Jerry and Dr. Sis Levin graced our vigils last Saturday, and pushed our attendance to eight. These workers for justice are members of the Christian Peacemaker Team, and have spent much time in Hebron. Their stories of mistreatment, including being punched and stoned, by the illegal settlers in the Jewish colonies of Hebron are poignant. In 1984, Jerry was CNN's Beirut bureau chief, when he was kidnapped by Hizbullah fighters and held captive for eleven months. His wife, Sis, was instrumental in helping secure Jerry's release-by-escape. Jerry and Sis co-founded the Community Nonviolence Resource Center in Birmingham and they speak and write frequently about the Jewish state's crimes. They have been long time supporters of our vigils; this marks the second time they have helped us here in Ann Arbor raise awareness about the ethnic cleansing of Palestine. A hastily planned meeting with them and nine members of Jewish Witnesses for Peace and Friends lasted well into the evening. Two days later the couple was off to Chicago to hold similar meetings with activists who, like JWPF members, are willing to differentiate themselves from the liberal left-Zionist "peace" groups like Jewish Voice for Peace.

The differentiation that Jerry spoke of is the realization that the world needs to choose between a Jewish supremacist state in Palestine and peace. Groups like JWPF have realized that for quite some time now, and it is encouraging to have people like Sis and Jerry with us on the side of the Palestinian people. The Palestine Chronicle has published a new piece by Jerry: The implications of Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu's recent unprecendented call for Palestinan recognition of the Jewish State's right to exist . Countering the old saw that "Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East", Jerry writes "... what [that] argument obscures is the demeaning fact that Jewish nationality counts for far more with respect to rights and privileges in the Jewish State than Israeli citizenship. In a nation where there is no constitution and no bill of rights, Jewish majority rule has mandated second class citizenship on Arabs and other nationalities living in their midst while reserving first class rights and perquisites for themselves."

From our "Say it isn't So" department comes this written threat by Elana Wesley on behalf of her husband and fellow-Zionist David: "Since this vitriol (sic) and unjustified attempt to place David's work into total disrepute is still making the rounds, might it be necessary to bring Henry to court for libel?". Since she *demanded* to be removed from our report e-mail list on April 4 (and her demand was immediately granted!), she could be referring to PeaceMonger's blog post " David A. Wesley: Information or Obfuscation"  that we reported on shortly after David's talk at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Ann Arbor. Readers may remember that David never responded to a letter from the Middle East Task Force, which attempted to ascertain his commitment to a Jewish supremacist state in Palestine, and his talk was promoted by the right-Zionist Inter Agency Task Force on Israeli Arab Issues (IATF). The IATF sports blatant racists like Malcolm Hoenlein and Abe Foxman on their Executive Comnmittee.

PeaceMonger was alerted to this legal threat and has now responded with a second post on Dr. Wesley. Here's a quote from that post:

"At one point Wesley addressed the issue of how one identifies the indigenous people of Israeli-occupied Palestine. Wesley said that 'out of convenience, probably' he would refer to them as 'Arabs' instead of Palestinians. This, of course, disregards the evident preference of Palestinian citizens of Israel to identify as Palestinians. But then why should an American-born Jewish Israeli social scientist concern himself with the preferences of Palestinians? ... Wesley described the research behind his book as an 'attempt to uncover' the source of pervasive anti-Palestinian discrimination in Israel. He found it 'puzzling' that the price charged to Palestinians for land in Israel was three-and-one-half times more than the price charged to Jews. 'How could that be?', he wondered. One imagines poor, befuddled Dr. Wesley stumbling around like Mr. Magoo until he suddenly 'discovered [sic] the Zionist discourse in Israel.' Oh, Wesley, you've done it again! "

Following on the heels of PM Netanyahu's arrogant demand that Palestinians recognize Israel's right to exist as a Jewish State, comes this article by Reuters which reports "Israel's parliament gave initial approval on Wednesday to a bill that would make it a crime to publicly deny Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state, punishable by a sentence of up to a year in prison." This is par for the course when it comes to "free speech" in the fictional "only democracy in the Middle East". Curious readers are invited to peruse the web sites of  Adalah and Al Haq for thorough documentation of systemic Israeli human rights abuses.

Like Rabbi Rob Dobrusin, who crystalized for us Beth Israel's pledge to support the Jewish state, now we have the Prime Minister demanding of his slaves that they recognize the master as he wishes to be addressed. He defines the core issue for us: a Jewish supremacist state will, under requisite force, be installed and maintained upon an unwilling and defenseless population. He turns to "peace" groups like Jewish Voice for Peace and says 'What are you going to do about it?'

What, indeed?
 

Zionists Out of the Peace Movement
Henry Herskovitz
Jewish Witnesses for Peace and Friends