Temple
Israel
Israel Action Committee
Newsletter - Issue 7
January 2, 2003
This newsletter is brought to you by the Israel Action Committee of Temple
Israel. In this newsletter we will bring you articles about Israel
and the conflict in the Mideast that we believe are particularly
insightful or that have important information, as well as suggestions for
how to help support Israel in a variety of ways. Please read, think about,
and act on the information in this message. There is a lot of
misinformation, mistaken and purposeful, about Israel and the Israel-Arab
dispute in circulation, and anything we all can do to educate people is
helpful. We encourage you to send this newsletter, or any individual
item in this newsletter, on to your friends and acquaintances.
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Upcoming at Temple Israel
On Monday, January 6 we
join with the Anti-Defamation League to sponsor a special education
program for college and high school students, parents, and members of the
Community, entitled The Israel Advocacy & Leadership Development
Program: How to Stand for Israel with Pride. The program starts at
7:30 pm. A welcoming deli dinner for students will be held at 6:45
pm. Shai Goldstein, ADL Regional Director, will facilitate the
program. For more information, go to
Click
here: Temple Israel - Ridgewood, New jersey
http://www.synagogue.org/adlflyer.htm
At the Friday night service on
January 10, during Temple Israel's Annual Youth Shabbat, Jenna
Rubinoff will discuss her 8 week trip to Poland and Israel this past
summer, and her experiences, impressions, and reflections from the
perspective of a teenager.
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The Divestiture Movement on Campus
American college campuses are
battlefields in the Arab-Israel dispute. One recent development has
been the rise of campus divestiture petitions -- petitions that urge
college administrations to divest any holdings in Israeli companies or in
many cases in companies that do business with Israel. The purported
justification for these petitions is the assertion that Israel is
committing human rights violations and war crimes against the Palestinian
people, and some allege that Israel is an "apartheid state" and
thus should be boycotted like South Africa was before the white apartheid
regime was overthrown.
No college has yet agreed to the
demands of the divestiture petitions, but it appears that the goal of the
petitioners is not to actually convince college administrators to adhere
to their demands. Rather, the petitions are a means of spreading the
anti-Israel message; they are intended to appeal specifically to the sense
of justice and fair play of uninvolved and "undecided" students,
by demonizing Israel, accusing it of great crimes, and analogizing it to
an easy target -- racist apartheid South Africa, about which there can be
little debate. In response to the divestitment petitions,
anti-divestiture petitions, explaining why it is inappropriate to single
out Israel for attack, are being circulated at the same campuses.
Some of the petitions limit
signatories to only those who have some past or present affiliation with
the university; others are open to members of the "community" to
sign. On many campuses, this particular battle is over, and the
petitions are closed to further signatures. Nonetheless, the
petitions are worth reading to see the arguments being made, and because
many of them have links to eloquent statements, articles, and opinions on
the subject -- and, if they are still open, to signing them.
Here are links to some of the
anti-divestiture petitions (many have links to the divestment petitions in
them):
Click
here: UC Justice
http://www.ucjustice.org/frmSign.aspx
The divestment petition at the University of California (linked to from
the UC Justice anti-divestiture petition, above) is one of the most
radical of the petitions. It is unremittingly anti-Israel, and
singularly objects to the character of Israel as a Jewish state.
Among other allegations, it calls Israel an "apartheid state"
with racist policies because, inter alia, of the Law of Return, which
automatically grants Israeli citizenship to any Jewish person who comes to
Israel and wants citizenship, because it is repressive and violates human
rights, and because it "officially and legally discriminates in favor
of Jews over non-Jews", making Arab Israelis second-class citizens.
But you will search in vain for the petition's organizers' petition for
divestment from Saudi Arabia, where ONLY Muslims may be citizens and where
the open practice of any other religion is illegal, and which is one of
the most repressive regimes on the planet, or from any other coun! try.
Ask them why, and they will complain you are changing the subject.
Click
here: Petition to Oppose Divestment from Israel
http://harvardmitjustice.org/cgi-bin/index.cgi
Click
here: Columbia University Don't Divest
http://www.columbiadontdivest.org/
Click
here: PennJustice.org
http://www.pennjustice.org/
Click
here: UMASS ANTI-DIVESTMENT
http://www.jcrcboston.org/umass.html
If you are aware of a divestment or anti-divestiture petition at your alma
mater or at your child's school, please let us know, so we can
circulate information to others who may want to get involved.
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Hypocrisy on Campus
Numerous articles have been
written about the hypocrisy of the divestment movement, and of other
attitudes toward Israel on campuses. Here are some of the most
powerful:
Thomas Friedman: Campus
Hypocrisy Click
here: Temple Israel - Israel Action Committee
http://www.synagogue.org/iac/campushypocrisy.htm
Alan Dershowitz: Divest and Conquer
Click
here: FORWARD : Forward Forum
http://www.forward.com/issues/2002/02.05.31/oped2.html
Alan Dershowitz: Treatment of Israel
Strikes an Alien Note
Click
here: Scorning the Island of Democracy (3rd item)
http://www.honestreporting.com/articles/critiques/Scorning_the_Island_
of_Democracy.asp
Ruth Wisse: Israel on Campus
Click
here: OpinionJournal - HIGHER ED
http://www.opinionjournal.com/forms/printThis.html?id=110002775
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What's Going On On Campus?
Want to follow developments
regarding the Middle East in academia and on campuses? Want to know
what our children are facing? Want to be worried? Campus Watch
carries articles about the way Middle East studies are conducted at
colleges, how the classroom is used for political purposes, and how the
academic ideal of searching for the truth, freedom of thought and speech,
and tolerance is often corrupted:
Click
here: Campus Watch
http://www.campus-watch.org/
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Resources for Students
The American Jewish Committee has
launched an innovative Web initiative, called takeACTIONnow, to help
advocacy for Israel by college students (and others). The Web site
allows students to interact with each other in order to report incidents
and developments, including successful strategies, coordinate and
fine-tune campaigns, brainstorm on plans, respond to anti-Israel e-mails
and articles, find and share useful information, and debate moral
questions. Students and others concerned about Israel can register
by logging on to
Click
here: takeACTIONnow ::
http://www.takeactionnow.org/pn/index.php
Numerous other national organizations
provide special resources for students interested in supporting and
advocating for Israel and in educating themselves and their peers about
the Middle East conflict. A new Web site links them together,
describing the specific student-oriented programs of the organizations,
and providing contact information:
Click
here: Israel on Campus Coalition
http://israeloncampuscoalition.org/index.html
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This newsletter is intended as a service to our community. Although
we select the items in this newsletter with care, Temple Israel is not
responsible for the content of particular items, including
material in items linked to. Please note that outside Web sites do
not keep material indefinitely, so some links may become invalid at some
point.
This newsletter, and past
issues of the newsletter, are archived at www.synagogue.org, Temple
Israel's Web site. Click
here: Temple Israel - Home Page
(Click on the Israel Action Committee link from the home page.)
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If you would like to help the
Israel Action Committee, or if you have items for consideration for this
newsletter, please send an e-mail to IsraelActionComm@aol.com.
Israel Action Committee
Newsletter, Editor, Jerry Birenz