My letter to Presbyweb.com
To: Editor, Presbyweb.com
August 23, 2004
Dear Mr. Cornelder,
I am writing in response to an August 12th letter by Diana Appelbaum of the Boston Israel Action Center published on Presbyweb's letters page. In her letter, Ms. Appelbaum calls upon the Presbyterian Church USA to distance itself from the San Francisco Bay Area organization Jewish Voice for Peace. Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) recently supported the Presbyterian Church’s decision to consider divesting from companies whose business in Israel harms innocent people, whether Israeli or Palestinian (see JVP’s letter of support). One such company mentioned by the Presbyterian Church is the Caterpillar Corporation, which sells the armored bulldozers that have been used by Israeli forces to demolish thousands of Palestinian civilians’ homes since the outbreak of the Intifada in 2000, in clear violation of the Geneva Conventions’ protection of occupied populations.
In her letter to Presbyweb, Ms. Appelbaum invents an egregious analogy in which she compares Jewish Voice for Peace’s status in the Jewish community to that of a hypothetical pro-eugenics organization within the Presbyterian community. It would be hard to imagine a more offensive charge to hurl at Jews, whatever their political persuasion, whose collective (and often family) history includes victimization by the eugenics policies that accompanied the Nazi genocide. Tellingly, Ms. Appelbaum's thuggish rhetorical tactics are supported by no information about Jewish Voice for Peace or its political positions other than her mention that the San Francisco Jewish Federation did not allow the group to have a booth at a recent pro-Israel rally.
A little bit of history: since the end of the Oslo negotiations in 2000, and the election of the hawkish Ariel Sharon as prime minister of Israel, Jews have had to decide whether they support or oppose the current Israeli administration’s hard line tactics in the Occupied Territories and its internationally condemned expansion of Jewish settlements there. Not surprisingly, this ethical and political quandary has led to increasing polarization within the American Jewish community, and a circling of the wagons by those who support Israel no matter how it behaves. Fortunately, there are many Jews within Israel and in the U.S. who recognize that the best way to support peace and coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians is to work to abolish the injustices that extended occupation has wrought. Yet such a recognition has not always sat easily -- and less so since the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians erupted in earnest -- with some established Jewish organizations that confuse legitimate support for Israel with unheeding support for all of its government’s policies.
As an example of this hardening of positions, Jewish Voice for Peace regularly was permitted to have a booth at pro-Israel events sponsored by the Jewish Federation in the late 1990s. Since the outbreak of the current conflict, however, Jewish Voice for Peace has often clashed with the Federation and its political arm, the Jewish Community Relations Council, when these institutions have promulgated policies that appear narrowly one-sided in their approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Because of its opposition to such policies, Jewish Voice for Peace has increasingly been excluded from Federation activities, even as the Federation has, by direction of some of its largest Jewish donors, cut checks to Jewish Voice for Peace.
All of this suggests that the Presbyterian Church is in fact correct to build alliances with a group such as Jewish Voice for Peace, which has refused to join some of the most established American Jewish organizations in granting the Sharon government a green light to pursue unjust policies. Jewish Voice for Peace speaks for and with the many American Jews who understand that any resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict must be equitable in order to endure the test of time. Despite Ms. Appelbaum’s outrageous and politically self-serving claim that Jewish Voice for Peace “work[s] actively for the destruction of the Jewish state,” one visit to our Web site or a review of our activities since the group’s founding in 1996 should be enough to convince an unbiased observer that we mean what we say: we stand for the rights of Israelis and Palestinians to live together peacefully and democratically.
The Presbyterian Church USA has demonstrated its ability to dispassionately analyze the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and to take actions that support a just and peaceful resolution. Such fair-mindedness has undoubtedly not been well received by some. Jewish Voice for Peace knows very well what it means to take a just and equitable stance that angers established interests, and to stick to it in the face of baseless (and sometimes base) attacks.
Sincerely,
Lincoln S..., Founding Member, A Jewish Voice for Peace
shlensky.org
August 23, 2004
Dear Mr. Cornelder,
I am writing in response to an August 12th letter by Diana Appelbaum of the Boston Israel Action Center published on Presbyweb's letters page. In her letter, Ms. Appelbaum calls upon the Presbyterian Church USA to distance itself from the San Francisco Bay Area organization Jewish Voice for Peace. Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) recently supported the Presbyterian Church’s decision to consider divesting from companies whose business in Israel harms innocent people, whether Israeli or Palestinian (see JVP’s letter of support). One such company mentioned by the Presbyterian Church is the Caterpillar Corporation, which sells the armored bulldozers that have been used by Israeli forces to demolish thousands of Palestinian civilians’ homes since the outbreak of the Intifada in 2000, in clear violation of the Geneva Conventions’ protection of occupied populations.
In her letter to Presbyweb, Ms. Appelbaum invents an egregious analogy in which she compares Jewish Voice for Peace’s status in the Jewish community to that of a hypothetical pro-eugenics organization within the Presbyterian community. It would be hard to imagine a more offensive charge to hurl at Jews, whatever their political persuasion, whose collective (and often family) history includes victimization by the eugenics policies that accompanied the Nazi genocide. Tellingly, Ms. Appelbaum's thuggish rhetorical tactics are supported by no information about Jewish Voice for Peace or its political positions other than her mention that the San Francisco Jewish Federation did not allow the group to have a booth at a recent pro-Israel rally.
A little bit of history: since the end of the Oslo negotiations in 2000, and the election of the hawkish Ariel Sharon as prime minister of Israel, Jews have had to decide whether they support or oppose the current Israeli administration’s hard line tactics in the Occupied Territories and its internationally condemned expansion of Jewish settlements there. Not surprisingly, this ethical and political quandary has led to increasing polarization within the American Jewish community, and a circling of the wagons by those who support Israel no matter how it behaves. Fortunately, there are many Jews within Israel and in the U.S. who recognize that the best way to support peace and coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians is to work to abolish the injustices that extended occupation has wrought. Yet such a recognition has not always sat easily -- and less so since the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians erupted in earnest -- with some established Jewish organizations that confuse legitimate support for Israel with unheeding support for all of its government’s policies.
As an example of this hardening of positions, Jewish Voice for Peace regularly was permitted to have a booth at pro-Israel events sponsored by the Jewish Federation in the late 1990s. Since the outbreak of the current conflict, however, Jewish Voice for Peace has often clashed with the Federation and its political arm, the Jewish Community Relations Council, when these institutions have promulgated policies that appear narrowly one-sided in their approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Because of its opposition to such policies, Jewish Voice for Peace has increasingly been excluded from Federation activities, even as the Federation has, by direction of some of its largest Jewish donors, cut checks to Jewish Voice for Peace.
All of this suggests that the Presbyterian Church is in fact correct to build alliances with a group such as Jewish Voice for Peace, which has refused to join some of the most established American Jewish organizations in granting the Sharon government a green light to pursue unjust policies. Jewish Voice for Peace speaks for and with the many American Jews who understand that any resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict must be equitable in order to endure the test of time. Despite Ms. Appelbaum’s outrageous and politically self-serving claim that Jewish Voice for Peace “work[s] actively for the destruction of the Jewish state,” one visit to our Web site or a review of our activities since the group’s founding in 1996 should be enough to convince an unbiased observer that we mean what we say: we stand for the rights of Israelis and Palestinians to live together peacefully and democratically.
The Presbyterian Church USA has demonstrated its ability to dispassionately analyze the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and to take actions that support a just and peaceful resolution. Such fair-mindedness has undoubtedly not been well received by some. Jewish Voice for Peace knows very well what it means to take a just and equitable stance that angers established interests, and to stick to it in the face of baseless (and sometimes base) attacks.
Sincerely,
Lincoln S..., Founding Member, A Jewish Voice for Peace
shlensky.org
posted by Lincoln Z. Shlensky at 7:35 PM
1 Comments:
From a friend:
Ms. Applebaum is quite amusing. I like how she pulls up an analogy that
cuts right to the heart of Christian shame in the 20th century. Hey, just
because you happen to be whacking Jews today doesn't mean you can't
jab some Presbys with a little ol' Holocaust reminder in the process. And
better yet, use you their own newspaper to do it! Brilliant.
Meanwhile, who appointed Ms. Applebaum's band of calumniators
a "legitimate" Jewish group?
And why does she make so many typographical errors? For an
organization supposedly devoted to "correcting misinformation," she's not
off to a great start.
But, really, you give her entirely too much recognition. These people are
just shy of being raving lunatics. Have you looked at their web site? They
are petitioning Bush/Powell for STRONGER support of Israel. What would
that look like? How about making it the 51st state?
-h.
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