Response to Neighbors on Mark Hannah (St.)

Eleven households on Mark Hannah St. in Ann Arbor received my written response to the concerns raised in their letter of June 5, regarding the Israeli flag with an international “NO” sign on it in my front yard. The response attempted in part to describe the events leading to raising this flag, including a reference to our group’s decision to self-identify as an anti-Israeli peace group. See our vigil report of June 2 for more specifics about this decision. Also included in the response was a one-page letter to the neighbors from Vigiler Y, who now resides in her home in Gaza. Neighbors on Mark Hannah might remember her and her family as they frequently visited the block. Y writes:

Besides, I do not really understand how a flag of people who displaced and occupied another people’s land made you feel offended, while this apartheid Jewish country keep killing, confiscating our land, uprooting our trees, building a racist wall, which made our children in the West Bank walk miles; and consequently, they are exposed to danger when crossing the Israeli army checkpoints to reach their schools. Do not you think that our children have equal rights as yours in terms of safety at least! You know what! Given the fact that I have been to Mark Hanna place many times, I envy you and your children for living at Hanna Mark place, where there is no danger, no army around them, no killing! I wish my brother Mahmoud* would have a place like Mark Hanna to live in! Mahmoud was 2 years when the “Cast Lead Operation” against Gaza occurred in 2008-2009, and I still remember how he would be bursting into tears when hearing Israelis bomb, and I still remember how we carried him and ran from death in the streets of Gaza! Now when he hears bombing, he would close his eyes and put his hands on his ears!

Readers can view the entire response by clicking here.

Anti-Israel Flag in the News

A July 20, 2012 article in the Arab American News has drawn attention to our flag on Mark Hannah St.

ANN ARBOR — A neighborhood in Ann Arbor has worked together on an initiative to take down an anti-Israeli flag being demonstrated in front of another neighbor’s house. But the petition that has so far been signed by 11 households is not discouraging the man responsible for the display, as he has responded with a five-page letter defending his freedom of speech rights, asking his neighbors to re-consider their request. Article continued here

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* pseudonym used

Henry Herskovitz
Jewish Witnesses for Peace and Friends
Speaking up for the censored for over eight years
Nine vigilers on July 14

Vote for Herskovitz

Tough times call for tough decisions and our tolerance of a war-mongering assassin who promised change, but has delivered nothing close to it, has run out. Instead, we have witnessed the creation of a police state to deal with peaceful protesters, Wall Street bailouts, continued disproportionate incarceration of minorities (mostly due to a misguided “war on drugs”), assassinations (while ostensibly peddling “democracy” in the world), and continuing the war-mongering spirit of his predecessor. So this writer’s name will appear on the state primary ballot August 7, in an attempt to rid the country of this Nobel peace prize recipient, war monger and assassin. Polls open at 7am!

PUBLIC BALLOT
State Primary
Tuesday, August 07, 2012
Washtenaw County, Michigan
City of Ann Arbor, Ward 5 Precinct 4

REPUBLICAN DELEGATE TO COUNTY CONVENTION
Vote for not more than 2
Anne C. Cherney Republican
Henry Herskovitz Republican
Thomas James Republican

To view entire ballot, click here and select “Washtenaw” as County, “City of Ann Arbor” as Jurisdiction and “Ward 5 Precinct 4” as “Precinct”

Magistrate Currie Plays it Safe

Ann Arbor Magistrate Margaret Currie delivered a two-page opinion, concluding “No cause of action” in May’s ‘Trial of the Century’. In her opinion, “Assuming that both parties were equally truthful, the fact that Mr. Herskovitz did not have a good look at the individual calls the weight of his testimony (and specifically not his truthfulness) into question enough that the Court cannot conclude that it is more likely than not that Mr. Levy stole the sign.”. Please click here for Currie’s full decision. JWPF’s legal team notes that Magistrate Currie declined to find the defendant “Not Guilty” as she could have done.

Mark Hannah (street) Neighbors Organize

The First Amendment had better watch out on this neighborhood street. The display of Jewish Witnesses for Peace and Friends’ new flag depicting our anti-Israel position (see Report on Beth Israel vigil 06-02-12) has raised a few eyebrows. The neighbors have submitted a written request to have the flag removed, signed by eleven households. To view a copy of this request, with signatures, please click here. A response is in the works. Stay tuned.

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~hersko/Photos/Flag1-lg.jpg.JPG

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Henry Herskovitz
Nine vigilers
Saying No to Jewish supremacism in Palestine
Jewish Witnesses for Peace and Friends

JWPF Loses Founding Member

It is with feelings of great sadness and personal loss that we report the death of Sol Metz, a champion of justice and worker for the oppressed long before this writer got into the struggle for justice. Sol was a founder of Jewish Witnesses for Peace and Friends, and will be remembered as one who kept his good nature, even under very hot and trying circumstances. He could infuriate his opponents by shrugging off relevant facts, but never let his temper control his words. He faithfully kept true to the vigils, because he “could not think of a more appropriate way to spend my Saturday mornings”. He missed very few vigils and at the time of his untimely death was planning yet another visit to the voiceless Palestinians he so loved.

Well after this writer gave up on reaching Beth Israel congregants, Sol persisted in standing by the driveway, wishing individuals a good shabbos, and not responding to the often nasty comments he received. For many Saturdays in the future, JWPF members will crane their necks, looking in vain for the dark blue Prius, toot-tooting its horn as Sol announced his presence. He was the heart of our group, giving assurance to all JWPF members that our presence was indeed the necessary action needed to bring a message of freedom to the streets of Ann Arbor. When Sol arrived, we just knew that standing there was the right thing to do. Sol stood at Beth Israel for eight years because he knew what the Jewish state was doing to the people he loved.

Sol entered the University of Michigan hospital on June 15, where they discovered a large malignant tumor in the stomach. The type of cancer he had also contributed to the formation of blood clots, which eventually traveled to his heart and brought about his death on June 25. He was 69 years old. Sol is missed by those of us who knew him, worked with him and loved him.

Jewish Tradition of Justice ???

At Sol’s memorial service on June 29, at least three speakers (Quaker remembrances allow for individual expressions of sadness) raised the very doubtful claim that it was Sol’s Jewish upbringing and the “Jewish tradition of Justice” that led him to be the champion of justice he was. Many of us in JWPF question this assertion, and look to the almost total support Israel enjoys from the organized Jewish community world wide as the evidence which undermines the claim. Where, for instance, is this tradition of justice, when for the last 64 years the Jewish state has been committing horrendous acts of violence upon a defenseless people? What justice is there in flaunting even the International Court of Justice’s order to remover the apartheid wall, in flaunting over sixty UN resolutions designed to bring the Jewish state into a moral position? Why isn’t the world being pummeled by Jewish voices rising up to declare the immorality of a Jewish supremacist state imposed upon an unwilling and resilient population?

And does a “Jewish” tradition of justice trump a Muslim tradition of justice or a Christian tradition? Does a Hindu or atheist have no such tradition? Can we not see the arrogance and specious claim of superiority and chosen-ness held in this oft-repeated phrase? Is there a moral high ground that evades non-Jews? Are non-Jews just incapable of developing their own sense of justice? We don’t think so. And while we do not know what drove Sol into becoming the stalwart fighter for Palestinians and others, we refuse to have ill-thought-out platitudes jammed down our throats as an explanation.

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June 16: Seven vigilers
June 23: Eight vigilers
June 30: Fourteen vigilers
Henry Herskovitz
Jewish Witnesses for Peace and Friends

New Group Position: JWPF is Anti-Israel

In a unanimous vote of street vigilers, Jewish Witnesses for Peace and Friends have officially declared ourselves to be anti-Israel. Two main reasons have propelled this decision: We recognize that Israel has no right to exist as a Jewish state, and that the theft of Palestine is a Zero Sum game where only one can win. “Peace” and the imposition and maintenance of a violent Jewish state against the will of the Palestinian people (indeed the whole Arab/Muslim world) cannot co-exist. We choose “peace”.

Secondly, we recognize that our opponents continue their Hasbara tactic of trying to “shame” us and coerce others by labeling us “anti-Israel” (even before we adopted this position). Typically, one responds to that claim by denial: Oh, no, say most other groups, we merely want a “kinder, gentler” supremacist state. Tactically, we are removing this shaming tool from our opponents’ quiver, and stating more clearly what we are all about. When labeled “anti-Israel” we now can go on the offensive, asking our opponents why they are NOT anti-Israel? Why do THEY support Apartheid? Why do THEY support racism?

As a symbol of our new position, we hoisted and will continue to display a unique flag: A Palestinian flag on one side, stitched to an Israeli flag with an international “NO!” red circle and slash through it, pictured below

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~hersko/Photos/DSCF0260.JPG

We align ourselves in part with the Neturei Karta Orthodox Rabbis who pray for the peaceful dismantlement of the state of Israel. Our flag captures the Zero Sum game aspect of this ethnic cleansing of Palestine. “For Palestine to Live, Israel Must Die”, wrote Richard Hugus during the Hanukkah Massacre of 2009. A good read.

Occupy the PGA Protest in Benton Harbor

Four members of JWPF traveled to Benton Harbor to assist Reverend Ed Pinkney with his successful efforts to raise awareness of the racism and gentrification of Benton Harbor at the hands of Whirlpool Corporation and its developer partner Cornerstone Allaince. For five days Ed and his supporters completed a two-mile death march from the Benton Harbor Library to the plot of stolen land, now called holes 7, 8 and 9 of the Harbor Shores Golf Course during the Senior PGA Tournament being played there. Go, Reverend Ed, JWPF supports you!

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~hersko/Photos/Casket.jpg

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https://blog.deiryassin.org/2012/06/06/report-on-beth-israel-vigil-06-02-12

May 26: Three vigilers
June 2: Nine vigilers

Remember the USS Liberty, June 8, 1967
Henry Herskovitz
Jewish Witnesses for Peace and Friends

Ann Arbor Jews Wall Themselves In

In an effort to once again shield themselves from the painful truths of their Apartheid state, members of the Jewish Federation of Greater Ann Arbor took pains not only to erect murals on the six-foot-high cyclone fence so their children – who haven’t yet hardened their hearts and minds – wouldn’t be able to view peaceful protesters, but they extended their enclosure by adding a three-foot swatch of material to block the view of our 30-foot Palestinian flag.

Were they successful at this head-in-the-sand approach? Well, partially, but as the photograph below indicates, nineteen protesters – including five stalwart individuals who fought the breeze and maintained the flag’s position – made their position known by their 3-hour presence and selective chanting.

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~hersko/Photos/DSCF0268.JPG

The list of 65 United Nations General Assembly resolutions targeting Israel (none target Palestine) were read to the partygoers over a bullhorn, as were the names of Palestinian (and Israeli) children who lost their lives from the years 2012, 2011, 2010. Had we included the list of Palestinian children killed by the Jewish state in 2009 – the year of the Hanukkah massacre – we would still be reading names; over 400 Gazan children were killed in the slaughter.

Long Distance Trophy Recipient

Our new friend Clif Brown from the Chicago burbs traveled over 250 miles to attend our protest and went home with the Peace-Activist Long Distance Trophy Award. Asked to pen a few words about his Ann Arbor experience, Clif writes:

Having read about the forthright actions of JWPF through the bulletins I’ve read over the past year, I knew I had to get over to Ann Arbor and lend a hand to people who put their beliefs into action, and with whom I agree. The Palestinian flag raising was the perfect opportunity to jump in the car and get over to Michigan to help with the muscle power needed to keep a 10 x 30 fabric into the air. I’m happy to say that a whole group of friendly folks were there and despite a little challenge from the wind and torn fabric, we got the banner flying. It took five of us to hold the flag, so I have a newfound respect for the job a flagpole has to do all by itself! Thanks to everyone who made me feel welcome. I wholeheartedly enjoyed the day and topped it off with a banana split at the Ann Arbor Dairy Queen which Henry graciously bought for me. I’m back home a little fatter, a little more suntanned and happy to add one more F to JWPF!

Clif has also made a short video of our protest, viewable here. Thanks, Clif. See you October 28 when we again confront the power of the local Jewish community.

Partial Report on the ‘Trial of the Century’

Eight supporters attended our presentation in Magistrate Margaret Currie’s Small Claims courtroom last Tuesday. The case involves the broad-daylight theft of one of our protest signs on February 4 by Ira Levy, who we learn was dropping his daughter off at Beth Israel that day, and decided to take a little (illegal) liberty on his way home. Magistrate Currie has elected to take time to review the four documents we handed over to her before rendering her verdict, expected some time in June. Stay tuned.

Ed Pinkney Rocks

Three vigilers traveled to Benton Harbor to participate in the Benton Harbor Death March, aka the protest at Harbor Shore’s Senior PGA tournament (Occupy the PGA). This ongoing protest will last five days and has already received international attention. We support Reverend Pinkney and his attempts to halt the gentrification of Benton Harbor.

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Nine Vigilers
Remembering the USS Liberty (June8th)
Henry Herskovitz
Jewish Witnesses for Peace and Friends
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JWPF Adopts Bus Stop

Jewish Witnesses for Peace and Friends has adopted a bus stop under the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority’s (AATA) “Adopt-a-Stop” program. The stop pictured below is located at 2000 Washtenaw, which happens to be the same address as Beth Israel Congregation — talk about luck! Since we will be there at least once a week, we have fulfilled our duties to maintain and police the area for about three weeks now. Thought we’d share this new information with our supporters.

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~hersko/Photos/AdoptaStop.jpg

Jewish-led Peace Groups Disappoint (Again)

Our Jewish friends at the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network (IJAN) and at the Middle East Children Alliance (MECA) again advise us to “Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain” as they once again shield – whether intentionally or not – the Jewish community from criticism. The same Jewish community that unabashedly has supported the ethnic cleansing of Palestine for 64 years, and “celebrates” this genocide. The same Jewish community of which they are a part. There is room on the sidewalk for IJAN and MECA to join us. Why don’t they?

On IJAN’s invitation to “commemorate the Nakba”, the crimes of Jewish gangs in support of the violent creation of a Jewish state are conveniently whitewashed. If Jews themselves do not hold their own community accountable for the support it offers Apartheid Israel, who else will? As Jews, no one is better positioned to perform this task than they, yet they refuse. And we ask: Why?

Last Chance to Join our Protest

We still need two more volunteers to hoist our 30-foot flag for Sunday’s protest. Our excellent rigging system should assure that superhuman strength will not be required, so we look forward to many volunteers. From our flyer we note:

Where: The Jewish Community Center
2935 Birch Hollow Drive Ann Arbor, MI 48108
When: Sunday, May 20, 2012
Time: Noon – 5pm

Directions from I-94 and State St:
North on State to Eisenhower
East (right) on Eisenhower to Stone School Road
Right on Stone School Road to Birch Hollow Drive
Right on Birch Hollow Drive to 2935

We also mention that folks attending our protest will also have time to attend the “Nakba Commemoration” at the Dearborn Hyatt Regency at 6:00 pm (Our protest ends at 5:00 and the Hyatt is 45 minutes away). Call 313-945-9660 for ticket purchases for this event.

JWPF in AnnArborChroncle.com

Reporter Dave Askins once again reports on our presentation to City Council on May 7. He writes:

Comm/Comm: Warpehoski’s Ward 5 Candidacy
Henry Herskovitz said that the report that the director of the Interfaith Council on Peace and Justice had entered the race for the Ward 5 seat on city council had come as a shock to members of the former ICPJ Middle East task force. [Herskovitz didn’t name the director, but he was referring to Chuck Warpehoski.] Under the leadership of Warpehoski, Herskovitz said, the task force was summarily disbanded by the ICPJ’s board of directors. The task force had voted unanimously in 2006 to support the Palestinian call for boycotts, divestments and sanctions against Israel. Herskovitz attributed the disbanding of the task force to a few powerful supporters of Israel on the ICPJ board of directors. The task force, Herskovitz continued, had sought to resolve the dispute with outside professional mediation. Herskovitz characterized the board’s action, supported by Warpehoski, as overrunning democratic procedures. Voters in Ward 5 deserve representation by someone who embraces democratic ideals, Herskovitz concluded.

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Six Vigilers
“Mourn the dead and fight like hell for the living” – Mother Jones
Henry Herskovitz
Jewish Witnesses for Peace and Friends

Maintaining Democracy in Ann Arbor

Will the electorate accept a candidate for City Council who has a reputation for coddling the powerful and violating the mission statement of the organization he directs? Time will tell, but we report that Chuck Warpehoski, Director of the Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice, has tossed his ill-fitting hat into the political arena and declared himself a candidate for Ann Arbor’s fifth ward.

Readers will remember that Chuck, when faced with salary and job concerns in 2006, led the charge against ICPJ’s Middle East Task Force, and eventually fired the shots which led to the removal of this most prolific and popular task force. Why? Because as you read the statement delivered to City Council this past Monday (below signature), the tension which developed between the Middle East Task Force and powerful Israel-firsters on ICPJ’s Board of Directors, led fundraising expert Ian MacGregor to state that the friction which developed between the board and task force was “affecting fundraising abilities”.

See “The Local Peace Biz” by Peacemonger here for additional information.

Here Comes the Judge

Sign thief Ira Levy will be called to small claims court on May 22nd at 2:30 pm in Magistrate Margaret Currie’s chambers to defend himself against charges that he stole a sign from Vigiler G’s car on February 4th of this year, and refused to return it when confronted. Perhaps satisfied that the City Attorney’s office failed to bring criminal charges, he will now face Ms. Currie and a courtroom packed with observers to plea his case. Court address is 301 E. Huron St. Ann Arbor (48107).

And just when Ira thought things couldn’t get any worse, here comes Judge Greg Mathis with his invitation that Ira and this author square off on national television on the Judge Mathis show. Senior Producer Michael Hart contacted this writer via FedEx Express Letter, and was offered 20:1 odds on a dollar wager that Ira wouldn’t accept the invitation. Mr. Hart demurred and later confirmed that another producer received an irate phone call from Ira, who was spitting mad that the judge saw fit to expose his theft on national television. Not surprising, since Zionist Jews like Ira Levy have a lot to hide and national exposure is not the way to hide things.

Protesting “Celebrate Israel” Day

We have secured three of the five volunteers needed to hoist our 30-foot Palestine flag for the May 20 protest of the Jewish Federation of Greater Ann Arbor’s “Celebrate Israel” day. Our MO will be slightly different than the peaceful, silent vigils we conduct on Saturday mornings: though we will remain respectful and peaceful towards our opponents, we will raise our voices loud in protest of the longest colonial enterprise in modern history. Palestinian liberation comes only at the end of the oppressive Jewish state being forced upon an unwilling, highly resilient and resistive indigenous population. We need everyone planning to attend to bring a friend, relative, neighbor. This protest concerns all Americans tired of seeing our gutless elected officials jumping through hoops, and our taxes being stolen to maintain an armed-to-the-teeth Jewish state. See you May 20!

Download our flyer and spread the word.

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Nine Vigilers
Remembering Rachel Corrie
Henry Herskovitz
Jewish Witnesses for Peace and Friends

Speech to City Council

May 7, 2012 [396 words]

Good Evening,

Ann Arbor dot Com reported on April 23rd that the director of the Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice entered the fifth ward race for a seat on City Council. This came as a shock to many members of ICPJ’s Middle East Task Force, or I should say the *former* Middle East Task Force, since under the leadership of this director the task force was summarily removed by ICPJ’s Board of Directors, in violation of their own Core Value, “Not using power to dominate.”

But that’s exactly what they did after the METF voted unanimously in 2006 to support the Palestinian call for Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions against the Apartheid state of Israel. It seemed that a few powerful Israel supporters populated the Board of Directors, and this set up a confrontation which we members of the Task Force sought to resolve using outside professional mediation. Our requests were denied multiple times, and the will of the minority – with the able assistance of their director – overran democratic procedures.

This prompted a local blogger to speculate that this decision might also have been driven by financial concerns. You see, the ICPJ is in the *Business* of Peace and Justice, and had just then increased the salary of this director by 36% even as gross receipts had dropped about $5,000. Funding ICPJ became an issue and the Board hired Ian Macgregor as a fundraising expert, who reported that the conflict with the Middle East Task Force was “affecting fundraising abilities”.

So something had to be done, and their core values took a back seat as the Board summarily fired myself and 17 other dedicated peace activists.

Here’s another example: our vigil group at Beth Israel opposes the use of torture, and we wanted to avail ourselves of a banner offered to the public for purchase by ICPJ. The Director denied us this opportunity and we had to purchase the banner directly from the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, of which we remain a member.

This issue here is larger than an individual or a group of individuals being treated unfairly. This is certainly not a personal issue, as we have not raised it during the past six years. However, voters in the fifth ward deserve to have representation on Council by someone who embraces democratic ideals, not someone who will abandon due process in exchange for political expediency.

Thank you