Flyer announcing new venue for event (click to enlarge)
The Upper West Side synagogue Ansche Chesed has cravenly backed out of a panel it had agreed to stage April 4, on the question of whether Israel is a democracy. The story broke at Open Zion, which cited the opposition of Rabbi Jeremy Kalmanofsky who said the conversation could lead to a discussion of the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. The panel will now be hosted at Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, thanks to Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum (the synagogue was founded by the LGBT community; yet another sign of the leadership of queer activists to the movement for Palestinian freedom and open discussion of these issues).
Below is the letter from the organizers addressed “to the Jewish Community: A Synagogue Tried to Shut Us Down.”
We are a group of progressive Jews deeply involved in Israel/Palestine and immersed in issues of democracy and justice. We are writing to advise you of a blatant attempt last week by leaders of a prominent New York synagogue to shut down a panel discussion on the subject “Israel-Equality-Democracy.”
We are cosponsors and panelists of this event; we approached Ansche Chesed some weeks ago, provided them with all of our information, including the subject of the discussion and the names of the proposed panelists, and asked to rent space from them. They agreed and signed a written contract stating that they would provide a venue. We also agreed they would not be listed as sponsors. We began to publicize the panel to enthusiastic response. We made plans to videotape it for distribution to a larger audience.
Suddenly, on the evening of March 5th, a representative of Ansche Chesed notified us by email that Ansche Chesed was canceling the contract and returning our rental payment. No explanation was offered.
We responded by saying that the synagogue had entered into an enforceable contract and that we would pursue available legal remedies. The next day, we received a letter from the shul’s senior rabbi (though he is on sabbatical,) advising us that Ansche Chesed would honor its contractual commitment only upon our agreement to new and onerous conditions and, in addition, that they preferred we hold the event elsewhere.
The rabbi’s stated reason for preferring that we go elsewhere was the flyer’s description of the panel “as a continuation or product of last year’s panels on BDS [Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions].” He added: “Our institution is not interested in entertaining the merits of that position or fostering discussion of such a policy.” However, we had provided the flyer to Ansche Chesed before all parties entered into the contract. The rabbi told us that, should we nevertheless insist on the Ansche Chesed venue, we were “forbidden” from stating that the location of the event was Ansche Chesed (that is, we were to use the street address only) and that Ansche Chesed would hold us responsible for “reputational harm” resulting from any violation of this new condition. Clearly, the Ansche Chesed leadership, disregarding the many-faceted conversations that are actually going on in the Jewish community, did not want actual BDS supporters in their shul!
A word about the panel and the program: It was created to give the community an opportunity to hear four Jewish panelists—all highly regarded within the Jewish community and more broadly–exploring, from their different perspectives, important issues about Israel and democracy,with time for panelists to question and challenge each other and for audience members to ask questions. We know this discussion is controversial within parts of the Jewish community. Sponsorship is by individuals who hold a range of viewsso as to ensure a rich, vibrant, discussion. (Though not the topic of this panel, two of the panelists are BDS supporters and two are not.)
Ansche Chesed has behaved in a manner that is inconsistent with the traditional Jewish commitment to eluv’elu, hearing different views and allowing space for spirited argument about issues—on the street corner, at the dinner or Seder table, and in the meeting rooms of Jewish institutions. This must include wrestling with the very hardest questions about Israel/Palestine, the questions that perhaps make some members of the community most uncomfortable.
Sadly, Ansche Chesed’s attempt to shut down the conversation is not an isolated incident; it happens all too frequently in Jewish venues. Jewish institutions cancel speakers or writers or panelists out of fear that the discussion alone will lead to harm. We should not give in to such know-nothingism or to bullying, intimidation, or fear of being “othered.”
We believe we reflect the views of large numbers of Jews who believe in the importance of open and honest discussions about Israel and Palestine,equality and democracy, and strategies for achieving a just solution. We must hold our institutions accountable to foster—not silence or censor—open debate about Israel and Palestine within the American Jewish community. And to this story, at least, there is a happy ending: another synagogue has opened its space to us, and the panel will be heard!
Anita Altman
Adam Horowitz
Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz
Alice Kessler-Harris
Hannah Mermelstein
Marilyn Kleinberg Neimark
Donna Nevel
Alicia Ostriker
Kathleen Peratis
Letty Cottin Pogrebin
Lizzy Ratner
Michael Ratner
MJ Rosenberg
James Schamus
Rebecca Vilkomerson
Dorothy Zellner
Thanks very much Phil and Adam for your ongoing leadership on the issues of Israel/ Equality/ Democracy. Here is a link to the CBST announcement of the panel discussion.
News flash: most mainstream synagogues and other Jewish organizations support the Jewish people and are not interested in legitimizing fringe groups which seek their annihilation such as “BdS” movement.
—–
“the synagogue was founded by the LGBT community; yet another sign of the leadership of queer activists to the movement for Palestinian freedom”
Do members of these “queer activist” groups have any idea how homosexuals are treated by Palestinians? (Hint: it’s not good).
Well, synagogues are not democratic institutions, neither is organized Judaism. Now if you want to discuss BDS, then by all means, go to Israel — a democratic country — and discuss BDS over there. Oh wait, that wouldn’t work seeing as discussion of BDS is not only forbidden but punishable by law in the Middle East’s only democracy.
Hmmmm…….
What’s a person to do?
White Christians had to take such racism on when fellow white Christians openly supported racism during school desegregation by pulling their children out of public schools and transfering them to “Christian academies.” Jews are going to have look in the face of the racism within that requires the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians by Israel for what it claims is the authorized version of Judaism.
Once more a perfect illustration of why it is useless to insist on working inside the Jewish religious institutions and maintaining these incestuous “Jewish”group identities are worse than a waste of time.
The general public is not “Jewish” and it’s the general public that counts if you want to change policies and attitudes in this country.
Doesn’t it strike you as ridiculous to go to be having all this trouble with a synagogue when one could much more easily rent a secular venue and speak as citizens to the general population?
This would also put an end to the the ludicrously segregated make-up of the group, another ill-smelling feature. It is like saying that solidarity with Palestinians is an exclusively Ashkenazi-Jewish matter –Goys not admitted.