Jewish – HolyLandJustice.org

Mon, Jan 15, 2018Mon, Jan 15, 2018

Jewish voices for peace have long been banned — by Jews

spinoza1 — Baruch, later Benedict, Spinoza

From Spinoza to Vilkomerson, exclusion from the Jewish community based on beliefs has a long history.

By Jonathan Ofir | Mondoweiss | Jan 10, 2018

“But the formality of this step — banning outright leaders and key members of a Jewish organization — is yet further concrete evidence of what has been apparent for some time: that even as the Israeli government makes crystal-clear its commitment to having as few non-Jews as possible within its borders, it is also becoming increasingly blatant about possessing criteria for the types of Jews it considers kosher.”
— Natasha Roth

The big news concerning Israel’s fight against the movement for Boycott, Divestments and Sanctions this week is the publication of an Israeli government blacklist of 20 organizations. Notable on the list is the American Jewish group, Jewish Voice for Peace.

Rebecca Vilkomerson, the head of the organization, wrote Monday that “now, contrary to any democratic norm, there’s to be a political litmus test for entering the country.”

It may come as a surprise to some that Jews are actually being banned in an organized and institutional manner — from entering Israel — the Jewish state. But scrutiny of Jewish history reveals how logical this is. They are simply considered “the wrong kind of Jews,” as Zionist leader Chaim Weizmann told Lord Balfour. And the “wrong kind of Jews” can be banned. The Jewish tradition of such societal expulsion of Jews is known in Hebrew as “herem,” the term also applied for “boycott.”

Continue reading “Jewish voices for peace have long been banned — by Jews”

Thu, Feb 2, 2017Thu, Feb 2, 2017

Children Protesting Trump’s Immigration Ban

ct-ct-ohare-intlterminal20-jpg-20170131 — Meryem Yildirim, 7, left, sitting on the shoulders of her father, Fatih, and Adin Bendat-Appell, 9, sitting on the shoulders of his father, Rabbi Jordan Bendat-Apell, protesting President Donald Trump’s immigration and refugee order at O’Hare International Airport, Jan 30, 2017. (photo: Nuccio DiNuzzo / Chicago Tribune)

The story behind the viral photo of Muslim and Jewish children protesting at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago.

By Vikki Ortiz Healy / Chicago Tribune
February 1, 2017

“Our tradition is not ambiguous about remembering our history for the sake of acting out in this world today.”
— Rabbi Jordan Bendat-Apell

A Muslim and a Jewish father had never met before bringing their children to O’Hare International Airport Monday to join in a protest of President Donald Trump’s immigration ban. But after a photograph showing their son and daughter interacting went viral, they decided to bring their families together next week for dinner to celebrate peace.

As of midday Tuesday, the photograph taken by Chicago Tribune photographer Nuccio DiNuzzo and shared on Twitter by @ChiTribPhoto had been retweeted by other Twitter users more than 16,000 times. The two fathers said they have fielded calls from friends, acquaintances and national news outlets wanting to hear their story.

Continue reading “Children Protesting Trump’s Immigration Ban”

Sat, Oct 29, 2016Sat, Oct 29, 2016

Israel’s Jewish Character?

300021720_bbc0fb9249_o — Photo courtesy of Rusty Stewart / CC

If Israel Lets in Palestinian Refugees, Will It Lose Its Jewish Character?

By Joshua Schreier and Mira Sucharov / The Forward
October 17, 2016

“Consider a post-peace Israel where refugee claims have been settled, where the everyday brutality of occupation no longer precludes normalcy, and where the work of truth and reconciliation has begun. While still remaining alert to outside threats, Israel would be able to relax its disproportionate focus on security. After all, war and occupation take a toll on creative expression, while massive defense spending diverts focus from cultural investment.”

We watched with admiration as Hagai El-Ad of B’Tselem and Lara Friedman of Americans for Peace Now appeared recently before the U.N. Security Council to urge action against the Israeli occupation. The session was framed as a discussion of settlements in the context of “peace” and a “two-state solution.” But behind the occupation lurks an even more vexing issue: that of the “right of return” for Palestinian refugees. We feel we need to unpack this issue — and the assumptions about demographics that animate it — if we’re going to make real headway on countering the occupation.

The vast majority of Israelis, even most on the Israeli left, argue that admitting the Palestinian refugees would lead Israel to lose its “Jewish character.” For them, a Jewish-majority state provides the Jewish people with a degree of security and justice. Yet many Palestinians and their increasingly numerous and vocal supporters in North America and Europe see no justice in Israel’s exclusionary policies allowing all Jews, but no Palestinians, to “return” to the country.

Israelis’ anxious focus on ethnic demographics inflicts harm on those within the state as well. An array of discriminatory laws and practices currently marginalize the 20% of Israeli citizens who are Palestinian. These laws and practices not only make it difficult for Palestinian citizens to embrace the state as their own, they also preclude justice, equality and peace.

[Continue reading here . . . ]