Exposing Another Zionist in the Peace Movement

The following section is offered as a case study in how to distinguish those activists who support a Jewish state from those who recognize that deadly symptoms of Zionism are connected at the root, and that it is this root of the conflict that must be eliminated, not preserved.

I recently had an e-mail correspondence with self-described former AIPAC member turned peace activist. This guy, let’s call him “Mr. F,” has actually worked with other folks in his community in a certain Southwestern state to do some good, public work in exposing US bankrolling of apartheid Israel. Naturally, this stoked the ire of local Zionists and when a request went out far and wide to try to intervene on behalf of the coalition Mr. F worked with, this writer heeded the call.

Subsequently, Mr. F put out a notice that he will be speaking at local synagogue and I innocently asked whether he would be promoting the Palestinian call for global boycotts against Israel at his presentation. His response piqued my curiosity: “although I support BDS, I see it as secondary to dialogue groups. I would like to see dialogue groups sprout up all over the US and Israel.” Hmm.

I wrote back and reminded Mr. F that adhering to the request from Palestinians civil society (171 NGOs) to create a BDS movement was the duty of all people of conscience and I hinted that it was, perhaps, arrogant to relegate Palestinians’ primary request to secondary status. I also pointed out the diversionary nature of a structured “dialogue” which masks true dialogue. I didn’t say so then but I am now reminded, too, that dialogue with supporters of Israel is a clear example of “When Dialogue is NOT our Hope.”

Anyway, Mr. F. responded with a rejection of the notion that we should “follow” the Palestinian boycott call. He claimed, the issue was “spiritual” and reiterated his position that “dialogue” was necessary. He said additionally that the Palestinian right of return was “unworkable.” He also wrote that he did “not advocate punishing Israel or getting revenge against Israel, as so many activists actually want (in their emotional attitude). That is a recipe for conflict.”

Now my antennae were set to quivering. Was my creeping suspicion that Mr. F was actually a Zionist in error? I then asked him, “Do you really support Israel’s claimed ‘right’ to exist as a Jewish state in Palestine?” His first answer: “I support Israel’s right to exist because I know that far too much blood would be shed if the Palestinians hold out for a full right of return, not to mention the demise of Israel.”

Blood shed? I asked whether he was counting only Jewish blood, reminding him that in last year’s Hanukkah Massacre alone, some 1400 Palestinians in Gaza were slaughtered, producing a 100:1 “kill” ratio. I also challenged his attempt to dismiss the Palestinian right of return as “unworkable”, and asserted that he had dodged the “right to exist” question.

Now his antennae must have been set to quivering as well. Did he know he was exposed? He wrote, “You have not heard a word I’ve said” and alleged that I distorted his point of view. I denied any distortion, but to clear the record I repeated the question: “Do you support Israel’s claimed right to exist as a Jewish state in Palestine?”

The mask was almost completely off at this point. Mr. F responded: “I prefer Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state to continued conflict. I am not willing to sacrifice the lives of thousands of people, including the unborn for ideological stubbornness and egoic demands.” Amazing! He still hadn’t answered the question, so focusing on his purported wish to avoid conflict, I asked a slightly different question: “Would you have preferred Nazi Germany’s claimed ‘right’ to exist as a white, Aryan nation in Germany, Poland, etc.as opposed to continued conflict?”

And that was that. Mr. F could resist answering my question but he couldn’t resist the temptation of the ad hominem attack: “I am not interested in catering to your obsession with casting the world as the enemy. Your need to prove to yourself that since other people do not agree with your great wisdom they are the enemy is not my problem. I also am not responsible for your inability to understand what I have to say.”

One of the astounding things about this conversation is that Mr. F claims to wish to avoid conflict and blood shed while never once acknowledging–even after I questioned him about it in my final message–that it is EXACTLY the existence of a Jewish supremacist state in Palestine, imposed against the will of the indigenous population, that has fomented and fueled conflict and bloodshed there for more than sixty years now. Should he ever decide to work on curing the disease, it will become apparent to him that is the only way to successfully treat the symptoms.

Meeting Rev. Jeremiah Wright

Two members of JWPF and a third activist in the Ann Arbor community attended an evening service at the Oak Grove AME Church in Detroit this week to see and hear the Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr. speak. Magnetic, dynamic, captivating … all the usual catch-phrases belong to this orator, who in the opinion of this writer belongs in the White House. He masterfully wove Scripture in connection to current events: “Walk with Jesus through the streets of Gaza … walk with Him through the West Bank and the West Side of Chicago”.

As we entered the church, we each received a card upon which we were to indicate our fellowship. Later in the service, all the congregations listed were read aloud, and “Jewish Witnesses for Peace and Friends” received a warm round of applause.

Local Zionist Appointed to Human Rights Commission

Did Ann Arbor Mayor John Hieftje act spitefully with his recent, stealth appointment of arch Zionist Neal Elyakin to the Human Rights Commission? Was he punishing this Commission, or those of us who’ve asked that the City Council promote a 2003 Resolution by this Commission calling for a suspension of military aid to Israel? We suspect only he knows the answers, but call readers attention to PeaceMonger’s expose of this Nakba-denier.

Seven Vigillers
Anti-Apartheid, Anti-Israel
Henry Herskovitz
Edited by Vigiller M
Jewish Witnesses for Peace and Friends
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