Year: 2018

 

The Quakers in Britain have taken time in reaching this decision advocating a different approach is needed to shift the dial.

By Robert Cohen | Mondoweiss | Nov 26, 2018

With the occupation now in its 51^st year, and with no end in near sight, we believe we have a moral duty to state publicly that we will not invest in any company profiting from the occupation.

Last week Quakers in Britain became the first Christian denomination in the UK to adopt a responsible investment policy towards the Israeli Occupation of Palestinian land. It was the first denomination but I doubt it will be the last.

Within hours of the announcement, the Board of Deputies, the body which asserts its right to represent Jewish interests in Britain, had issued a statement of rebuke from its President, Marie van der Zyl, titled “Board of Deputies condemns Quakers’ Israel divestment policy.” In a few short paragraphs, van de Zyl gathered together all of the usual anti-BDS (boycott, divestment, sanctions) talking points and fired them in one almighty blast at the Quakers.

The Board’s statement is worth examining in detail since it reveals so much about the Jewish establishment’s mission to set the parameters of acceptable debate on Israel to the detriment of interfaith relations.
Continue reading “British Quakers divest from occupation, and are accused of “obsessive” tunnel vision for “the only Jewish state””

Rashida Tlaib rejects Israel lobby’s influence over the incoming congressional delegation.

By Alex Kane &Lee Fang | The Intercept | Dec 3, 2018

Tlaib is clear about one thing: She wants her delegation to humanize Palestinians, provide an alternative perspective to the one AIPAC pushes, and highlight the inherent inequality of Israel’s system of military occupation in Palestinian territories.

Rashida Tlaib, a Democratic representative-elect from Michigan, belongs to a cohort of incoming members of Congress who’ve vowed to upend the status quo — even on third-rail issues in Washington like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. To that end, Tlaib is planning to lead a congressional delegation to the Israeli-occupied West Bank, she told The Intercept. Her planned trip is a swift rebuke of a decades-old tradition for newly elected members: a junket to Israel sponsored by the education arm of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, known as AIPAC, the powerful pro-Israel lobby group.

The AIPAC trips are among the lesser-known traditions for freshman members of Congress. They’re typically scheduled during the first August recess in every legislative session and feature a weeklong tour of Israel and meetings with leading Israeli figures in business, government, and the military. Both critics and proponents of the AIPAC freshmen trip say the endeavor is incredibly influential, providing House members with a distinctly pro-Israel viewpoint on complex controversies in the region. In recent years, the Democratic tour has been led by incoming Majority Leader Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md. Incoming Minority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., traditionally leads the Republican trip.

Continue reading “Freshman congresswoman bucks AIPAC’s Israel junket”

 

Israel’s ambassador to the UN predicts the Trump administration will present its peace plan in early 2019.

Pamela Falk | CBS News | Nov 28, 2018

President Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner, and White House Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt, have been drafting the Trump administration’s long-awaited plan for a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians, and they have touted its preparation several times since the White House’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital on Dec 6 and the opening of the new US embassy there in May.

Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations said Tuesday that the White House intends to move forward with its much-anticipated Middle East peace plan early next year, before expected Israeli elections.

“We don’t know the details of the plan but we know that it’s completed,” Ambassador Danny Danon told a small group of reporters Tuesday in his office near UN Headquarters. He said the Trump administration has told the Israeli government that it is prepared to roll out the plan in early 2019.

President Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner, and White House Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt, have been drafting the Trump administration’s long-awaited plan for a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians, and they have touted its preparation several times since the White House’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital on Dec 6 and the opening of the new US embassy there in May. Continue reading “Israel says Trump’s Middle East peace plan to be rolled out in early 2019”

Israel has chosen to embrace Trump and serially antagonize US Jews.

By Avraham Bronstein | Haaretz | Nov 21, 2018

To be clear: We [US Jews] certainly benefit from far more privilege in our lives than the Palestinians we met. Still, our conversations caused me to reflect on how we could begin to relate to their feeling of being left behind.

Earlier this month, I toured Ramallah, East Jerusalem, and the Bethlehem area with a group of over 30 rabbis, educators, lay leaders, executives, and philanthropists from across the denominational and political spectrum.

It was a powerful, intense experience facilitated by Encounter, an organization that brings American Jewish leaders into direct contact with Palestinians for an on-the-ground perspective of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Over the course of the four-day trip, our group asked many of the Palestinians with whom we met what they hoped to gain by speaking with us. Some thought we might be able to influence others on their behalf — whether it was the US Jewish community, the American government, or even Israelis — whether at large, or in positions of power.

Continue reading “Frozen out by Israel, repelled by Trump, US Jews find more in common with Palestinians”