Anti-Israel groups to March in the Salute to Israel parade
I received this on Friday afternoon:
March 16, 2012
EXTREMIST ANTI-ISRAEL GROUPS TO MARCH ON JUNE 3 IN CELEBRATE ISRAEL PARADE
UJA-FEDERATION IS PERMITTING ORGANIZATIONS THAT PROMOTE BOYCOTTS, DIVESTMENT AND SANCTIONS AGAINST ISRAEL TO PARTICIPATE.
A coalition of community Jewish organizations urgently calls on all friends of Israel to make their voices heard. The UJA-Federation and Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) have granted permission to extremist anti-Israel organizations to march in the Celebrate Israel Parade on June 3rd in New York. These groups encourage Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel, seeking to delegitimize and economically weaken the Jewish State.
We call on all supporters of Israel to contact the UJA-Federation and JCRC and ask them to reverse their misguided decision.
THESE ARE THE FACTS:
- This year, New Israel fund is slated to march again, and we expect B'Tselem and the other groups will once again join NIF, displaying their banners.
- New Israel Fund finances numerous Israeli NGOs (non-governmental organizations), some of which promote Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel.
- The chair of B'Tselem's board, Oren Yiftachel, has publicly called for "effective sanctions" against Israel. B'Tselem is a major grantee of the New Israel Fund.
- B'Tselem produced the Video that was shown at the infamous "Israel Apartheid 2012" events held at Universities and Colleges worldwide.
- Despite New Israel Funds stated opposition to Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS), their continued funding of these groups shows their actions are not in line with their statements.
ACT NOW
We urge everyone to raise your voices and call the UJA-Federation and the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC). Urge them to stop these groups from marching in the Israel Day Parade and hijacking a pro-Israel event for their anti-Israel purposes. While the JCRC runs the Parade, the UJA-Federation has effective control over the JCRC, as they appoint Board members as a right and contribute the major portion of JCRC funding.
Richard Allen, a member of the Committee for a Pro-Israel Parade and founder of JCCWatch.org stated: "It is not surprising that the UJA-Federation is pushing these bash Israel groups to march in the June 3, 2012 Israel Parade. Published reports show that the UJA-Federation's Chief Executive Officer, John Ruskay, worked with Noam Chomsky in one of the first political bash Israel groups; CONAME (Committee On New Alternatives in The Middle East). The reports stated the group CONAME specialized in attacking Israel. John Ruskay also gave over 1 million ($1,000,000) of UJA-Federation Jewish Charity Dollars to the political George Soros funded group, Jewish Funds for Justice. The community must make its voice heard by calling and writing The UJA-Federation and demand that Jewish community charity funds not be used for these divisive purposes."
PUBLIC CAMPAIGN
CALL OR WRITE TODAY
Tell John Ruskay and Jerry Levin of the UJA-Federation of New York:
NOT ONE DIME to Legitimize the De-Legitimizers of Israel!
STOP groups that work to Delegitimize Israel from Hijacking the Israel Parade!
Call and write the Board of the UJA-Federation of New York
Tell the UJA Federation you do NOT want your Jewish Charity Dollars Going to Support John Ruskay's Political Agenda
Phone: 212-980-1000
Email the UJA-Federation CEO John Ruskay: ruskayJ@ujafedny.org
Email the UJA-Federation Board: President Jerry W. Levin: jwlevin@jwlevinpartners.com
Email the Jewish Community Relations Council board:
Rabbi Michael Miller, millerm@jcrcny.org or call 212-983-4084
Pro-Israel Parade Committee 62 William Street, NY NY 10005, 917-434-3480Labels: JCC Watch, Jewish Community Relations Council, Manhattan JCC, New York Jewish Federation
J Street becomes mainstream in Boston
If I was going to pick one Jewish community in the US where this was most likely to happen, Boston would have been high on the list (in fact, I can't think of anyplace other than San Francisco or Washington where the Jewish community comes anywhere near being as left-liberal as Boston). The Boston Jewish Community Relations Council admitted J Street as a member two weeks ago, and that means that the radical Leftist anti-Israel organization now has its
hands in the communal till.
Lacking community support for its hard-left positions, J Street seeks a foothold inside establishment Jewish groups to push its policies to counter mainstream efforts defending Israel and, at the same time, to claim it speaks for more than a small fringe.
On May 25, 2011, the group scored big in Boston, when it was voted onto the Jewish Community Relations Council.
The saga began in January 2010 when the JCRC ignored its own bylaws and allowed J Street to slip in the back door, without applying like all other groups. This happened without discussion, without a vote, without a shred of publicity. The group was simply added by committee, via supposedly absorbing an existing member organization, Brit Tzedek V’Shalom, which was closing down.
No coverage followed in The Jewish Advocate. Nothing. The wider Boston Jewish community had no idea the group had been admitted to what is assumed to be the mainstream voice of Boston Jews on various issues, including aspects of Israeli policy. The facts only emerged nearly a year later when the group’s director, Jeremy Ben Ami, was disinvited from a speaking event at a Newton synagogue. In media reporting on the controversy, it was noted that J Street was a JCRC member.
Even the Combined Jewish Philanthropy’s Barry Shrage was surprised by the revelation, though the council is heavily funded by CJP. Shrage checked into the story and was told of the Brit Tzedek–J Street merger.
Damage-control efforts ensued, including the announcement that all 41 JCRC organizational members would be rescreened for adherence to membership requirements – an unprecedented measure and a transparent effort to deflect focus from J Street’s irregular admission.
CAMERA, a national, Bostonbased organization and council member for 20 years, asked renowned non-profit law specialist Bruce Hopkins about the Brit Tzedek–J Street merger. His response was that J Street’s admission to the JCRC was clearly “illegal.” Brit Tzedek V’Shalom, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization – and J Street’s backdoor route to JCRC membership – cannot, in fact, legally merge with J Street, which is a 501(c)4 lobby. Non-profit groups receive tax-deductible donations; lobbies do not.
Adding to the deception, Brit Tzedek V’Shalom is not actually defunct; it filed a governmentrequired annual report in January 2011 – a full year after J Street claimed Brit Tzedek had disappeared.
CAMERA provided all this information to JCRC officers and to member organizations. But many in the JCRC are J Street allies and so, again, the council ran interference for the group. This time J Street was made kosher by a retroactive name change.
Instead of J Street being on the council, it would be J Street Educational Fund – a 501(c)3 adjunct of J Street. The yearand a-half-long membership, during which time J Street was seated unlawfully while pushing through radical policy recommendations, would be retroactively legitimized!
This was all perfectly fine with most of those attending the May 25 meeting. Even a proposal to postpone a vote and have J Street finally apply in a normal process without special treatment and in the full light of day was voted down. In the final tally, 9 voted against admission, 11 abstained and 56 voted for the group. These numbers include as many as 41 “community representatives,” individuals whose vote is the same as that of someone speaking for an organization with thousands of Boston-area members. Notably, several of Boston’s largest Jewish organizations were absent, abstained or voted against.
Many Jews in Boston would be appalled to know how the JCRC bent the rules for J Street.
Read the whole thing.
In light of this story, I suppose I should not be surprised that I was in Boston when this happened and did not hear a word about it.
Labels: Boston, J Street, J Street funding, Jewish Community Relations Council, pro-Israel pro-peace
Vote to kick J Street out of the JCC
Boston's Jewish Advocate has a poll that asks "Should the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston keep J Street as a member organization?"
Go here and vote no.
At this writing (several hours before you're seeing this post), the no vote is winning 55-44.
Labels: J Street, Jewish Community Relations Council
Challenging the Leftist domination of the (American) Jewish community
I probably get 100 emails a day just on my blog's gmail account, and to tell you the truth, unfortunately, I generally don't read them all. I clicked on this email because the person who sent it has the same name as my yeshiva roommate (and is definitely not him - although I may know him in real life anyway). I clicked on the article he recommended because he said he had co-authored it. I have to tell you that when I started reading
the article, I was ready to just link it and say "good luck with that." Fortunately, I didn't.
This article should be read and re-read by anyone who is involved (or is considering becoming involved) with Jewish communal work in the United States. It's about how a small group of activists in the Jewish community in Indianapolis was able to set up a new Jewish umbrella organization that rejects the 'New Jewish Agenda' (the one that's dominated by the BDS'ers and the Tikkun types). Yes, of course the first synagogue that broke away was Orthodox. But then I was shocked to read this.
In contrast to the JCRC, JAACI was established to advocate primarily on issues directly related to the security and well-being of the Jewish people and Israel. In a span of a few months, this governing philosophy has garnered the support of the majority of Jewish congregational leaders in Indianapolis, the majority of rabbis in Indiana, as well as congregants from Indianapolis' Reconstructionist, Conservative, Sephardi, and Ashkenazi Orthodox synagogues. In addition to its unequivocal support for Israel, JAACI's stance on political, economic and social issues is shaped by traditional Jewish values and the enduring principles of the American Republic.
Maybe it's just an Indianapolis thing? After all, Indiana is the State of Mike Pence and John Boehner. It's certainly not a Blue state. The authors don't think so.
Does the JAACI experience offer any lessons to American Jews for whom the New Jewish Agenda is a hollow, misguided, and ultimately self-destructive construct? We believe it does, and here are some of them: * 1. There is no inevitability to the New Jewish Agenda dominating the discourse within and beyond American Jewish communities. Even in a modestly-sized Jewish community such as Indianapolis, a handful of capable, motivated individuals (without any budget to speak of) have been able in a matter of months to completely rewrite the Jewish political landscape. We believe the time is ripe for concerned, informed, and determined Jews to begin to similarly challenge the status quo agenda that exists in many communities around the nation.
* 2. Politicians are impressed with groups that take pride in and make no apologies for who they are and what they stand for. Hillel's aphorism "if I am not for myself, who am I?" is a lesson that many Jews need to relearn. Including a spiritual leader(s) or advisor(s) may also strengthen the authoritative nature of such an organization's positions, especially if they are well respected.
* 3. We have more friends than we often realize. There are many excellent reasons why the large majority of Americans love Israel. Politicians are no exception. While it is our duty to constantly educate the public on why Israel remains of vital interest to the US, many non-Jews are not only aware that supporting Israel makes sense from a moral, economic, technological, civilizational, and geopolitical stance, but feel fulfilled when doing so. We just have to give them the opportunity.
There are Jews who have criticized us on the grounds that we are dividing the Indianapolis Jewish community. To those individuals we say: our sole intention is to promote Jewish values, ensure the survival of the Jewish people, and strengthen the Jewish state of Israel. We very much look forward to the day when we can combine forces with a local JCRC that shares these priorities. Until that day comes, we will do everything in our power to achieve our goals. We also look forward to seeing many similar-minded individuals around the nation follow our lead.
Read the whole thing. This is the first that has made me optimistic about the American Jewish community in a long time. If it spreads, maybe we can get them a consulting gig in Europe too.
UPDATE 7:30 PMOops. Reader
Andrew A corrects me that Boehner is from Ohio, not Indiana. Sorry!
Labels: American Jewish indifference to Israel, Jewish American Affairs Committee of Indiana, Jewish Community Relations Council, New Jewish Agenda
Miami conference to address delegitimization of Israel
A conference in Miami on Sunday will attempt to help activists to combat the
delegitimization of Israel.
The Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation will take part in a national Jewish response to this campaign when it convenes an Israel Summit at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday, January 16, 2011 at Jungle Island, 1111 Parrot Jungle Trail, Miami. Program participants will discuss the delegitimization campaign, and learn how to advocate on this vital issue.
The 2011 Israel Summit is being co-chaired by Norman Braman and Michael M. Adler, and will feature participation from U.S. Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Steve Chabot (R-OH) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL). The day will also feature remarks and presentations from Natan Sharansky, the famed Soviet refusenik and now head of the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI); Michael Oren, Israel's Ambassador to the United States; Irwin Cotler, Canadian Parliament member; Professor Alan Dershowitz; William Daroff of the Jewish Federations of North America; Rachel Fish of Brandeis University; Daniel Pipes of the Middle East Forum; Martin Raffel of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs; and David Saperstein of the Religious Action Center.
JCRC Chair Regina F. Zelonker said that the summit was a crucial step toward educating our community on how best to advocate for Israel in the face of veiled bigotry.
“The Israel Summit will be the beginning of our Jewish community’s organized response to the insidious and dangerous delegitimization campaign being waged against Israel and, in reality, being waged against each of us,” said Zelonker. “The summit will inform and it will motivate the participants with regard to each person's role in this campaign. Just by attending on January 16, we will make a difference.”
This event is being convened in partnership with the American Jewish Committee, the Anti-Defamation League, the Consulate General of Israel to Florida and Puerto Rico and the Rabbinical Association of Greater Miami, among many other supporting organizations and individuals.
For more information about the 2011 Israel Summit, email CommunityRelations@JewishMiami.org or call 786.866.8486.
At this point, I'd say that if you want to go and you're not signed up yet, just call or just show up. I just saw this on
William Daroff's Twitter feed this morning.
Labels: delegtimizing Israel, Jewish Community Relations Council
