Table Of Contents:
Has Black Lives Matter Alienated Pro-Israel Voices?: Seth J. Frantzman, Jerusalem Post, June 7, 2020
The LA Pogrom That NO Jewish Organization will Talk About: Daniel Greenberg, Jewish Press, June 9, 2020
From Left to Right, Jewish Groups Condemn ‘Repellent’ Black Lives Matter Claim of Israeli ‘Genocide’: Yair Rosenberg, Tablet, Aug. 1, 2016
Violence Threatens Black Lives: Nestride Yumga, WSJ, June 8, 2020
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Has Black Lives Matter Alienated Pro-Israel Voices?
Seth J. Frantzman
Jerusalem Post, June 7, 2020
The massive protests in the US have sought to confront police brutality and have tapped into growing anger among many young people over a variety of issues. In many ways the mass protests are unprecedented, as is the crackdown.
However, like many protests there are always attempts to hijack the original agenda and steer it in a new direction. In the US this sometimes intersects with groups that embrace a radical anti-Israel dogma while trying to connect it to a “Black Lives Matter” slogan.
The issues here once again put Jews in the crosshairs. After years of rising antisemitism there has been an increasing crescendo of voices attacked Jews as “white Jews” or attacking Israel as somehow responsible for the racial problems in the US. This is part of the usual social media-driven conspiracies that often try to shift issues to be about Israel and Jews, regardless of whether the debate is about Israel.
It is important here to separate out the dogmatic aspect of those hard core official Black Lives Matter activists who may be anti-Israel, and the vast majority of people who say “black lives matter.”
What is essentially a local American issue, the abuse of black men by police departments, has become global and some want it to intersect with issues in Israel. For instance the killing of a Palestinian man by Israeli police has been seen by some as similar.
In addition pro-Palestinian activists have pushed campaigns on social media to claim Israel “trains” US police. This flips logic on its head because the history of US racism and segregation is deeply rooted in US history and pre-dates Israel. Zionism and pro-Israel voices historically were linked to civil rights groups in the US, not white supremacy. However in recent years there has been an attempt to hijack the civil rights discourse and portray Israel as a “settler” state linked to “white supremacy.”
Now that Black Lives Matter is once against in the media the question is whether the protests in the US alienate pro-Israel voices because they are assumed to be linked to radical left politics, which has become increasingly hostile to Israel.
That hostility is clear when voices such as Marc Lamonte Hill retweet a Ben and Jerry’s tweet supporting the protests with the comment “we dealing with justice in illegal settlements too or nah?”
There are several related threads that intersect with the protest movement and make it difficult for some pro-Israel voices to connect with the protest while fearing that antisemitism may be lurking within it. For instance, Ice Cube tweeted a meme that shows people of color being suppressed by elderly white men who could be construed as Jewish characters, which some found antisemitic. . … [To read the full article, please click the following LINK – Ed.]
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The LA Pogrom That NO Jewish Organization Will Talk About
Daniel Greenberg
Jewish Press, June 9, 2020
After the end of Shavuot, the holiday in which Jewish people joyfully commemorate the giving of the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai, the Jewish community of Los Angeles concluded it by the new ritual of going to clean off the hateful graffiti from their houses of worship while picking up the broken glass from the black nationalist and radical leftist night of broken glass in Los Angeles.
One small business owner described a “late Saturday night with people driving down the Fairfax district streets screaming, ‘effing Jews’”.
At the latest count, at least 5 synagogues in the area were vandalized, as were three Jewish schools.
One would think that the hateful vandalism of 8 Jewish institutions and a mob screaming slurs after trashing Jewish businesses would lead to some sort of meaningful response. But that would be the optimistic perspective of people who haven’t experienced the unmitigated level of cowardice and appeasement that comprises Jewish institutional life at virtually every level.
In June, my inbox has been littered with missives from assorted Jewish organizations, institutions, and even, shamefully, synagogues, some good and some bad, wringing their hands over George Floyd’s death, and timidly condemning violent responses, while failing to mention the racist attacks on Jewish businesses and institutions by supporters of the anti-Semitic Black Lives Matter group.
While a few national organizations condemned the “F___ Israel” and “Free Palestine” graffiti on one synagogue, that has been the extent of it. Not only the Reform and Conservative movements, but the Modern Orthodox movements have largely remained silent about the defacement of synagogues and the destruction of Jewish businesses. The OU press office put out a release which mentions racism four times and the vandalized synagogues and businesses not at all.
The Rabbinical Council of America put out a press release describing Floyd’s death as a “murder” while claiming to “stand together with all who fight racism, bigotry and hatred.” Perhaps the RCA could also take a minute to stand with their Jewish brethren.
Major synagogues in the Los Angeles area have piously condemned racism, but not the hatred that defaced synagogues and schools. Many of those synagogues belonged to people from outside their community, but their solidarity, which reaches to a dead ex-con in Minneapolis, can’t seem to stretch far enough to touch the Moroccan and Haredi Jews who suffered in the riots.
Generic condemnations of violence are not enough. Not only have Jewish organizations failed to call out the anti-Semitism of Black Lives Matter, they’ve effectively jumped on to its hateful cause. And they have maintained a hushed silence about the devastation wreaked on the Jewish community. … [To read the full article, click the following LINK – Ed.]
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From Left to Right, Jewish Groups Condemn ‘Repellent’ Black Lives Matter Claim of Israeli ‘Genocide’
Yair Rosenberg
Tablet, Aug. 1, 2016
On Monday, an alliance of groups affiliated with the Black Lives Matter movement unveiled their first official platform. The 40,000-word manifesto contained many recommendations, including concrete policy proposals, for rectifying the wrongs perpetrated against America’s African-American citizens in the past and present. Unfortunately, the platform also contained a vicious bigoted slur against the Jewish state, which the document’s foreign policy section accused of perpetrating “genocide” against Palestinians. (The platform also labeled Israel an “apartheid state” and joined with the BDS movement in calling for the total academic, cultural, and economic boycott of the country—a demand made for no other state.)
Needless to say, this did not go over well with Jewish groups—including some of Black Lives Matter’s hitherto staunch progressive allies. The rabbinic human rights organization T’ruah, which previously distributed original prayers for Black Lives Matter, and has run anti-occupation educational trips to Israel and the Palestinian territories for years, released a measured yet pointed response:
While we agree with many of the policy recommendations [of Black Lives Matter], we are extremely dismayed at the decision to refer to the Israeli occupation as genocide. We are committed to ending the occupation, which leads to daily human rights violations against Palestinians, and also compromises the safety of Israelis. Our work aims to build a just and secure future for both Israelis and Palestinians, both of whom deserve the same human rights protections as all people.
However, the military occupation does not rise to the level of genocide—a term defined as “the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.” While we agree that the occupation violates the human rights of Palestinians, and has caused too many deaths, the Israeli government is not carrying out a plan intended to wipe out the Palestinians. There is no basis for comparing this situation to the genocides of the 20th century, such as those in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Rwanda, or Armenia, or the Nazi Holocaust in Europe, each of which constituted a calculated plan to destroy specific groups, and each of which killed hundreds of thousands to millions of people. The Black Lives Matter platform also does not address the use of violence by some Palestinians, including the rocket attacks against civilians that Human Rights Watch has classified as a war crime. One can vigorously oppose occupation without resorting to terms such as “genocide,” and without ignoring the human rights violations of terrorist groups such as Hamas.
Jonathan Greenblatt, the executive director of the Anti-Defamation League, which has crafted and introduced Black Lives Matter lesson plans into local school curricula, labeled the genocide slur “repellent”:
ADL’s longtime dedication to fighting bigotry in all forms includes building a just society where fair and equal treatment is guaranteed for all. Along with coalition partners, we are tackling critical civil rights issues such as ending racial profiling, addressing educational equity and economic inequalities, disrupting the school-to-prison pipeline and reforming our criminal justice system… {To read the full article, click the following LINK – Ed.]
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Violence Threatens Black Lives
Nestride Yumga
WSJ, June 8, 2020
If the only black lives that matter to the Black Lives Matter movement are those taken by rogue police officers, then let it be clear: Not all black lives matter to them.
It tears my soul as an African-American resident of Washington that 30 young black men and women in the District of Columbia lost their lives to violent crime in the first three months of 2020. The police didn’t kill them, but that doesn’t mean their lives mattered less.
America has a major problem called violence. The high crime rates in African-American communities demand more social activism and economic initiatives in recognition of the value of all black lives. But the Black Lives Matter movement throws racial antagonism into this equation to create an even bigger problem by turning Americans against each other, tearing down our cities, and bringing shame and disgrace to our great country.
They don’t organize nationwide protests for other issues that seriously affect our communities. They don’t protest the police department for letting homicides go unsolved. They don’t protest Congress or the Federal Reserve for access to capital. They don’t protest the school system for failing African-American children.
African-Americans need messages of hope and motivation more than ever. Pity is patronizing. This movement’s agenda is to make sure we feel oppressed and depressed, so that we hate ourselves more and despise our fellow Americans.
The person who makes you believe you’re oppressed also limits how far you can go. If African-Americans are oppressed, it is by the people who tell us we are, and who will do their best to shut us down when we try to scream “We are not oppressed!”
I am not oppressed. I am free. I am blessed to follow in the footsteps of great black American women such as Harriet Tubman, Cathy Hughes and Sheila Johnson.
Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X never allowed us the luxury of victimhood. They taught that the struggle for constitutional rights must be waged every day. If rights are not for all Americans, then they are for none.
We need successful African-American brothers and sisters—many of whom were born into impoverished and violent inner-city America—to become some of the world’s most powerful voices. Their lives prove that as African-Americans in a country of opportunity, we all can achieve our dreams and won’t let anyone tell us otherwise. We need them to speak out against the horrible bigotry of low expectations perpetuated by Black Lives Matter and its “white guilt” leftist backers.
Black Lives Matter and its supporters don’t represent all black Americans. They don’t represent our communities, they don’t speak for us, they don’t act in our best interests, and they don’t care about our prosperity. The overwhelming majority of black Americans are for peaceful, effective protests, like those led by Martin Luther King, and for real reforms that help us prosper and be free. … [To read the full article, click the following LINK – Ed.]
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For Further Reference:
Jeff Bezos Says ‘Happy to Lose Customers Like You’; Defends Amazon’s Stance on ‘Black Lives Matter’: Financial Express, June 9, 2020 –– Amazon founder Jeff Bezos recently snubbed a customer in not-so-subtle ways when the latter announced that he won’t order from the e-commerce platform due to Jeff Bezos’ stance on the widespread anti-racism movement.
Groups on Far-Left, Far-Right Co-Opt Black Lives Matter Movement to Target Israel: Sean Savage, JNS, June 9, 2020 — Groups on the far-right and far-left, including pro-Palestinian organizations with links to terrorism, have been engaged in a campaign to co-opt the Black Lives Matter movement to target and delegitimize Israel.
Tucker: Black Lives Matter is Now a Political Party: Tucker Carlson, Fox News, YouTube, June 8, 2020 — And it may be the strongest political party in the United States.
Black Lives Matter Co-Founder Calls for Defunding of Police Departments: Rebekah Sager, Hollywood Report, June 2, 2020 — Patrisse Cullors, co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement, is not merely an activist — she’s a modern-day abolitionist. And as protests over racism, inequality and police brutality have exploded worldwide, Cullors says the answer does not lie in holding police accountable with better training and body cameras.
Watch: Horace Cooper: Democrats and The “Problem-Solving Class” Have Failed Black America: Tucker Carlson Tonight, RealClearPolitcs, June 10, 2020 — Writer and legal commentator Horace Cooper told “Tucker Carlson Tonight” Tuesday that the so-called “problem-solving class” has done nothing to help Americans.
