Editor's note: I'm going to be writing a lot about boats these days. Americans are organizing a U.S. boat to Gaza, with a cruise around New York this Thursday to raise money for the effort, and in the meantime a Jewish boat to Gaza will be sailing from Europe. No departure set yet, but it could be in the next couple of weeks. Yesterday I met Lillian Rosengarten, who arrived in this country as an infant refugee from Nazi Germany, and she related her excitement about joining the Jewish boat. She writes:
It all began when a friend sent an article on June 17 written by Adam Horowitz entitled, “Due to demand Jewish boat to Gaza is becoming a flotilla.” Without a moment’s thought, I knew I had to find the organizers and contact them. I felt inexplicably driven to find them. I found Edith Lutz and Kate Leiterer, organizers of “Judische Stimme” or Jewish Voice for a Just Peace located in Germany. In my search, I stumbled across other sites, Jewish ship to Gaza, American Jews For Just Peace and Jewish Voice for Peace in Oakland, Calif.
I became aware that day I was not alone, a German Jewish refugee from Nazi Germany who vehemently opposes the Israeli government’s use of collective punishment for the purpose of crushing the freedom and spirit of the Palestinians.
Here is what I wrote with some additions:
“I am a 75 year old refugee from Nazi Germany (Frankfurt) human rights activist, poet, writer and psychoanalyst. I have traveled around the world including Germany and Israel (have relatives there.) Other German Jews mostly elderly relatives as well as American Jews many of whom are progressives in all areas but Israel, are in complete disagreement. As a Jew and particularly as a German Jew, I feel isolated in my commitment to equal human rights for everyone. 'Never Again' has a deep personal significance and requires that I not only speak out but take action against humanitarian injustice and human rights abuses. I am painfully aware of a growing split in Israel between Likud and Labor, a split that divides the country and becomes increasingly violent within the two factions of the Jewish community. My uncle Hans Lebrecht (now over 90) formerly from Ulm, predicted this two decades ago. I have been with him many times in Israel and it was he who first introduced me to Palestinian families, his friends in the Wes t Bank. They were academics at Beir Zeit University as well as journalists. I met families I grew to love in the years we continued our friendship. They are lost to me now and I miss them. Perhaps you know Hans? He is a wonderful man, former journalist, human rights activist who fought against injustice for all of his life, first in Germany and then in Israel where he settled. I would like to join the flotilla in an effort to break the blockade and to end Israel’s horrible siege. I speak fluent German although my ability to read is better in English. How can I make this happen? Awaiting your reply,
Lillian Rosengarten
(formerly Gisela Lebrecht)
On June 19, I was invited to join the ship. I feel I have been given a gift. The organizers are in communication with the American and Israeli governments in an attempt to guarantee safe passage for the Jewish boat and to permit entry into Gaza to accomplish it’s peaceful and humanitarian efforts.
Beautiful.
Yes, beautiful. We can all donate here:
link to ustogaza.org
The boat is perfectly named The Audicity Of Hope. It will be harder to manage this boat effort since the USA is not Turkey.
They are already at work putting Obama on the spot by linking the boat to
Muslim terrorism and trying to say it’s not patriotic and/or its an anti-semitic boat.
List of individual endorsements so far:
link to ustogaza.org
Thanks for the link, Cit. I suppose the contributors will all end up in the Gulag.
It’s a weird reaction I had to this article. It took the deaths of 9 Turkish citizens to get the worldwide attention to the plight of Gazans. Mavi Marmara had passengers from many, many countries. Why is there so much emphasis on a Jewish boat? Isn’t this a humanitarian mission?
I’m glad that there are all kinds of people against Israel’s cruel policy? Are we still being afraid of being labeled anti-Semitic by criticizing Israel? Those days are gone for all practical purposes.
I just don’t get it. I don’t particularly care what ethnic or religious groups are for justice. I thought the whole point of the Gaza missions was that the whole world is against this Israel cruelty regardless of race, religion, etc. etc.
No, dennis, the point is that anyone who supports the flotilla is a terrorist Hamas supporter and deserves to die.
Sorry, I don’t get the point of your reply. My note is primarily focused on Jewish versus non-Jewish efforts, and why the distinction.
I think Jews who are involved in these efforts are doing it out of moral conviction but also stressing it’s Jewish efforts because they are afraid of all Jews being tarred by zionista brush.
But bottom line, the jewish “people” tribalism, not religious connection, is the Jews fatal flaw…always has been.
I have tried, off and on, to get to the real orgin of what Jews call anti semitism, where it first appeared and why. I found that 90% of everything written on anti semitism is written by Jews who basically say there is no reason. That Jews are the world’s official scapegoats, again for no reason and people are anti semites, again for no reason.
I finally gave up. It’s like asking what came first, the chicken or the egg.
The egg is the plan, the concept of a chicken; it must be first.
First of all lohdennis, I don’t know how long you have been posting here, or aware of – following this site, but it is wrong to designate the site as merely “Jewish” in emphasis when it comes to efforts like the flotillas or other efforts. In fact, the emphasis has been on the efforts, of this sort, on non-Jewish because the author wishes to show the prejudicial distinctions made when non-Jewish efforts are launched. So lets be fair about the “distinctions.”
Second, unfortunately we have been segregated in many instances by elite design, I would say to dilute the impact of the efforts. It is difficult for any individuals who have been so long identified in a racial, cultural, religious sense to ignore the distinctions – be they artificial or not. We certainly should watch out for exclusivity, and always be reminded that for all intents and purposes these distinctions have been used to divide and eventually conquer opposition by the leadership of elite groups represented in the entire sphere of societies all over the world.
However, in the final analysis, if we are talking about this site an overemphasis in any direction has not been the design. Here there is not some conspiracy to elevate one group above another, and any pick-up of such is merely the environmental unconscious backwash of our life experience. As an example, Mr. Weiss constantly checks himself mentioning he is aware of what he may attend to, so there is a conscious effort to avoid divisiveness.
Interesting. So to pave the way for their self interested tribalism they hatched the anti semitism egg as a missile defense shield to all incoming criticism?
Not that there is not real antisemitism American, but the particular brand of antisemitism used by Zionists tries to lump criticism and condemnation for the atrocious actions of the Israeli state into the mix. It would be like saying because you despise the mistreatment of the indigenous population (both past and present) in the USA that you are un-American. By intended design a state is a public entity, with immense resources (some more than others, but that is another story), and subject to all forms of criticism and condemnation.
I’m not implying whatsoever about Mondoweiss. I know Phil personally and my above comment had nothing to do with the nature of the site. In fact, Phil and Adam specifically state that Mondoweiss does have a “progressive Jewish” viewpoint, though not exclusively. There is no problem with that. My point was about the flotilla designation. Specifically, Lillian Rosengarten’s note.
In Germany, it is true that it is more difficult to criticize Israel because there is a stigma of the past and the easy confusion with anti-Semitism. So, a German Jewish boat, in some ways, circumvents this potential criticism. However, there is absolutely no “a priori” reason why she couldn’t have joined any of the other flotillas. I think such distinctions distract from the badly needed united front. Can you imagine me starting a group called Chinese-Japanese American physician boat for Gaza? A boat for Gaza would welcome a more diverse group of people, I think.
The Jewish community in opposition the the occupation in Germany feels particularly besieged lohdennis, and I see the flotilla there as a huge encouragement that they are making an effort to be heard. You need to remember the historic ramifications, and the current conditions in Germany. Understand that the statement made from there is truly historic.
So where did the egg come from? Reminds me of the navels on Adam & Eve in the Garden Of Eden in that famous painting.
Maybe it’s historic. To be frank, I am not knowledgeable enough on German Jews today to know. I do know however that non-Jewish Germans are terrified of being labeled anti-Semitic from first-hand (family) experience.
Let me tell you what I observed very recently to illustrate the point.
I recently attended a private reception for the brave executive director of B’Tselm. I respect their work greatly. However, when I realized that the largest contingent in the reception was J Street, it really annoyed me. I agree J Street is an improvement on AIPAC but that’s about all I can say. They certainly are still Zionist and racist. I really wondered who really supports B’Tselm. Where are the non-Jewish supporters? Is there a divide? The event was not exclusively Jewish for the record. However, I felt weird just like I felt weird reading Lillian Rosengarten’s note here. Perhaps it’s very important for the enlightened “Jewish” supporter of Palestinian rights to identify themselves as such. I do not know. Reminds me of Tariq Ramadan’s criticism of Bernard Henri-Levy: BHL and others of his ilk are all for universal truths except when it comes to Israel. To me, why even distinguish them. Perhaps their intentions are good but as an outsider ethnic distinction is a tricky slope to traverse. Perhaps it’s good for better media coverage–that may count for something. I prefer to remain a universal humanist with no ethnic, racial, or religious identification.
Lohdennis,
My take on the emphasis upon the “Jewish boat” by both Lillian R. and by this site is my belief (perhaps shared by Phil, Adam, and others?) that Jewish criticism of Israeli/US policies carries more weight than that of gentiles. This is because it is more difficult to accuse Jews (vs. non-Jews) of anti-semitism, and therefore Jewish criticism poses a more serious threat to militant Zionists and their supporters. (E. g., the Goldstone Report.) Moreover, the Jewish German boat is attractive to Lillian because, until she discovered it, she had felt alone with her sense of moral outrage re: the Gazans. This is not to deny the importance of the “united front” to which you refer that includes Jews and non-Jews–it is merely my belief that Jewish criticism is especially important.
“This is because it is more difficult to accuse Jews (vs. non-Jews) of anti-semitism,”
I thought so too, for a while. til I got here. I ask you, have you ever, ever seen a comment from a Zionist asking “Since you are Jewish, and therefore cannot be anti-Semitic* please tell me on what you base your Israel-critical conclusions?” Nope, it’s right away with the self-hate and the anti-Semitism. And we will probably see a zioshill explaining about Jewish anti-Semitism before this thread is over.
Why would Zionists make themselves ridiculous by charging Jews with “anti-Semitism”? Simple: because the charge is not a genuine indictment, Nope, the charge is made for its effect on non-Jews listening, and as an intimidation toward non-Zionist Jews.
They have absolutely no hesitation in declaring Jews “anti-Semitic”, after all, who would be more shaken and hurt by such a charge than a Jew?
*Yes, there are a few people who have renounced Judaism and Jewishness and taken up anti-Semitic language and even activities. I’m pretty sure that’s not relevant here
No, Mooser, I’ve never seen such a comment, either. But what about my belief that criticism from Jews carries more weight than from gentiles? E. g., many have suggested (Finkelstein, Walt, etc.) that Goldstone’s report was especially concerning to the Israeli government because he is Jewish. Would you agree?
I also believe that Jewish criticism of militant Zionism encourages non-Jews to protest injustice because it helps to protect them against charges of anti-Semitism.
How long before Jewish Zionists label this brave 75-year-young lady a “self-hating Jew”?
By the way, how does one tell the difference between true anti-Semitism and that which is generated by the zealot Zionists who do so to gin up support and cry victim?
link to youtube.com
And now look a Zionist sees Arabs.
“Taming”, “Donkey”….Not to mention the Israeli “professor” who puts abe foxman to shame:
link to youtube.com
What could be more Jewish than Lillian Rosengarten, a former infant refugee from Nazi Germany, taking off for Gaza in a Jewish boat that’s intent is to break the IDF siege. This effort, of course, has to do with the Jewish heritage of always siding with the oppressed, never with the oppressor, even (make that especially) when the oppressor is a co-religionist. And along rhe way it shatters a few myths, such as Jews always stick together, all Jews support Zionist Israel, and Jews don’t care about anybody except themselves. Next we’ll see anti-Zionist Jews take the lead in bringing justice to Palestine. Which raises the question what sort of Jews are Jewish-Zionists? The answer is they’re a 19th century racist offshoot whose only relationship to other Jews is a heritage of assorted dubious fairy tales of unknown authorship, put together in Mesopotamia 2500 years or so ago. And since, today, most Jews are either secular (not concerned in religious matters such said fairy tales) or unaffiliated with any religious sect, next, look for Jewish anti-Zionists to assert themselves as never before. Better yet, with former victims of Nazi Germany such as Lillian Rosengarten in the forefront, when Zionists hurl charges of self-hating Jew at Jews who support justice for Palestine, aside from Christian Zionists, who’s going to pay attention to them? What’s more, the rise of Jewish anti-Zionism will allow non-Jewish anti-Zionists to come out of the closet. Why? Because when someone like ADC President Abraham Foxman claims that non-Jews who side with the Palestinians are anti-Semitic, their response will be “How can we be anti-Semitic when most Jews are with us?”
If as you say there is a strong Jewish heritage of siding with the oppressed, I find very little of this in reality. Yes, there are a few who can see the injustices done to the Palestinians. But, where are the vast, vast majority of these people with strong heritage to side with the oppressed–millions and millions of them just in US alone. Are you sure, you are not sticking to the “ideal” heritage just like the “good” Catholics, who in reality are hardly in existence? Sorry, the people who have been oppressed would disagree with you.
Don’t know how you formed these opinions but, if you were around in the first half of the last century,, didn’t you notice the strong Jewish presence in the labor struggle of the thirties, the civil rights struggle of the sixties and the anti-Vietnam war movement of the sixties-seventies? Were you on anolther planet? Yes, the Jewish presence in the anti-Zionist movement has a long ways to go before it reaches the size that is was in those earlier struggles, but check out the BDS movement and you may be surp;rised at what you find. And before you give up on good Catholics, check out Spain & Latin America. Seems you’re into stereotyping. Why? For convenience or are you a bigot?
The ones who were active are generally secular left Jews. These are the equivalent to the many who were very left in Europe prior to 1940′s. The number of Jewish people involved in these movements are very small compared to the vast, vast majority of others. Read some history of Asia, particularly that of the British Empire and the role whites played (including Jews). On the side of oppressed? (Perhaps you might want to read the history of the Sasoon family and their role in opium trade). Sorry, no better no worse than anyone else. Remember that the world is a very large place. America is not the whole world. American Jews are not all Jews of the world.
Well, as I pointed out in my original commentary, the putative advantage of Jewish participation in pro-Palestinian activities or anti-Israel activities is that they are relatively protected from the accusation of anti-Semitism. This argument is increasingly unimportant as the Zionists started labeling people like Jimmy Carter as anti-Semitic, which did not hold water. As Adam Shapiro commented back in February in Brooklyn, the anti-Israel being synonymous with anti-Semitic no longer sticks and is not taken seriously unless one is a politician or a celebrity.
My opinion is that the vast majority of people in the world who are critical about Israeli policy gives very little increased weight to Jewish participation. Perhaps the American media does because it makes a more photogenic cover. It’s the syndrome that Roger Cohen pointed out in an op-ed about a week ago in NYT. As I have written elsewhere it’s the same syndrome as one Gilad Shalit equals 7,900 Palestinian political prisoners. It’s the same reason why I know Hedy Epstein and Emily Heneshowitz’s names while I barely can remember anyone else’s. Of course, it’s a lot harder to remember an Arabic or a Turkish name but as Orwell wrote: All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.
“…the vast majority of people in the world who are critical about Isrsaeli policy give very little increased weight to Jewish paricip;ation”? That’s certainly not my experience, having been in West Beirut during the ’82 siege as well as in the West Bank during the First Intifada. In both places Palestinians indicated that the presence of Jews alongside them was indeed important. Not more important than the presence of non-Jews but still important. As for the exchange of 7900 Palestinians for one IDF soldier, that’s a Zionist (ie racist), not a Jewish position. Once again some but not all Jews are Zionists , and the number of anti-Zionist Jews is increasing. Go to any anti-Zionist rally and see for yhourself.
As for yours about the anti-Semitic label being ineffective, it sure was against Jimmy Carter, since it made him reverse himself on his negative opinions about Israel in his book, “Peace, not Apartheid”. The Zionists use of the pejorative self-hating Jew has also been effective in toning down Jewish anti-Zionists, but less so than previously, probably because the similarities between Gaza and the Warsaw Getto are becoming more apparent each day. And not sure whether you can accept this, but for reasons that have to do with how easy it is for Zionists to scare off non-Jews from supporting the Palestinian cause (by labeling them anti-Semites), the presence of Jews in the anti-Zionist struggle provides reassurance to non-Jews that it’s ok for them to come out of the closet. Something that’s certainly important to the justice for Palestine struggle since, according to the March 26 Zogby International Poll, only 21 percent of Americans have a favorable opinion about Palestinians.
“As for yours about the anti-Semitic label being ineffective, it sure was against Jimmy Carter, since it made him reverse himself on his negative opinions about Israel in his book, ‘Peace, not Apartheid’.”
I don’t know that Carter actually reversed himself, though he apologized and asked forgiveness from the Jewish communitiy if his remarks had encouraged “stigmatizing” of Israel. The media reports usually mention that this apology came several weeks after a grandson ran for office–implying Carter’s apology was not genuine. However, your point is valid: the use of false anti-Semitic charges to intimidate potential critics and build sympathy for Israel continues…
The flotilla should have no one but Jews on it. This will present Israel with the dilemma of attacking Jews or letting the ships get through to Gaza. Either outcome is a PR debacle for Israel.
By having only Jews on the ships, Israel will be unable to claim the ships carry terrorists. The ships should all be registered in the US (if legally feasible) and fly Old Glory–the biggest ones they can find, like the kind car dealers use. This will put Israel in the position of attacking US ships. The lead ship should be named the “St. Louis.” This symbolism is obvious, as the St. Louis was the ship that tried to land Jews in Palestine, but was shunned everywhere. Finally, all the ships should be packed with video recorders, and the data uplinked in real time to a satellite or other remote center to prevent Israel from being able to hide its actions from the public by seizing the cameras.