(Protesters throw shoes at a portrait of Mayor Michael Bloomberg after the mayor's trip to Israel while Operation Cast Lead raged on. PHOTO: Zahra Hankir)
Ever since Lawrence Swaim of the California-based Interfaith Freedom Foundation articulated his valuable insight to me that the question of Israel courses through Jewish-Muslim relations, I’ve been coming across stories that fit into that theme. In general, strong support for Israel correlates with an aversion to understanding legitimate Palestinian, Arab and Muslim grievances about the United States and Israel, and given the dehumanization of Palestinians (the majority of them Muslims) that pervades Israeli and U.S. society, it’s no surprise that Israel is a big roadblock in Jewish-Muslim relations. You have to place the Anti-Defamation League and the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s opposition to Park 51 in lower Manhattan in that context.
Over the past few weeks, I’ve been busy reporting on how Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City is perceived by the Muslim community here–which is at about 800,000 strong–in the wake of Bloomberg’s admirable defense of the mosque and community center near Ground Zero. (The fruits of my labor are here at the Gotham Gazette.) A lot of different issues came up in my discussions with Muslim community leaders in New York City, but Bloomberg’s staunch support for Israel came up in a number of interviews. Bloomberg’s role in not standing up for Debbie Almontaser, the founding and former principal of the city’s first dual-language Arabic school who was felled by a right-wing smear campaign, also had something to do with Israel, as Kiera Feldman points out in this excellent article. Bloomberg’s relationship with the Muslim community is one prominent symbol of the role Israel plays in the challenge of forging strong Jewish-Muslim solidarity, all the more important in a time of rising Islamophobia that bears many of the same hallmarks that characterized anti-Semitism.
In early 2009, around the same time that the massacre of the al-Samouni family occurred in Gaza, Mayor Bloomberg flew in to Israel on his private jet along with NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelley and Representative Gary Ackerman. Bloomberg went to Sderot, the Israeli town that saw many rockets from Gaza rain down, and laid the blame for the Israeli assault on Hamas: “That they are putting people at risk is an outrage. If Hamas would focus on building a country instead of trying to destroy another one, then those people would not be getting injured or killed.”
This trip enraged the Arab and Muslim community in New York City. Shortly after Bloomberg’s trip, Palestine solidarity activists organized a rally outside of City Hall, throwing shoes at a portrait of Bloomberg.
“His relationship with Israel, supporting Israel with no limits, hurts us,” Zein Rimawi, a member of the New York City-based Arab Muslim American Federation, recently told me. “Don’t forget: We are Arabs, we are Muslims, and the people in Gaza are Arabs and Muslims and we support them.”
Bloomberg made many New York Muslims happy with his defense of Park 51. But Israel looms large, and it’s obvious that his disregard for the suffering of the people in Gaza dealt substantial damage to his relationship with the New York City Muslim community. Take the relationship between Bloomberg and Muslims as a lesson that those interested in forming stronger Jewish-Muslim coalitions must deal with the question of Israel. Fighting Islamophobia and the right-wing Zionist project of expelling Palestinians from their historic homeland depends on strong Jewish-Muslim solidarity.
Alex Kane blogs on Israel/Palestine and Islamophobia in the United States at alexbkane.wordpress.com, where this post originally appeared. Follow him on Twitter here.
Which only goes to show that there is no anti-Islam war. Mayor Bloomberg doesn’t care for all your imams and mosques, rebbes and synagogues, priests and churches ad nauseam…He’s here to rip you off, and as long a long your mind is distracted by dubious Wraiths he’ll have an easier time of it.
Let me object to this:
“Don’t forget: We are Arabs, we are Muslims, and the people in Gaza are Arabs and Muslims and we support them.”
I support of the people of Gaza because they are suffering. Because the Palestinians have a just cause. Not sure if tribal/religious/ethnic solidarity is an equally valid reason…. I’ve seen that line of reasoning lead to some nutty consequences in my own community.
I’m an American Gentile. I agree with clencher. I support the Palestinian cause because they are suffering daily, because their cause is just, and to help try to reduce my own goverment’s special and huge enabling with my tax dollars, which does not fit with the USA’s highest values, and which
shreds my country’s good reputation (just as Bush jr’s Iraq war has done) and puts my country at unneeded risk of harm. Tribal/religious/ethnic solidarity is not an acceptable reason to do anything that conflicts with universal human value.
“Tribal/religious/ethnic solidarity is not an acceptable reason to do anything that conflicts with universal human value. ”
I’m waiting for the flood of comments from Witty and Co.
“Fighting Islamophobia and the right-wing Zionist project of expelling Palestinians from their historic homeland depends upon strong Jewish-Muslim solidarity.”
And since the fate of the world may hinge upon justice for Palestine, the extraordinary importance of a strong Jewish-Muslim cannot be overestimated.
……of strong Jewish-Mulim solidarity cannot be overestimated.
Well, with all due respect, Alex, this goes both ways. Jews who participate in Jewish-Muslim dialogue have often been frustrated with Muslim failures to condemn antisemitism in the Muslim world, and yes, to obsessively focus on the ills of a single Jewish state while virtually ignoring what goes on in the much larger world of Islamic states.
Keira Feldman does get some things right. As I have pointed out many times to critics of Park51 in the Jewish community, the same people behind the opposition to Park51 are the people who smeared and brought down Debbie Almontaser. But she gets a lot of things wrong, or perhaps allows Almontaser to get a lot of things wrong.
Bloomberg is NOT known as a huge supporter of Israel; on that point Almontaser, whom I have personally defended many times to my friends on the right, is wrong. Like every New York politician, he has made the trip, but he is not known to be a mover and shaker on the issue.
Imam Rauf has said plenty of negative things about Israel. I don’t know how Kiera Feldman concludes otherwise, or that it would make a difference with Bloomberg. I was angry about what happened to Almontaser, and in fact, it is a major reason why I have been a vociferous opponent of the Park51 crowd, even the more moderate members who claim it’s a sensitivity issue. But I also followed her story very closely and I know several people involved with it on the ADL side, where she received strong support until the NY Post article. Ultimately, and sadly, they felt that her position was simply untenable after the the hatchet job that the NY Post did on her, and they supported her removal not because they opposed Khalil Gibran (in fact, the mayor and the ADL supported Khalil Gibran) but because they felt that she had become too polarizing a figure and that her continued involvement would ultimately hurt the school.
That is a victory for the movement against her, and is the playbook for Imam Rauf – make him into a controversial figure, make it impossible for him to say anything with a media storm, and make life difficult enough so that ultimately the project breaks down and becomes untenable. And to some extent, they have unfortunately succeeded, because even some Muslims have come forward to say that Park51 is hurting the community more than helping it.
Kiera Feldman is very late to the game with her writing on Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer. But they are not any more representative of the pro-Israel community than Osama bin Laden is of the Muslim community. They’re just blowhards with blogs, and though they profess to be Zionist, they are mostly just anti-Muslim Islamophobes, and outside of the extreme right, they have few supporters in the Jewish community.
Almontaser’s comments on the public school calendar are a little misleading. The inclusion of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur (the only Jewish holidays on the NYC public school calendar) happened because so many of the teachers are Jewish, and would take the days anyway, making instruction next to impossible; at the time those days were put on the calendar, something like a third of the teachers were Jewish, and today it’s still around a quarter, I think. I could be wrong, but my guess is that the union is responsible for it more than anything else, and my guess is that if the percentage of Muslim teachers reached 15 or 20 percent, the mayor would probably not have a big problem with giving Eid and Eid al-Fatr.
But it has little to do with the religion of the students. The mayor is obviously worried about what giving days off based on the ethnicity of the students could lead to; next it might be Kwanzaa or Passover or a Hindu day or a Buddhist one, and it’s difficult to draw a line; all of these communities are well-represented in the NYC public school system. It’s hardly a discrimination issue; no student will be penalized for taking a day here and there for religious purposes.
Fair enough regarding your point that it cuts both ways. I think frank dialogue is necessary. But, let me ask this: which country has been occupying Palestine for 43 years? Which country bombed Gaza to pieces, committing documented war crimes on a largely civilian population? Which country is steadily colonizing Palestine? It’s not Jordan or Egypt. It’s Israel. Hence, people’s focus on Israel.
I don’t understand how you can say that Bloomberg is “NOT known as a huge supporter of Israel.” I guess it depends on your definition of “huge” supporter. But what do you call someone who rushed to Israel while the Gaza massacres were going on to condemn Hamas rockets? What do you call someone who supported the Israeli bombardment of Lebanon in 2006? What do you call someone who has said that “a strong Israel means a strong America and a strong New York.” (link to salon.com)
Perfectly legitimate opinions to have, of course, and no different than most American politicians. But I’d have to say that those facts mean that Bloomberg can be characterized as a supporter of Israel.
Regarding the mayor’s “support” of Khalil Gibran. I don’t buy it. If he really supported Khalil Gibran, he would have stuck up for Debbie. Instead, he forced her out–and the school almost went down with it. The school has not been in a good place since its opening, and I can easily see the new chancellor placing KGIA on the chopping block as they close more and more schools in favor of their charter-school agenda.
“But, let me ask this: which country has been occupying Palestine for 43 years? Which country bombed Gaza to pieces, committing documented war crimes on a largely civilian population? Which country is steadily colonizing Palestine? It’s not Jordan or Egypt. It’s Israel. Hence, people’s focus on Israel. ”
Yes, but we’re talking about Jewish-Muslim dialogue here, not Muslim-Muslim dialogue. I could turn the question around and ask which countries expelled Jews after 1948, and which countries have very low human rights standards, and which countries have newspapers that regularly print anti-Jewish cartoons and op-eds.
“But what do you call someone who rushed to Israel while the Gaza massacres were going on to condemn Hamas rockets?” et. al.
I call him a New York politician who keeps up appearances. But this is not a guy who regularly speaks to Jewish organizations or right-wing Zionist groups about Israel. This is not like Rudy Giuliani, who made a much bigger deal out of the Israel issue by doing things like not accepting money from Prince ibn-Talal and banning Yasir Arafat, despite Glenn Greenwald’s typical reductionism. I just don’t think calling him a “huge” supporter, as if he proclaimed his support for Israel early and often, is especially accurate.
“Regarding the mayor’s “support” of Khalil Gibran. I don’t buy it. If he really supported Khalil Gibran, he would have stuck up for Debbie. Instead, he forced her out–and the school almost went down with it.”
In light of the mayor’s position on Park51, I don’t understand why you wouldn’t get the politics of the issues and understand that it was possible to support Khalil Gibran without supporting Almontaser after the Post article. I support justice for Debbie Almontaser. But she is pretty outspoken, and she’s an activist, and I think they decided that she would ultimately not be successful as a school principal in a polarized political atmosphere.
In retrospect, it was obviously an unjust decision to abandon her, and may in part be responsible for the mayor’s different position on the community center.
“The school has not been in a good place since its opening, and I can easily see the new chancellor placing KGIA on the chopping block as they close more and more schools in favor of their charter-school agenda.”
That is more about the students than the administration. And Khalil Gibran is a charter school.
One last thing on Khalil Gibran to clear up any misinformation:
“That” is not “more about the students than the administration.” When Debbie was kicked out, this is what happened, according to this story link to colorlines.com:
Woops, my comment got messed up. Meant to paste this:
“But this past September, many of the original sixth-grade students had not returned as seventh graders. The school has cut back on Arabic language instruction, is no longer set to become a high school and has moved twice in its first year of operation. The founding principal, Debbie Almontaser, was forced to resign following a media storm over the meaning of the word “intifada,” and the school is being led by its third principal. None of the original teachers remain at the school, and those who have left claim they were fired or forced to leave because of the stress…
According to some of the school’s original students, parents and teachers, the Khalil Gibran school retains little more than its name as it enters its second year. It is no longer a place where tolerance and respect are fostered. Hassan Omar, the humanities and Arabic teacher who felt so intimidated that he cut images of mosques from textbooks, remembered, “When I first heard about the school, I thought it was a dream, with a rigorous curriculum and intensive language program. The dream collapsed and became a nightmare.”
Teachers say the curriculum no longer builds a discussion of Middle Eastern history and culture into course work, and students and parents say students are being inadequately instructed in all subjects. According to Danielle Jeffries, who worked at the school, Arabic language instruction has been cut back by a period per week, and some parents say it is even more. Parents, who wrote a letter to the Department of Education, complained widely that they have been given little access to the school, and their children are without the necessary resources, books and staffing. Teachers agree and say that they have not been supplied with the resources and support they have been promised. The school’s third location is far from its original site in a neighborhood that had a larger Arab community, and this, too, is preventing the original group of students from continuing as students there.
Arab teachers say they were disrespected and scrutinized by administrators. “We’re treated as if we’ll touch the kids with our magic wands and they will become terrorists,” said Omar.
These concerns led Arabic language teachers to stop teaching students words such as salaam alaikum and inshallah, which are both used popularly despite their vaguely theological etymology—the usage is akin to saying “god bless you” in response to a sneeze.
Teachers’ efforts to protect themselves has not keep them safe, though. The four original teachers hired by Almontaser are no longer at the school. They were pushed out or left because of the stress, according to a number of people, including parents and educators at the school.
Sean Grogan, a young white man who taught science at the school until last May and was in his second year as a teacher, says he was subjected to a witch hunt for talking to the press about the lack of leadership and inadequate conditions inside the school, echoing what the federal appellate court judge had said about Almontaser. Grogan claims he was reprimanded at the school for things that were beyond his control, such as getting blamed for a student who got hurt during a science class. He also contends that the school administration was intent on gathering enough demerits to have him fired. Melanie Meyer, a spokesperson for the Department of Education, declined to talk about Grogan’s case, saying she couldn’t discuss specific personnel matters.
Other teachers told similar stories.
Hassan Omar said he was also fired from the school because of trumped-up and trivial accusations about his teaching, including that he neglected to use an overhead projector. He claimed there was no overhead projector in the classroom and that when he asked the new principal for instructions on how to improve his performance, she refused to help him.”
“I could turn the question around and ask which countries expelled Jews after 1948, and which countries have very low human rights standards, and which countries have newspapers that regularly print anti-Jewish cartoons and op-eds.”
Which countries expelled Jews after 1948? And how is retribution the same as the original sin?
” and which countries have very low human rights standards, and which countries have newspapers that regularly print anti-Jewish cartoons and op-eds.”
How is it you have such an issue with poor human right s standards while defending Israel?
Why are you so obsessed with anti Semitism and anti-Jewish cartoons (which I agree shoudl be condemned) unless you plan to live in those countries?
How is it that you can equate the massacre of 1,400 people in Gaza with the printing of anti Semitic cartoons?
Which countries expelled Jews after 1948? And how is retribution the same as the original sin?
Using your twisted rationale, you must be a a staunch supporter of both the Afghanistan and Iraq wars following 9/11 correct?
“Using your twisted rationale, you must be a a staunch supporter of both the Afghanistan and Iraq wars following 9/11 correct?”
What do either wars have to do with Israel’s ethnic cleansing Yonira and why won; you answer my question?
BTW. The answer is no, I opposed both wars from the money they were even mentioned.
“Jews who participate in Jewish-Muslim dialogue have often been frustrated with Muslim failures to condemn antisemitism in the Muslim world, and yes, to obsessively focus on the ills of a single Jewish state while virtually ignoring what goes on in the much larger world of Islamic states.”
That goes to show your own hypocrisy. Focusing on Israel, who is carrying out mass murder is obsessing, but focusing on anti Semitic cartoons is the real issue.
“….Jewish-Muslim dialogue have often been frustrated with Muslim failures to condemn antisemitism in the Muslim world”
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Allow me to quote the Wikipedia article on “The New Anti-semitism” which does a good job in summarizing Norman Finkelstein’s views on this particular topic: He argues that Israel’s apologists have denied a causal relationship between Israeli policies and hostility toward Jews, since “if Israeli policies, and widespread Jewish support for them, evoke hostility toward Jews, it means that Israel and its Jewish supporters might themselves be causing anti-Semitism; and it might be doing so because Israel and its Jewish supporters are in the wrong”.[31]
Finkelstein asks why, given that the wars in Vietnam and Iraq contributed to anti-Americanism, and the aggression of Nazi Germany gave rise to anti-Teutonic sentiment, it surprises us that an occupation by a self-declared Jewish state should cause antipathy towards Jews. The only surprise, he argues, is that the antipathy does not run deeper, given that mainstream Jewish organizations offer uncritical support to Israel; that Israel defines itself juridically as the sovereign state of the Jewish people; and that Jews themselves sometimes argue that to distinguish between Israel and world Jewry is itself an example of antisemitism. He cites Phyllis Chesler who argues, on the one hand, that “anyone who does not distinguish between Jews and the Jewish state is an anti-Semite,” but on the other that “Israel is our heart and soul … we are family.” Gabriel Schoenfeld, the editor of Commentary magazine, writes that “Iranian anti-Semitic propagandists make a point of erasing all distinctions among Israel, Zionism and the Jews,” while Hillel Halkin argues that “Israel is the state of the Jews … To defame Israel is to defame the Jews.” It would seem to be antisemitic, Finkelstein concludes, “both to identify and not to identify Israel with Jews.”[32]
Btw, Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, arguably the most renowned Islamic Scholar in North America, has repeatadly condemned anti-Semitism among Muslims.
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Israeli press unhappy about US State Dept. report on religious freedom in Israel, Iran etc
link to israelnationalnews.com
“Btw, Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, arguably the most renowned Islamic Scholar in North America, has repeatadly condemned anti-Semitism among Muslims.”
I never said there were no condemnations whatsoever. But it has been an issue in the past with particular Muslim leaders with which Jews dialogue. I’m telling you this based on what I have read and heard from Jewish leaders on the issue. There is plenty of Jewish-Muslim dialogue.
Israel is not Nazi Germany or America in Vietnam. And regardless, there’s no excuse for antisemitism, and citing Israel is not an excuse.
Anyway, this is why we have dialogue in the first place.
I think it’s untrue to claim that the Park51 issue and the Khalil Gibran issue had anything to do with Israel. They were much more about 9/11 than anything else.
“Israel is not Nazi Germany or America in Vietnam.”
As one commenter previously said (can’t recall who)
The creed is in the deed. Believe what you want, many see parallels that you might not.
“And regardless, there’s no excuse for antisemitism, and citing Israel is not an excuse.”
It’s not being cited as an excuse, or a justification, it’s cited as a reason for the phenomena.
Also, you cannot expect a people who feel a strong emotional and spiritual connection to their subjugated ‘kin’, if you will, to control their emotions. You have no right to dictate how they feel. If they hate Israel, and Israel purports to represent the world’s Jewry, and America’s strongest and most vocal Jewish leaders support Israel right or wrong, what do you expect? When Muslims do not see voices, strong voices opposing Israel’s atrocities and supporting the Palestinians from a generally affluent and successful group, what exactly is it that you are expecting? Rose water and red carpets?
How many in America reacted with rage after 9/11 towards Arabs/Muslims, even those who initially only felt simply angry, helpless and confused and not the ones that continued on to dredge up Islamophobia? That’s exactly the kind of emotion that you perceive as anti-Semitism, except Israel is unrelenting – it isn’t just one event, it’s a daily source of vehemence and frustration.
What you call ‘anti-Semitism’ is a very complex issue in the Middle East, it’s not as cut-and-dry as you think, an irrational hatred towards Jews. I studied under some Jewish professors in the UAE, and they felt very much at ease there. But they understood that it’s the politics that’s the underlying problem, and they don’t particularly think of themselves as pro-Israel anyway, so they didn’t feel threatened at all.
One last thing,
I’m not saying that the world’s Jewry is guilty of, and should apologize to, the world’s Muslims, because of 1948 or the Gaza war. That’s hypocritical, and that’s on Israel.
I’m saying, prominent American Jewish organizations should take a stand, and say ‘not in our name’ just as many Muslim organizations have done when it comes to terrorism.
Jewish organizations, albeit not yet as prominent as the Zionist’s have been doing just that. Their becoming prominent is a work in progress, exemplified by the last week’s stunning breakthrough into MSM by the “Bibi Five” Expect more of the same to follow, and with this a shift, not only in Jewish-American attitudes vis a vis the I/P conflict but in that of all Americans.
“Believe what you want, many see parallels that you might not.”
They’re wrong. Many people see parallels between Saddam Hussein and Hitler. They’re wrong too, but it would be a lot closer to the truth.
“Also, you cannot expect a people who feel a strong emotional and spiritual connection to their subjugated ‘kin’, if you will, to control their emotions. You have no right to dictate how they feel.”
Exactly. You have no right to dictate how I feel as a Jew about antisemitism.
“When Muslims do not see voices, strong voices opposing Israel’s atrocities and supporting the Palestinians from a generally affluent and successful group, what exactly is it that you are expecting?”
When Jews do not see Muslims condemning Hamas, what do you expect?
“How many in America reacted with rage after 9/11 towards Arabs/Muslims, even those who initially only felt simply angry, helpless and confused and not the ones that continued on to dredge up Islamophobia?”
Surprisingly few. How many Muslims reacted with rage after – the publishing of cartoons?
“What you call ‘anti-Semitism’ is a very complex issue in the Middle East, it’s not as cut-and-dry as you think, an irrational hatred towards Jews.”
I didn’t say it wasn’t complex. It’s just not condemned very often outside of the Jewish community, and it should be.
“They’re wrong. Many people see parallels between Saddam Hussein and Hitler. They’re wrong too, but it would be a lot closer to the truth.”
Ever considered the possibility that you’re wrong on that? Gamal Abdul Nasser was Hitler! Khomeini/Ahmadinejad are Hitler Incarnate! Saddam is Hitler!
Enough with the paranoia and fear-mongering.
“Exactly. You have no right to dictate how I feel as a Jew about antisemitism.”
Of course, you sidestepped what I said about those who are subjugated by hiding behind a blanket statement. But go on, whatever, according to you antiSemitism is in a class of it’s own.
“When Jews do not see Muslims condemning Hamas, what do you expect?”
Condemn what? They are resistance fighters attempting to free their people. They have a legitimate right to resist. Their resorting to terrorism only goes to show how much of a vice-grip Israel has on the Gazan’s freedoms. I condemn the use of violence against civilians, and it’s a good thing they stopped.
“Surprisingly few.”
Yeah, you must have been living on another planet.
“How many Muslims reacted with rage after – the publishing of cartoons?”
So, when cartoons are published, or a role is played, that depicts Jews in a bad light, you cry “ANTISEMITISM” and condemn and it’s fine and to be expected, and you may even send death threats! When Muslims react, it’s ‘violence and rage’?
“I didn’t say it wasn’t complex. It’s just not condemned very often outside of the Jewish community, and it should be.”
LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL.
OK, THAT one I didn’t expect.
Seriously? Now you need to take off your blinders.