JWPF Prepares for the US Social Forum

Jewish Witnesses for Peace and Friends will be conducting a workshop entitled “Synagogue Vigils: Six Years of Challenging Judaic Zionism” as part of the US Social Forum next week. Our presentation will take place on Friday, June 25th from 3:30 – 5:30, location: TWW1 (151 W. Fort St., Detroit, MI 48226). The workshop will consist of three short presentations by JWPF members followed by a Q&A period. The topics to be discussed include:

Origin, tactics and goals of the Vigils
The Vigils from an Arab participant’s view
Shock and outrage from actions of the Jewish state

Perhaps the most revealing aspect of our program will be the introduction and discussion of a document, which challenges the widely held belief that Zionism is mainly a secular movement. As the workshop description (in full, below signature) indicates, a 1942 document signed by “the largest number of rabbis whose signatures are attached to a public pronouncement in all Jewish history”, reveals the opposite, that in fact Zionism is “an affirmation of Judaism”. These Rabbis write: “Anti-Zionism, not Zionism, is a departure from the Jewish religion.” If you’re registered with the USSF, then please join us next Friday.

JWPF Members to attend IJAN Assembly

Members of the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, along with the Middle East Children’s Alliance, have called for an assembly of anti-Zionist Jews to be held prior to the US Social Forum. At least two JWPF members are planning to attend this three-day event. We are excited to combine forces with other anti-Zionist Jews (and their friends). For more details, see http://www.jewsconfrontapartheid.org/

Six Vigilers
No Jewish State
Henry Herskovitz
Jewish Witnesses for Peace and Friends
#

JWPF Workshop Description:

Since September 2003, a small group of determined people of conscience and faith have held weekly nonviolent vigils outside Beth Israel Congregation in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Members of Jewish Witnesses for Peace and Friends stand vigil to protest and draw attention to the synagogue’s open and unabashed support for apartheid Israel. Rabbi Robert Dobrusin has stated publicly that his Congregation ” affirms without any hesitation … the legitimacy of the existence of the State of Israel as a Jewish state …” As with any other supremacist state, a “Jewish state” can never fully include, nor respect the rights of, non-Jews living under its rule, let alone the millions of Palestinian refugees whom Israel prevents from returning home. We will help inform and empower participants to oppose Judaic Zionism. Participants will learn about the 1942 statement by 757 rabbis that “Zionism is an Affirmation of Judaism” and how, locally, Judaic Zionism (like Christian Zionism) underpins US support for the apartheid state of Israel. Participants will learn why the JWPF vigils began and how they have succeeded in drawing local and national attention to the plight of the Palestinian people and the role of religious Jews in their suffering.