A group called “JewBelong” just launched eight billboards across Berkeley. “You don’t need to go to law school to know anti-Zionism is antisemitism,” they declare.
This is an obvious reference to Berkeley Law School. Last year Berkeley Law Students for Justice in Palestine developed a bylaw calling on other campus groups to to refrain from inviting Zionists speakers to the school or holding events in support of Zionism.
This move was purposely mischaracterized by pro-Israel groups and individuals preposterously claiming that the school was instituting “Jewish free zones.” Most notably, the lie was pushed by Louis Brandeis Center chairman and former Trump official Kenneth Marcus, who penned an op-ed in the Jewish Journal making the claims.
“Anti-Zionism is flatly antisemitic,” wrote Marcus. “Using ‘Zionist’ as a euphemism for Jew is nothing more than a confidence trick. Like other forms of Judeophobia, it is an ideology of hate, treating Israel as the ‘collective Jew’ and smearing the Jewish state with defamations similar to those used for centuries to vilify individual Jews.”
The Marcus op-ed was so ridiculous that even Ted Deutch’s American Jewish Committee (AJC) wrote an internal memo criticizing its assertions. AJC director of academic affairs Sara Coodin said its “central claim was inflammatory, resulting in a distorted picture of both this incident and the overall climate for Jewish students on campus.”
Marcus’s distortions might have been too extreme for some pro-Israel groups, but at least a couple of celebrity liberals promoted the op-ed on social media. “When does anti-Zionism bleed into broad anti-Semitism?,” tweeted Barbra Streisand. “9 student law groups from UC BERKELEY Ban any Jews who believe Israel should be able to exist,” tweeted comedian Sarah Silverman. “Even those (MOST JEWS) who are against occupation and who fight for a two state solution. This is just the beginning. PLEASE help fight anti-Jewish racism.”
Sarah Silverman’s sister is on the JewBelong advisory board. So are the actors Steven Weber and Alysia Reiner. The organization was co-founded by Archie Gottesman, who is also on the board of the pro-Israel lobbying group Democratic Majority for Israel (DMFI). In a Facebook post from 2018 Gottesman told her followers that Gaza was full of “monsters” and that it was “time to burn the whole place.” That same year Gottesman tweeted that the Jewish activist Rebecca Vilkomerson was an “anti-Semitic bitch.”
After artist Eli Valley unearthed Gottesman’s posts in 2021 Gottesman issued an apology and DMFI issued whatever this is:
“Context matters. When Archie made her two angry comments in 2018, Hamas terrorists in Gaza were literally burning thousands of acres in Israel with firebombs, threatening her family there, along with millions of others.“
“Nonetheless, as Archie rightly indicated in her written apology, her comments were ‘wrong and indefensible.’ We agree — there is no defense for language like that. Archie has made perfectly clear that those words in no way reflect her values; and we are making clear they do not represent the views or values of DMFI.”
Calling for a genocide did not get Gottesman removed from DMFI’s board. She remains there. Popular progressive Democrats (like Senators John Fetterman and Raphael Warnock) have openly embraced endorsements from the group.
Meanwhile, some of the Berkeley Law students who belong to groups that endorsed the bylaw are now being harassed by another pro-Israel group: Accuracy in Media. Over the holiday break, the group actually sent mobile billboards to the homes of students. The signs contained their names, organizations, and the text “Berkeley Law’s antisemite class of 2023.” If Accuracy in Media rings a bell it’s the same group that caused controversy by sending a moving image of Adolf Hitler giving a Nazi salute to the school. These stunts have even been criticized by pro-Israel groups like Hillel and the ADL.
Imagine what the reaction would be here if, say, a pro-Palestinian organization was targeting the homes and families of Zionist students.
Rosen’s “boycott”
No one has ever questioned Senator Jacky Rosen’s (D-NV) commitment to Israel. In recent years we have seen more and more Democrats express criticisms of the country, but she has remained firm. She says the United States should “never, ever” condition military aid to Israel. She called Amnesty International’s apartheid report “wholly inaccurate.” She’s an AIPAC fave. She’s part of the Abraham Accords caucus.
However, Axios’ Barak Ravid reports that Rosen doesn’t want to meet with two of Israel’s far-right parties when she visits Israel as part of a bipartisan delegation this week. A source told Ravid that Rosen won’t see members of Ben-Gvir’s Jewish Power or Smotrich’s Religious Zionism during her meetings.
The move has been praised by some liberal groups. “Thank you to Senator Rosen and this delegation for demonstrating that strong support for Israel does not necessitate normalizing far-right extremists in the current government,” tweeted J Street.
However, it’s hard to view this as anything beyond a craven political stunt. Rosen doesn’t believe that Israel is an apartheid state or that it needs to stop consistently killing Palestinians. The modern Israeli right didn’t develop in a vacuum, it’s a symbol of the country’s policies and a reflection of the society’s goals. Rosen’s stance also implies that Likud is some sort of liberal alternative to Israel’s political parties. In actuality, all these groups push a similar agenda of occupation and land theft.
I’m reminded of comments made by US Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides earlier this month. Would the administration be boycotting National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir? “There’s no boycott. I don’t do boycotts… We are going to work with the Israeli government. It is a democratically elected government,” said Nides. “We’ll work with everyone. But in principle…I’ll be working with the prime minister.”
So, the United States government is kind of avoiding the country’s most controversial politician but is happy to speak with the guy who is ushering in the most right-wing government in Israeli history. After all, Israel’s extremist government was democratically elected. Just like Hamas was in 2006.
Look for the Rosen move to become standard operating procedure for Dems visiting Israel, but be wary of anyone praising such action.
Odds & Ends
???? Harvard Kennedy School Dean Doug Elmendorf has reversed his decision to deny Kenneth Roth a fellowship at the school. Earlier this month, The Nation published an article detailing how Roth’s fellowship had been rescinded over his criticisms of Israel.
In an email to the Kennedy School community, Elmendorf said he came to realize that the denial of Roth was an “error,” but insists that it had nothing to do with the influence of donors or stifling critiques of Israel.
“First let me emphasize that my decision was not influenced by donors,” he wrote.” Donors do not affect our consideration of academic matters. My decision also was not made to limit debate at the Kennedy School about human rights in any country. As a community we are steadfastly committed to free inquiry and including a wide range of views on public policy, and the appointment of a Fellow is never an endorsement of the views of that individual nor a refutation of other views. My decision on Mr. Roth last summer was based on my evaluation of his potential contributions to the School.”
The email does not specifically mention Israel or Palestine at all.
“Dean Elmendorf has said he made this decision because of people who ‘mattered’ to him at the university,” Roth told the New York Times. “He still refuses to say who those people who mattered to him were.”
???????? Mitchell Plitnick wrote about the Biden administration expanding its military ties with Israel.
???????? The U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights recently released a new fact sheet that doesn’t embrace the IHRA’s working definition of antisemitism. This is despite the fact that pro-Israel groups have been lobbying the Biden administration to adopt the controversial definition since his election. “We are reassured to see OCR do the right thing: link the fight against antisemitism to other anti-racist struggles,” Palestine Legal Advocacy Director Lina Assi told me. “This gives space for Palestinian educators and students to continue to advocate for Palestinian freedom on their campuses without the fear of being investigated for false accusations. Alongside our movement partners, Palestine Legal will continue to highlight how pro-Israel lobby groups wield IHRA to silence and suppress Palestinians, and urge the Office for Civil Rights not to adopt it in a formal rule.”
???? Good Twitter thread from Lara Friedman on recent state legislation taking aim at Environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) over the issue of Israel.
????️ Michael Veronda Hazou is in The Electronic Intifada writing about how congress’s new Democrats are bad on Palestine.
???????? Dr. Rashid Khalidi is in the New York Times writing about the U.S. building an embassy on stolen Palestinian land. “Building a U.S. embassy in Jerusalem, on this site or any other, constitutes a legal and moral offense,” he writes. “It would solidify Israel’s exclusivist claims to the city, whose permanent status is one that the United States itself and the international community agree remains to be determined. It would essentially greenlight Israel’s relentless eviction of Palestinians from their homes and properties in Jerusalem, entrenching Israel’s apartheid-like policies in the city, and further isolating East Jerusalem from other Palestinian areas in the West Bank.”
Rep. Rashida Tlaib on Twitter: “I’m outraged that the State Department is moving forward with plans to build the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem on land stolen from Palestinians. By doing so, the U.S. is complicit in the illegal confiscation of Palestinian property. POTUS should reverse this Trump era policy immediately.”
Said Arikat asked Ned Price about the op-ed during yesterday’s State Dept. briefing:
Price: I did see it, and I appreciate the opportunity to comment on it – primarily because there has been some misinformation or some misimpressions about our plans. To be very clear, we have not decided on which site to pursue. A number of factors, including the history of the various sites that are in contention will be part of that very site selection process. We are committed, as you know, Said, to keeping the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem. The United States recognizes Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
Stay safe out there,
Michael
