The Israeli Dog and US Tail

People are awful sensitive; you gotta watch what you say. A former quitter of these vigil reports has quit the list again, citing our “…very different positions about the role of Israel and the Israeli lobby on US foreign policy”, and an allegation that my speech of last week at the Cindy Sheehan rally contributed to “… an effort to discredit her courageous actions against the Iraq War by claiming that she had said her son died for Israel…” [in the speech I said “… the war in which Casey died was supported and directed by many Israel-firsters”, with full responsibility for the statement, and no attribution to Cindy].

Despite the “differences” between our “positions”, my critic failed to support her opposition to the points I raised in the speech. Specifically, she failed to provide any evidence that the creation of the Jewish state was planned by “US Imperialism” and was not in fact opposed by key elite figures at the time as contrary to US interests. Apparently, the gesture in the speech that I was not exonerating US Imperialism per se had no ameliorating effect on her.

It’s a bigger problem than one person being offended, however, and we would like those who have convinced themselves that US Imperialism is the source of Jewish supremacism in Palestine to stand up and state their arguments, minus the usual empty platitudes such as “if it weren’t in US interests, we would drop them like a hot potato”.

If support for Israel is in US imperialist interests then why, Viliger M asks, don’t Jews get this point, and instead spend millions of dollars creating Israeli PACs and blanketing the US Congress with staffers and misinformation on a daily basis? Why do they need to waste their energy and financial resources on a US foreign policy that would support the creation and maintenance of a Jewish supremacist state in Palestine absent their efforts in that regard?

Well, maybe that’s because (a) it’s not in the US’s best interest to support such a rogue state (Cindy Sheehan’s words) and (b) the stranglehold on our government is required to maintain pro-Israel policies counter to US interests.

But don’t take out word for it; read “A War for Israel” by Jeff Blankfort, and The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy by Mearsheimer and Walt, then make up your own mind. Or – if you think these fellows are driven by anti-Semitic urges, then check out Jewish Power by JJ Goldberg, he of impeccable Jewish credentials.

Comments?

7 Vigilers
Who supports Israel more than the Jewish community?
Henry Herskovitz
Jewish Witnesses for Peace and Friends

Another Jewish Gatekeeper Leaves email List

Joshua Bernstein (not real name) has called it quits on receiving these reports. Apparently a close associate of Rebecca Vilkomerson, he took last week’s report personally when we wrote: “Gilad [Atzmon] identifies for us these leaders – Medea Benjamin of Code Pink and Rebecca Vilkomerson of Jewish Voice for Peace to name just two – who place Jewish tribalism and a faux focus on ‘anti-Semitism’ at primary levels in the peace movement, while the effort to actually liberate Palestine remains secondary.

Mr. Bernstein wrote:

Some time ago, you sent out a post of rather venomous attacks on some Palestinian activists with whom you disagreed on some issue (I’ve forgotten what). I found it offensive and presumptuous, but hoped it was an aberration and let it go. This morning, however, you sent another post describing Rebecca Vilkomerson as placing Jewish tribalism and/or anti-Semitism in a “primary position” above Palestinian liberation. I know Rebecca quite well, and the assertion is absurd and frankly slanderous.

I asked for clarification from Mr. B regarding Rebecca’s goal in her peace activism: Does Rebecca work against the Israeli “occupation” to dismantle or preserve the Jewish state?

Mr. B: “It wouldn’t be appropriate for me to represent Rebecca’s positions or motivations in this context, but what I have said is based on personal knowledge, not assumptions.”

In other words, Mr. B does not know the goal of the leader of a prominent peace group and one can waste many an hour trying to find this goal within the web pages of Jewish Voice for Peace.

Now we don’t know Rebecca’s goal either, but we ask why this is so? What are Jewish leaders in the peace movement hiding when they refuse to be clear about their goals, and their supporters like Mr. B are too timid (or are fledgling gatekeepers themselves) to ask? The truth appears to be that these leaders are working to preserve Jewish supremacism in Palestine, i.e. are there just as Gilad told us, to run cover for openly Zionist groups like AIPAC.

ICPJ Shuns Cindy Sheehan

Upon learning that Jewish Witnesses for Peace and Friends was a co-sponsor of the Cindy Sheehan Tour dePeace rally this week, the Board of Directors of Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice decided to take their ball and go home [text of speech below signature]. After failing to coerce the organizer to oust JWPF, they shamefully withdrew their sponsorship of the rally and just might have been partly responsible for the disappointing turnout (40-50 people). Here you have a self-proclaimed peace and justice group saying in essence: We don’t like another group, so we’re first going to pressure you to give them the boot, and, failing that, we’re not going to play in your game anymore.

Talk about maturity. It’s clear that the Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice, and its leader Chuck Warpehoski, are all about the money. It raises funds to pay its staff and pads its bank account with donations and in return runs away from sincere peace activists like Cindy Sheehan. Did we already say “shameful”?

On the Road with Tour dePeace

This writer, accompanied by Vigil Supporter M, motored out to Grass Lake, Michigan, to meet Cindy and her staff on their way to Ann Arbor, about 25 miles further east. This was her last stop prior to the campus rally and although we thought we would be joining a large crowd, truth be told we comprised the entire “crowd” ourselves. Must be lonely out there, Cindy; our hearts are with you!

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7 VIgilers
June is Torture Awareness Month. Why does Beth Israel support torture?
Henry Herskovitz
Jewish Witnesses for Peace and Friends
#

Text of Speech at Tour dePeace rally in Ann Arbor, June 5, 2013

It’s an honor to be here today, sharing a stage with a woman whom I’ve admired from afar. When I read about her protests at George Bush’s Crawford Ranch, I said to myself: now that’s a peace activist who gets it.

She understands the disparity between a government who won’t listen and a population who is demanding transparency and justice. She understands the difference between a compliant, massive media and the muted voices of peace like hers and ours.

To use an analogy, she resembles the tiny mosquito who enters the ring to do battle against an elephant, and she knows what to do. She first knows that you don’t play to your opponent’s strengths: a stomping mosquito probably won’t accomplish much. But she recognizes her strengths and goes buzzing and stinging in the elephant’s ear until the elephant can’t stand it any longer.

Cindy Sheehan is not the peace activist who claims that “peace begins with me”, and remains in her home basement chanting Kumbaya and reciting the 23rd Psalm. She understands and perhaps channels the former slave-turned statesman Frederick Douglass who, in 1857 said,

“If there is no struggle there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom and yet depreciate agitation…want crops without plowing up the ground, they want rain without thunder and lightening. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.”

Many will tell you that US Imperialism is the reason we’re involved in so many outrageous military interventions throughout the world, and in the main they are correct. But the recent US forays into the Middle East are driven by another engine, and that is the power of the Israel Lobby.

Let’s be clear: I’m not here to exonerate US imperialism, but US imperialism did NOT create the state of Israel. Not only is there no documentation to support such a claim, it’s well known that the US State Department was strongly against supporting the partition of Palestine and recognizing the Jewish State. It was so strongly opposed in fact that Secretary of State George Marshall threatened to vote against then President Harry Truman in the 1948 elections. But Truman – for political purposes, and not those representing the interests of his imperialist country – elected to court the Jewish Lobby’s support and rode their power to victory.

In this book The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy, professors Mearsheimer and Walt detail this power and state unequivocally that absent the influence of the Israel Lobby the US likely would not have invaded Iraq in 2003.

Jeff Blankfort’s pamphlet called “A War for Israel” further documents the domination of the Israel Lobby affecting US foreign policy, and explains why the war in which Casey died was supported and directed by many Israel-firsters.

Our small group here in Ann Arbor – Jewish Witnesses for Peace and Friends – has taken a page from Cindy’s book and we also go where we’re not wanted to create the educational moments necessary to wake up a slumbering population. We have recognized – and it’s not surprising – that the support the Israel Lobby receives comes from the Jewish community. It’s impossible to imagine another community so dedicated in its support of the Jewish state, and that’s where we have taken our protest for nine and a half years.

So from one mosquito to another, Cindy, welcome to Ann Arbor and when you get to Washington DC, tell that peace prize recipient who lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue that we know who his handlers are, we know what he’s up to and we demand that he discontinues he war-mongering ways.

Thank you

Atzmon Tours Toledo and Ypsilanti

We have learned a secret about jazz musician and philosopher Gilad Atzmon in the last few days: the man only has two speeds, 100 mph (that’s 161 kph for the Brits reading this) and zero. His energy wore out a crowd of 25 folks in Ypsilanti, Michigan Friday evening and about 50 listeners in Toledo, Ohio Thursday, yet at last sighting he was going strong.

Though leaving his audiences without a clear path of “what to do”, he certainly provides a lot of thought-provoking ideas for the uninitiated to chew upon. So much so, that a Jewish doctor and friend stormed out of his Friday delivery midstream, shocked, shocked at the idea that an examination of Jewish collective behavior could possibly be helpful in understanding the actions of others. Gilad waxes nostalgic over the loveable bigot Archie Bunker, whom he describes as the last free self-expressing person and urged those in his audience to give up the shackles of political correctness and speak our minds. Patriotism, he instructed, is the ability to admire our surrounding rivers, valleys, mountains while using and preserving our First Amendment rights.

He expounded on the nature of Jewish Power for us — it is the invisible hand that forbids us from speaking about Jewish Power. He claimed that AIPAC (American-Israel Public Affairs Committee) is *not* an example of Jewish Power, but the power resides in Jewish leaders of the peace movement who – like the anti-aircraft batteries protecting a military target – provide cover for targets like AIPAC. As such, Gilad identifies for us these leaders – Medea Benjamin of Code Pink and Rebecca Vilkomerson of Jewish Voice for Peace to name just two – who place Jewish tribalism and a faux focus on “anti-Semitism” at primary levels in the peace movement, while the effort to actually liberate Palestine remains secondary. This observation is now being questioned by Atzmon supporters like Paul Larudee in his recent piece, “The Palestine Liberation Movement is not about Anti-Semitism”.

Gilad at JWPF Vigil

Mr. Atzmon slowed down just long enough to join ten members of Jewish Witness for Peace and Friends at our May 25 vigil in front of the Zionist Beth Israel Congregation. Following that, after a quick breakfast with JWPF vigilers, he was hustled off to Detroit Metro airport to head east for his NYC and Washington DC appearances. Thank you, Gilad for recognizing the importance of our weekly vigils.

Cindy Sheehan Coming to Ann Arbor

Local organizer Diane Gee has requested that we place flyers around town for the June 5 Tour de Peace bicycle ride by Peace Mom Cindy Sheehan as it passes through Ann Arbor. We note that the Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice has withdrawn its name from the sponsors list.

JWPF in the News

Mr. Dave Askins of the Ann Arbor Chronicle reported on our presentation
to City Council on May 6, and we also note the softening tone of his report. Although my words were: “Israeli forces violently attacked Palestinian Christians near the Church of the Holy Sepulcher on Easter”, Mr. Askins reports it as “And near the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Christians had been prevented by Israeli security forces from worshiping on orthodox Easter” (full text below signature). In fact, Israeli police brutalized several people and, as the Times of Israel reports, beat an Egyptian Coptic bishop into unconsciousness. A press release from the Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem described “horrific scenes of the brutal treatment of our clergy, people, and pilgrims” and declared “it is not acceptable that under pretext of security and order, our clergy and people are indiscriminately and brutally beaten, and prevented from entering their churches, monasteries and convents.” If Gilad Atzmon reads this report will he wonder if Mr. Askins’ soft-pedaling is an example of Jewish Power at work, however unconscious it may be?

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May 18: 6 vigilers
May 25: 11 vigilers
Israel Attacks US Boat in International Waters – Remember the USS Liberty
Henry Herskovitz
Jewish Witnesses for Peace and Friends
#

From the Ann Arbor Chronicle –

Comm/Comm: Palestine/Israel
Henry Herskovitz described recent events in and around Israel. Israeli forces had attacked Syria and the U.S. supported the move, he said. He also cited news reports about statements made by Carla Del Ponte, a member of a United Nations independent commission of inquiry on Syria, who’d said that they’d not seen evidence of government forces using chemical weapons, but there were suspicions that rebel forces had used sarin gas. And near the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Christians had been prevented by Israeli security forces from worshiping on orthodox Easter, he said.

Herskovitz told the council that on April 17, 23 people had staged an anti-Israel protest outside the Michigan Theater, on the occasion of a performance by an Israeli singer. The protest had attempted to educate local residents to the idea that atrocities couldn’t be concealed by the beauty of a performer

 Flyer Available for Gilad Atzmon Concert/Discussion

A wonderful flyer has been created by an associate of Vigiler L for Gilad’s concert and discussion Friday, May 24th. Readers interested in attending may contact this writer for the undisclosed location, and flyers can be downloaded for reproduction here.

There are plans for a short road trip to Toledo on Thursday evening to hear Gilad perform there. Vigiler A – JWPF’s rep in Ohio – has eagerly offered valuable assistance in generating a venue in the Glass City. Stay tuned for further developments.

And we repeat that all are invited to stand vigil with Gilad on Saturday, May 25 from 9:30 – 10:45AM at Beth Israel Congregation. Grapevine reports have it that a dedicated activist from upstate New York will join as well. Please circle this date on your calendars.

JWPF Co-Sponsors Cindy Sheehan’s Tour de Peace

Internationally acclaimed peace activist Cindy Sheehan will be bicycling from California to Washington, DC to protest the US war machine, and Jewish Witnesses for Peace and Friends have joined thirteen other groups as co-sponsors of this event June 5 at the University of Michigan’s central campus diag. This writer has accepted an invitation to speak prior to Cindy from event organizer Diane Gee and await her response. We are excited to have this activist in our midst and to work with other local peace groups, such as the Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice, Meta Peace Team and Veterans For Peace.

Cindy has been critical of the influence of the Israel Lobby in dominating US foreign policy as it relates to the Middle East, and we read with interest her critical comments on Israel in her blog. We hope to share these common interests with her and underscore the pernicious effects on US interests held by this powerful lobby. From her blog:

JWPF at City Council

This writer spoke on the topic “Israel attacks Christians on Easter” and questioned why our news media – from international to local – suppresses vital information necessary to Americans to help them make informed choices. See text below signature.

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Nine vigilers
On what right does Israel base its claim to a Jewish state?
Henry Herskovitz
Jewish Witnesses for Peace and Friends
#

Text of Commentary to AA City Council May 6, 2013

May 6, 2013 [390 words]

Good Evening,

I received an email from a Palestinian named Mazin Qumsiyeh this morning and want to share part of it with you. From his Curriculum Vitae, Mazin served as the Director of Cytogenetic Services at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. As an intellectual, this man is no lightweight. He now lives in Palestine and writes:

“It has been a very busy time here and so we did not have a chance to send the weekly update last week. Israeli forces attacked Syria and the US administration said they support this violation of International law.

“Israeli forces violently attacked Palestinian Christians near the Church
of the Holy Sepulcher on Easter (Eastern Christian Calendar) and prevented most of us from entering Jerusalem and the US administration stayed silent.

“Villagers are still prevented from accessing their water spring. All these attacks remind us that Zionism as a colonial settler movement is incompatible with peace and must always create conflict to keep its population together.”

Did any of us know this? That Israelis attacked Christians on Easter? Did we know that United Nations human rights investigator Carla del Ponte has claimed it was Syrian militants – and not the Assad regime – who have made use of the deadly nerve agent sarin? She says:

“We still have to deepen our investigation, verify and confirm (the findings) through new witness testimony, but according to what we have established so far, it is at the moment opponents of the regime who are using sarin gas.”

And does anyone here – with the exception of Mr. Kunselman* – know that 23 people staged an anti-Israel protest in front of the Michigan Theater on April 17th? The Jewish Federation of Greater Ann Arbor brought in an Israeli singer in violation of the Palestinian Call for Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel until it complies with International Law. And we attempted to educate local residents that the atrocities committed by the Jewish state cannot be concealed by the beauty of a talented performer.

What is going on when the news is so biased in Israel’s favor that Americans are denied even local events like our protests?

A large majority of the world understands the machinations behind the scenes and stands with us. And the unlucky, intelligent Americans who are denied access to vital information are forced to wear the veil of ignorance.

Thank you

* Council Member Kunselman was seen entering the Michigan Theater to attend the Celebrate “Israel” performances on April 17

Protesting the NAACP

Three members of Jewish Witnesses for Peace and Friends responded to a request from our friend Ed Pinkney to help him protest the NAACP dinner and fund raiser held at Detroit’s Cobo Hall on Sunday, April 28. As Ed explains, the NAACP “has failed for decades to represent the interests of African-Americans and is out of touch with the community … The only word that can define the gross negligence of the NAACP is betrayal. The organization has abandoned our community’s morality, and our economic and educational needs – for corporate money.”

Strange Bedfellows

A local group representing the National Pro-Life Congress, led by Director Levon R. Yuille was also present at this protest and far outnumbered those of us there to protest the corporate sellout of the NAACP. Apparently the NAACP has been working with Planned Parenthood, and the protesters were claiming higher abortion rates within the black community, carrying signs saying the NAACP was supporting “black genocide”. See newspaper article about Sunday’s protest here.

Tolerance Lacking from Pro-Life Supporters

This writer – decked out in his “End ‘Israel'” hat – was questioned by more than one pro-life protester outside Cobo Hall. Where, one protester wanted to know, did I find my hat’s message “in Scripture”? He was informed that I did not recognize Scripture as a valid historical reference, and what kind of God would support and condone the killing of Palestinian babies, anyway? Another protester informed me that God gave Israel “to the Jews”, but didn’t produce a cogent response to my statement that Ashkenazi Jews – recipients of this apparent land offer – never came from Palestine.

But just when the argument was getting good, both Reverends Yuille and Pinkney asked that the conversation end, and this writer – recognizing the bond between myself and Ed Pinkney – ceased discussion. The other fellow, though, saw this silence as an opportunity to lecture me on “the Arabs”, and prattled mindlessly on. The price we protesters pay …

Plans Warming for Gilad Atzmon

Protester L has taken it upon herself to plan for the arrival of musician/philosopher Gilad Atzmon in southeast Michigan May 23-25. Sharp readers of last week’s report identified the typological error when we reported that Gilad would stand vigil with JWPF on “April 25”. Sorry about that, we should have reported “May 25” as the date you should circle and join Gilad with us at Beth Israel Congregation (2000 Washtenaw Ave.) at 9:30 am. We will report details of his concerts and discussions as they become available.

Quote of the Week

“If a Zionist is a Jew, it is anti-Semitic to mention his Jewishness; if an anti-Zionist is a Jew, it is mandatory to point that out.”

– Gill Kaffish, UK

Comments?

Eight vigilers
Americans Need to Know What Israel is Doing
Henry Herskovitz
Jewish Witnesses for Peace and Friends
#

Protesters Confront Jewish Federation in Ann Arbor

The local media, who promoted the appearance of Israel’s Hasbara Queen Noa – aka the queen of celebration of the ethnic cleansing of Palestine – remained eerily silent on the coverage of twenty-three protesters at the Michigan Theater last Wednesday (April 17). If we listen to Voltaire, however, we might appreciate more how un-eerily this lack of coverage really was:

“To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize.”

Members of Jewish Witnesses for Peace and Friends have been witnessing this hidden hand for almost a decade. A corollary to Voltaire’s warning might be:

If your commentary of Jews is positive – as in “Jews are smart”, “Jews are socially aware”, “Jews are generous”, well, then let the games begin. However, if you, like Gilad Atzmon, espouse a negative or realistic view of Jewish behavior (Jewish identity politics, in his case), then you have committed a big no-no.

Or – we humbly add – if you have identified the local Jewish community as guilty of enthusiastically supporting the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, and stage a very visible protest against it, then the local capos of the media will remain silent. It’s really not difficult to understand.

Our Protest

We began our protest under the scrutiny of at least three private security guards (Crime Prevention Security, Inc.) hired by the Jewish Federation of Greater Ann Arbor and two police cars with four AAPD officers, including the acting Night Shift Commander. This officer took charge of our First Amendment rights by telling us where to stand, where to walk, and to take the banner across the street where it would reduce pedestrian congestion on the sidewalk in front of the theater. We complied with his every request, and agreed that the banner held across the narrow street (not pictured) added to our visibility.

(apologies for lack of focus)

Speaking of Gilad Atzmon

Guess who’s coming to town May 23-25 and plans to stand vigil with members of JWPF on Saturday, April 25? Yes, Charlotte, it’s Gilad Atzmon, author of The Wandering Who: A Study of Jewish Identity Politics. We are extremely pleased to report that Vigiler L has taken the reins to bring this concert and discussion together. As L searches for the proper venue (suggestions accepted), we anticipate with great eagerness Gilad’s arrival. Stay tuned

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Note: There was no Report for April 13

April 13: Eight Vigilers
April 20: Five Vigilers
“Israel”: No Right to Exist
Henry Herskovitz
Jewish Witnesses for Peace and Friends
#

Local Media Pumps ‘Noa’ Appearance

At least three local media sources have announced this Wednesday’s celebration of “Israel” featuring the Israeli performer Noa, aka Achinoam Nini. Thursday’s print edition of A2Journal carried the story “‘Noa’ concert celebrates Israel’s 65th birthday”, and included personal comments by Ron Sussman (Rabbi Dobrusin’s right hand man) and Elliot Eisenberg, who were both born in 1948. Annarbor.com on Friday ran “Performance by Israeli pop singer Noa will help celebrate Israel’s 65th birthday locally” by Roger LeLievre. The statement below was posted on LeLievre’s article as a comment. Readers can click here to see if it’s still up

The performance by Noa, sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Greater Ann Arbor, violates the 2005 call for Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions issued by over 270 member groups of Palestinian civil society, and as supporters of the BDS movement against Israel, we will peacefully protest this event. Readers are encouraged to learn more about Israel’s treatment of the +5 million Palestinians under its control by visiting websites like If Americans Knew, and are invited to join us at the Michigan Theater prior to the performance.

And of course the Washtenaw Jewish News ran a front page headline about the event and ended their April issue with a full back page advertisement

Local Rabbi Firms Up His Stance

Rabbi Robert Dobrusin of Beth Israel Congregation wrote a piece for WJN’s April issue, giving us his “Thoughts on the 65th birthday of the State of Israel”

“I believe without question in the legitimacy of Israel’s existence as a Jewish State”

Devoted readers of these reports may well be wondering why the Rabbi’s statement was not made on behalf of Beth Israel Congregation as it did in his Op-ed to the Ann Arbor News of January 14, 2007

“there is one general statement which I can make on behalf of the congregation – Beth Israel Congregation affirms without any hesitation or equivocation the legitimacy of the existence of the State of Israel as a Jewish state,”

Has he lost the support of the Congregation? One can only speculate …

Our Best Behavior – Smile!

On Wednesday we will attempt to explain the purpose of our protest at the Michigan Theater via use of a bullhorn and informational flyers. Our hope is that potential concert goers will hear the information we have for them, and forego their tickets to an event that will celebrate the ongoing ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people.

We will be completely street legal: no blockage of sidewalks or entrances to the Michigan Theater. Conversation with interested individuals is encouraged, and those few that will attempt to entangle us in name-calling will be treated with a smile and a peace sign.

We expect a police presence, and have worked with the Ann Arbor Police Department to provide safety for protesters and concert goers alike.

Last Reminder

The flyer for our April17 protest of “Celebrate Israel Day” festivities at the Michigan Theater is complete and can be downloaded here for printing and distribution. Please make plans to join us as we stand against 65 years (at least) of ethnic cleansing. Contact this writer for more details.

WHERE: The Michigan Theater, 603 E. Liberty St., Ann Arbor

WHEN: Wednesday, April 17th, 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM

WHAT: We will protest the Jewish Federation’s celebration of Israel’s ethnic cleansing and genocide of the Palestinian people.

WHY: In 2005, scores of Palestinian civil society groups called for a global campaign including “broad boycotts” of Israel (see bdsmovement.net). That call includes the boycott of cultural events such as the Federation’s celebration of “Israel Day”, featuring Israeli performer Achinoam “Noa” Nini.

Comments?

Seven Vigilers
Liberate Palestine, End “Israel”
Henry Herskovitz
Jewish Witnesses for Peace and Friends