Op-Ed: Some ‘pro’- Israel groups aren’t

By Steve Kramer

KFAR SAVA, Israel — Politically speaking, do you consider yourself a liberal, a progressive, a conservative, a libertarian, left wing, right wing, none of the above? Regardless, are you a supporter of Israel? If so, do you support or “follow” one organization or another that is involved with Israel, whether it be the United Nations or a much smaller association such as AIPAC or JStreet? Of course, you have no influence over international institutions, but as a contributor to the smaller, non-governmental, supposedly non-profit groups (NGOs), you do have some input.

Unfortunately, many of the countless organizations and NGOs that deal with Israel have an agenda against it, ranging from defaming Israel as an apartheid state, to slamming it as overly “militant” towards its enemies, especially the Palestinian Arabs.

The Palestinian Arabs have many supportive organizations, but upon examination these groups prove to be more interested in being anti-Zionist (or anti-Semitic) than being helpful to their supposed beneficiaries. The truth is that groups which promote BDS (which stands for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions and seeks total Israeli withdrawal from Judea, Samaria, Golan Heights and “full equality” for Israeli Arab citizens and Palestinian Arabs residing outside the 1949 armistice lines) do nothing positive for the Arabs. Their real agenda is the destruction of Israel, with little attention paid to the detrimental effects on Palestinian Arabs of BDS and other hateful actions against Israel.

One need look no further than the full-bodied ideological and financial support that Jews lend (often unwittingly) to virulently anti-Israel organizations, many of them founded and financed by (sometimes) well-meaning Jews. (Bear with me here; this is not even a full list.) These include J Street, Open Hillel, If Not Now, Americans for Peace Now, B’Tselem, Bend the Arc, Breaking the Silence, New Israel Fund, Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, The Forward, Tikkun magazine, Reform Action Center, T’ruah (formerly Rabbis for Human Rights), Jewish Voice for Peace, Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, the National Council of Jewish Women, and the Anti-Defamation League, which was such a bulwark against anti-Semitism for my parents’ generation, et al.

Also, generic NGOs such as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the Women’s March, Movement for Black Lives, Black Lives Matter, Antifa, Doctors Without Borders, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), newspapers like The New York Times (and other media outlets), Christian organizations like American Friends Service Committee (AFSC-Quakers), World Council of Churches (WCC), Presbyterian Church USA, a myriad of Islamic NGOs such as CAIR, and huge bureaucracies such as the United Nations and the European Union.

What the entities all have in common are varying degrees of disrespect for Israel and/or Jews, from blatant or genteel antisemitism to bias against those Jews who live in Israel. There are too many organizations named to discuss each one. Below is a criticism of the Anti-Defamation League, perhaps the least damaging of the lot, according to Isi Leibler, a prominent worldwide Jewish leader writing in the Jerusalem Post.

The ADL is now just one more left-wing group, “a radical extension of the Democratic Party.” The only anti-Semitism that it will fight is that of the tiny fringe group of white supremacists. The greater danger of the radical left and Muslim activists gets a pass. The Boycott Divestment Sanctions (BDS) movement, declared anti-Semitic by the American government, is supported by Democratic politicians and so ADL won’t fight it. ADL actively supports the Marxist anti-Semitic group Black Lives Matter, which “incorporates anti-Israel passages in its platform and campaigns against anti-boycott legislation.”

The reality is that anti-Zionism/anti-Semitism has returned to its halcyon days of a century ago. We know what that led to…. As for now, the Labour Party in the UK immediately comes to mind with its charismatic anti-Semitic leader, Jeremy Corbyn.

It’s time for everyone to think critically about the objectives of the organizations they support, especially the above-mentioned ones, small and large: whether they seek to delegitimize Israel, to harm Israel, or even to eradicate the Jewish State. Without Israel, or with an Israel forced behind the “Auschwitz borders” which many harsh critics of Israel envision (pre-1967 Israel), the Jews would be on the way to extinction!

Think about it: if you’re a Jew or a Christian Zionist, or any rational person, do you really want to support organizations that promote policies leading to the decline of the West, which is the inevitable result if Israel were to fall.

APPENDIX
Here are some details on some of the organizations mentioned in the article:

Ireland has tabled a new law to make purchases of goods and services from “East” Jerusalem and other areas beyond the Green Line illegal. This is in line with the European Union policy demarcating “West Bank” and Golan Heights products as Jewish (oops, I meant Israeli) items that should be boycotted. That this law is even being considered is racist!

New Israel Fund supports Arab groups denying Israel’s legitimacy, such as Adalah, which was involved in creating a “platform” released by the Movement for Black Lives (MBL) and Black Lives Matter (BLM) which supports BDS and labels Israel as an “apartheid state.” The platform also accuses Israel of committing “genocide” against Palestinians.

J Street insists that all major pro-Israel organizations be open to speakers who favor opposing views (as does Open Hillel) such as supporters of the BDS movements, supporters of the single, secular binational state approach (which would eventually eradicate Israel), and those who are against the possibility of Palestinian recognition of Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people.

Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) is a leader in BDS campaigns in a variety of different forums, including with local governments and on university campuses. JVP supports and promotes the Palestinian narrative of “Nakba” (referring to the establishment of the State of Israel as a “catastrophe,”), as well as a Palestinian “right of return,” which, if implemented, would mean the elimination of Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people.The group has embraced and advocated on behalf of Palestinian terrorists and has been lauded by CAIR. (NGO Monitor)

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is perhaps the best-known and most controversial Muslim organization in North America, presenting itself as an advocate for Muslims’ civil rights and the spokesman for American Muslims. But there is another side to CAIR that has alarmed many people in knowledgeable positions. The Department of Homeland Security refuses to deal with it. Senator Charles Schumer (Democrat, NY) describes it as an organization “which we know has ties to terrorism.” (See more at MEForum.org)

Presbyterian Church USA blasts ‘apartheid’ Israel at its most recent General Assembly Gathering and passes 7 resolutions against Jewish state, including opposing anti-BDS legislation, calling Israel an apartheid state and slamming Israel’s defensive actions in Gaza. One amended resolution completely removing Hamas as a factor in Israel-Gaza battles passed by a vote of 438-34, according to the Presbyterian Outlet news service. (June ’18 TimesofIsrael.com)

The World Council of Churches started the Ecumenical Accompaniment Program in Palestine and Israel or EAPPI in 2002. “That is the main tool for training anti-Israel activists within church organizations and churches around the world and it’s also the main tool for inserting anti-Israel and anti-Zionist propaganda and rhetoric into those same churches,” said Yona Schiffmiller, director of research at NGO Monitor.

Amnesty International calls on web giants Airbnb and TripAdvisor to boycott Jewish communities in Judea, Samaria, and Golan Heights – all beyond the 1949 armistice lines but Israeli since 1967, and incidentally home to Jews for millennia. It also calls out Expedia and Booking.com, saying they are benefiting from ‘war crimes.’ The group vigorously calls out Israel at every opportunity while practically ignoring war crimes killing scores and hundreds of thousands around the world, including in many Muslim countries.

Human Rights Watch could be called “Human Rights Distortions.” Systematic analyses demonstrate that HRW disproportionately focuses on condemnations of Israel and that its publications related to Israel often lack credibility. HRW also promotes an agenda based solely on the Palestinian narrative of victimization and Israeli aggression.

The United Nations is set to publish a blacklist of Israeli companies operating over Green Line. Remember the Arab boycott from the ‘70s? Now the UN will have its own boycott of Israeli businesses. The list, to be released next month, is said to include many of Israel’s largest corporations. The exemplary Soda Stream company was already forced by BDS pressure to move its factory from an industrial park adjacent to the Green Line to another location, causing many Arabs to lose their excellent jobs.

The New York Times (NYT) has a history of praising individual Jews and criticizing Israelis. One example: opinion journalist Michelle Goldberg, in a recent, well written but typically biased apology for anti-Zionism, wrote: “Certainly, some criticism of Israel is anti-Semitic, but it’s entirely possible to oppose Jewish ethno-nationalism without being a bigot.” Wrong, because Israel alone is singled out for having a national state in its homeland. (Like Muslim countries, France, Germany, Scandinavian countries, etc.) NYT articles misrepresenting Israel are numerous, mirroring the negative preoccupation with Israelis that is commonplace among media, global “peace” organizations, and NGOs today.

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Kramer is a freelance writer based in Kfar Sava, Israel.  He may be contacted via steve.kramer@sdjewishworld.com