S'fat and elsewhere.
The Boston chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace posted a message on its Facebook page on October 28th urging its followers to buy Hanukkah candles from a candle-making project called "Narrow Bridge Candles" that supports the "full Palestinian call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions." The company, which is based in Oakland, California, produces different kinds of candles needed for Jewish rituals, including Shabbat, Havadala and Hanukkah, so that Jews who are "in solidarity with Palestine" don't have to purchase candles from Israel.
An image on Narrow Bridge Candles' website calls for the company's candles to "fuel flames of resistance."
On its website, the project claims that Israel has a "monopoly on Judaica." In fact, many of the Hanukkah candles that are sold in the United States are produced by two Jewish companies in New York, Rite Lite in Brooklyn and Ner Mitzvah in New Square. Another popular brand sold in the U.S. is actually manufactured in China. While we didn't take the time to investigate the market share for these companies, suffice it to say that Israeli-made Hanukkah candles are not the only ones available for purchase.
What the ADL blog doesn't mention is that Narrow Bridge Candles is run by Jonah Aline Daniel, an anti-Israel activist from IJAN- the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, and that the JVP recommendation comes straight from an IJAN mailing.
"While most Hanukah and other ritual candles are made in Israel, Narrow Bridge Candles is a Jewish ritual candle making project in support of the full Palestinian Call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS). Profits go to support the Stop the JNF Campaign."
Jonah Aline Daniel (aka Joanna Aline Daniel) is a member of the Sick collective , and prefers a collective plural pronoun, describing themself as
" gender variant, white, jewish, chronically ill, amphibious body worker, energetic herbalist, organizer, candlemaker, anti-zionist, radical, spiritual, intuitive, introvert. I am committed to decolonization, embodiment, consent, radical liberatory Judaism, the ocean, ending capitalism, white supremacy, christian dominance and patriarchy, affordable accessible culturally relevant health and healing, earth and environmental justice, plant communication, growing food and medicine, safety for all bodies, mushrooms, bees, home. I am falling more in love with plants and plant medicine every day, deepening in my respect for the wisdom and power of the body, building herbalism and craniosacral therapy practices, studying somatics and trauma, excavating family history, mapping landscapes of pain and memory, singing, resisting christian hegemony, meditating, remembering dreams, riding my own waves, organizing everything, grieving, reckoning, building home inside my body, surrendering to water, learning how to surf, sweating, shedding skin."
Ok, then.
The ADL blog continues:
More importantly, JVP Boston's support for Narrow Bridge Candles demonstrates the inconsistency in JVP's platform on BDS. In its 2011 statement regarding BDS, JVP-National, which was just named by ADL as a "Top Ten Anti-Israel Group," stated clearly that the group "focuses our efforts on boycott and divestment campaigns that directly target Israel's occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem and its blockade of the Gaza Strip." This suggests that JVP was restricting its pro-BDS advocacy to products made in Israeli settlements and to multinational companies that profit from the occupation.
But Narrow Bridge Candles supports a boycott of products made in Israel in general; no mention is made on its website of boycotting candles only made in Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Indeed, two of the most popular candle-making companies in Israel are based in Tel Aviv and Safed, cities that are part of Israel's pre-1967 borders.
Various members of JVP's leadership have indicated in the past that the group might consider shifting from targeted BDS to an adoption of the Palestinian call for BDS, which advocates for a complete boycott. In a 2011 interview, both Rebecca Vilkomerson, JVP's Executive Director, and Brant Rosen, a founder of its Rabbinical Council, indicated that the group might eventually support a full boycott. It remains to be seen if JVP-Boston's endorsement of Narrow Bridge Candles is a harbinger of that shift or an aberration of JVP's policy.
You know what to do. This Hanukkah, make a point of buying made in Israel candles. If you are local, check out Afikomen, for a wide selection of beautiful tapers from S'fat and elsewhere.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
The International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network: Beyond Chutzpah
Like many anti-Israel groups the International Jewish Anti-Zionist network is little more than a website and an email list, providing anonymity and a "Jewish" cover to their actual financiers and handlers. In the case of the IJAN, their primary purpose appears to be "Jew-washing" events that cross the line into anti-Semitism. Yes, as hard to imagine as it might be- there are events that even Jewish voice for Peace won't touch. Locally, the IJAN works closely with the Arab Resource Organizing Center and uses their facilities to host events. The IJAN has co-sponsored a talk accusing Israel of deliberately irradiating Mizrachi refugees. They have hosted notorious anti-Semite and Global march to Jerusalem organizer Feroze Mithaborwala. Most recently the IJAN recently paraded Hajo Meyer, a long time anti-Israel activist and Holocaust survivor on a widely discredited 12 city tour "Never again is for Everyone"
Hajo Meyer carries the endorsement of ex-KKK leader David Duke, and Hatem Bazian, a UC Berkeley faculty member with a lengthy resume of anti-Israel activities. At the IJAN sponsored tour at Rutgers University New Jersey, event organizers led by Sara Kershnar (Shown below, shortly before her arrest for interrupting a talk at the San Francisco Jewish Community Center) suddenly instituted an admission fee (in violation of university policy) to discourage Jewish pro-Israel students from entering the event.
At the IJAN "Never again" talk at DePaul University in Chicago , attendees reported:
"The organizers created an intimidating atmosphere. One attendee likened it to a Ku Klux Klan rally. No audience members were allowed to record, film, or photograph the speakers. Members of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), which sponsored the event, patrolled the aisles looking for “contraband” recording devices. This created a tense atmosphere, which one audience member described as fascist."
"The speakers vilified current peace efforts and praised the terrorist group Hamas. They repeatedly attacked the moderate Palestinian Authority for “collaborating” with Israel by engaging in peace talks and extolled Hamas as “the democratically elected representatives of the Palestinian people." They attacked Israel’s peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan, with Bazian claiming that the treaties were simply an Israeli plot to “extend its strategic borders all the way up to Iraq.”"
"Hajo Meyer made the Nazi-Israeli equation more explicit. Exploiting his status as a Holocaust survivor, he compared IDF soldiers to Auschwitz guards. He denigrated Jews and Judaism. “The Jewish people are not a civilization,” he charged. The only religion that pro-Israel Jews share is the Holocaust religion. . . . They cannot claim they are Jewish, so therefore they had to invent the Holocaust religion, that is, with its high priest Elie Wiesel,” he said.
From the ADL:
"The tour is the latest effort by anti-Israel activists to exploit the sacred memory of the Holocaust for the purpose of painting its victim, the Jewish people, as the "new" oppressor in the form of Israel. Anti-Israel activists have regularly used Holocaust language to demonize and vilify Israel, including referring to Israeli soldiers as Nazis and comparing Israel's blockade of Gaza to a "concentration camp" or "ghetto."
Exploiting the holocaust? Why would anything from the IJAN surprise us?
From their website:
We pledge to: Oppose Zionism and the State of Israel
Zionism is racist. It demands political, legal and economic power for Jews and European people and cultures over indigenous people and cultures. Zionism is not just racist but anti-Semitic. It endorses the sexist European anti-Semitic imagery of the effeminate and weak “diaspora Jew” and counters it with a violent and militarist “new Jew,” one who is a perpetrator rather than a victim of racialized violence. Zionism thus seeks to make Jews white through the adopting of white racism against Palestinian people…
And now in an act of staggering and mind-blowing hubris, those nefarious holocaust exploiters at the International Jewish Anti-Zionist network, are, wait for it... accusing The Horowitz Freedom center of exploiting the Holocaust.
The story:
The David Horowitz Freedom Center paid for a full page advertisement in the New York Times on April 24 of this year
The ad begins:
"The Holocaust began with Boycotts of Jewish stores and ended with death camps. The calls for a new Holocaust can be heard throughout the Middle east and in Europe as well. In the wake of the murders of a rabbi and three Jewish children in Toulouse, it is time for supporters of the boycott, divestment and Sanction Israel Movement (BDS) to ask themselves what they did to contribute to the atmosphere of hate that spawned these and the murder of Jews"
And the IJAN responds (accompanied by a ubiquitous petition and request for money):
Take Action against Slander and Misuse of the Nazi Holocaust
"On April 24th, the New York Times published a dangerous and slanderous ad paid for by the David Horowitz Freedom Foundation. The ad invokes the Nazi holocaust in order to attack supporters of BDS including several professors (see William Thompson’s powerful response here). It is incumbent upon Jews of conscience and others who share our commitment to justice to speak out in defense of those who bravely promote justice for Palestinians and against the egregious misuse of the legacy of the holocaust."
The IJAN - a group that paraded a decrepit anti-Israel activist though 12 cities to exploit his status as a holocaust survivor is complaining about the "misuse of the Holocaust" It is, to paraphrase Norman Finklestein "Beyond Chutzpah"
Hajo Meyer carries the endorsement of ex-KKK leader David Duke, and Hatem Bazian, a UC Berkeley faculty member with a lengthy resume of anti-Israel activities. At the IJAN sponsored tour at Rutgers University New Jersey, event organizers led by Sara Kershnar (Shown below, shortly before her arrest for interrupting a talk at the San Francisco Jewish Community Center) suddenly instituted an admission fee (in violation of university policy) to discourage Jewish pro-Israel students from entering the event.
At the IJAN "Never again" talk at DePaul University in Chicago , attendees reported:
"The organizers created an intimidating atmosphere. One attendee likened it to a Ku Klux Klan rally. No audience members were allowed to record, film, or photograph the speakers. Members of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), which sponsored the event, patrolled the aisles looking for “contraband” recording devices. This created a tense atmosphere, which one audience member described as fascist."
"The speakers vilified current peace efforts and praised the terrorist group Hamas. They repeatedly attacked the moderate Palestinian Authority for “collaborating” with Israel by engaging in peace talks and extolled Hamas as “the democratically elected representatives of the Palestinian people." They attacked Israel’s peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan, with Bazian claiming that the treaties were simply an Israeli plot to “extend its strategic borders all the way up to Iraq.”"
"Hajo Meyer made the Nazi-Israeli equation more explicit. Exploiting his status as a Holocaust survivor, he compared IDF soldiers to Auschwitz guards. He denigrated Jews and Judaism. “The Jewish people are not a civilization,” he charged. The only religion that pro-Israel Jews share is the Holocaust religion. . . . They cannot claim they are Jewish, so therefore they had to invent the Holocaust religion, that is, with its high priest Elie Wiesel,” he said.
From the ADL:
"The tour is the latest effort by anti-Israel activists to exploit the sacred memory of the Holocaust for the purpose of painting its victim, the Jewish people, as the "new" oppressor in the form of Israel. Anti-Israel activists have regularly used Holocaust language to demonize and vilify Israel, including referring to Israeli soldiers as Nazis and comparing Israel's blockade of Gaza to a "concentration camp" or "ghetto."
Exploiting the holocaust? Why would anything from the IJAN surprise us?
From their website:
We pledge to: Oppose Zionism and the State of Israel
Zionism is racist. It demands political, legal and economic power for Jews and European people and cultures over indigenous people and cultures. Zionism is not just racist but anti-Semitic. It endorses the sexist European anti-Semitic imagery of the effeminate and weak “diaspora Jew” and counters it with a violent and militarist “new Jew,” one who is a perpetrator rather than a victim of racialized violence. Zionism thus seeks to make Jews white through the adopting of white racism against Palestinian people…
And now in an act of staggering and mind-blowing hubris, those nefarious holocaust exploiters at the International Jewish Anti-Zionist network, are, wait for it... accusing The Horowitz Freedom center of exploiting the Holocaust.
The story:
The David Horowitz Freedom Center paid for a full page advertisement in the New York Times on April 24 of this year
The ad begins:
"The Holocaust began with Boycotts of Jewish stores and ended with death camps. The calls for a new Holocaust can be heard throughout the Middle east and in Europe as well. In the wake of the murders of a rabbi and three Jewish children in Toulouse, it is time for supporters of the boycott, divestment and Sanction Israel Movement (BDS) to ask themselves what they did to contribute to the atmosphere of hate that spawned these and the murder of Jews"
And the IJAN responds (accompanied by a ubiquitous petition and request for money):
Take Action against Slander and Misuse of the Nazi Holocaust
"On April 24th, the New York Times published a dangerous and slanderous ad paid for by the David Horowitz Freedom Foundation. The ad invokes the Nazi holocaust in order to attack supporters of BDS including several professors (see William Thompson’s powerful response here). It is incumbent upon Jews of conscience and others who share our commitment to justice to speak out in defense of those who bravely promote justice for Palestinians and against the egregious misuse of the legacy of the holocaust."
The IJAN - a group that paraded a decrepit anti-Israel activist though 12 cities to exploit his status as a holocaust survivor is complaining about the "misuse of the Holocaust" It is, to paraphrase Norman Finklestein "Beyond Chutzpah"
Saturday, April 16, 2011
What the Well Dressed Anti-Israel activist will be Wearing this season
Oh, those silly folk at the International Anti Zionist Network are having their annual Seder. Again. At a church. On the wrong night. And it won't be kosher for Passover.
But the Bay area is oh, so diverse and tolerant, and that's why we all love it here.
Will they speak of the land, the people and the covenant at their " Seder"? Not likely. But I think I know what each and everyone of them will be wearing Saturday April 23, at the Lake Merritt United Methodist Church.
Yes, the well dressed anti Israel activist, their minds uncomfortably burdened by thoughts of oppression, privilege, guilt and patriarchy (oh, my!) will be wearing a recycled aluminum, free trade Kippah. It's the halachically acceptable, socially conscious version of the tin foil hat, and it will keep those pesky federal agents from reading their minds with microwaves.
From the website Fair Trade Judaica: Each kippah is handmade from recycled soda cans, lined with black vinyl and hand stitched with coloured telephone wire so that they are comfortable to wear. They are available in a variety of “flavors”/colors, including coke, diet coke, Sprite Zero, Tab, creme soda, orange fanta, grape fanta, lemon twist, mango twist, carbonated apple juice, and carbonated grape juice. Kippot in silver are also available using the inside of the can.
With all the colors available, anti-Israel activists should have no trouble finding something that will complement their favorite Che shirt.
But the Bay area is oh, so diverse and tolerant, and that's why we all love it here.
Will they speak of the land, the people and the covenant at their " Seder"? Not likely. But I think I know what each and everyone of them will be wearing Saturday April 23, at the Lake Merritt United Methodist Church.
Yes, the well dressed anti Israel activist, their minds uncomfortably burdened by thoughts of oppression, privilege, guilt and patriarchy (oh, my!) will be wearing a recycled aluminum, free trade Kippah. It's the halachically acceptable, socially conscious version of the tin foil hat, and it will keep those pesky federal agents from reading their minds with microwaves.
From the website Fair Trade Judaica: Each kippah is handmade from recycled soda cans, lined with black vinyl and hand stitched with coloured telephone wire so that they are comfortable to wear. They are available in a variety of “flavors”/colors, including coke, diet coke, Sprite Zero, Tab, creme soda, orange fanta, grape fanta, lemon twist, mango twist, carbonated apple juice, and carbonated grape juice. Kippot in silver are also available using the inside of the can.
With all the colors available, anti-Israel activists should have no trouble finding something that will complement their favorite Che shirt.
Friday, August 20, 2010
A Tale of Two Cities: A Photo Essay
Living in the San Francisco Bay area, you are lead to believe that Israel is the root of all evil. With over 60 groups dedicated to Israel's destruction locally, and hatefests almost daily, it's not surprising many people have a skewed world view. There is an Anti Israel group for haters of all political beliefs in the bay area. Whatever flavor your pathology takes, there's an anti Israel group to fit your needs. Hate Israel because you feel it has betrayed it's socialist roots.? Try International Answer. Hate Israel because you want to see the entire Middle east as an Islamic caliphate? Al Awda's your ticket. Hate Israel because you felt mom and dad never loved you.? Try the international Jewish Anti Zionist network. Hate Israel because you're queer and reject Jewish patriarchy (but somehow embrace Islamic patriarchy?). Try QUIT. Hate Israel because all your friends do? Try Jewish voice for peace.
Are you smart enough to know you have nothing smart to say ? Then Mimes for Gaza is waiting for you!
Too dumb to know you have nothing smart to say? Code Pink just might be the right match. There is a veritable buffet of anti Israel hate clubs out there. For the rest of us, it should be reassuring to know that the Bay area is exceptional in America in it's red/green obsession with the destruction of the only democracy in the middle east
New York City might very well be the reverse of the spectrum. Even the ordinary grocery stores are full of Israeli products. You can buy your Dorot garlic without fear that it has been vandalized by some Kate Raphael wannabe. And you can buy it in both Key Food and the Supersol.
Why, yes, that is "Zohan" brand hummus in the handy squeeze bottle! Harry Potter in Hebrew? No problem. The NYC cable TV lineup includes JLTV, channel 120- a Jewish station with a strong Zionist bent. And Freedom Square Park in Queens is dedicated to Israeli Independence.
The base of this Flagpole in Freedom Square park in New York City reads "Theodore Herzl: Fighter for freedom". It is located in the Kew Gardens Hills Zionist District. And it has been there for years, without graffiti, without vandalism, without uproar. Ahavat Yisrael is so strong in some neighborhoods, that its increasingly common to find buildings faced with gleaming white Jerusalem stone.
Its easy to be a Jew, and a Zionist in New York. Much easier than here in the San Francisco Bay area, considered one of the 5 hubs of delegitimization of Israel by the Reut Institute.
Are you smart enough to know you have nothing smart to say ? Then Mimes for Gaza is waiting for you!
Too dumb to know you have nothing smart to say? Code Pink just might be the right match. There is a veritable buffet of anti Israel hate clubs out there. For the rest of us, it should be reassuring to know that the Bay area is exceptional in America in it's red/green obsession with the destruction of the only democracy in the middle east
New York City might very well be the reverse of the spectrum. Even the ordinary grocery stores are full of Israeli products. You can buy your Dorot garlic without fear that it has been vandalized by some Kate Raphael wannabe. And you can buy it in both Key Food and the Supersol.
Why, yes, that is "Zohan" brand hummus in the handy squeeze bottle! Harry Potter in Hebrew? No problem. The NYC cable TV lineup includes JLTV, channel 120- a Jewish station with a strong Zionist bent. And Freedom Square Park in Queens is dedicated to Israeli Independence.
The base of this Flagpole in Freedom Square park in New York City reads "Theodore Herzl: Fighter for freedom". It is located in the Kew Gardens Hills Zionist District. And it has been there for years, without graffiti, without vandalism, without uproar. Ahavat Yisrael is so strong in some neighborhoods, that its increasingly common to find buildings faced with gleaming white Jerusalem stone.
Its easy to be a Jew, and a Zionist in New York. Much easier than here in the San Francisco Bay area, considered one of the 5 hubs of delegitimization of Israel by the Reut Institute.
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