Harvard Kennedy School’s Palestinian Alumni Collective is calling for the resignation of Dean Douglas Elmendorf after he rescinded a fellowship to Ken Roth over his Israel criticisms. The group is also calling for Roth, who spent almost thirty years as the executive director of Human Rights Watch, to be reinstated at the school.
The new Israeli government is so radical that even moderate Israelis are saying that Zionism is racism. That’s what scares American Jewish leaders and why they will rely even more on the lie that Anti-Zionism is antisemitism. This must not be allowed to succeed.
The new generation leaders of the American Jewish Committee and Anti-Defamation League were both silent today as Netanyahu’s explicitly-racist far-right government was sworn in. The silence is amazing, and reflects the fact that Netanyahu blew off Jewish leaders’ warnings not to lead such a coalition or it would damage relations with the U.S. While the anti-Zionist Jewish group Jewish Voice for Peace said that the Jewish “consensus on the ‘democratic’ character of Israel has broken apart.”
Donald Trump openly conflates Judaism with Zionism. It’s antisemitic and deserves to be called out, but some of those criticisms have come from individuals and groups who have been pushing this very narrative for years.
Ted Deutch debuted as CEO of the American Jewish Committee in a 45-minute video that erased Palestine. The former Congressman repeatedly praised the “miracle” of “our state of Israel” but did not once refer to Palestine or Palestinians. The cheerful CEO epitomized anti-Palestinianism in the Jewish leadership. He was eager to talk about any place and people but Palestinians: Uzbekistan, Russia, the Czech Republic, Greece, Cyprus, Haiti, Buenos Aires, Paris, the United Arab Emirates, the Gulf countries, Europe, Boca Raton, the African American, Hispanic and Asian American communities. All got name-checked by Ted Deutch. Never Palestinians.
Jonathan Greenblatt of the Anti-Defamation League is calling for a battle inside Jewish religious denominations against anti-Zionist Jews. Greenblatt spoke to the World Zionist Organization conference in August in Basel, Switzerland, and said that anti-Zionism is antisemitism, but even some Jews “traffic” in it and that “threat” must be taken on by religious groups and the Democratic Party too.
Fired by The Hill TV for a commentary supporting Rashida Tlaib on the apartheid accusation against Israel and calling for Americans to dismantle apartheid, independent journalist Katie Halper has now published that commentary. Halper’s monologue is racking up views (20,000 so far today) and hundreds of supportive comments. The case reflects growing support for Palestinian rights among the young, and is reminiscent of the firing of Marc Lamont Hill by CNN four years ago for voicing support for Palestinian freedom.
Rashida Tlaib hit a nerve. It is obviously very important to the Israel lobby to maintain the claim that you can be progressive and support Israel. Being truthful about Israeli apartheid undermines this effort. Liberal Zionists are divided. J Street has condemned Tlaib’s comment. But like nearly all the Dems who attacked Tlaib, they didn’t even mention the apartheid part of her comment. Democrats don’t want to address it. They don’t want to engage with what Israel actually does and how Palestinians live.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib finds herself under fire from members of her own party yet again over remarks she made during an annual seminar organized by the group Americans for Justice in Palestine Action.
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) is a non-profit organization founded in 1913. Masquerading as a “civil rights” group, the history of the ADL show its mission is to protect the mutual interests of the US and Israeli governments – and to eliminate solidarity among oppressed and colonized peoples, especially concerning Palestine.