[Peace-discuss] Fwd: Another letter being circulated to protest Lerner exclusion

[Robert Dunn]

>From: TikkunMail <tikkunmail at tikkun.org>
>To: prorobert8 at hotmail.com
>Subject: Another letter being circulated to protest Lerner exclusion
>Date: Tue, 11 Feb 2003 23:40:02 -0500
>
>We at Tikkun received the following letter from Marc Cooper at
>The Nation magazine. He has taken the lead in organizing
>a public response to the irresponsible actions of those who
>have sought to keep Rabbi Lerner from speaking at the anti-
>war demonstration in SF this weekend.
>**********************************************************************
>
>Dear Friends:
>	 I am enclosing what might be considered the "final" version of the
>  letter to support Michael Lerner. Please feel free to circulate this and
>post this as widely as possible.  A version of this letter can be found
>on Commondreams.org in the News Headllines box.  Other websites
>  are also posting this letter. And we are sending this protest letter to
>the leadership of ANSWER and the other groups sponsoring this
>  weekend's anti-war protests, which we hope will be heavily attended.
>
>	The outpouring of support for this letter has been tremendoius and
>there are scores, or more likely hundreds of names that don't appear
>  here simply because there just wasn't enough humanpower to
>  process them all. That these names were assembled in roughly 24
>  hours demonstrates that this short letter struck a nerve within the
>peace movement. A dozen or so respondents expressed some
>discomfort with the last line of the letter, arguing that it was
>unproductive to make such a blanket condemnation of ANSWER.
>  That is an opinion that merits respect and consideration. On the
>  other hand, so many other respondents expressed real relief having
>  been given the opportunity to speak out publicly against the narrow
>  sectarianism evident in this case -- a sectarianism that degrades and
>  marginalizes our movements. ANSWER is quick to accuse its critics
>  of "red-baiting" but it seems abundantly evident in this case that it is
>ANSWER itself that suppresses the voices of those that dissent from
>  its dogmatic views.
>
>	We who circulated this letter are painfully aware of the perilous
>  moments in which these events unfold. We weighed seriously the
>pros and cons of circulating this letter at this time, knowing very well
>that some will accuse us of  trying to split the anti-war movement. But
>  we believe that the truth always trumps. And the truth in this case is
>  that division within the peace movement is generated primarily by
>those who would wish to harness it to their private, narrow and
>  sectarian agendas.
>
>	Thanks to all who have participated in this effort.
>
>
>
>LET ANTI-WAR RABBI MICHAEL LERNER SPEAK
>
>
>Rabbi Michael Lerner has been banned from speaking at the antiwar
>  rally in San Francisco this Sunday, February 16. One of the rally
>organizers, Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (ANSWER), has
>  stated that it will not allow a "pro-Israel" speaker to take the stage --
>despite the fact that Rabbi Lerner has been an outspoken critic of
>Israeli policy in the occupied territories, has endorsed ANSWER's
>antiwar rallies in the past, has signed the Not in Our Name petition
>against the war, and is widely known to be among the most
>progressive of American rabbis. Other coalitions organizing the rally,
>including Not in Our Name and United for Peace and Justice, have
>acceded to ANSWER's opposition to Lerner, on the grounds that they
>  had previously accepted as a condition for participation in the
>demonstration the agreement that if one of the groups vetoed a
>speaker that all would have to agree.
>
>We, the undersigned, protest ANSWER's refusal to let Rabbi Lerner
>speak at this Sunday's rally. At a time when the antiwar movement
>needs as broad a platform and as broad an appeal as possible,
>ANSWER has chosen instead to put the interests of sectarianism
>  ahead of the interests of all those who oppose this foolish and
>unnecessary war. We believe this is a serious mistake, and that it
>exemplifies ANSWER's unfitness to lead mass mobilizations against
>  war in Iraq.
>
>Partial List of Signers:
>
>
>Greg Goldin, writer
>Robert W. McChesney, writer
>Jack Newfield, writer
>Howard Zinn
>Doug Ireland, writer
>Ariel Dorfman, writer
>Marc Cooper, writer
>Michael Berube, Penn State
>Candace Falk
>Barbara Ehrenreich
>Janine Jaquet, Nation Institute
>John Powers, writer
>Katha Pollitt, writer
>George Regas, Rector Emeritus of All Saints Church, Pasadena CA
>Suzi Weissman, professor
>EricAlterman, writer
>Kateri Butler, writer
>Todd Gitlin, writer
>Herbert J Gans, Columbia University
>Suzy Marks
>Wally Marks
>Jo Ellen Green Kaiser, Tikkun
>Michael Pugliese
>Judy Bertelsen
>Richard Falk
>Paul Buhle
>John Nichols, journalist
>Peter Gray
>Tom Christie, writer
>Eyal Press, writer
>Jon Wiener, historian UCI
>Salam Al-Marayati
>Michael Kazin, Georgetown University
>Kim Chernin
>Linda Gordon
>Rabbi Leonard Beerman
>Maxine Phillips
>Jeffrey Ballinger
>Francis X. Tobin
>Lily Rivlin
>Nelson Lichtenstein
>A. Tom Grunfeld
>Robert Vitalis
>Ruth Indeck
>Laura Tillem
>Mark Levine, UCI
>Shulamith Koenig
>Fred Myers, NYU
>Sylvain Nagler
>Dr. Jeffrey Levine
>Frances Fox Piven
>Christopher Lowe
>Moss Roberts, NYU
>Erik Olin Wright
>Lee Smith, writer
>Michael Balter, writer
>Carl Bromley, Nation Books
>Harold Meyerson, writer
>Stew Albert
>Judy Albert
>Al Wasserman
>Anne Wasserman
>Horace Small, Union of Minority Neighborhoods
>Celeste Fremon, writer
>Matthew Rothschild, Editor, The Progressive
>Stanley Aronowitz
>Isaac Balbus
>David Bensman
>Ken Brociner
>Shirley Bryant
>Chaz Bufe
>Leo Casey
>Bogdan Denitch
>Tom Edminster
>Stuart Elliott
>Irene Theodore Heinstein
>Maurice Isserman
>Peter Kosenko
>Justin Paulson
>Jason Schulman
>Timothy Sears
>Clifford L. Staples
>Luke Weiger
>Arthur Wilke
>Ian Williams
>Ellen Willis
>Adam Shatz, writer
>Emily Jane Goodman
>Sonia Jaffe Robbins
>Phyllis Chesler
>Richard Healey
>Dorothy Healey
>Roy Ulrich, attorney
>Naomi Glauberman, writer
>Judith Long, The Nation
>Maurice Zeitlin, author and professor
>Bruce Shapiro, writer
>Tad Daley, UCLA
>Andrew Gumbel, journalist
>Dr. Aryeh Cohen, University of Judaism, Los Angeles
>Nalini Lasiewicz, Lasiewicz Foundation
>Barbara Osborn, Liberty Hill Foundation
>Fr. Chris Ponnet, Co-Chair Pax Christi USA, Los Angeles Chapter
>Anita Frankel, former Public Affairs Dir. Pacifica Radio
>Roane Carey, The Nation
>Ellen Bollinger, The Nation
>Reverend Ed Bacon, Rector, All Saints Church, Pasadena CA
>Prof. Steve Ross, USC
>Dr. Lawrence Littwin, CSUN
>Kenneth Pomeranz
>Ella Taylor, writer
>Daniel Sokatch, Executive Director, Progressive Jewish Alliance
>Francisco Letelier
>Devra Weber
>Jules Tygiel, SFSU
>Ellen Carol DuBois, UCLA
>Mike Davis, UCI
>Michael Hudson
>Marla Stone, Occidental College
>Terrence McNally
>Vicki Ruiz
>Peter Dreier, Occidental College
>Bobbi Murray, Journalist
>Ginger Varney
>Kevin B. Anderson, Purdue University
>Jody Zonenchin
>Robert H. Silk, Attorney
>Susan T. Silk. PhD, Biochemist
>Frank Smyth, journalist
>Joe Domanick, writer
>Laurie Salen
>Dave Anderson
>Sam Bottone
>David Nasaw, CUNY Grad Center
>Moshe Machover
>Robin Arie-Donch
>Amie Potsic
>Ana Villa-Lobos
>Constance Bernstein
>Gretchen Mackler-Lipow
>Arthur Lipow
>Maggie Helwig, writer
>Rabbi Shaya Isenberg, University of Florida
>Richard H. Schwartz, College of Staten Island
>Marcia Diaz
>Howard A. Rodman
>Rabbi Rachel Cowan, Nathan Cummings Foundation
>Scott Tucker
>Daniel Pope, University of Oregon
>Jordan Elgrably, Open Tent Middle East Coalition
>Don Bustany,  „Middle East in Focus‰ KPFK
>Marge Piercy
>Habiba Alcindor
>Richard Applebaum
>Chester Hartman, Exec. Dir., Poverty & Race Research Action Council.
>Sean Strub, POZ Magazine
>Larry Gross, University of Pennsylvania
>David E. James
>Rita Adessa
>Susan Windle, poet
>Flavia Potena
>Sule Ozler
>Mike Feinstein, Santa Monica City Council
>Paul Isaacs
>Kelly Candaele
>Karen Schanche
>Arlene Stein, Rutgers University
>Sandy Polishuk
>Vicky Loel
>Juan Romano
>Perry Loel
>Susan Katz
>Daniel S. Beagle
>Elaine Fresco
>Ron Sherman
>Zora L. Kolkey, MFT
>Catherine Vibert, producer New Dimensions Radio
>Sally Dinsmore
>Susan Mogul
>Robert A. Rosenstone
>Judith Stacey, USC
>Stephen Holman
>Ellise Holman
>Helen E. Tevlin
>Bernard Rosen
>Jan Lee
>Judith Malamut
>Ruth Elkin
>Alissa Hirshfeld-Flores
>Michael Charlesworth
>Frank Fried
>Mark Cullen
>Claire Kahane, UCB
>Pamela M. Cooke
>Jennifer Kenny, Portland State University
>Rabbi Steven B. Jacobs
>Marjorie Becker, USC
>Hilary McQuie
>Janice Steinberg, author
>Doris Bittar, Artist, Arab-American
>Susan Orlofsky
>Ruth Heifetz UCSD
>Ruth Wallen, artist, Goddard College
>Julie Novkov, University of Oregon
>Lisa Henderson, UMass
>Gene Warren
>Gerald A. Gerash
>Dick Walker
>Sam Fleischacker, VP Chicago Peace Now
>Ben Page
>Sara Halprin
>Alan Horowitz
>Peter Curtis
>John Baumann
>Debbie Goldman
>Jane Garry
>Dan Halpern
>Roy Money
>Jennifer Gwirtz
>Dr. William Barclay
>Ralph Palmer, Keene State College
>George Warburg
>ARON KAY
>E Haberkern, Center for Socialist History
>David Kleiman
>Seth Segall, Ph.D.
>Racheli Gai
>Rev. Natalie Shiras
>Gordon Fellman, Brandeis
>Pam Rosenthal
>Tara Cohen
>Corla Varney
>Jon Snyder
>Dalia Karpel
>Sybil Adelman Sage
>Susan Littwin, writer
>Peter Thacker
>Jim Berger, Hofstra
>Dr. Michele Ritterman
>Larry George
>Ellen Greist
>Aaron rosenfield
>Carmiya Kasse
>Rabbi Aryeh Hirschfield, Portland, OR
>Rachel Goldstein
>Terri Stern
>Andrea Resnick
>Spencer Pack, Connecticut College
>Rachel Antell
>Abby Ginzberg, filmmaker
>Hope Singer, labor lawyer
>Maxine Phillips
>Joel Bellman
>Roger Waldinger, UCLA
>Roger Lowenstein, L.A. Leadership Academy
>Mark Schubb
>Noah Isenberg
>Irena Klepfisz, poet
>Alan Mandell
>David Theo Goldberg, UCI
>Ira Katznelson
>Nick Braden
>Chuck Munson
>Christopher Rhoades Dykema
>Mary Ellen Strote, writer, editor
>Janet Sternberg, author and photographer
>
>
>
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