America: A Beacon, not a Policeman Israeli & U.S. Jewish Peace Groups 

Who and Where They Are--What They Do

Americans Against World Empire, Inc

6/2 TIKKUN Lobbies Congress to show evidence that AIPAC (Sharon-settler lobby) doesn't represent all Jews

The case of the young American Jew, <http://homepage.mac.com/hjens/april6.html>Adam Shapiro, working in Palestine with the Peace Groups and having his family in New York threatened with death should remind us all that most Jews in America are not Likudniks. We conservatives hear almost nothing about Jewish peace groups, those opposed to Sharon, the Likud, the settlements (the "abominable settlements" in the words of NY TIMES columnist Thomas Friedman), unending war and making America into the enemy of the Moslem world. 

Most Jews, American and Israeli, want peace and are willing to compromise with Palestinians. The <http://www.prospect.org/print/V13/5/massing-m.html>AMERICAN PROSPECT published a long report on polling of Jewish views and how the Likud Lobby works to intimidate those who oppose it.  The study shows that it is just two large Likudnik groups in Washington that foment the settlements and Sharon, that make up the much feared "Israeli Lobby" that terrifies most Congressmen, the American Israeli Political Action Committee (named by FORTUNE the most powerful lobby in Washington) and the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations. The Conference is dominated by small, radical groups each of which has a vote carrying the same weight as 700,000 member large organizations which want peace. These two count on the image of a Jewish Monolithic Power to intimidate journalists and congressmen to support Sharon and the settlements.

Their greatest venom is directed against fellow Jews who favor peace and compromise, see THREATS AGAINST TIKKUN, precisely because they threaten the image of monolithic Jewish political power. The lobby's overwhelming power also comes from another, far less known element, fundamentalist Christian 

Dispensationalists, or Christian Zionists, especially those who have moved from forecasting Armageddon to actively trying to bring it about. And lastly it comes from old conservative cold war warriors (who miss having an enemy) and empire wanters who envision America ruling the world with Israel's help.

The NEW YORK TIMES published an article by the editor of FORWARD, the major Jewish weekly newspaper, explaining that most American Jews favor compromise with the Palestinians, and financial pressure on Sharon to force a compromise. Almost never is such information reported to American Conservatives who, mainly from the WALL STREET JOURNAL op-ed, NATIONAL REVIEW, THE WASHINGTON TIMES (although it publishes columnists with opposing views), only get Sharon/Likud occupation views.
See (long) List of Pro-Likud Conservative journalists

SeeMyth of Israel’s ‘generous offer’ Damages Truth, Peace
Following are links to pro-peace, anti-settlement Jewish groups; Most Jews do not blindly follow an Israel over Everybody policy. Most Jews want peace. Most Jews are not represented by AIPAC, the noisy ones, who favor settlements in Palestine, attacking Iraq, and growing powers of a Warfare State in Washington.

LINKS

Jewish Against Sharon-Zionism -list of 75 groups

Israeli Chief of Staff Says Sharon Policies only breed hatred, prevent peace & Sharon / Christian Zionists creating new anti-semitism in Europe 4 Israeli Former Security Chiefs Oppose Occupation Policies

A list of websites opposed to Israel's policies  Courtesy of Jews Against Zionism

<http://washingtontimes.com/national/20030518-114058-5626r.htm>Orthodox Jews Protest Christian Zionist Attack on Road Map for Peace

<http://63.218.153.111/zleader.htm>Jewish Warning of Coming Decline of Israeli Lobby  by Elliot Abrams

<http://slate.msn.com/id/2078333/>The Likudnik Factor Mickey Kaus in SLATE --Jewish resistance to Bush-Sharon axis

Following are links to American Jewish sites opposed to the West Bank settlements and occupation of Palestinian lands and homes-----

<http://www.acjna.org/>American Council for Judaism <http://www.acjna.org/>http://www.ACJNA.org/ One of the oldest, most authoritative, more than 50 years old, maintains the concept that Judaism is a religion, not a nationality. The council believes that Americans of Jewish faith are American by nationality, and Jews by religion, just as other American are Baptists, Catholics, etc. It was founded by a group of reform rabbis, its first Director was Rabbi Elmer Berger.

<http://www.peacenow.org/>Americans for Peace Now  good website, lots of info and activism

<http://www.marchforjustice.com/id213.htm>The Divine Wind by Israel Shamir Sharon and Israel going too far --no word in Hebrew for "nemesis" and "hubris"

<http://www.marchforjustice.com/id26.htm>March for Justice
<http://www.marchforjustice.com/id47.htm>March Weekly --Florida group

<http://www.counterpunch.org/harris1228.html>Norman Finkelstein, Author of
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1859843239/qid=1042131267/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_1/102-1100706-8604910?v=glance&s=books&n=507846>"The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering" article in COUNTERPUNCH

<http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=202024&contrassID=1&subContrassID=0&sbSubContrassID=0>UK Chief rabbi criticizes Israeli government policies

<http://www.jewsnotzionists.org/>http://www.jewsnotzionists.org/ Orthodox Jews against Zionism

<http://www.gush-shalom.org/english/actlist.html>Gush Shalom (Israeli Peace Bloc) mainly in Hebrew, but has pictures and you can get on English update email list by asking -- <mailto:%5Binfo@gush-shalom.org>info@gush-shalom.org

T A ' A Y U S H   <http://taayush.tripod.com/>http://taayush.tripod.com Israelis working with Palestinians in occupied territories - Pictures

TIKKUN,<http://tikkun.org/>http://tikkun.org/ the main anti-Zionist Jewish Liberal magazine . A typical report "MORE JEWS SAYING "No" TO THE OCCUPATION" <http://tikkun.org/index.cfm/action/current/article/83.html>http://tikkun.org/index.cfm/action/current/article/83.html Rabbi Michael Lerner, whose California-based Tikkun magazine promotes the view that “Jews did not climb out of the gas chambers of Europe to oppress another people,” routinely gets death threats," reports Holger Jensen, Rocky Mountain News (Denver) 4/6/02

<http://www.netureikarta.org/>Jews United Against Zionism Jews United Against Zionism  Neturei Karta "Jews and Zionism are not the same thing"

<http://www.progressive.org/>http://www.progressive.org/    features Jewish writers opposed to Middle East war

<http://www.eccmei.net/~eccmei/j/links.html>Jewish Friends of Palestine -- a new site with lots of links

<http://jppi.org/>http://jppi.org  Jews for Peace in Palestine and Israel (JPPI)

<http://www.rhr.israel.net/overview.shtml>Rabbis for Human Rights    Israeli group

Also see <http://www.jppi.org/conference.html>American Jews for a Just Peace: Re-Claiming Our Community's Principles, National Conference in Washington, DC, April 26-29 We believe that as Jews outside of Israel, we have both a right and obligation to speak out in favor of an Israel that pursues peaceful, ethical, just, and democratic policies

<http://www.peacelobby.org/>http://www.peacelobby.org/   The Jewish Peace Lobby       

Haaretz is one of Israel's largest newspapers. It reports all sorts of information generally suppressed in America's conservative media.--<http://www.haaretzdaily.com/>http://www.haaretzdaily.com

<http://www.jvao.org/>http://www.jvao.org/     Jewish Voices Against the Occupation See copy below of their ad from NEW YORK TIMES op-ed 3/17/02

<http://www.google.com/search?q=Jewish+peace+groups&btnG=Google+Search&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8>Jewish Peace Groups Yahoo search--many

<http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a39ff7e01262f.htm>http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a39ff7e01262f.htm A report on conditions of Palestinians and Settlers

<http://www.icahd.org/eng/>The Israeli Committee against House Demolitions

<http://left.ru/inter/>Russian Leftist Links  incl. articles by Israel Shamir, Israeli Peace activist



NOT ALL JEWS SUPPORT ISRAEL'S POLICIES Courtesy of <http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/lindex.html>http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/lindex.html

Here are just a few.
1.. Jews NOT Zionists <http://www.jewsnotzionists.org/>http://www.jewsnotzionists.org/

2.. Not in My Name: <http://www.nimn.org/>www.nimn.org

3.. Jewish Peace Fellowship
<http://www.jewishpeacefellowship.org/index.htm>http://www.jewishpeacefellowship.org/index.htm

4.. Neturei Karta Homepage
<http://www.netureikarta.org/>http://www.netureikarta.org

5.. Yesh Gvul, The movement for IDF men refusing to
serve in the Occupied Territories. <http://www.diak.org/Haayesh>http://www.diak.org/Haayesh-
gvul.htm

6.. Israeli Committee Against Home Demolitions
<http://www.salam.org/activism/home_demolitions.html>http://www.salam.org/activism/home_demolitions.html

7.. Bat Shalom, Israeli Women for Peace <http://www.batshalom.org/>http://www.batshalom.org/

8.. Deutsch-Isrelischer Arbeitskreis fur Frieden im Nahen Osten (DIAK)
<http://www.batshalom.org/>http://www.batshalom.org/

9.. Eda Haredit, A hundred thousand anti-Zionist
Hasidim all at one place.
<http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Senate/7891/satmar.html>http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Senate/7891/satmar.html

10.. B'Tselem <http://www.btselem.org/>http://www.btselem.org/

11.. "Occupied Territory" <http://www.occupied.org/>http://www.occupied.org/

12.. Rabbis for Human Rights <http://www.rhr.israel.net/indexa.html>http://www.rhr.israel.net/indexa.html

13.. Not in Our Name Coalition <http://www.diak.org/not_in_our_name.htm>http://www.diak.org/not_in_our_name.htm

14.. Oz v'Shalom - Netivot Shalom (religious Zionist anti-Occupation)
<http://www.ariga.com/ozveshalom/index.asp>http://www.ariga.com/ozveshalom/index.asp

15.. The Hidden History of Zionism by Ralph
Schoenman:

<http://www.balkanunity.org/mideast/english/zionism/>http://www.balkanunity.org/mideast/english/zionism/

16.. Association for Civil Rights in Israel <http://www.nif.org/acri/>http://www.nif.org/acri/

17.. Gush Shalom <http://www.gush-shalom.org/>http://www.gush-shalom.org/

18.: Jews United Against Zionism:

Jewish Voices Against Israel's Occupation of Palestinian Territories

The occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem is killing Palestinians and Israelis alike and destroying Israel from within. There can be no peace or security for either until Israel completely evacuates its settlements in Palestinian territories, ends its military occupation, and returns to its pre-1967 borders. As Jews, we call upon Israel: to agree to the immediate establishment of an international peacekeeping force in the occupied territories to protect civilians from violence by the Israeli military and settlers;to cease building or expanding settlements as a first step toward their complete evacuation.

As Jews and U.S. taxpayers, we call upon the U.S. Government:
to suspend military aid to Israel, which is used to maintain the occupation, until Israel withdraws completely from the occupied territories;
to reduce economic aid to Israel by the amount spent on maintaining the settlements until all are evacuated;
to redirect this reduction of economic aid toward reconstructing the devastated infrastructure of Palestine. We urge Israel to acknowledge that it bears significant historical responsibility for the dispossession of the Palestinian people, and to work toward a just solution to the plight of Palestinian refugees. Finally, deeply distressed over the lives lost in desperate attacks by Palestinians, we call upon the Palestinian Authority to make every effort to curtail acts of violence against civilians in Israel.

Israel's security policies harm all the peoples of the Middle East and make Israel less secure, not more.


THE SETTLEMENTS MUST GO. THE OCCUPATION MUST END. THERE CAN BE NO PEACE WITHOUT JUSTICE.
This ad, paid for by more than 600 contributors, is part of an ongoing campaign. Join our efforts. Visit our website or write us.


This is an abridged version of a more comprehensive statement written by Jewish Voices Against the Occupation (JVAO). The full text and its signers can be seen on www.jvao.org or received from JVAO, P.O. Box 11606, Berkeley, CA 94712.



Dear friend,

Many thanks for your interest in the "Open Letter from American Jews" on Israel/Palestine. Please forgive this electronic form letter, but I am currently submerged in e-mails ...

If you are writing to add your signature to the Open Letter, please remember that you should include either your city + state or an institutional affiliation ("affiliation listed for identification only"), whichever you prefer. I will add your signature to the master list within the next few days.

If you are writing to offer reasoned criticism of the Open Letter, I or one of the co-organizers will try to send you a reasoned reply, time permitting -- but please be patient, as we are volunteers and have day jobs too!

If you are writing to offer insult or abuse, please accept our condolences.

Signatures are continuing to pour in, and we would very much like to publish the Open Letter in as many newspapers as possible (e.g. Washington Post, USA Today, Jerusalem Post, and newspapers of the US Jewish community). If you are able and willing to contribute to this effort, your contribution of any size will be gratefully accepted (alas, ads are expensive!). Please make your check payable to "Peace in the Middle East" and send it to Professor Bruce Robbins, Dept. of English and Comparative Literature, Philosophy Hall, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027. If we raise more money than needed, Bruce will refund the excess pro-rata to all the contributors.

Last but not least, please do circulate the Open Letter (copy enclosed) to your friends and colleagues who you think might be interested in signing. The instructions to signers are: Send a message to sokal@physics.nyu.edu indicating clearly that you want to sign, giving your name along with city + state or institutional affiliation ("affiliation listed for identification only"), whichever you prefer. Then continue forwarding the Open Letter, along with these instructions.

Best wishes, and many thanks for all your help,

Alan

P.S. In preparing this Open Letter, we made the tactical decision that a petition from peace-minded _Jewish_ Americans was especially needed at this time.

But support from both Jews and non-Jews is important to us. And similar initiatives from other groups of Americans, or from Americans without regard to ethnicity, are most welcome and indeed essential! So please do circulate the Open Letter to your friends and colleagues, irrespective of ethnicity: we want to publicize the _ideas_ as widely as possible. And we will be very happy to add non-Jewish supporters to our e-mail list, so that they can receive updates.

P.P.S. Many people have asked who we are! We started out as a small group of Jewish Americans (mostly university professors) who got together by e-mail in mid-April to draft this Open Letter, without at first being totally sure how and where we'd make it public. It took off so rapidly via e-mail, with hundreds of people spontaneously offering contributions to publish the Open Letter as an ad, that we decided to go ahead with placing ads. So we don't have any organizational ambitions. Our goals are to publish the statement as widely as possible, both in the U.S. and Israeli press, and to put our supporters in contact with existing Jewish peace organizations that have long-term educational and lobbying strategies.

PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST:

AN OPEN LETTER FROM AMERICAN JEWS TO OUR GOVERNMENT

In the wake of the recent bloodshed in the Middle East, many Israelis and Palestinians -- and their supporters in the United States -- have reverted to an us-versus-them thinking in which they see themselves as righteous victims and ignore or minimize the injustices they have done, and continue to do, to the other people.

In fact, both the Israeli and Palestinian peoples have suffered great wrongs at the hands of the other, albeit in different and unequal ways; both have legitimate grievances, legitimate fears, and legitimate distrust of the other people's willingness to compromise for the sake of peace.

Though the signers of this letter have a wide range of views about the blame for the present situation, we have a common view of what a solution will have to consist of.

Incremental attempts at building trust have reached an impasse. The only alternative to endless war is a comprehensive settlement based on simple but radical principles:

-- Israeli and Palestinian lives are equally precious.

-- The Israeli and Palestinian peoples have equal rights to national self-determination and to live in peace and security.

-- The Israeli and Palestinian peoples have equal rights to a fair share of the land and resources of historic Palestine.Fair-minded people throughout the world have long understood with some precision what a tenable solution, respecting these principles, would entail:

-- Two national states, Israel and Palestine, with equal sovereignty, equal rights and equal responsibilities.

-- Partition along the pre-1967 border as modified only by minor mutually agreed territorial swaps.

-- Israeli evacuation of all settlements in the occupied territories except those within the agreed swapped areas.

-- Palestinian and Arab recognition of Israel and renunciation of any further territorial claims.

-- Palestinian acceptance of negotiated limitations on the "right of return" in exchange for financial compensation for refugees.

Several years ago, polls showed that majorities of both Israelis and Palestinians were willing to accept a compromise settlement of this kind. Despite the current carnage, that may still be the case; but compromise is difficult when majorities on both sides support provocative military actions that they view as purely defensive, while powerful minorities pursue maximalist territorial aims.

If Israelis and Palestinians are unwilling or unable to negotiate a workable peace, the international community must take the lead in promoting one. This is in the long-term interest not only of Israelis and Palestinians, but also of Americans: recent events have made painfully clear that our own national security is deeply undermined by instability and injustice in the Middle East.

The U.S. bears a special responsibility for the current tragic impasse, by virtue of our massive economic and military support for the Israeli

government: $500 per Israeli citizen per year. Our country has an extraordinary leverage on Israeli policy, if only our government would dare to use it. As American Jews who care deeply about the long-term security of Israel, we call on our government to make continued aid conditional on Israeli acceptance of an internationally agreed two-state settlement.

Rejectionists on both sides will of course attack any such settlement. Foreign troops may well be required to enforce it, and they must be prepared to accept casualties. One may nevertheless hope that majorities of both Israelis and Palestinians will realize that an imperfect peace is preferable to endless war.

There is no guarantee that this approach will work; but it is virtually guaranteed that all alternatives will fail.