Jews Say No! protest Michael Oren’s appearance last night
JEWS SAY AN EMPHATIC NO! TOISRAELI AMBASSADOR MICHAEL OREN WHO IS MICHAEL OREN?
Michael Oren represents the Israeli government, which is responsible for:
–a brutal occupation that denies the Palestinian people their right to self-determination;
–systematically denying the Palestinian people in the occupied West Bank and Gaza and inside Israel their basic civil and human rights;
–Israeli assaults on Gaza, which indiscriminately kill Palestinian men, women, and children and extensively damage Gaza’s infrastructure;
–planning the construction of 3,000 homes in Area E1 of the West Bank that will make geographically impossible a contiguous, viable Palestinian state.
Michael Oren is not interested in the free exchange of ideas and information. In April 2012, Michael Oren called CBS to try to get a story about Palestinian Christians pulled from “60 Minutes” before he even saw it because he thought it would be a “hatchet job.”
WHY CAN’T WE HEAR OTHER JEWISH VOICES AT THE JCC?
The JCC is supposed to represent all Jews. While it is offering a platform to Oren, who represents a reactionary government that is becoming increasingly militaristic and anti-democratic, it has not provided forums for the many Jews whose Jewish values lead them to support the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement until Israel complies with international law and basic principles of civil and human rights. Nor has the JCC scheduled programs featuring Jews who question whether a state that privileges Jews (or any other religion) can ever be a “democratic state.” That kind of inquiry and self-reflection is in the best of the Jewish tradition and should be a hallmark of JCC programming!
Sponsored by Jews Say No!
“The JCC is supposed to represent all Jews.” Really? Why cannot any organization run by its bosses represent anybody it wants to? Who says Jewish organizations have to be democratic? Israel isn’t — why should they be.
Freedom means freedom to be an evil ostrich. So there! Still, maybe the dissenters can organize their own JCC event. or try to, to see if this was merely protection of an honored guest-speaker.