Category Archives: Human rights

Stav Shaffir explains why Israel is NOT Netanyahu

20 Wednesday Mar 2019

Posted by in American Jewish Life, American Politics and Life, Human rights, Israel and Palestine, Israel/Zionism, Social Justice, Women's Rights

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Member of Knesset Stav Shaffir (Israel Labor Party), the youngest parliament member in Israel’s history, entered public life after her leading role in the 2011 social justice movement, Israel’s largest-ever, cross-party protest, mobilizing hundreds of thousands of Israelis to take to the streets and set up protest camps throughout the country.

Shaffir is now serving  her second term in the Knesset and is known for her relentless fight against the corrupt use of taxpayer money. She  successfully exposed and blocked, for the first time in Israel, the massive use of government funds for political purposes.

A former journalist, Stav studied for her master’s degree in Philosophy and History of Science and Ideas at Tel Aviv University and holds a BA in Journalism and Sociology from City University of London, where she was the recipient of the Olive Tree Program scholarship for conflict resolution.

This video was likely released to the American Jewish community in advance of Stav’s appearance at the AIPAC Policy Conference, March 24-26 in Washington, D.C. She explains here, and hopefully she will do the same before the AIPAC thousands, why PM Netanyahu does NOT represent the vast majority of Israelis.

 

Orly Erez-Likovsky at the the Israel Central Elections Commission

11 Monday Mar 2019

Posted by in Human rights, Israel and Palestine, Israel/Zionism, Jewish History, Jewish Identity, Jewish-Islamic Relations, Social Justice

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On Wednesday, Orly Erez-Likovsky, the head of IRAC’s legal department, went before the Israel Central Elections Commission and argued in favor of disqualifying the candidacies of Michael Ben Ari and Itamar Ben Gvir, candidates who view themselves as Rabbi Kahane’s heirs, and who are running in the elections for the 21st Knesset. The shameful decision made by the Commission will not discourage us, and we will be submitting a petition to Israel’s Supreme Court later this week.

Posted by Rabbi Joshua Weinberg, VP of Israel and Reform Zionism of the Union for Reform Judaism

Jewish myopia in a perfect storm of anti-Semitism – As hatred blows in from all directions, some Jews are in denial, while Israel makes common cause with bigots

31 Thursday Jan 2019

Posted by in American Jewish Life, Human rights, Israel and Palestine, Jewish History, Jewish Identity

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This Times of Israel blog by Deborah Lipstadt is must-read for any Jew and liberal who thinks that antisemitism comes only from the right-wing in American politics and from a bunch of insignificant crazies in Europe. Not so, Deborah states – and she is right.

Just yesterday, I met with a young Polish Jewish woman who told me that antisemitism in her native Poland is today similar to what it was like before World War II.

We Jews cannot bury our heads in the sand, but we also have to be careful to distinguish, as Deborah does, the difference between legitimate criticism of Israeli policies vis a vis the occupation of the West Bank and antisemitism. It is anti-Semitic if a critic of Israel goes so far as to say that the Jewish people do not have the right to a state of our own or that the State of Israel is not legitimate.

Read Deborah’s article and pass it around. It has already gone viral at the Times of Israel Blog

https://bit.ly/2MH54Y8

Response to a parent of a JVP child

22 Tuesday Jan 2019

Posted by in American Jewish Life, Ethics, Human rights, Israel and Palestine, Israel/Zionism, Jewish History, Jewish Identity, Social Justice

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I have written a response to a rabbinic colleague whose child is a supporter of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) and who, I believe, has set aside moral standards when evaluating Jewish organizations in their relationship with Zionism and the State of Israel.

To read my blog at the Times of Israel, go to https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/a-response-to-the-parent-of-a-jvp-child

Dr. King’s Sermon at Temple Israel of Hollywood – February 26, 1965

21 Monday Jan 2019

Posted by in American Politics and Life, Ethics, Human rights, Social Justice

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Dr. Martin Luther King spoke from the bimah of Temple Israel of Hollywood in Los Angeles on Shabbat evening, February 26, 1965, only five days after the assassination of Malcolm X.

Security was tight around the synagogue on that evening. Sharpshooters were placed on the apartment building across the street on Hollywood Boulevard. Dr. King delivered his sermon with two large body guards standing directly behind him.

The Sanctuary was filled to capacity with 1400+ congregants. Rabbi Max Nussbaum reminded the congregation that since it was Shabbat, applause following Dr. King’s remarks would be inappropriate. He said: “You will wish to applaud, and you will not do so!”

This existence of the recorded speech was discovered by the wider Los Angeles Jewish community and was noted in the Los Angeles Jewish Journal before Martin Luther King Day in 2007. National Public Radio learned of it from the LAJJ article and requested permission to air it nationally that year. It was aired both in 2007 and 2008.

The speech borrows from many other addresses Dr. King delivered over the course of his career and is an example of the eloquence, passion, and deep intellect that was Dr. King. He was 35 years old when he delivered it.

You can listen here – http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlktempleisraelhollywood.htm

 

 

Why “Jewish Voice for Peace” is anti-Jewish

20 Sunday Jan 2019

Posted by in American Jewish Life, Human rights, Israel and Palestine, Israel/Zionism, Jewish Identity, Uncategorized

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It is clear from the statement and video (see link) that “Jewish Voice for Peace” (JVP) is an anti-Zionist and anti-Israel group that distorts Israel’s history to justify its antipathy to Zionism and Israel, attacks Israel’s mission as a Jewish and democratic state, and chooses facts selectively while providing no historical or political context to its assertions.

…. JVP is not only anti-Zionist and anti-Israel, but because it denies the right of the Jewish people to a state of our own, it qualifies as anti-Jewish.

For the full statement see my blog at the Times of Israel – https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/why-jewish-voice-for-peace-is-anti-jewish/

 

Your Anti-BDS Crusade Hurts Jews, Forward – Jeremy Ben-Ami

18 Friday Jan 2019

Posted by in American Jewish Life, American Politics and Life, Human rights, Israel and Palestine, Israel/Zionism, Jewish Identity, Social Justice

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This is an important perspective for American Jews vis a vis BDS.

Jeremy Ben-Ami is the founder and President of J Street, the largest Jewish PAC in the United States.

“Like the vast majority of American Jews, I oppose the BDS movement, as does J Street, the organization I lead. And I believe that our overwrought communal response to BDS is doing far more damage to American Jews and to Israel’s reputation than the movement itself could ever hope to do. This obsession is harming Jewish institutions and eroding important relationships with other communities, particularly communities of color. It is undermining our core values and distracting from far more important challenges — both in Israel and at home. It is creating an atmosphere of paranoia and censorship….While the Jewish community continues to pour staggering resources into the BDS fight, we have neglected far more urgent challenges. It is the current Israeli government’s continued creeping annexation of the occupied West Bank, not BDS, which seriously threatens Israel’s future as a democratic homeland for the Jewish people. It is the rise of white supremacism and authoritarian nationalism, not BDS, which seriously threatens the future of American democracy and American Jews. We can’t let the bogeyman of BDS undermine our community’s true ideals and interests. We have to end this obsession — and turn our attention and resources to the fights that truly matter for our country, Israel and the Jewish people.”

See entire article here – https://bit.ly/2FMlAo2

 

forward.com
Opinion | Your Anti-BDS Crusade Hurts Jews
Headlines like these reveal the disturbing consequences of the American…

Tamika Mallory on “The View” Refuses to condemn Minister Farrakhan

15 Tuesday Jan 2019

Posted by in American Jewish Life, American Politics and Life, Ethics, Human rights, Social Justice, Women's Rights

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Yes – Farrakhan has done much for African Americans, but his good works are tarnished by his vicious anti-Semitic, homophobic and bigoted rhetoric over many years. That Tamika Mallory avoids condemning Farrakhan’s hatred is a discredit to her.
 
That being said, it’s good that the national women’s march has condemned anti-Semitism and homophobia, but as long as Ms. Mallory continues to be a visual leader of the March, the national March is tarnished and tainted by hate and bigotry. One would think that the March’s leadership would either demand that Ms, Mallory publicly disassociate herself from Farrakhan or they would ask for her resignation from the leadership.
 
The move this week by Republican House leadership to strip Rep. King of all committee assignments accompanied by calls for his resignation from Congress for his bigotry and racism is a credit to the Republican leadership. If only they would do the same vis a vis the occupant of the White House. Why can’t the Women’s March do the same vis a vis Ms. Mallory?
 
Here is the conversation on the view. https://youtu.be/iRzOS7SNKmY

Dr. Martin Luther King – In celebration and Memory

13 Sunday Jan 2019

Posted by in American Politics and Life, Ethics, Human rights, Social Justice, Women's Rights

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I can’t help but feel how much further we’ve come as a nation since Dr. King’s life ended so suddenly and tragically. Anyone alive then will remember where you were when you heard the news, and we’ll remember Robert F. Kennedy’s poetic, compassionate and eloquent response in the rust belt states that evening of Dr. King’s death.

With the blaring light of this corrupted Trump era, it ought to be clear to anyone with a conscience that we still have much distance to travel to fulfill Dr. King’s aspirations and the aspirations proclaimed in our Declaration of Independence.

Trudge on we must! I’m confident that these next two years will move us forward as a nation in many areas with our new Congress, and as candidates begin to declare their quest for the White House, we’ll be setting the stage for another epic battle at the polls next year which, with effort, a far better outcome will be forthcoming than was the case in 2016.

We at Temple Israel of Hollywood in Los Angeles celebrate Dr. King’s life and vision every year on the weekend commemorating his birth, and we’ll do so again this coming Friday during Kabbalat Shabbat services – January 18 at 6:30 pm. If you live in Los Angeles, please come and join us. The community is welcome.

We will play 13 minutes of a 43-minute sermon Dr. King delivered from our bimah at Temple Israel of Hollywood in April, 1965. The recording is so clear it’s as if he’s in the room with us, though it has been nearly 54 years since he stood before a packed congregation.

You can hear the entire speech here – https://www.tioh.org/images/audio_collection/MLKSpeech_TIOH_1965.mp3

For a longer selection of Dr. King’s most memorable quotations – go to my blog at the Times of Israel where I have posted them – https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/dr-martin-luther-king-in-celebration-and-memory/ .

Note: The final quote is Dr. King’s statement of support for Zionism and the State of Israel as the national home of the Jewish people.

Request – Share the list with your friends from the Times of Israel. They will remind us not only of the greatness of the man, but of our own prophetic tradition and engagement as Jews in the struggle for human rights.

 

There are hearts that are stones – Reflecting on Trump’s latest outrage

10 Thursday Jan 2019

Posted by in American Politics and Life, Ethics, Human rights, Social Justice

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“In contrast to the prophets of the Hebrew Bible who sought to establish goodness in the world, the President’s Oval Office speech this week exposes his malignant world view.”

This is taken from my blog at the Times of Israel. To read it, please go to https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/there-are-hearts-that-are-stones/