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Divestment: Jewish critiques |
Jewish groups cooperating to head off divestment
[6-9-06]Here’s a report from The Jewish Week
("Serving the Jewish Community of Greater New York") giving their view on
the current Presbyterian debate as it comes to the General Assembly.
The article quotes Rabbi Gary Bretton-Granatoor,
inter-religious director for the Anti-Defamation League, as saying that the
real issue should not be divestment, but "how to deal with the structural
anti-Semitism that still exists in segments of the church that allows for
divestment and for this de-legitimization of Israel." We’re not sure what
that means, but it seems to be a pretty serious charge. |
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Another supporter of Israel directly criticizes Finkelstein
[6-9-06] Doug,
I was frankly surprised to find a letter from Norman
Finkelstein featured with approval on the Witherspoon Society page.
Finkelstein is a sort of crackpot intellectual, the fact
that some of his ideas are congenial is no excuse for mistaking describing
him as a responsible scholar.
Your headline , "Jewish professor of political science
writes in support of divestment," further misleads in giving the
impression that Finkelstein's opinions are in any sense representative of
the Jewish community. Support for divestment among Jews is extremely low.
Among Jews with an affiliation beyond the mere accident of ancestry, support
for divestment drops to nearly zero.
Your description of Finkelstein as "work(ing) for lasting
peace between the two nations," is extremely odd. To say that someone has
"worked for... peace" applies some positive activity. Finkelstein is a
critic, not a worker. And he is not an evenhanded critic of "the two
nations." He is an angry, intemperate, vicious critic of Israel alone.
Finkelstein is a well known Holocaust minimizer and
anti-Israel propagandist whose writing is popular in neo-Nazi circles. For
those of your members who are not familiar, here are a few, random
Finkelstein quotes:
'I can't imagine why Israel's apologists would be offended
by a comparison to the Gestapo.'
"All opinion-leaders, from the left to the right, are
Jews…"
Finkelstein has made intemperate allegations that
Holocaust survivors are bogus, "I'm not exaggerating when I say that
one out of three Jews you stop in the street in New York will claim to be a
survivor."
"Elie Wiesel [is] resident clown of the Holocaust circus."
According to the highly regarded University of Chicago
historian, Peter Novick,
"No facts alleged by Finkelstein
should be assumed to be really facts, no quotation in his book should be
assumed to be accurate." "(Finkelstein)
displays a paranoid belief in
some sort of global conspiracy of the Jewish elites in the U.S."
While I understand the impulse to advertise the opinions
of your political allies, it really does the Witherspoon Society no credit
to ally itself with a man like Norman Finkelstein.
sincerely yours,
Diana Appelbaum
The author of this note is a member of the Boston Israel
Action Committee, and
has sent comments previously to PresbyWeb. |
| Letter from 12 Jewish
organizations urges commissioners to oppose divestment
[6-9-06]
Another letter has also been sent to commissioners, not by an individual,
but by twelve large Jewish organizations. One friend tells us that this
represents what the "real Jewish community" in the United States feels.
The organizations include the American Jewish Committee,
American Jewish Congress, the Anti-Defamation League, B’nai B’rith
International, and more.
It begins:
Dear Commissioners and Advisors to the 217th General
Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA):
Since your last General Assembly in 2004,
representatives of the Jewish Community have been actively involved with
your church concerning the use of 'phased, selective divestment' as a
means of addressing the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis. These
past two years have seen an animated debate on this critical issue. In
fact, many of the overtures that have been submitted to the 217th General
Assembly concern divestment. Several encourage rescinding this policy,
others seek a change to positive investment in peace and
confidence-building projects, and some call for implementation of the
spirit of the overture presented at your last assembly. As you prepare to
represent yourselves, your presbyteries, your synods and your church, we
would like to reiterate our concerns. We pray that you will understand the
importance of this issue to the Jewish community, and appreciate that we
have faith in our ongoing dialogue. Our hope is that the church avoids a
position that will harm our ongoing relations, harm the very people you
hope to protect, and harm the prospects for a peaceful two-state solution
for the Palestinian and Israeli peoples.
We want to speak specifically to why we feel divestment
and economic actions focused on Israel are wrong. We do so in the spirit
of candid, respectful, and direct dialogue, which we agree must be a
hallmark of our conversations - on even the most contentious issues.
The full
statement >> |
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Some blogs worth visiting |
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Voices of Sophia blog
Heather Reichgott, who has created this new blog
for Voices of Sophia, introduces it:
After fifteen years of scholarship and activism,
Voices of Sophia presents a blog. Here, we present the voices of
feminist theologians of all stripes: scholars, clergy, students,
exiles, missionaries, workers, thinkers, artists, lovers and
devotees, from many parts of the world, all children of the God in
whose image women are made. .... This blog seeks to glorify God
through prayer, work, art, and intellectual reflection. Through
articles and ensuing discussion we hope to become an active and
thoughtful community. |
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Witherspoon’s Facebook page
Mitch Trigger, Witherspoon’s
Secretary/Communicator, has created a Facebook page where
Witherspoon members and others can gather to exchange news and
views. Mitch and a few others have posted bits of news, both
personal and organizational. But there’s room for more!
You can post your own news and views, or initiate
a conversation about a topic of interest to you. |
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John Harris’ Summit to Shore blogspot
Theological and philosophical reflections on
everything between summit to shore, including kayaking, climbing,
religion, spirituality, philosophy, theology, politics, culture,
travel, The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), New York City and the
Queens neighborhood of Ridgewood by a progressive New York City
Presbyterian Pastor. John is a former member of the Witherspoon
board, and is designated pastor of North Presbyterian Church in
Flushing, NY. |
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John
Shuck’s Shuck and Jive
A Presbyterian minister, currently serving as
pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Elizabethton, Tenn., blogs
about spirituality, culture, religion (both organized and
disorganized), life, evolution, literature, Jesus, and lightening
up. |
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Got more blogs to recommend?
Please
send a note, and we'll see what we can do! |
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Plan now for our 2010 Ghost Ranch
Seminar!
GHOST RANCH SEMINAR
July 26-August 1, 2010
WE’RE
ALL IN THIS TOGETHER
CONFRONTING THE STRUCTURES OF INJUSTICE |
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