The Republican Jewish Coalition has had it with people criticizing Israel about Gaza. That is the gist of the RJC's latest partisan, grand-standing screed, published today in the Jerusalem Post, opposite an op-ed
by myself and my J Street colleague Hadar Susskind.
As the RJC makes clear in the piece, it is especially frustrated with the 54 members of Congress who signed a letter to President Obama expressing concern about the humanitarian suffering in Gaza. The RJC wants the world to know that everything -- yes, everything -- Israel does with respect to Gaza reflects bona fide Israeli security needs, and that any resulting suffering is 100% the fault of the Palestinians for making bad choices. And the RJC is putting these members of Congress - and everyone else - on notice that suggesting otherwise is no less than anti-Israel calumny. (The RJC is so excited about taking on APN and J Street over the Gaza letter that today it sent out a fund-raising email highlighting the JPost articles.)
The RJC's logic is the latest example of the kind of tactics Hadar and I are talking about in our article: "No American - Jewish, Muslim or Christian, Democrat or Republican - who recognizes the security benefit to Israel in ending rather than enabling Hamas' monopoly over basic goods in Gaza, who sees that furthering a humanitarian crisis does not equate to fighting terrorism, and who cares for the future of children in the Middle East, Israeli and Palestinian, should let anyone use fear and smear tactics for their own partisan benefit."
And as Hadar and I point out: "There are real threats to Israel. There really are people out there who don't support Israel as a Jewish democratic homeland. We don't need to invent opposition to Israel and we certainly don't need to push people who are supportive of Israel away from us by calling them 'anti-Israel' every time someone expresses either concern for Palestinians or opposition to a particular Israeli government position."
Shame on the RJC for this further shameless partisan grandstanding at the expense of Israel.
As the RJC makes clear in the piece, it is especially frustrated with the 54 members of Congress who signed a letter to President Obama expressing concern about the humanitarian suffering in Gaza. The RJC wants the world to know that everything -- yes, everything -- Israel does with respect to Gaza reflects bona fide Israeli security needs, and that any resulting suffering is 100% the fault of the Palestinians for making bad choices. And the RJC is putting these members of Congress - and everyone else - on notice that suggesting otherwise is no less than anti-Israel calumny. (The RJC is so excited about taking on APN and J Street over the Gaza letter that today it sent out a fund-raising email highlighting the JPost articles.)
The RJC's logic is the latest example of the kind of tactics Hadar and I are talking about in our article: "No American - Jewish, Muslim or Christian, Democrat or Republican - who recognizes the security benefit to Israel in ending rather than enabling Hamas' monopoly over basic goods in Gaza, who sees that furthering a humanitarian crisis does not equate to fighting terrorism, and who cares for the future of children in the Middle East, Israeli and Palestinian, should let anyone use fear and smear tactics for their own partisan benefit."
And as Hadar and I point out: "There are real threats to Israel. There really are people out there who don't support Israel as a Jewish democratic homeland. We don't need to invent opposition to Israel and we certainly don't need to push people who are supportive of Israel away from us by calling them 'anti-Israel' every time someone expresses either concern for Palestinians or opposition to a particular Israeli government position."
Shame on the RJC for this further shameless partisan grandstanding at the expense of Israel.
The RJC's campaign against the Gaza letter is receiving support from, of all groups, the Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC). That would be the same SWC that has gotten a lot attention in recent months (and years) over
its bizarre determination to build a museum of "tolerance" on the site
of an historic Muslim cemetery in Jerusalem. Now the SWC has done it
again, sending a castigating letter to each of the 54 House members who signed the letter (and issuing a crowing press release).
The SWC's Associate Dean, Rabbi Abraham Cooper -- who saw the situation for himself at the Israel-Gaza border during a 3-hour visit on January 21st -- writes to these members of Congress to let them know that they are getting the facts wrong. The facts, as seen by Rabbi Cooper, are as follows:
Point 1: Things are going great in the West Bank.
Point 2: The situation in Gaza today (see points 3-4 for evidence that the situation is actually not as bad as you apparently have been led to believe) is 100% the responsibility of Hamas, not Israel.
Point 3: The situation in Gaza isn't actually that bad because Israel is making sure that plenty of aid (including bottled water!) is getting through; because Israel has established procedures for people and goods to get out of Gaza; and because nobody in Gaza is actively starving to death. And if you want further evidence of all of this, Rabbi Cooper has thoughtfully included a government of Israel-provided list of all the nice things it is doing for Gaza.
Point 4: There is no blockade of Gaza (see point 3 for proof), so people should stop saying there is one.
A depressing -- and sadly unsurprising -- display of the total absence of compassion or tolerance that we are coming to expect from an organization that claims to be dedicated to (among other things), "promoting human rights and dignity."
The SWC's Associate Dean, Rabbi Abraham Cooper -- who saw the situation for himself at the Israel-Gaza border during a 3-hour visit on January 21st -- writes to these members of Congress to let them know that they are getting the facts wrong. The facts, as seen by Rabbi Cooper, are as follows:
Point 1: Things are going great in the West Bank.
Point 2: The situation in Gaza today (see points 3-4 for evidence that the situation is actually not as bad as you apparently have been led to believe) is 100% the responsibility of Hamas, not Israel.
Point 3: The situation in Gaza isn't actually that bad because Israel is making sure that plenty of aid (including bottled water!) is getting through; because Israel has established procedures for people and goods to get out of Gaza; and because nobody in Gaza is actively starving to death. And if you want further evidence of all of this, Rabbi Cooper has thoughtfully included a government of Israel-provided list of all the nice things it is doing for Gaza.
Point 4: There is no blockade of Gaza (see point 3 for proof), so people should stop saying there is one.
A depressing -- and sadly unsurprising -- display of the total absence of compassion or tolerance that we are coming to expect from an organization that claims to be dedicated to (among other things), "promoting human rights and dignity."
Email a friend
twitter
facebook
feed
Leave a comment