November 23, 2009 at 7:19 am (Activism, Associate Post, Israel, Palestine, Photography)
Commentary by Chippy Dee, Photos © by Bud Korotzer
On Saturday, November 21st, Alan Dershowitz was appearing at the 92nd Street Y in N.Y.C. to debate a person representing the new lobby, J Street, on the subject of what the future policies of Israel should be. Dershowitz supports Israel’s most aggressive policies. Aware of that, members of the N.Y. group, Jews Say No, gathered outside the Y with signs and leaflets that said “No, not in our name!” and indicated opposition to the ongoing siege of Gaza, the separation wall, the settlements, and the occupation. People carried placards that read:
Am I really a self hating Jew if I criticize the Israeli government’s unethical and inhumane policies?
Does Israel’s security really depend on illegal occupation and siege?
What Jewish law permits the killing of 1400 Gazan citizens?
Is Israel’s treatment of the Palestinian people consistent with the long Jewish tradition of social justice?
Doesn’t the Holocaust teach us that it must never happen to anyone again?
They also handed out copies of Justice Gladstone’s letter to the U.S. Congress regarding his report about Israel’s war crimes.
When Dershowitz arrived he told those gathered that they should come inside and hear what he had to say. People said that they had already read and heard what he had to say, that’s why they were there.
When those attending the event arrived some read the signs with a look of astonishment, obviously not realizing that there was an alternate view within the Jewish community, and a few, very few, expressed agreement. Overwhelmingly, from where this reporter was standing, the response was hostile. A few used profanity but most made comments like, “Shame on you”, “Sure, you want them to kill 6 million more of us”, or simply, “Stupid.”
Several people passing by asked to meet with members of the group to discuss the issues and learn more about Jews Say No.
JSN will continue to gather in public areas with their signs and leaflets to express an ethical voice from within the Jewish community.
NY METS: SAY NO TO RACISM! SAY NO TO ILLEGAL SETTLEMENTS!!
November 23, 2009 at 6:54 am (Activism, Associate Post, Illegal Settlements, Israel, Occupation, Palestine, Photography)
Commentary by Chippy Dee, Photos © by Bud Korotzer
“Don’t rent to racists, it’s an error.
Just say no to settler terror.”
Chant
Scores of human rights activists gathered in N.Y.C. outside the Park Avenue offices of Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig to demand that he intervene to stop the Mets from renting their facility at Citi Field to the Hebron Fund. That group planned to do a fundraiser at the Caesars Club, right above the Jackie Robinson Rotunda. The protesters pointed out that renting the space to a racist group would taint the Mets commitment to diversity and offend the memory of Jackie Robinson. The demonstration was organized by Adalah-NY, CodePink, Jews Against the Occupation NYC, Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, Jews Say No, and Jewish Voice for Peace. The protest came after 2600 emails were sent to the Mets and countless phone calls were made. Jay Horowitz, V.P. for Media Relations for the team, told one caller that the Mets were being “bombarded” with phone calls.
On November 3rd a fully documented letter was sent to Fred Wilpon, Chairman of the Board of the New York Mets, explaining why the Mets shouldn’t rent their space to the Hebron Fund. It was signed by 11 groups from both Israel and the U.S. that work for human rights, peace, and justice in the Middle East. The letter explained exactly what the Hebron Fund is. It said that by renting to the Hebron Fund the Mets were helping Hebron’s Jewish settlers, described worldwide as violent racists, ethnically cleanse Palestinians from their homes in Hebron, a West Bank city on Palestinian territory. Their goal is to drive Palestinians out of the historic old district of the city. A few years ago, Baruch Goldstein, a settler from the nearby Kiryat Arba settlement, killed 29 unarmed Palestinians praying in a Hebron mosque, and wounded 125. Goldstein’s tomb is a pilgrimage site for settlers.
The Hebron Fund is challenging Obama’s position against settlement expansion by saying, on their website, “Join us in support of Hebron and in protest of today’s building freeze….” Also on their website, they say that, “The Hebron Fund has raised more than $10 million for Hebron’s settlers from 2000 to 2008.”
The Hebron settlement is illegal. It violates international law according to the UN, the International Court of Justice, and Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which states that “The occupying Power shall not deport of transfer parts of it’s own civilian population in the territory it occupies.”
According to the Israeli human rights group, B’Tselem, and the Association for Human Rights in Israel (ACRI) Hebron “settler attacks include physical assault, including beatings, at times with clubs, stone throwing, hurling of refuse, sand, water, chlorine, empty bottles and other objects, occasionally using sharp objects, destruction of shops and doors, shattering of windows, thefts, cutting of fruit trees, destruction of merchants stands, and verbal insults.” A November 2008 report by the organization, Defense for Children International – Palestine Section, states that in Hebron, “Settler children routinely verbally harass, chase, hit and throw stones at the Palestinian school children. Their parents and other adults engage in similar behavior.” There are very many records of physical attacks by Hebron’s Jewish settlers against indigenous Palestinians. A U.S. non-profit, Christian Peacemakers Team (CPT), said that “Graffiti such as ‘Die Arab Sand-Niggers!’ is often sprayed on Palestinian houses by Israeli settlers.”
On it’s website, if you click on the symbol that says, ‘Give to the Hebron Fund’, you will be taken to the donation page which states, “Keep Hebron Jewish for the Jewish people!”
The Mets claim that it is a business decision.
Demonstrators holding up signs, chanting, and singing original songs in the street, attracted the attention of people passing by. Leaflets were distributed explaining why they were there. Some people were interested enough to come over and ask questions.
Sydney Levy of Jewish Voice for Peace, reports that the settlers of Hebron, aware of the protest being made by email, phone and letters, described those protesting as “infectious bacteria”, “germs… eating away at the Mets front office.” They were, interestingly, paraphrasing Nazi terminology. In 1938, Der Stuenmer, “Jews are pests and disseminators of disease. In whatever country they spread themselves they produce the same effects as are produced in the human body by germs.” Or, in a Nazi children’s book in the German Propaganda Archive, “Bacteria…appear not only in the form of the tiniest of living creatures but also in human form. They are the Jews!”
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