Editors’ Note: These days Reform Jewry is in a pickle. It first condemned Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem, then Dani Dayan, the Israeli consul general, expressed grief over the Reform statement, and so did Malcolm Hoenlein, and the next day the Reforms reversed course and said the recognition was a great thing. Here is some other distressing news from the largest Jewish denomination in the U.S., supposedly a progressive group. Our correspondent wishes to remain anonymous.
The Union for Reform Judaism, or URJ, Biennial is the largest gathering of the largest Jewish denomination. It took place last week in Boston. There were 13 “major speakers”. Alongside Elizabeth Warren and the Governor of Massachussetts, and Fran Drescher and Krista Tippett, were two Israelis: David Grossman and the Chairman of the Jewish National Fund, Daniel Atar.
So, the only Israeli organization the URJ showcased in prime time is the Jewish National Fund. Granted that the URJ absolutely must showcase Israel (why?), did it have to be the champion of land theft in Israel and the West Bank?
The organization that sweeps the ghosts of the Palestinian villages of the Nakba under its man-made forests?
There are so many non-partisan organizations that are well known in the U.S. Reform Jewish community and that reasonable people could accept. Life-saving organizations such as Magen David Adom (the Israeli Red Cross) or liberal religious organizations such as one of the URJ’s affiliates, the Israeli Reform movement.,
Looks like the URJ is determined to put the violence and dispossession of Zionism on the table.
So… let’s have the debate.
The name of the game is subvert. There is no debate about that. If you’re a people’s champion, and want to stay as one, you have to be vigilant. Progressives must abandon other progressives in their organization who have gone over to the dark side, or else they will be identified as the enemy. Debate all you want. But act.
Does Rabbi Brant Rosen ever attend these things? Is he ever invited?
And it, too, favours Jewish supremacism in/and a religion-supremacist “Jewish State” of Israel.
(A quick read of some of its position statements suggests that it favours a “kinder, gentler” form of Jewish/State supremacism.)
It’s all disgusting, but not unexpected. The big-players stick together. AIPAC does not only “own” the US Congress but appears also to “own” the major Jewish organizations, even those which might be supposed to oppose it on some matters.
In the same way that political-progressives must abandon the Democratic Party because of its manifest inability or unwillingness to abandon dependence on big-money donors (oligarchic icons such as BIG-BANKS, BIG-OIL,BIG-PHARMA) (and consequent throwing of the Bernie Sanders folks under the bus) to say nothing of manifest unwillingness or inability to abandon dependence on that other oligarchic icon, BIG-ZION (AIPAC et al); so, too, religious-progressives and human-rights-progressivese must abandon any big Jewish organizations and/or big-Christian organizations which have sold their souls to BIG-ZION.
Inconvenient truths,
And Reform doesn’t even get the right to pray at the Kotel in exchange?