Jews Teach SAFE a Lesson; Will They Learn?
SAFE (Students Allied for Freedom and Equality) is a Palestine solidarity organization at the University of Michigan, and proposed a Divestment resolution before the Central Student Government in 2014 and were soundly defeated (25-9). This year SAFE returned to the CSG, hat in hand with a “revamped” resolution, and padded their ranks with Jewish false prophets who led them, once again, down the path to failure (25-15). Was it intended to fail? Let’s look.
An article appeared in the Michigan Daily a week before the vote, and featured statements by two Jews and an Asian woman, but none from any Palestinians. One Jew, Benjamin Gottschalk, assured his audience “supporting this organization is not anti-Semitic because it does not target the Jewish people,†If critical-thinking SAFE members were listening, Gottschalk was telling them it’s not JEWS who were committing the crimes against Palestinians, not a Jewish state with Jewish soldiers using weapons with Jewish religious symbols on them. Heaven forbid any reflection on his Jewish people for these crimes. And SAFE apparently bought this lie.
Snap out of it, SAFE! As Henry Gondorff says in The Sting (1975), “that’s what you get for playing with your head up your ass.” Your lesson is clear:
One, allowing Jewish activists to call the shots will not win the day, because they absolutely refuse to address the core issues, specifically Israel’s claims to legitimacy, Jewish Supremacism in Palestine (and elsewhere), Jewish Power in general, and they will apparently NEVER hold their own community accountable for the racism that is created and nurtured there. Josh Ruebner, the Jewish Policy Director for the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation was in town last weekend and declined our invitation (repeated after signature) to stand vigil with us. Josh joins the list of Jews Who Will Not Stand with JWPF at the #37 slot, and continues to refuse to hold his own community accountable while writing books critical of non-Jews (Barack Obama) and button-holing non-Jewish performers like Lauryn Hill to boycott Israel, rather than shouldering the burden to target Jews as the backbone of Israel’s apartheid here and in Palestine. No wonder Jews have such a tarnished image.
Two. take heed to the words of Malcolm X, who knew that blacks and whites holding hands and singing” Kumbayah” wouldn’t address the issues of white racism in America. To paraphrase Malcolm, I know that every time Jews join a Palestinian organization, you watch, pretty soon the Palestinians will be leaning on the Jews to support it, and before you know it a Palestinian may be up front with a title, but the Jews, because of their money and manipulation, are the real controllers. (see Autobiography of Malcolm X, p. 384)
Three, take back YOUR liberation movement. Reject “solidarity”; it’s a meaningless term. Palestine can live only if Israel dies. That goal will gain you enemies in the near future (as your Jewish pseudo-friends leave you), but the true friends you make by dealing straight up with these issues will remain long after the memory of false friends recede.
Four, recognize that as long as wolves in sheep’s clothing like JVP leader Barbara Harvey and Josh Ruebner fail to clearly differentiate themselves those Jews openly supportive of a Jewish state, wolves in wolf’s clothing like UM Professor Victor Lieberman will continue to mop the floor with these liberals and yourselves with his lies. “Israel has offered to recognize Arab sovereignty on five occasions,†Lieberman said last Tuesday. “If any of those offers had been accepted, there would be no refugees.”
End of lesson.
Comments?
March 7, Four vigilers
March 14, Five vigilers
March 21, Five vigilers
March 28, Four vigilers
Henry Herskovitz
Jewish Witnesses for Peace and Friends
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Invitation to Josh Ruebner
Dear Josh,
As a representative of Jewish Witnesses for Peace and Friends, please allow me to accept your invitation to join you March 28th at the Friends Meeting House in Ann Arbor at 4 PM.
Allow me also to return the favor by inviting you to join us in our street protest of the crimes of the state of Israel (and its existence), which we do every Saturday morning in front of Beth Israel Congregation, 2000 Washtenaw Avenue, about a half mile from the Friends Meeting House.
I’m sure you’ll agree with me that the racism evinced by the Jewish state is created and nurtured within the Jewish community, and the congregants at Beth Israel are no exception: speaking for all its members, Rabbi Dobrusin “affirms without any hesitation or equivocation the legitimacy of the existence of the State of Israel as a Jewish state”. This racism is exhibited clearly in Max Blumenthal’s recent book, Goliath: Life and Loathing in Greater Israel.
In addition, the Rabbi takes innocent Jewish children on trips to Israel and poses them with armed Israeli soldiers on military vehicles, as part of their indoctrination to support the Jewish state. Rabbi Dobrusin is on record as supporting torture, flies the Israeli flag in Beth Israel’s sanctuary and weekly utters a “Prayer for the State of Israel.”
Please also join us for a late breakfast at a nearby restaurant, as we debrief from our morning’s activities. Our vigils begin at 9:30 AM and end at 10:45 AM. They are peaceful and legal.
We share many close friends with three groups sponsoring your talk: IDAP, UUJME and PIAG. I’m sure we’ll have lots to talk about. If you need transportation, please let us know.
Best wishes,
Henry Herskovitz
Jewish Witnesses for Peace and Friends