NEW POLL: DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY VOTERS ARE SUPPORTIVE OF ISRAEL AND SIMULTANEOUSLY CRITICAL OF ISRAELI GOVERNMENT POLICIES

16 Thursday May 2019

Posted by rabbijohnrosove in American Jewish Life, American Politics and Life, Human rights, Israel and Palestine, Social Justice

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National survey finds Democratic voters most likely to back presidential candidate who acts as fair and impartial broker in Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations

WASHINGTON, DC — A clear majority of likely Democratic primary voters have favorable views of Israel and believe it is compatible to hold these views and be critical of the Israeli government, according to a new poll. The poll found that most Democrats believe that the US should act as a fair and impartial broker for Israeli-Palestinian peace.

The national survey, conducted by GBAO and commissioned by J Street, found that Democrats have a positive view of Israel (+25-point favorability) and the Palestinians (+13) and a highly negative view Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (-27). An overwhelming 75 percent say that they would be most likely to back a candidate who supported both Israelis and Palestinians, while a similar 74 percent say that they want the US to act as a fair and impartial broker rather than side solely with Israel.

“The old playbook of unconditional support for the Israeli Prime Minister is clearly out of date, and presidential candidates should feel confident expressing both their support of Israel and their criticism of Netanyahu policies that violate long-held American positions,” said J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami. “When it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, there’s a clear path to a balanced, principled and forward-looking consensus position that the vast majority of Democratic voters are ready to rally behind.”

Democrats clearly believe that it’s compatible to be supportive of Israel and critical of its government. 81 percent agreed that “someone can be critical of Israeli government policies and still be pro-Israel” — including 92 percent of those who view Israel positively. 61 percent said they were less likely to support a candidate who believes that the US “must stand behind all of [PM] Netanyahu’s policies”, while 69 percent were less likely to support a candidate who says that the US “should continue financial and military aid to Israel without any restrictions, regardless of whether Israel expands settlements or annexes Palestinian territory.”

Democratic voters support Israel, and hold nuanced views toward Israel and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Choosing between the Israelis and Palestinians is a false dichotomy for these voters, and they want the US to play an active role as an honest broker that helps the parties reach a peace agreement,” said pollster Jim Gerstein.

The poll found that the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement against Israel is a non-issue among Democratic primary voters — only 36 percent have heard even a little about it, while 63 percent have heard nothing. There is neither strong opposition (13 percent) nor support (12 percent) for BDS. At the same time, however, Democrats are clearly against legislation that would penalize people who boycott Israel and potentially infringe on the Constitutional right to free speech. 54 percent oppose such legislation, while just 22 percent support it.

At a time when the policies of the Trump administration are increasing the prospects for a dangerous new conflict with Iran, the vast majority of Democrats (72 percent) believe the US should re-enter the JCPOA nuclear agreement, including 45 percent who strongly support doing so.

When asked who they were currently planning to vote for in the presidential primary, 36 percent said Joe Biden, 13 percent said Bernie Sanders, 8 percent said Elizabeth Warren and 6 percent said Kamala Harris. Other candidates receiving at least 1 percent support included Pete Buttigieg (5), Beto O’Rourke (4), Cory Booker (3), Amy Klobuchar (1) and Julian Castro (1).

GBAO designed the questionnaire for this national survey of 800 likely voters in the 2020 Democratic presidential race. It was conducted May 1-5, 2019 via landlines and cell phones. The sample is subject to a margin of error of +/- 3.5 percentage points.

—Nathan Wolfson
Senior Digital Associate, J Street

The poll results, including the full survey, crosstabs and summary of findings, are available at https://jstreet.org/j-street-2019-poll-of-democratic-primary-and-caucus-voters

Gaza

06 Monday May 2019

Posted by rabbijohnrosove in Israel and Palestine

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Note of Introduction: The following is a letter from Jerusalem written by Rabbi Dow Marmur, the Emeritus Rabbi of Holy Blossom Synagogue in Toronto and a Past President of the World Union for Progressive Judaism. Dow’s piece offers insight into what the rockets from Gaza (now there’s a ceasefire) may have been all about.

There seem to be many reasons for the recent barrage of some 700 rockets from Gaza into southern Israel that have taken lives on both sides: *an effort to prevent performers and audiences from abroad to come to the Eurovision contest in Tel Aviv; *Israel’s Independence Day celebrations which Palestinians tend to mark as their Nakba, the anniversary of their displacement that followed the establishment of the State of Israel: *Ramadan, the sacred month in the Muslim calendar, a potential period of violence; *another attempt to please the Iranian paymasters wanting to punish Israel for its many attacks on Iranian installations in Syria; *the delay in the arrival of cash from Qatar.

All this also had the unintended consequence for the terrorists who rule Gaza of strengthening the ultra-right forces in the Israeli political system just as they’re engaged in negotiations about the composition of the next government. The rockets from Gaza may have strengthened those who don’t lose sleep over the terrible conditions under which most Gazans live.

Similarly, there’s no evidence that the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah is troubled by the suffering of their kith and kin in Gaza. Over the years there have been many attempts at reconciliation but apparently without success. It may be difficult for Israelis to be concerned about the welfare of Gazans if their own people in the West Bank are not.

Gideon Levy, the Ha’aretz controversial columnist, described the events of the last few days as the Gaza ghetto uprising. He tends to put the blame on Israel. But it’s difficult to see how Israel can act in favour of Gazans as long as their leaders seem to be passionately committed to giving the Jewish state and its residents along the Gaza border as hard a time as possible.

Every concession that Israel makes seems to be perceived as a sign of weakness and an encouragement to attack it next time with ever greater ferocity. The Israel Defense Forces know how to fight and win wars, but it’s not clear that this fight can ever be won as long as Hamas and Islamic Jihad don’t want peace.

Though there’s now a cease-fire, allegedly brokered by Egypt and the United Nations envoy in the area, nothing much has changed. More clashes are bound to follow for it seems that of late the terrorists have made military progress: their missiles were remarkably effective, even in the face of Israel’s Iron Dome that tried to intercept them; their tunnels seem to protect them; the standing of their leaders has been enhanced by the recent attacks.

Yes, Israel is infinitely stronger than Hamas and Islamic Jihad, even with the military help they get from Iran and the cash that comes from Qatar. But this is a kind of war that military might doesn’t seem to be able to win. Though Israeli planes repeatedly attack military targets in Gaza, the war goes on. We may have a lull today but we don’t know what tomorrow will bring.

Of the little I understand about the situation I find it difficult to share the view of those that Israel alone can resolve the crisis, even though it’s possible that it could do things for the population in Gaza that would give the Gazans a greater stake in keeping the peace instead of allowing to be used as pawns. What seems to be needed is imaginative diplomacy which neither the Gazans nor the Israelis seem to be endowed with.

Jerusalem 6.5.19 Dow Marmur

600 Holocaust survivors, their children and grandchildren, sing Ofra Haza’s “Chai”.

02 Thursday May 2019

Posted by rabbijohnrosove in Jewish Identity, Uncategorized

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600 Holocaust survivors, their children and grandchildren, gather at Beit Avi-Chai in Jerusalem to sing Ofra Haza’s “Chai”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vuh1-jDi7Qw

A Must-See Documentary – Who Will Write Our History – The True Story of the Warsaw Ghetto

02 Thursday May 2019

Posted by rabbijohnrosove in Jewish History

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Who Will Write Our History_May7_TIOH

In November 1940, days after the Nazis sealed 450,000 Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto, a secret band of journalists, scholars and community leaders decided to fight back. Led by historian Emanuel Ringelblum and known by the code name Oyneg Shabes, this clandestine group vowed to defeat Nazi lies and propaganda not with guns or fists but with pen and paper.

Now, for the first time, their story is told as a feature documentary. Written, produced and directed by our Temple Israel of Hollywood member, Roberta Grossman, and executive produced by Nancy Spielberg, Who Will Write Our History mixes the writings of the Oyneg Shabes archive with new interviews, rarely seen footage and stunning dramatizations to transport us inside the Ghetto and the lives of these courageous resistance fighters. They defied their murderous enemy with the ultimate weapon – the truth – and risked everything so that their archive would survive the war, even if they did not.

I learned of Ringelblum’s project in the late 1960s, but few people know the extraordinary story – until now. The Oyneg Shabes documents are the produce of more than a dozen Jewish writers, journalists and historians who were captives in the Warsaw Ghetto. They wanted to tell the story of the ghetto and not leave it to the Nazis to tell the story. When the uprising began and the writers knew that they likely would not survive, they buried in three metal milk containers all their documents. One of them, however, did survive, and after the war when the Warsaw Ghetto had been completely destroyed by the Nazis, she was able to lead rescuers to two of the three milk cans.

That provides the basis for Roberta Grossman’s film. Roberta is an award winning documentary film maker who became completely engrossed in this project, as she does with every film she conceives, writes, directs, and produces.

A disclaimer – Roberta is a friend, but the film should be seen by everyone who seeks uplift even from the ashes of the Holocaust. This is a film not to miss.

If you live in Los Angeles, we will be hosting a showing of the film for the Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival in our own synagogue theater on Tuesday, May 7 at 7 PM. For tickets – go to https://arts.tioh.org/event/la-jewish-film-festival-2019/.

If you live elsewhere, be sure to watch the film. It will be one you will not forget.

On Yesterday’s Attack on the Poway Chabad

28 Sunday Apr 2019

Posted by rabbijohnrosove in American Jewish Life, American Politics and Life, Ethics, Human rights, Jewish History

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We at Temple Israel sent this response to our membership today, and I wanted you all to see it.

We write to express our deep sadness and outrage that our community has been attacked yet again in Poway on Shabbat morning. We mourn the death of an innocent woman, who came in peace to her synagogue to say kaddish for her mother, and we pray for the healing of those injured in this attack. Beyond that, we pray for strength and courage as these events are becoming all too frequent, all too violent, all too disturbing of our nation’s heart and soul, all too harmful to the human and American spirit. We recommit ourselves to raising an organized, vocal, and intentional message of love, rooted in an intolerance of hatred.

We stand in the firmest opposition to acts of terror. We stand in the firmest opposition to laws that allow people access to weapons designed to kill. We stand in the firmest opposition to white supremacy and to those forces that encourage and incite hatred. At our core, we are a community of love. At our core, we are a community of hope and peace and belonging. We will not be silent in the face of hatred. We will not be silent in the face of forces intent on stoking our fears.

To all those intent on silencing us: Hear our love and our moral outrage echo across our country! It is a resounding cry, trumpeting from the souls of peace-loving neighbors.

We assure our community that we have tightened security. Our first obligation is to the safety and security of our community.

L’shalom,

Rabbi John L. Rosove

Rabbi Michelle Missaghieh

Rabbi Jocee Hudson

Shelly Fox, Cantorial Soloist and Music Director

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