Friday, September 3, 2010
The Love That Dare Not Speak its Name.
Just what is it about hatred of Israel that the Boston CJP and Barry Shrage refuse to understand? Is it the fact that some of their affiliated groups have never held a pro-Israel event? Is it that those self-same groups who receive money from the CJP have conducted nothing but blatantly anti-Israel events for the last ten years? Is it the fact that one of those groups - The Workmen's Circle - is currently engaged in promoting BDS (Boycott, Divest, Sanctions) against Israel? Is the money machine of the CJP so insecure that it will not ostracize one of the most dangerous pro-Palestinian Jewish support groups fearing controversy? Or does the CJP agree with the destructive goals of that group? Solomonia recently published a terrific piece by Dov Shazeer on the group's orientation.
According to Director Shrage, the Workmen's Circle consists of:
"teaching secular Judaism and Yiddish to children and adults and their politics (when they're engaged in it) has been center left."
Unbelievable! Here is a group whose political compass went askew when the Soviet Union sank beneath the waves. I wouldn't be surprised if the only holidays they celebrated were Uncle Joe's birthday and May Day. "Center Left?" Such a characterization reveals the political orientation of the CJP whose mission statement might as well read: "If You're Hard Left, We Welcome You". Aside from functioning as an unofficial agency for the Democratic Party, CJP must start to question its rules for admission.
Since when does "center left" include advocating BDS against Israel at a time of unprecedented existential threats against it? Let the facts speak for themselves.
Workmen's Circle Rothchild and Fellow BDS Stalwarts
Alice Rothchild, who is a member of the Workmen's Circle Mideast Working Group and a highly respected speaker for that group, is not only virulentlyanti-Israel, but is now spearheading the effort within the organization to Boycott, Divest and Sanction. Among her other accomplishments, Ms. Rothchild, not to be outdone by her Arab cohorts, has graduated to even questioning whether a "Jewish People" exists at all:
(letter to the Boston Globe re: the Gaza Flotilla incident, July 22, 2010)
"I APPRECIATE James Carroll's column on Israelis and Palestinians, outlining the double inheritance of anti-Semitism and British colonialism, for which neither people is historically responsible, and acknowledging the complicity of Western powers. It is important to stress that the historic hatred of Jews was traditionally not part of the Arabic-speaking world until Jews began to claim Palestine for themselves, and that the "return of land to Jewish people'' involves a particular reading of history, obliterates the several thousand years of others' claims to this land, and ignores the academic questions regarding the probable multiple origins of the "Jewish people.''(Rothchild's quotation marks)
Ms. Rothchild and The Workmen's Circle have announced an upcoming October "discussion" entitled, "A Model for Framing the Israel/Palestine Conflict and Moving to Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS)"
The model is the Jewish Voice for Peace push to force the investment group, TIAA-CREF to divest from Israel. JVP is so extreme that even J Street keeps its distance (for now, that is). Incidentally, this BDS meeting will be held Cambridge at the Congregationalist First Church, formerly the home of the Somerville Divestment Project. What a coincidence.
Of course, it's not really a discussion, but a strategy session on how effectively to institute BDS. Hosted and obviously endorsed by the WC, there is now no doubt whatsoever on their lethal position on Israel. Here is the full announcement:
"Difficult Conversations"
When: Monday, October 4, 2010, 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Where: Workmen's Circle • 1762 Beacon St • Green Line (C) Train - Tappan St. • Brookline
Start: 2010 Oct 4 - 6:00pm
End: 2010 Oct 4 - 8:00pm
A Model for Framing the Israel/Palestine Conflict and Moving to Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS)
This meeting is designed to give us the tools to begin conversations with friends and colleagues who need more information as they take a position against the occupation.
Alice Rothchild, a physician, author and activist, will present an historical basis for the call for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions. In breakout groups, we will discuss how we can apply what we heard in our own outreach around the JVP TIAA-CREF campaign.
Alice has co‐chaired an annual health and human rights delegation to Israel/Palestine since 2003 and is the author of Broken Promises, Broken Dreams: Stories of Jewish and Palestinian Trauma and Resilience (2nd edition 2010).
For more information, email jvpboston@gmail.com.
Sponsored by Jewish Voice for Peace
When asked to simply recount a pro-Israel event hosted by WC in the last ten years, Director, Michael Felsen, replied, "Well, we hosted an event opposed to settlements." Perhaps in the CJP universe, that's bold support.
Perhaps Mr. Shrage and the insulated officers at the Boston CJP are unaware of the extent of the Workmen's Circle's activities on behalf of Israel's enemies. Or, more ominously, they quietly endorse them.
