Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on March 30, 2024

LOS ANGELES (JTA) Steven Spielberg warned that the machinery of extremism is being used on college campuses and lamented those killed in Israel and Gaza while being honored for his Holocaust remembrance work at the University of Southern California.

The renowned Jewish filmmaker spoke at a ceremony Monday afternoon in which USC bestowed its prestigious University Medallion on the 56,000 Holocaust survivors who have provided testimony to the USC Shoah Foundation, which Spielberg founded three decades ago. Thirty of the survivors were present at the ceremony. The awards text also says the school is immensely grateful to Spielberg and his wife, Kate Capshaw.

In his speech, Spielberg lamented polling showing high rates of antisemitism on college campuses. He also condemned other forms of hatred, including anti-Arab, anti-Muslim and anti-Sikh discrimination.

We see every day how the machinery of extremism is being used on college campuses, Spielberg said. Moments later, he said, Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. And I am increasingly alarmed that we may be condemned to repeat history, to once again have to fight for the very right to be Jewish.

He added, The creation of the other, and the dehumanization of any group based on their differences, is the foundation of fascism.

Jewish watchdog organizations and law enforcement agencies have documented a rise in antisemitism since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7, when the terror group invaded Israel. Recently, along with its Holocaust memory work, the Shoah Foundation has begun collecting testimony from Oct. 7 survivors. Spielberg called the attack horrific.

In the face of brutality and persecution, we have always been a resilient and compassionate people, who all understand the power of empathy, Spielberg said. We can rage against the heinous acts committed by the terrorists of Oct. 7, and also decry the killing of innocent women and children in Gaza. This makes us a unique force for good in the world, and is why we are here today.

The University of Southern Californias University Medallion, which it bestowed upon Holocaust survivors and the USC Shoah Foundation. (USC/Sean Dube)

Spielberg created the Shoah Foundation after making his 1993 Oscar-winning Holocaust film, Schindlers List. Portions of his remarks on Monday overlap with a controversial speech given by Jonathan Glazer, the writer and director of another acclaimed film set at Auschwitz, last years The Zone of Interest.

Upon accepting the Oscar for best foreign film earlier this month, Glazer also decried dehumanization and lamented the victims of October the 7th in Israel or the ongoing attack on Gaza.

But critics have primarily taken umbrage at Glazer saying, immediately beforehand, Right now we stand here as men who refute their Jewishness and the Holocaust being hijacked by an occupation which has led to conflict for so many innocent people. A range of Jewish and pro-Israel public figures and organizations have condemned the speech, while others have defended Glazers remarks.

No such controversy was apparent on Monday at USC, which has housed the Shoah Foundation since 2006. Spielberg said the work of the foundation has increased in importance following Oct. 7.

It is crucial to the stopping of political violence caused by misinformation, conspiracy theories and ignorance, Spielberg said of the Shoah Foundations efforts. It is crucial because stopping the rise of antisemitism and hate of any kind is critical to the health of our democratic republic and the future of democracy all over the civilized world.

Spielberg said that at a recent gathering of survivors, one woman shared what I know so many of us are wishing: that those who are currently being held hostage in Gaza should be safe and have hope that they should return home.

Holocaust survivor Celina Biniaz, who Spielberg introduced at the ceremony, was saved by Oskar Schindler, whose story is told in Schindlers List. Biniaz said she did not talk about her experience during the Holocaust including with her own children until the film inspired her to speak out.

Oskar Schindler saved my life by adding my name and that of my parents to the list of workers who were to be protected from the Nazi deportation, Biniaz, who survived Auschwitz, said during her remarks. And 50 years later, you, Steven, recorded my life by giving me back my voice.

In addition to Spielberg and Biniaz, attendees heard from USC President Carol Folt and leaders of the Shoah Foundation. The program ended with a conversation between a USC student athlete and Holocaust and 1972 Munich Olympics massacre survivor Shaul Ladany. Spielbergs 2005 film Munich is about the Israeli response to that massacre.

The award goes to honor those who have made exceptional contributions to USC and to society and to humankind, Folt said in her speech. The 56,000 testimonies from survivors of the Holocaust are one of the greatest contributions to humanity.

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Steven Spielberg decries 'machinery of extremism' on campus and laments Israel-Hamas war deaths at USC ceremony ... - JTA News - Jewish Telegraphic...

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Posted By admin on March 30, 2024

Watching We Were the Lucky Ones is an excruciating experience, and thats the good news. The potent miniseries is about the inhumanity and brutality of the Nazis during World War II. Its about a Polish family pulled apart, scattered to the tidal waves of 20th-century history. Its about people straining to keep their spirits hidden, to guard against futility as the war persists. Following the eight-episode story of the Kurc family had better be difficult, or We Were the Lucky Ones would be an utter failure.

There is a theme of hope hovering over this devastating series, too, with the title and its ironic claim providing a consistent tinge of optimism luck! even when the action onscreen calls for none. We know all along that this particular family, from Radom, Poland, will fare better than some 90 percent of Polish Jews, all dead by the end of the war. But the blows keep coming nonetheless, as the unimaginable becomes a reality over and over again. At first we see the Kurcs parents Nechuma (Robin Weigert) and Sol (Lior Ashkenazi) and their five adult children celebrating Passover in 1938, blissfully unaware their world is about to be shattered, affectionately teasing one another around the table. By the end of the following year, their forced fragmentation has begun, with some going to fight, some trying to stay put, and one Logan Lermans Addy, the artsy one yearning to be a successful songwriter stuck in Paris.

Episode by episode, each phase of Nazi savagery imposed on the Kurcs and other Jews is given full treatment. Very little is abbreviated, even while the larger story periodically jumps ahead in time, ending in 1945. The terror begins with vague rumors of the ill treatment of Jews, followed by the arrival of troops, random shootings, home evictions, ghettoization, starvation, grueling factory work, agonizing questions about what to do with young children, Soviet abuse, attempts to escape on foot or hide in basements, and, in some tense scenes, the dangerous decision to pretend to be non-Jewish. No Jew eyes, one Jewish character urges another as they try to pass as non-Jews. The meaning: Dont let your sorrow fill your face and give you away.

When youre telling a story set amid mass murder, the risk of viewer detachment is high. One of the strengths of We Were the Lucky Ones, brought to TV by Erica Lipez of Julia and The Morning Show, is that we get to know the Kurcs some better than others and become emotionally involved as they weather each new wave of cruelty. They are based on author Georgia Hunters real ancestors, whom she fictionalized in her 2017 novel of the same title, and the cast brings them to life admirably, especially since there are so many of them when spouses and small children are counted.

Joey King is a standout as Halina Kurc, the poignant center of the story. She brings warmth and authenticity to Halina, a fighter who keeps the image of a reunited family alive even when its most unlikely. Her complex romance with Adam (Sam Woolf) during the war works well, as they try to stay together despite everything working against them. King and Lerman, who is also moving, play the sibling characters we get to know best, even while they spend most of the series apart. Lermans Addy cant get back into Poland and eventually tries to get to Brazil, but he and his fellow boat passengers end up trapped in Nazi-sympathizing Dakar.

The other siblings Mila (Hadas Yaron), Genek (Henry Lloyd-Hughes), and Jakob (Amit Rahav) are given less depth, and fewer specifics, but still register emotionally across the series, which premieres Thursday on Hulu. We Were the Lucky Ones covers a lot of ground, and there are moments when you might forget where this character is now, and where that character just came from. But that occasional sense of disorientation doesnt weaken the series, as it plows forward, tragedy after tragedy, the portrait of a world broken at its core.

So yes, the miniseries is challenging, and steeped in heartbreak, and unrelenting. But it joins a growing inventory of important, eye-opening, memorable, and timely TV takes on the Holocaust and World War II. Ultimately it is as rewarding as it is harrowing.

WE WERE THE LUCKY ONES

Starring: Joey King, Logan Lerman, Amit Rahav, Hadas Yaron, Henry Lloyd-Hughes, Robin Weigert, Lior Ashkenazi, Marin Hinkle, Moran Rosenblatt, Michael Aloni, Sam Woolf

On: Hulu. Premieres Thursday.

Matthew Gilbert can be reached at matthew.gilbert@globe.com. Follow him @MatthewGilbert.

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Hulu's 'We Were the Lucky Ones' a harrowing Holocaust drama - The Boston Globe

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Posted By admin on March 30, 2024

Unacceptable double-standard

A leading political expert said earlier that the new German law requiring immigrants to recognise Israels right to exist as a condition to gain nationality is Berlins attempt to whitewash its brutal Nazi past at the cost of Palestinian lives.

Germany demands acknowledgment of Israel's right to exist as Israel wages a genocidal war in Gaza, says distinguished Jewish-American scholar and activist Norman Finkelstein,

The bill states that it is pushing for the acquisition of German citizenship to be dependent on a commitment to Israel's right to exist and a declaration that the naturalisation applicant has not pursued or will pursue any endeavors directed against the existence of the State of Israel.

According to Finkelstein, Germanys military support for Israel, in light of the law, shows that it is willing to uphold an unacceptable double-standard, namely that it is permissible for Israel to wrong Palestinians but not for Germans to oppose that.

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German citizenship test to include questions on Israel and Holocaust - TRT World

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Posted By admin on March 30, 2024

In his latest book, Jewish Life in Medieval Spain, Jonathan Ray focuses on the tumult of the 14th century in Spain a time of the plague, civil strife and war between the two largest kingdoms, Aragon and Castile, with frequent attacks against Jews. This culminated in riots in 1391, which resulted in deaths, destruction of property, rapes and forced conversions.

Ray describes an appeal the Jewish community made to the Spanish king in 1354, describing the hatred they faced:

[]the people made the earth tremble with their cries of: all this is happening because of the sins of Jacob [later renamed Israel]. Let us destroy this nation! Let us kill them!

Treating Jews as scapegoats during times of hardship is an ongoing feature of Jewish history. Some 100,000 Jews were murdered in eastern Europe as part of the struggles following the 1917 Russian Revolution. These attacks were followed by the tragedy of the Holocaust.

Jews were also targeted in riots in the Middle East and North Africa during the second world war. During the Farhud of 1941, for example, a violent mob attacked the Jews of Baghdad, killing up to 180 people, raping women and looting properties.

An awareness of this ongoing history of persecution is important to understand the trauma of the October 7 attack by Hamas in southern Israel, during which 1,200 people were killed (and some sexually assaulted) and around 240 people abducted. It was a watershed moment for Israelis, as well as the Jewish diaspora.

It also helps to understand the Jewish perspective on some of the rhetoric heard at global protests against Israels subsequent war in Gaza and more broadly against Zionism since October 7. To many, this equates to antisemitism.

Read more: The long, dark history of antisemitism in Australia

Much ink has been spilt on the issue of whether protests against Zionism, or anti-Zionism, are inherently antisemitic.

Certainly, within the academic realm, anti-Zionism does not necessarily conflate with antisemitism. As Michelle Goldberg recently wrote, anti-Zionism can emerge from those who believe in the potential for Israelis and Palestinians to live together in the same state, or from well-intentioned concerns for Palestinian suffering, among other reasons.

However, when the real-life impact of anti-Zionism results in cries advocating for the killing of Jews, then it can only be understood as antisemitism. As is any criticism of Zionism or Israel that crosses the line into blatant racism or discrimination, demands to de-platform or exclude Zionists, the resurfacing of tropes and conspiracy theories about Jewish people, or the questioning of Israels right to exist as a state.

On October 9, just two days after Israels declaration of war against Hamas, a pro-Palestinian rally took place in Sydney with clear parallels to 1354.

While the police may quibble as to whether the protesters chants were gas the Jews or wheres the Jews, for Jewish people, the intent was the same.

The crowd at another rally at the Victoria parliament chanted Khaybar, Khaybar, the armies of Muhammed are coming. This refers to attacks by the Muslim army against the Jewish tribe in Arabia in 628, when Jews were subjugated, expelled or slaughtered.

These hateful messages coincided with an unprecedented upsurge of antisemitism in Australia an increase of 738% since October 7, according to the Executive Council of Australian Jewry. These acts included vile graffiti messages, the boycotting of Jewish businesses deemed Zionist, verbal abuse (including death threats), physical abuse and attacks on social media.

This rising antisemitism as well as the lack of empathy and support many Jewish people felt in Australia following the October 7 attack is what led to the formation of the Jewish creatives and academics WhatsApp group.

Its members were later shocked at the leaking of their chat with personal details and photos, as well as the threats and abuse some experienced. As Jewish historian David Slucki stressed, such doxxing has no justification.

Some have argued the release of the chat messages was whistleblowing because the group was trying to suppress pro-Palestinian voices. To Jewish members, however, this argument evokes ancient tropes of secret Jewish cabals. It also suggests that being Zionist automatically means one is anti-Palestinian. Such assumptions foster antisemitism, the clear outcome of the leak.

For example, the ongoing idea of Jews having tentacles that reach far and wide to control people was recently resurrected by Jenny Leong, a Greens MP for Newtown (who later apologised).

To understand what anti-Zionism is, one needs first to understand what Zionism means.

The word Zion stems from the bible. It refers to a mountain in Jerusalem where King David, one of the most revered figures in Jewish history who conquered Jerusalem in the 10th century, is believed to be buried.

Over millennia, Zion has come to refer to Jerusalem itself, as well as the Land of Israel. Zionism is also the Jewish national self-determination movement, which emerged in the 19th century to create a Jewish state in the Jews ancestral homeland, Israel. This goal was achieved in 1948.

Before 1948, there were Jews who opposed the Zionist movement for different reasons. The ultra-Orthodox believed Jews had to wait for the coming of the Messiah and creation of a theocratic state. Secular socialists, meanwhile, believed Jews needed to fight for full equality and self-determination in their own countries.

As he discusses in his autobiography, Jewish journalist Michael Gawenda grew up with such an anti-Zionist viewpoint, but gradually shifted his views on Israel. Then, he says, the world changed on October 7. As he suggests in a recent article, some of those criticising Israel on the left today see the state as the bastard child of an evil ideology. He writes:

The Hamas pogrom and its aftermath the explosion of antisemitism and Jew hatred [around the world] reminded Jews like me that in Jewish history, what may have seemed to be a golden age for Jews can end suddenly, violently, inexplicably and with devastating and sometimes murderous consequences.

In a recent survey, 77% of Australian Jewry identified as Zionist and 86% agreed the existence of Israel was essential for the future of the Jewish people.

Read more: Universalism or tribalism? Michael Gawenda's memoir considers what it means to be a Jew in contemporary Australia

Many anti-Zionists today, particularly among the progressive left, however, believe Israel was born in sin as a racist, settler-colonial state. In their view, Zionists are pursuing ethnic cleansing, expulsions, theft, apartheid and genocide against the Palestinians.

These beliefs were also propagated by the Soviets from the early 1960s as part of their efforts to win over the Arab world.

It is important to stress that criticising the Israeli governments actions towards the Palestinians is not inherently anti-Zionist. This includes legitimate criticism of Israels conduct of the war in Gaza and the governments failure to set out clear plans for the aftermath of the war.

For example, US Senator Chuck Schumer, who is Jewish, recently strongly criticised the actions of Benjamin Netanyahus government. Schumer is one of the most pro-Israel senators in US history. He cannot be considered an anti-Zionist.

In recent years, efforts have been made to define antisemitism to show how it intersects with attitudes towards Israel and to draw clearer lines explaining when anti-Zionism becomes antisemitism.

This culminated in the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliances adoption of a working definition of antisemitism in 2016. While stressing that legitimate criticism of Israel is not antisemitism, seven of its 11 examples of antisemitic behaviour relate to Israel. These include:

denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, for example, by claiming the existence of a state of Israel is a racist endeavour

drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis

holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the state of Israel.

To date, 38 nations have accepted this definition of antisemitism, including Australia in 2021.

Some scholars, including those who would consider themselves anti-Zionists, however, have rejected the definition and developed and signed another, known as the Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism.

A small minority of Jews who oppose Israels existence as a Zionist state adhere to this definition. For other Jews it is seen as more accurate because it is less prescriptive than the IHRA definition and also seeks to clarify when criticism of (or hostility to) Israel or Zionism crosses the line into antisemitism and when it does not.

For instance, it says criticising or opposing Zionism as a form of nationalism is not antisemitic, while denying the right of Jews in the state of Israel to exist and flourish would be.

As Jewish historian Derek Penslar explains in terms of why he signed it:

There are a great many people in the world who bear no animus against Jews but who are troubled by Israels treatment of Palestinians and want it to change. Such critics include Jews who are deeply attached to Zionism as an ideal and Israel as the fulfilment of that ideal.

Without an historical lens, its not possible to fully understand the complex interconnections between anti-Zionism and antisemitism today.

Instead of the polarising pro-Palestinian and anti-Zionist narratives we are currently seeing, our aim should be to work towards understanding each others pain and learning to listen to each other with respect, even if we choose to agree to disagree. We seem to have a long way to go to achieve this goal.

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Posted By admin on March 30, 2024

The owner of a bar in downtown Salt Lake City ignited a social media firestorm earlier this month after he announced that no Zionists would be allowed in his establishment but what, exactly, is a Zionist, and is such a ban legal?

Michael Valentine, owner of the Weathered Waves cider bar at 158 S. Rio Grande St. in The Gateway shopping center, said in a March 3 Instagram post that we are horrified by the ongoing genocide in Gaza and are even more horrified to see so many Americans ignore and rationalize ethnic cleansing.

That is why, the post continued, we are pleased to announce we are banning all Zionists forever from our establishments.

In an interview with The Salt Lake Tribune on March 6, Valentine said he wrote the post and doesnt see it as antisemitic.

Rabbi Samuel Spector of the Salt Lake City synagogue Congregation Kol Ami said that Valentine doesnt get to make that determination. He doesnt have the authority to define what is and isnt antisemitism.

Spector said he defines a Zionist as someone who believes that the Jewish people have a right to self-determination and independent statehood. He defines self-determination for Jews as being able to be in charge of their own fate.

On March 6, the Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services notified the Utah attorney generals office about Valentines Instagram post, so they may conduct an investigation on whether the business is violating discrimination laws, said department spokesperson Michelle Schmitt.

She told The Tribune in an email last week that the A.G. investigation is ongoing.

Valentine doesnt believe the ban is illegal. In an op-ed Valentine wrote for The Tribune, he argued that its not discrimination to ban hate speech from our bar. We are not discriminating against anyone, have violated no policies, have broken no laws.

Clifford Rosky, a law professor at the University of Utah, said that Valentine may have violated public accommodations laws at the federal and state level. Apart from the law, Rosky added, it is not a wise business practice to open up a new business and get yourself in the paper for all the people youre not willing to serve.

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Congregation Kol Ami Rabbi Sam Spector speaks to supporters of Israel that gathered to mourn those murdered by the Hamas terrorist attack, on Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023.

Spector himself identifies as a cultural Zionist, he said, which means that I think that the Jewish state should be a light unto the nations of the world, and that its our job to actively work towards perfecting that state to be in line with our Jewish values and ideals.

He said he also identifies with whats called labor Zionism, which centers around the idea of Jews having a connection to Israel and that they should work the land and build up a country.

As for the Palestinian people, Spector said, I support humanitarian aid to the Palestinians. I support Palestinian rights, and I hope for the establishment one day of a Palestinian state living side by side next to Israel.

Spector said that people who are ignorant to what Zionism is believe that it refers to support for current Israeli policies. If someone is truly anti-Zionist, Spector said, I do consider that to be a form of antisemitism, because what youre saying is that Jewish people do not have the right to self-determination.

Spector who co-wrote an op-ed about the Israel/Hamas war with Iranian American industrialist Khosrow B. Semnani, which The Tribune published Sunday said Zionism is part of multiple movements of Judaism, and to say that we dont have a problem with Jews, we just have a problem with Zionists, youre excluding probably close to about 90% of American Jews then from your bar. He said he has gotten phone calls from Jews asking if Salt Lake City is safe for Jewish people.

At best, Spector said, Valentine is doing something that is ignorant. And, at worst, hes doing something thats antisemitic.

Valentine, after his bars initial Instagram message, clarified his stance in a in a follow-up post. We didnt just ban Zionism, we banned all hate speech, he said. We banned neo-Nazis, we banned transphobes, we banned sexists, we banned homophobes any and all hate speech.

In his op-ed, Valentine wrote, I do not create solidarity with hate speech and genocide deniers. I am not interested in breaking bread with those who cant see the humanity of Palestinians. ... Its not antisemitic to be anti-Zionist.

... As an atheist, I dont believe in a Jewish, Christian or Muslim state, Valentine continued.

Rosky said Valentine may have violated public accommodations laws. They say that if you have a business thats open to the public, the law professor explained, you cant discriminate against customers based on their race or religion.

The issue may come down to how the ban could be enforced.

Distinguishing between Zionists and non-Zionists is impossible, Rosky continued, because people dont wear T-shirts saying, Im a Zionist or Im not a Zionist, right? Its a political belief. And so, theres a risk that [Valentine] would enforce this policy by targeting people who he thinks look like Zionists. Well, whos that going to be?

You can also just imagine, for example, a person who wears a Star of David on a necklace walks down [to the bar]. Do they get banned because theyre a Zionist? Rosky asked. If there were any evidence that [Valentine] were enforcing this, or attempting to enforce it, in a way that would exclude people because theyre Jewish, then he would be violating federal and state public accommodations laws.

On Weathered Waves Instagram account last week, the bar posted that it is proud to stand in this moment in history firm as a little cidery and bar even if it means standing alone. ... If anything, this experience has only made us hate racism, nationalism, Nazis and Zionists even more.

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Is Weathered Waves' ban on Zionists illegal? Is it antisemitic? - Salt Lake Tribune

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Posted By admin on March 30, 2024

BERLIN

A bank in Germany froze the account of the anti-Zionist Jewish association Jewish Voice for a Just Peace in the Middle East on Wednesday and requested a list of its members and their addresses.

The association said that Berliner Sparkasse blocked their account without prior notice for updating customer information.

The bank said in a letter to the association's board that the move was "precautionary" and requested various documents, including a list of its members' names and addresses to be submitted by April 5.

The association questioned the bank's authority to freeze accounts without explanation, highlighting the unusual request for the list.

It suggested that such a demand resembles inquiries made by intelligence agencies or police exerting political pressure on the Jewish association.

The associations account was closed in 2019 due to pressure from the Central Council of Jews in Germany, it noted.

It highlighted the increasing political persecution amid diminishing global support for Israel's policies in the West Bank and Gaza.

Despite lacking broad public support, Germany remains a "strong ally of Israel," collaborating on controversial policies, it said.

The statement highlighted that the timing of the account blockage by Berliner Sparkasse coincided with plans for a "Palestine Congress" in Berlin from April 12-14 aimed at raising awareness about ongoing Israeli military violations in Gaza and Germany's role in the conflict.

Conventional methods like cancellations or denials of venues would not work against the congresss organizers, who claim to be "politically independent," it said.

The congress's finances, generated through ticket sales and donations, were the reason behind opening the account, leading to its blocking.

Despite the potential loss of the account, the organization remains "undeterred," saying their stance against genocide stems from Jewish values and is not reliant on financial resources. Membership continues to grow despite pressure.

The organization is pursuing legal action against the arbitrary and politically motivated account blockage, deemed "unacceptable in a democracy."

Previously, the association protested Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip in a demonstration held in Berlin.

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German bank freezes account of anti-Zionist Jewish association - Anadolu Agency | English

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Posted By admin on March 30, 2024

To the Editor:

Re American Jews in the Age of Palestine, by Peter Beinart (Opinion guest essay, March 24):

There is a fundamental flaw in the article. Zionism does not require backing the Israeli government; it does assume backing for the State of Israel.

The nation is and has been divided, and choosing to support the liberal elements of Israeli society, during a period when the ultra right controls the government, is not a rupture. It is a choice to support what many of us believe to be Jewish values, with the domination of the Palestinians being un-Jewish.

Yes, there is a rupture between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Jewish diaspora, but that does not translate to a rupture with Israel, at least not yet.

Steven Goldberg Brooklyn

To the Editor:

Peter Beinart claims that the Anti-Defamation League is aligning itself with Republicans who want to silence woke activists on campus. Thats a distortion of our record. Since 1913, the ADL has hewed to a strictly nonpartisan strategy in calling out antisemitism whether it emanates from the far left or the extreme right, or anywhere in between.

Moreover, Mr. Beinarts assertion that we are stifling pro-Palestinian speech is ludicrous. Since Oct. 7, there have been at least 2,874 anti-Israel rallies across the U.S., many held on or near campuses. Theres no shortage of sit-ins, opinion essays, protests and other public manifestations on behalf of the Palestinian cause.

Students are entitled to their First Amendment right to protest, but when free speech devolves into intimidation and threats, we must call it out without hesitation. At stake are the safety and security of Jewish students.

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Opinion | American Jews, Liberalism and Zionism - The New York Times

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Posted By admin on March 30, 2024

While for many on this campus it remains constantly in our minds, the recent vigil held by Students Justice in Palestine has brought the war in Gaza back into the center of discussion on campus.

Supporters of the Palestinian people have every right to state their views on the matter and to share their anguish at the suffering of civilians in Gaza. My goal in this piece is not to dismiss their views or Palestinian voices, but to provide another perspective and a path forward.

I would like to begin with two caveats. The first, is that I am only a student at this university, not an expert on Israeli history. A more knowledgeable and eloquent voice I recommend is Letters to my Palestinian Neighbor, written by Yossi Klien Halevi in 2018.

The second is a statement of personal bias. I consider myself a Zionist, though I am critical of many Israeli policies, especially West Bank settlements, and I am a believer in a two state solution.

Zionism is the desire for the existence of a Jewish state, specifically in Israel, our historic homeland. Everything on top of this is politics and is not inherent to belief in Zionism. Theodore Hertzel, the founding thinker of Zionism, knew that in the face of the eternal specter of antisemitism,

Jews needed a place where they would be protected without relying on the fragile goodwill of gentile leaders. In this belief he was joined by many great thinkers, including Justice Brandeis, one of the most famous American Zionists. Brandeis viewed Zionism as, On the whole, the most worthwhile of all I have attempted. It was never the intent of pre-1948 Zionism to expel the Palistinians, only to have a state for Jews.

Of course, none of this delegitimizes Palestinian nationhood and historical connection to the region. Efforts by both sides to deny the truth of the others national identity is a roadblock that must be overcome for any possible peace.

Moving beyond Hertzels hopeful ideal Israel to the reality on the ground, any discussion of Israels treatment of Palistinians in practice will inevitably come to the issue of settlement and occupation in the West Bank.

To oversimplify a highly complex issue, the status quo that settlers exploit and that is the basis for accusations of apartheid in the West Bank stems from the failure of peace talks in the middle of an intended multi-step process.

Settlements were meant to be eventually incorporated into Israel, so the Jews living there are Israeli citizens.

The surrounding Palestinian lands were supposed to form a new state under Palestinian leadership, and so they are not. The Palestinian-Israelis living within Israels post-1967 borders have full legal rights, though like American minorities they face systemic racism that must not be ignored.

Gaza is a different story. It was ceded by Israel in 2005, with Jewish settlers being forcibly removed by the Israel Defense Forces. Hamas took control in 2007 and since then has used the strip as a staging ground for their terrorist activities.

In response, Israel and Egypt have blockaded Gaza for years which is legal under international law. Hamas is an organization of religious zealots whose sole goal is the destruction of Israel and the murder of Jews.

This is the fifth conflict with Israel they have started, the results of which has only been civilian suffering. They have used the money given to Gaza to enrich their leaders instead of aiding the people, and to build 300 miles of tunnels instead of schools and hospitals.

These tunnels connect to hospitals and their leaders live next to schools. Weapon stores are intentionally placed in crowded civilian areas. This is in large part why so many civilians have died in the recent conflict, but does not justify it.

The attack on Oct. 7 was an unjustified act of violence and hate. It is indefensible. Israel responding with military action was justified.

The civilian casualties, however, are nothing short of horrific and are indefensible as well. A ceasefire is needed, and needed now. But a ceasefire is a mutual agreement.

Hamas is equally responsible for the prolonging of the conflict by refusing to release the hostages and surrender, showing once again that they do not care for the lives of the innocent people they govern.

Blame for the suffering also lies with Egypt, which has refused to accept refugees from Gaza.

Israel says that their aim is to destroy Hamas, but even if they succeed, it will not bring peace to the region.

The only solution, both in Gaza and the West Bank, is a free Palestine alongside a Jewish state, and the only way that will be achieved is through dialogue and mutual concessions.Violence is easy, peace is hard. But I do believe that it is possible.

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Context on Zionism and the war in Gaza - The Justice

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Posted By admin on March 30, 2024

Yonatan Shapira is an ex-captain and pilot in the Israeli Air Force. In 2003, he helped coordinate the circulation of a letter that was signed by 27 Israeli Air Force pilots expressing their refusal to engage in Israeli military actions targeting Palestinians. Additionally, Shapira has endorsed the domestic Israeli movement supporting Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS), which is commonly referred to as Boycott from Within.

This interview with former Captain Shapira comes in the aftermath of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issuing its strongest directive yet in the Israel-Hamas War on Thursday, instructing Israel to take tangible measures to guarantee the delivery of humanitarian assistance to Gaza to curb the onset of famine amidst the countrys assault on Gaza in the aftermath of the October 7 attacks. These measures include collaborating with the UN and expanding the number of aid crossing points. This ruling stems from a case initiated by South Africa which accused Israel of genocidean accusation that Israel has vehemently refuted. In a previous ruling in January, the court instructed Israel to facilitate increased aid to access to Gaza. However, according to the courts recent statement, the living conditions of Palestinians in Gaza have worsened significantly since then, prompting this latest, forceful directive.

Yonatan Shapira spoke with JURISTs Deputy Managing Editor for Interviews, Pitasanna Shanmugathas, about his life growing up in Israel, his activities as a soldier in the Israeli Air Force, his disillusionment with Israels policies, his activities as a dissident within and outside Israel, and his thoughts on the mindset of Israeli soldiers and society since the October 7 attacks.

Shanmugathas: Mr. Yonatan Shapira, you were born and raised in Israel, can you talk about what life was like in Israel for you growing up?

Yonatan Shapira: I was born in a very Zionist family, I grew up in a military base for the first years of my life, as my father was a squadron commander in the Air Force. Then we moved to the suburbs of Tel Aviv, where I grew up in a neighborhood with lots of military career people. Very much kind of equal to the Israeli Labor Party; socialism, or at least pretending of socialist values, with a very nationalistic attitude to everything that has to do with the State of Israel, but with a self-image of a peaceful, loving society.

Shanmugathas: When you were growing up, was there ever any discussion among regular Israelisthe adults, the childrenabout the Palestinians as a people?

Shapira: Israel is a country surrounded by Arabs; Palestine, or the term Palestinians was not used. So, everyone used the term Arab Israelis. The only thing resembling Palestine or Palestinians was Palestina, which was the name that the place was called during the British Mandate before 1948. So, there wasnt much discussion at all. The historical narrative completely neglected the Nakba of 1948, the destroyed villages, and the exiled refugees. It was almost poetic, in a way, how we were raised to think about peace, love, and all these beautiful values of equality and striving for peace between nations, while completely ignoring the horrific reality. So, I didnt know anything about the Nakba, the refugees, the Judaization of the land, or the expulsion of the Palestinian population, all these issues. It was like living in a Zionist dream, where we always extended our hand for peace, but the Arabs were portrayed as missing every opportunity for peace. There was peace with Egypt when I was around six or seven years old, and I thought that was great and felt super happy about it, but it was from a very ignorant point of view.

Shanmugathas: When you were going to school in Israel as a youth, how was the founding of the State of Israel taught to students in history class?

Shapira: The same way it is taught now. Of course, a lot about the Holocaust and the problem of Jews around the world, with Israel presented as the solution. The ongoing wars that Israel is pushed or forced to fight because the countries around Israel do not accept its presence, nothing about what really happened before and after 1948. What I have to emphasize is that because of the section of society I came from, which was kind of the Labor society left movement, I participated in youth movements and activities that were all about peace and promoting beautiful values. For example, from a very young age, I was against the occupation in Gaza and the West Bank settlements, and I was even opposed to the war in Lebanon and Israels presence there. So, I held these kinds of Zionist left-leaning opinions, like my mother and many other people around me, but I didnt entirely understand the real situation on the ground. Additionally, this didnt change my desire to enlist in the military and become the best soldier in the world.

Shanmugathas: Your father flew fighter jets in the October War of 1973, the Yom Kippur War.

Shapira: He was a Squadron Commander in 73, and I was just a year and a half old.

Shanmugathas: So, I assume you grew up hearing a lot of war stories? How did your father feel about what Israel did during the Yom Kippur War and his military service?

Shapira: I grew up looking at the photo albums from the wars; there was a cabinet in the living room with all these Air Force war albums. I remember myself as a child, looking at all the tough-looking pilots in the pictures and knowing that it was very dangerous. Since we have a very strong military, Israel managed to fight back and keep us safe. No one told me about [Israeli Prime Minister] Golda Meirs refusal to negotiate with all the Arab countries or all the tricks and stuff with [US Secretary of State] [Henry] Kissinger in the US; it was not part of my upbringing at all. I had to learn all these things, way, way later, when I started realizing that there were lots of lies, more lies than truth, during my upbringing.

Shanmugathas: Your father wasnt aware of the background deception that was going on with Golda Meir and Kissinger? He thought what he did during the Yom Kippur War was a good thing?

Shapira: Of course! He was upset with Golda Meir that they didnt strike earlier. [He] was not upset about her refusal to negotiate with Egypt and with other Arab countries after 67, but [he] was [upset] about her not allowing the Air Force to do a pre-emptive strike.

Shanmugathas: I would think that your parents generation, they would know, to some extent, about Israels dispossession of the Palestinians.

Shapira: I think it was the framework, the way they framed ityou can get it on every official website, from the Ministry of Education to, like, every kind of Israeli propaganda. The narrative goes like this: the UN proposed a partition plan that the Arab countries and Palestinians refused, leading to their attack on us. We won the war, so if you attack us, thats what happens. That was the summary of the narrative. Of course, [my parents] didnt. Maybe they knew something, but perhaps it was pushed to the back of their minds about the fact that, even in the fields near where I grew up next to Tel Aviv, there were remains of a demolished Palestinian village. Later on, when I became an activist, along with my brothers, and especially in the last 20 years after I became an activist, my mother started remembering different things from her childhood and later on. These memories started to add up and paint a full picture for her, remembering her childhood in Tel Aviv, walking next to this abandoned Muslim Palestinian graveyard next to where she was walking to school, asking questions like Where are the people? Whats happening? However, these memories were only brought up retroactively after she was already in her late 60s or so, starting to learn about the Nakba by attending various activities with me and other activist organizations in Israel that teach Israelis about the Nakba and destroyed villages. Through these activities, she could revisit her memories as a child. But as I was growing up, nothing was mentioned or passed to me.

Shanmugathas: Talk about when you joined the Israeli Defense Force (IDF), what position you had in the IDF, and your reason for joining?

Shapira: I was a critically thinking boy in some ways but very Zionist. So, for me, joining the military meant following in my fathers footsteps to become a pilot. I was drawn to flying because I liked everything related to the air; I used to build model airplanes, and I was the kind of child who enjoyed watching birds and airplanes. This interest aligned perfectly with my Zionist belief that I need to be a good soldier in the military to protect my country. Even as a teenager, when I started learning about the problems, my solution was to be part of the system and work from within to fix them. Additionally, as a child and teenager, I was also against the right-wing Likud party figures like Begin and Ariel Sharon, and I held strong left-leaning, peace-loving beliefs. However, I didnt see any contradiction in joining the military; it was completely compatible with my beliefs.

Shanmugathas: Could you talk about what the culture was like in the Israeli military? What was your military training like during the time you were in the Israeli Air Force?

Shapira: You dont have much time for yourself; youre doing physical training, a lot of tests, theory, exams, and flying requirements. Every day is a test, and they can kick you out if you dont excel in meeting the requirements. So, there is a feeling that you really want to finish this course, knowing that 90 percent of the people who start dont finish. You want to be the one who completes it. Consequently, you dont have much time to think about other things.

I have to say that for me, there was an episode when they had us experiencing a couple of weeks of being ground soldiers in the West Bank and Gaza. It was around 1992, I think, so it was relatively quiet during the pre-Oslo peace accord, close to the peace treaty with Jordan. Despite the relative calm, I was quite shocked to see the military actions on the ground and observe how my commanders were behaving. Nevertheless, it made me feel that I would be different, that I would be a good soldier.

Shanmugathas: What kind of things did you see your commanders doing that shocked you?

Shapira: It was all very low-scale, compared to the genocide now; it feels so nave looking back. I remember I was supposed to be sitting on the roof of a house in Gaza, just observing. I think they wanted us to experience what it was like to be ground soldiers. I recall crossing the street and locking eyes with a young girl, probably returning from school. She looked afraid of me, and as I crossed to reach the observation roof, I could sense her fear. I spoke to her in the little Arabic I knew, saying, Dont be afraid. Only later did I realize how ridiculous I must have sounded; she saw my big gun that I was holding, my helmet, and the uniform. I also witnessed my commanders sometimes throwing stun grenades at people without good reason, among other little things like that.

Shanmugathas: Were you ever taught during your military training about the importance of taking precautions in protecting civilians during air missions or during ground missions?

Shapira: Well, my training was as a rescue helicopter pilot, so I was never in combat. I never received training as a fighter pilot. All my training revolved around rescuing people, flying injured people to hospitals, flying commanders and troops. However, the official narrative emphasized that the Israeli military only engages with the enemy and not civilians. We focused on what they called the principle of purity of arms, which is part of the ethical code of the Israeli military. According to this principle, the IDF only fights against the enemy and not civilians. It was discussed, but even then, there was a huge gap between this narrative and reality. Nevertheless, this mindset persisted for me until the year when I decided to change, realizing that I was someone else and that I am a member of a terrorist organization.

Shanmugathas: As an occupation army I would think it is easy to carry out your work if you are able to dehumanize the people you are occupying. So, if you are able to think of Palestinians as rats, or as vermin.

Shapira: I think nowadays, thats definitely what they do, and probably when I was a soldier, they also did it, but in the more exclusive part of the military where I was in service, these things were not very present. So, I dont recall moments when it was like that. It was in the overall narrative, you know, teaching you how the enemies always hide behind civilians, how you can never trust; it was more subtle and camouflaged in a way that dehumanized the Palestinians, the Arabs, etc.which was a helpful thing in the process of training me to believe in the system, because I really went on for years believing in the system. When I finally realized that its a lieeverything is like lies after lies, after liesthen I can go back and revisit different moments and different things I heard, different statements and different stories, and realize how its all part of the big brainwash system, which exists in, I guess, in many military organizations, but that was my experience.

One of the things that actually helped me open my eyes was, you know, sometimes when youre being taken out of your society and put somewhere else, its easy to see the fault of peoples actions and behavior, when youre not a member of the group, when youre looking at it as an outsider. For me, that happened in 2001, just after 9/11. I was sent to do special training in the US military to learn how to fly a Blackhawk helicopter. So, I was there for four and a half months, or something like that, in the US Army base in Alabama. It was the weeks or months before the invasion of Afghanistan.

Right after 9/11, in preparation for the invasion, [I witnessed] the preparation of the mind of the American population and the soldiers, of course. For me, it was a shocking lesson about how propaganda works, and I remember being exposed to this level of militarism and brainwashing of the soldiers in that army base. When I came back home and returned to my military base and Israeli society, I started seeing the things that I couldnt see before or maybe I saw a little bit, but suddenly, they became very, very clear that actually, I am also subjected to this kind of brainwashing. Im also subjected to this kind of inherent militarism, of this kind of ongoing propaganda. Of course, [my disillusionment] was combined with the Second Intifada, and eventually what was the most impactful on me was the Israeli Air Forces [practice of] targeted killing, or they had the different Orwellian names. They called it targeted elimination, which is basically shooting missiles and dropping bombs on civilian populations in Gaza and the West Bankalthough I was not participating directly in it because I was flying rescue helicopters. Something started getting close to home in a way when in a very specific bombardment in July 2002, the Israeli Air Force dropped a one-ton bomb on the house of the leader of the Hamas armed faction in the middle of the night, and they killed him, of course, and I think a total of 15 people. Most of them were children, and there was huge damage to all the surroundings, maybe 150 wounded and severely wounded. You know, I gave lots of interviews about my process of transformation.

When someone changes their perspective on life, its never just one thing; its a long chain of events and moments and encounters, but that specific one is one of these strong moments where I used to say that the nave Zionist boy that I used to be also died in that bombardment because in a way, or with all the lies and with all the brainwashing and with all the deception I was subjected to, that was the moment that I realized that I am part of an organization that is killing innocents intentionally. Its the moment that the ground underneath your feet is shaken, you have no solid thing to step on. You start to find, like, you know, someone that is floating in the sea after the ship was wrecked, and you look for a piece of wood to hold onto or something that will take you to the shore of understanding of whats going on and where you live and whats right and whats wrong and who are your friends and who are your enemies and who of your friends are actually your enemy and who in the enemies are actually your friends and all these questions of identity and belonging. It was a very intense emotional time. Combined with many other encounters and stories, things that happened to me, I came to the decision that I dont just need to leave the system and go somewhere else or do something else and find a solution for myself, but I want to do something just like they taught me all my life that we need to think about the benefit of the greater good of the population, the people, the country, humanity. So, I basically acted upon all the values that they taught me, but it happened to be against the system that I was serving. So, in a way, I felt that I was implementing all those beautiful values that they taught us in school about peace, equality, dedication, sacrifice and everything. But this time, it was against the system that I was serving, and, in a way, at that time, I didnt feel that I was doing it against; I felt that I was doing it in order to save Israel from itself or to save my own people from going into a self-destruction wall or hitting the abyss, and thats when I decided to organize this group of pilots and write a letter and find people that were willing to join me.

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From 'Zionist Dream' to Dissent: An Interview with a Former IDF Captain on Israeli Military Culture, Personal ... - JURIST

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Posted By admin on March 30, 2024

How do you wrap your head around genocide? As one numb week follows another, our leaders blind themselves to massacre and famine.

Joe Biden can see no compelling alternative to how Israel [wages] a war in these circumstances without doing grievous harm to civilians, Aaron David Miller writes in the New York Times, excusing the presidents support for genocide. So, Israel isnt being deliberately cruel and sadistic. The Times coverage would just have you believe they just have no choice as Donald Johnson wrote in a letter to the paper. There is no middle ground between what Israel is doing and Gandhian pacifism: They just had to use 2000 lb bombs in urban settings. They have to torture captives and cut off food.

Miller and other liberal Zionists have adopted that stance, but they are having little influence on Democrats. Polls show that the American people favor giving humanitarian aid to Gaza in far greater numbers than they do giving military aid to Israel, and the progressive base of the Democratic Party has started a political firestorm over U.S. support for genocide. The Zionist group J Street postponed its 2024 conference, surely because its own rank and file are enraged by Israel.

James Carville said onMSNBC this week that if Biden loses, its Israels fault, because the catastrophe in Gaza is an issue all across the country.

This Gaza stuff, this is not just a problem with some snot-nosed Ivy League peopleThis is a problem all across the country. And I hope the president and Blinken can get this thing calmed down because if it doesnt get calmed down before the Democratic convention, its going to be a very ugly time in Chicago. I promise you that. No matter what happens, I know its a huge problem.

Last week, Brad Sherman, the Israel-loving Congress member from Los Angeles, fought back, accusing anti-Israel forces of an attempt to penetrate and muddy our national discourse.

But a week later, Sherman was running through the Capitol as protesters from the antiwar group Code Pink held up bloodied hands before him.

Sherman accused them of antisemitism. Theres blood on your hands for the genocideyoure trying to kill every Jew.

That is the chief refuge for Democrats who excuse Israels actions. To say that critics of genocide are motivated by antisemitism.

But even liberal media are giving a platform to progressive critics. The United States is complicit in genocide, Mehdi Hasan said this week on New York public radio, and when the host pushed back and said Hasan was not blaming Hamas, Hasan said of course he denounces Hamas, but his tax dollars are not going to support Hamas. He also pointed out the inevitable consequences of military occupation. The oppressed will always rise against the oppressor.

And in wonderful media news this week, Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg withdrew from a speaking engagement in Kentucky after students questioned his record in the Israeli military nearly 40 years ago.

Jeffrey Goldberg, Editor-in-Chief of The Atlantic, withdrew from a scheduled speaking event at the University of Kentucky (UK) Wednesday, citing a last-minute schedule change, amidst concerns from students about his past as a former Israel Defense Forces (IDF) prison guard and his views on Zionism. We were informed that students expressed concern as to why a former IDF prison guard would be speaking on democracy and journalism at an event celebrating the integration of UK. Students were told he withdrew to not cause harm on campus, the representative [of a Palestinian solidarity group] stated.

The event was billed as The Future of Journalism and the Health of Our Democracy. Thats a little bit of accountability. The editor of the Atlantic is finally being called out for his service for Israel. The writer Yakov Hirsch repeatedly explained on our site that Netanyahu could not have maintained his faultless reputation in the U.S. mainstream without Goldberg fostering hasbara culture.

And bear in mind, that Goldberg used to brag about his military service. He wrote a whole memoir about it. Now, times are changing. And other editors who carried water for Israel will surely be called on to defend that work.

This process is just beginning. Zionists still have esteem in the U.S. discourse. The view that Israel supporters promote bigotry against Palestinians is still off-limits. Even as mainstream Jewish organizations assert that those who support Palestinian rights are bigoted against Jews.

Israel supporters should be seen as on the same moral level as supporters of Bull Connor, but in the U.S. and Western mainstream you can only point to antisemitism you can never point to anti-Palestinian racism on the Israel side, Donald Johnson has written on our site.

We cannot make progress on this issue if the extreme racism of the pro-genocide side is never discussed. People have to be able to say that any group, whether white southerners or South Africans or Nation of Islam members or Christian evangelical Zionists or Germans or, yes, Jewish supporters of Israel, can be racists. They can make racism central to their ideology. ButZionist racism is still a taboo subject, automatically branded as antisemitic, because fundamentally Palestinians are seen as lesser.

Progressives are actively taking on that discrimination. Please join that effort!

Thanks for reading,

Phil Weiss

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Weekly Briefing: Zionism will never be viewed the same after the Gaza genocide - Mondoweiss

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