Jewish voices rise above the state of Israel
The Independent (5/1/2007) reports the setting up a new organisation representing Jewish people in the UK which doesn't support what the Israeli government is doing by placing its settlement policy above human rights. Supporters include prominent figures in the U.K.
In the U.S. The Jewish Voice for Peace has been outspoken about the Israeli Government's actions, as have a number of Israelis. When I visited Tel Aviv's Council House in 2004 several councillors I spoke to were extremely unhappy witrh the way things were going. Prominent among them was Yael Dayan, formerly a member of the Knesset. Matters have come to a head as some organisations representing Jewish people have banned those they regard as "liberals" from attending meetings. In response "Muzzlewatch" was set up.
From Jewish Voice for Peace (J.V.P.)
"As you know, just 2 weeks ago we launched Muzzlewatch.org, our new blog charting efforts to stifle open debate about US-Israeli foreign policy.
In its first week, it received thousands of visitors from around the world; was featured by the editors at Buzzfeed, one of the web's top blog aggregators; and was mentioned in 2 different media stories. More importantly, we broke our first story about Joel Beinin's talk getting cancelled at the Harker School, which was subsequently picked up by the San Jose Mercury News, directly from our blog. In addition to emails from many readers, we've heard from reporters who read the blog and have requested tips in the future.
And that was all before doing an official press launch
This was exactly why we created Muzzlewatch, to make groups accountable for silencing open debate.
Go to Muzzlewatch now to get information about:
The furor over the American Jewish Committee's recent attack on liberal Jews, including JVP advisory board members Adrienne Rich and Tony Kushner
The Bay Area Anti-Defamation League's unsuccessful efforts to paint their anti-Semitism conference as representative of the progressive Jewish community
The secret Israeli foreign ministry memo calling for a crackdown on refusenik groups and the US Jewish peace groups that support them
Video of poet Adrienne Rich on Jewish dissent and JVP getting barred from the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco
Law professor George Bisharat's Houston Chronicle op-ed on silencing
We've just added an email subscription button so you can get the blog stories delivered to you fresh daily.
And don't forget to spread the word. Send a http://www.muzzlewatch.org/ link to your local reporters and columnists, or send the link out to your email lists and friends."
In spite of a large number of Jewish people voicing concern inn the U.S. ex President Jimmy Carter seems to be virtually alone among prominent politicians who are voicing concern about as issue which is regularly cited as the most important issue affecting world peace.
In Britain I know a number of backbench Labour M.Ps who speak out. Lynne Jones was turned back at Tell Aviv when she went with a delegation> Richard Burden a fellow Birmingham member is similarly critical.
Posted by John Tyrrell at February 5, 2007 8:51 AM
