For too long, Jewish communal institutions have adopted a “just us” approach. The ADL and United Jewish Appeal-Federation of New York, two central organizers of Sunday’s march, have long histories of demonizing Muslim and Palestinian communities...
Two things can be true at once. Jews are individually and collectively victims of anti-Semitism - violence, hate speech, bigotry, and prejudice - and Jewish people are beneficiaries and upholders of the American system of white supremacy.
American Jews have nothing to fear from the new congressional critics of Israel. Naturally, conservatives in the United States — though not only conservatives — have denounced Tlaib and Omar’s stance as anti-Semitic. It is not.
Outrage? AIPAC and the Conference of Presidents can summon it on behalf of Israel's government, on BDS, on the Iran Deal - but not for the American minorities targeted by Trump. Not even its Jews. Add your name to the Joint Petition from American Jews and Muslims on Stephen Bannon (see below).
The New York of Bernie Sanders's childhood was full of Yiddish socialists. Often, these were Jews of Sanders's sort, their spiritual practice less fixated on giving glory to God on high than fighting for emancipation here on earth. Although that interpretation of Judaism may seem profane, even blasphemous, at first blush, it has a firm basis in scripture.
An amazing turn for a major leader of the American Jewish mainstream - David Gordis rethinking view of Israel. He writes: Present day Israel has discarded the rational, the universal and the visionary. These values have been subordinated to a cruel and oppressive occupation, an emphatic materialism, severe inequalities...and distorted by a fanatic, obscurantist and fundamentalist religion which encourages the worst behaviors rather than the best.
Amid floundering peace talks, Jewish artists, historians, and activists are taking an increasingly critical look at Israel's founding and history.
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The BDS movement is spreading throughout the world. European pension funds are divesting from banks and companies that operate in settlements, and European markets are labeling Israeli goods made in the West Bank. Special UN Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Richard Falk, called on the international community to comprehensively investigate the business activities of companies and financial institutions which profit from the settlements in Israel.
The banning of Students for Justice in Palestine at Northeastern University, replicates sanctions being imposed against numerous student Palestinian rights groups across the country. Israel's heavy-handed reaction to these campus organizations is symptomatic of its increasing isolation and concern about waning American support and have alienated traditional supporters of Israel, including many young American Jews.
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