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Showing posts with label Gaza war resistance. Show all posts

Apr 4, 2009

JATO: pro-Palestinian banners on Bronx expressway

The banners that appeared over NY's Brooklyn-Queens Expressway this week were loud and clear - "Free Palestine". Another banner appeared at the Cross Bronx Expressway at 179th Street and Amsterdam Ave on Wednesday morning.

Drivers may have thought this was the work of some radical Muslim group, but in fact the banners were put up by JATO - Jews Against the Occupation.

This is the same group that accused the Israeli government of war crimes during the Gaza invasion and that railed against Israeli aggression being funded with "US taxpayer's money".

Ethan Heitner, speaking for the group said: "Today's action is one small contribution to the growing movement in solidarity with the 1.5 million Palestinians whose lives are being destroyed by the occupation ... We know from our own history what being sealed behind barbed wire and checkpoints is like, and we know that 'Never Again' means not anyone, not anywhere - or it means nothing at all."

Story here from Haaretz.

Mar 17, 2009

Suppression of Israel criticism in Canada

A group of 150 Jewish Canadians have co-signed a statement expressing their concern about attempts by Jewish organizations to silence criticism of Israel through the use of fear-tactics. They point to the recent crackdown on university campuses that saw students being suspended and fined, posters confiscated and concerted efforts on the part of some universities to silence the exercise of free speech when it comes to criticism of Israel.

Help this important statement to get into broad circulation - pass it on to your networks (faculty, community, MPs, university presidents, unions etc.). You may also wish to write to the Star and Globe editorials and express your dismay that they have chosen not to publish it.

Here is the statement in full with a preamble:

Jewish Canadians Concerned About Suppression of Criticism of Israel

James Deutsch, M.D., Ph.D., Judith Deutsch, M.S.W., R.S.W., Miriam Garfinkle, M.D.

Over 150 Jewish Canadians signed a statement expressing their concerns about the campaign to suppress criticism of Israel that is being carried on within Canada. The signatories include many prominent Canadians, including Ursula Franklin O.C., Anton Kuerti O.C., Naomi Klein, Dr. Gabor Mate, and professors Meyer Brownstone (recipient of Pearson Peace Medal), Natalie Zemon Davis, Michael Neumann, and Judy Rebick. *

The signatories are particularly concerned that unfounded accusations of anti-Semitism deflect attention from Israel’s accountability for what many have called war crimes in Gaza. They state that B’nai Brith and the Canadian Jewish Congress have led campaigns to silence criticism of Israel on university campuses, in labor unions and in other groups. Immigration Minister Jason Kenney and Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff unquestioningly echo the views of these particular Jewish organizations.

They strongly state that they are against all expressions of racism. While firmly committed to resisting any form of prejudice against Jewish people, their statement explicitly states that these spurious allegations of anti-Semitism bring the anti-Communist terror of the 1950s vividly to mind.

The statement underlines the immeasurable suffering and injustice to the Palestinian people due to the severe poverty, daily humiliations, and military invasions inflicted by the State of Israel.

Statement: Jewish Canadians Concerned about Suppression of Criticism of Israel

We are Jewish Canadians concerned about all expressions of racism, anti-Semitism, and social injustice. We believe that the Holocaust legacy "Never again" means never again for all peoples. It is a tragic turn of history that the State of Israel, with its ideals of democracy and its dream of being a safe haven for Jewish people, causes immeasurable suffering and injustice to the Palestinian people.

We are appalled by recent attempts of prominent Jewish organizations and leading Canadian politicians to silence protest against the State of Israel. We are alarmed by the escalation of fear tactics. Charges that those organizing Israel Apartheid Week or supporting an academic boycott of Israel are anti-Semites promoting hatred bring the anti-Communist terror of the 1950s vividly to mind. We believe this serves to deflect attention from Israel’s flagrant violations of international humanitarian law.

B’nai Brith and the Canadian Jewish Congress have pressured university presidents and administrations to silence debate and discussion specifically regarding Palestine/Israel. In a full-page ad in a national newspaper, B’nai Brith urged donors to withhold funds from universities because "anti-Semitic hate fests" were being allowed on campuses. Immigration Minister Jason Kenney and Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff have echoed these arguments. While university administrators have resisted demands to shut down Israel Apartheid week, some Ontario university presidents have bowed to this disinformation campaign by suspending and fining students, confiscating posters, and infringing on free speech.

We do not believe that Israel acts in self-defense. Israel is the largest recipient of US foreign aid, receiving $3 million/day. It has the fourth strongest army in the world. Before the invasion of Gaza on 27 December 2008, Israel’s siege had already created a humanitarian catastrophe there, with severe impoverishment, malnutrition, and destroyed infrastructure. It is crucial that forums for discussion of Israel’s accountability to the international community for what many have called war crimes be allowed to proceed unrestricted by specious claims of anti-Semitism.

We recognize that anti-Semitism is a reality in Canada as elsewhere, and we are fully committed to resisting any act of hatred against Jews. At the same time, we condemn false charges of anti-Semitism against student organizations, unions, and other groups and people exercising their democratic right to freedom of speech and association regarding legitimate criticism of the State of Israel.

Signatories:

Abigail Bakan, Adam Balsam, Sharon Baltman, Julia Barnett, Lainie Basman, Jody Berland, Sam Blatt, Geri Blinik, Anita Block, Elizabeth Block, Sheila Block, Hannah Briemberg, Mark Brill, Stephen Brot, Meyer Brownstone, Eliza Burroughs, Smadar Carmon, Gyda Chud, Charles P. Cohen, Nathalie Cohen, David Copeland, Natalie Zemon Davis, Eliza Deutsch, James Deutsch, Judith Deutsch, Abbe Edelson, Jack Etkin, Elle Flanders, Danielle Frank, Ursula Franklin, Dan Freeman-Maloy, Miriam Garfinkle, Alisa Gayle, Jack Gegenberg, Mark Golden, Brenda Goldstein, Sue Goldstein, Cy Gonick, Marnina Gonick, Rachel Gotthilf, Amy Gottleib, Kevin A. Gould, Daina Green, Lisa Frances Greenspoon, Ricardo Grinspun, Cathy Gulkin, Rachel Gurofsky, Deboran Guterman, Yesse Gutman, Freda Guttman, Judy Haiven, Michael Hanna-Fein, Jean Hanson, Jan Heynen, Maria Heynen, Adam Hofmann, Jake Javanshir, Jeannie Kamins, Marylin Kanee, Howard S. Kaplan, Gilda Katz. Maxine Kaufman-Lacusta, Mira Khazzam, Bonnie Sher Klein, Mark Klein, Martin Klein, Naomi Klein, Joshua Katz-Rosene, Ryan Katz-Rosene, Judy Koch, Anton Kuerti, Jason Kunin, Aaron Lakoff, Michael Lambek, Natalie LaRoche, Richard Borshay Lee, Andy Lehrer, Gabriel Levin, Gabriel Levine, Joel Lexchin, Kim Linekin, Abby Lippman, Lee Lorch, Martin Lukacs, Audrey Macklin, Elise Maltin, Richard Marcuse, Wayne Mark, Gabor Mate, Arthur Milner, Anna Miransky, Dorit Naaman, Joanne Naiman, Neil Naiman, Michael Neumann, David-Marc Newman, David Noble, Clare O’Connor, Robin Ostow, Andre W. Payant, Jenny Peto, Simone Powell, Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, Fabienne Presentey, Yacov Rabkin, Diana Ralph, Naomi Rankin, Judy Rebick, Ester Reiter, Jillian Rogin, Richard Roman, Joseph Rosen, Herman Rosenfeld, Martha Roth, Marty Roth, Ruben Roth, E.Natalie Rothman, B. Sack, Ben Saifer, Miriam Sampaio, Jacob Scheir, Fred Schloessinger, Alan Sears, Shlomit Segal, Edward H. Shaffer, Noa Shaindlinger, Ray Shankman, Eva Sharell, Elliot Shek, Sid Shniad, Max Silverman, Samuel Singer, Elizabeth Solloway, Susan Starkman, Greg Starr, Jonathan Sterne, Jeremy Stolow, Rhonda Sussman, Vera Szoke, Joe Tannenbaum, Howard Tessler, Marion Traub-Werner, Ceyda Turan, Sandra Tychsen, Cheryl Wagner, Jon McPhedran Waitzer, David Wall, Naomi Binder Wall, Kathy Wazana, Karen Weisberg, Barry Weisleder, Paul Weinberg, Judith Weisman, Suzanne Weiss, Abraham Weizfeld, Ernie Yacub, B.H. Yael, Yedida Zalik, Melvin Zimmerman

Feb 14, 2009

American Jews protest outside the World Zionist Organization

There are those who believe that if you are critical of the state of Israel, you are to some degree anti-Semitic. The problem with this line of thinking is that many Jews have profound issues with Zionism and the state of Israel, yet proudly call themselves Jewish.

Jewishness and Zionism are not synonymous or even necessarily compatible.

Throughout the Gaza campaign I have been inspired by the conviction and courage of Jews who stood up and said "not in our name."

Yesterday in New York, over 1,000 Jews demonstrated outside the World Zionist Organization and Jewish Agency against Israel’s policies in Gaza.

Jan 16, 2009

Yonit Levy: Israeli anchor attacked for showing empathy for Gazans

Israeli news readers who comment on Operation Cast Lead better have cast iron expressions on their faces or some viewers will complain of treachery.

Anchor for Channel 2, Yonit Levy, has been accused of being "anti-Zionist", "weakening national morale" and "empathizing with the enemy" because in the course of interviews with Gazan Arabs she asked about civilian casualties and expressed concern for fellow humans.

One outraged viewer started an online petition to object to Levy's "empathy for the enemy". The viewer hoped to raise 10,000 signatures but quickly reached 30,000 plus. She has since disabled the signature option claiming it has gotten out-of-control.

Viewers also complained because at the end of a broadcast Ms Levy said: "It's hard to convince the world that the war is justified when we have one person dead and the Palestinian nation has 350 dead."

Other female Israeli newsreaders are also under suspicion of engaging in the "crime" of empathy - this would include Channel 10's Miki Haimovich and Oshrat Kotler. And horror of horrors - Dana Weiss of Channel 2 was spotted assuming facial expressions during interviews that connote sorrow or pain for those Gazans who are suffering.

This overreaction on the part of Israeli viewers sounds very much like guilt dressed up as patriotism. Hundreds of innocent Palestinian children have been butchered in an assault that has shocked and outraged the world.

During the Third Reich it was considered to be treachery to express humanitarian feelings for Jews. Any German newscaster insane enough to have expressed on-air empathy for Jews would assuredly have been arrested by the Gestapo and executed after a hasty hearing in front of Nazi Judge Roland Freisler.

Perhaps some Israelis would be happier if Ms Levy received similar treatment.

Sir Gerald Kaufman: Jewish MP compares Israelis in Gaza to Nazis

British MP, Sir Gerald Kaufman, who was raised as an orthodox Jew and a Zionist, today compared the Israeli actions in Gaza to the Nazis who forced his family to flee Poland:

My grandmother was ill in bed when the Nazis came to her home town .. a German soldier shot her dead in her bed.

My grandmother did not die to provide cover for Israeli soldiers murdering Palestinian grandmothers in Gaza.

The present Israeli government ruthlessly and cynically exploit the continuing guilt from gentiles over the slaughter of Jews in the Holocaust as justification for their murder of Palestinians.

Sir Gerald likened the Israeli claim that large numbers of Gaza victims are militants to the claims of the Nazis : "I suppose the Jews fighting for their lives in the Warsaw ghetto could have been dismissed as militants."

He is calling for an arms embargo on Israel : "It is time for our Government to make clear to the Israeli government that its conduct and policies are unacceptable and to impose a total arms ban on Israel."

Sir Gerald hasn't always been a critic of Israel. In his youth he was infatuated with Zionism. In a BBC documentary titled The End of the Affair, he describes how his early idealism gave way to eventual disillusionment. He has called Israel a "pariah" and its senior politicians "war criminals".

In April 2002, in response to Israel's military operation codenamed Defensive Shield, Sir Gerald had this to say:

It is time to remind Sharon that the star of David belongs to all Jews, not to his repulsive Government. His actions are staining the star of David with blood. The Jewish people, whose gifts to civilised discourse include Einstein and Epstein, Mendelssohn and Mahler, Sergei Eisenstein and Billy Wilder, are now symbolised throughout the world by the blustering bully Ariel Sharon, a war criminal implicated in the murder of Palestinians at the Sabra and Shatila camps and now involved in killing Palestinians once again.

Of the present Israeli leadership and their actions in Gaza, he said: "They are not simply war criminals, they are fools."

Link here for Sir Gerald's comments on YouTube.

Jan 13, 2009

Hedy Epstein: Holocaust survivor protests Israeli assault on Gaza

Hedy Epstein is a remarkable woman who has worked courageously over the years to promote human rights and social justice. She recently spoke out to protest the Israeli attack on Gaza - video link at the bottom of this post.

Since 2003 Ms Epstein has visited the occupied West Bank five times to witness the situation first hand. She has been involved in protests against Israel's occupation of Palestinian land and the demolition of Palestinian homes and olive orchards.

This from the site "Hedy Epstein : Holocaust Survivor and Speaker" :

Hedy was 8 years old when Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany on January 30, 1933. She remembers her parents and other adults talking about Hitler, saying that they hoped he would not gain power in Germany, and then, after he did, hoping that he would not remain in office very long.

After that January day, things began to get slowly worse for Jews and other minorities in Germany. A boycott of Jewish businesses. Anti-semitism in schools. Revocation of German citizenship for all Jews. Kristallnacht, known today as Reichsprogromnacht in Germany. Burning of synagogues. Jewish males over the age of 16 placed into "Schutzhaft," or "protective custody," in concentration camps throughout Germany. Finally, all Jews deported into labor or concentration camps. The death of 6 million Jews and 5 million others in those camps.

On May 18, 1939, Hedy went to England on a children's transport. Five hundred children were on this transport, part of the almost 10,000 children that England took in between December 1938 and September 1, 1939, the beginning of World War II. Hedy's parents had tried for many years to leave Germany as a family, but were unsuccessful, due to emigration restrictions in various countries around the world. Finally, after consulting with the 14-year-old Hedy, her parents found a way out for her on the children's transport.

In speaking out against the Israeli attack on Gaza that has resulted in the deaths of some 257 children Hedy Epstein is far from a lone voice in the Jewish community. Many Jews are opposed to Israeli actions in Gaza and the appalling civilian death toll.

In 2008 Ms Epstein toured in the UK and Ireland to speak out against Israel's war crimes.

Link here for Hedy Epstein's video message.

Jan 8, 2009

Canadian Jewish women protest Gaza invasion

Photo: Aaron Harris / Toronto Star

Eight Jewish women staged a sit-in at the Israeli consulate in Toronto on Wednesday to protest the Gaza invasion.

Those protesting included Judy Rebick, professor; Judith Deutsch, psychoanalyst and president of Science for Peace; B.H. Yael, filmmaker; Smadar Carmon, a Canadian Israeli peace activist and others.

The group stated that they want to raise their voices against the atrocities taking place in Gaza. They also stated that speaking 'as Jews' - the IDF operation is not being conducted in their name.

They demanded that:

(1) Israel end its military assault on Gaza.

(2) Israel lift the 18-month siege on the Gaza strip to allow humanitarian aid into the territory.

Dec 31, 2008

Anti-Zionist Jews protest Israeli attack on Gaza

Anti-Zionist Orthodox Jews were part of a 1,500 strong protest in New York against the Israeli bombardment of Gaza. The protesters marched from the Rockerfeller Center to the Israeli consulate on 2nd Avenue.

Criticism of the Israeli military incursion in Gaza should never descend into a generalized attack on Jews, an unfortunate trend in some quarters. Some of the most outspoken critics of Israeli policies are Jewish activists both within and outside Israel.

Link to the Neterei Karta for more.