Author Topic: International Jewish Voices  (Read 4695 times)

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Offline Granny

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Re: International Jewish Voices
« Reply #60 on: May 20, 2019, 08:34:55 am »
This thread is experiencing what many people and groups experience who speak up for Palestinians and speak out against Israel's actions.

FIRST-EVER: 40+ JEWISH GROUPS WORLDWIDE OPPOSE EQUATING ANTISEMITISM WITH CRITICISM OF ISRAEL
https://jewishvoiceforpeace.org/first-ever-40-jewish-groups-worldwide-oppose-equating-antisemitism-with-criticism-of-israel/

As social justice organizations from around the world, we write this letter with growing alarm regarding the targeting of organizations that support Palestinian rights in general and the nonviolent Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, in particular. These attacks too often take the form of cynical and false accusations of antisemitism that dangerously conflate anti-Jewish racism with opposition to Israel’s policies and system of occupation and apartheid.
...
From our own histories we are all too aware of the dangers of increasingly fascistic and openly racist governments and political parties. The rise in antisemitic discourse and attacks worldwide is part of that broader trend.

At times like this, it is more important than ever to distinguish between the hostility to or prejudice against Jews on the one hand and legitimate critiques of Israeli policies and system of injustice on the other.

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Anti-Semitism and racism in general are currently emboldened by Trump's endorsement of gangs of  "very fine people" ... aka white supremacists.
 
At the same time, Israel's stifling of Palestinians' human rights is a legitimate concern to many.
 
Conflating those two as "anti-Semitic" is antithetical to progress toward real solutions in Israel-Palestine.

I don't have the experience or words myself to speak up for Palestinians and speak out against Israeli policies and actions, so I am pleased to learn that there  is a Canadian group, Independent Jewish Voices Canada, advocating on these issues. They are also connecting with similar Jewish organizations in the US and elsewhere, and with Palestinian activists.

I don't belong to and I don't speak for any organization.
I use their information to inform myself, and I post it to inform others.

And I will continue to do so.

I won't be silenced by accusations of anti-Semitism, and I won't be lumped with white supremacists, whom I have spent plenty of time opposing in discussions, at street rallies, and in communication with political leaders and police:  'Inciting and promoting hatred'  against whole groups of people is a crime in Canada, a law that police are increasingly being encouraged and pressured by anti-racism activists to apply to all of those who foment racial, ethnic and religious hatred online or in public.
(Goodbye Kevin Johnston!! Enjoy your financial audit, Faith Goldy!! Hey Paul Fromm ... you're banned from the US? Ahahahahaha!)

I'm just a free-thinking, free-speaking old hippy believing that a better world is possible without hatred.
I also believe that those political powers who sow hatred and division among people only to enhance their own power can be brought into line when people work across those divisions to resolve differences, develop and present solutions.
In order to do so, the voices that have often been silenced must be able to speak up, here and elsewhere.

Tomorrow in Toronto, IJV will stand in protest of unconditional support for Israel that fails to consider the oppression of Palestinian views and lives.
I wish them well.
I wish them peace.
And I hope these cross-cultural efforts on this issue can continue to be aired in respect.

(538 words ... ok a bit long ... I'll take my lumps for that... but I want to add just a bit more ... lol)

As a professional, I once had reason to delve into Israeli educational materials developed to address the needs of children who had spent much of their young lives in Nazi concentration camps where self-preservation required that they not speak and not think.
The neural and psychological effects of prolonged oppression and cultural deprivation are deep wounds. The efforts and success of Israeli educators to draw these children out, tap their true potential, were brilliant, heroic and world-reknowned. I was and I remain awed by the strength of the Jewish people who established and supported Israel, and by their determination to succeed.

True success as a people, a nation, doesn't come at the expense of others: Canada is not a 'success' because our growth came at the expense of Indigenous Peoples. We can't take back the evils done to Indigenous Peoples and especially their children.
Like Israel, Canada has compromised its integrity by dispossessing and oppressing those who lived here when we arrived.
We are in the same process of trying (and failing) to recognize and respect the rights of those with whom we share the land. There are those in Canada, and Israel, who boldly insist that those 'others' have no rights.
And there are also those who who understand that 'success' at the expense of others is not success at all, but utter failure as human beings.

I'm not a fan of organized religions. I do not deify historic texts that glorify the exploits of one group of human beings subjugating another. I believe that religion divides people into groups of warring factions that serve only the sociopathic impulses of money and power.
I'm not sure why I added that. Lol
I think all efforts to divide people against each other are self-destructive to humanity.
I think all people who organize themselves to correct injustices are the stronger, better face of humanity.

(Ok, I'm pushing close to 1000 words, but still less than a third of Rue's longest effort. Lol)
« Last Edit: May 20, 2019, 11:23:27 am by Granny »