[Peace-discuss] Fwd: Protest Banning of Lerner From Anti-War Rally
Robert Dunn
prorobert8 at hotmail.com
Wed Feb 12 15:22:02 CST 2003
>From: TikkunMail <tikkunmail at tikkun.org>
>To: prorobert8 at hotmail.com
>Subject: Protest Banning of Lerner From Anti-War Rally
>Date: Tue, 11 Feb 2003 16:05:42 -0500
>
> Tikkun Mail Feb. 11, 2003
>
> I. Bannng of Lerner--background
> II. Op-ed by Rabbi Lerner
> III. Article from The Nation.com about Banning of Lerner
> IV. Letter Being Circulated Nationally by The Nation
> protesting the banning of Lerner from speaking at the
> anti-war rally.
>
>I. Background Info:
>
>Perhaps you've heard about this--that Rabbi Michael Lerner was
>banned from speaking at a major anti-war demonstration
>scheduled for San Francisco this weekend--because of his
>criticism of the anti-Israel bashing that had occurred at some of
>the previous rallies sponsored by a group called ANSWER.
> We at TIKKUN do not want this incident to undermine our
>commitment to trying to stop Bush's war against Iraq. We are
>urging people to participate in the demonstrations even while
>Lerner has been prevented from speaking. But we are also asking
>people who are concerned about this to contact the leadership of
>one of the other coalitions--United for Peace and Justice
> (that had actually requested that Rabbi
>Lerner speak, but then went along with the ban once ANSWER had
>issued it--because of a previous agreement to let the major sponsors
>have veto power). We question whether it would have happened
>this way had the person being banned by ANSWER been banned
>for criticizing the anti-war movement for not having enough gays,
>women or Blacks. We suspect that a double standard operates
>around issues of anti-Semitism--and that that issue is treated with
>much less seriousness than it deserves in the liberal and progressive
>movements. (We'd strongly urge you to read Rabbi Lerner's book
>on this topic: The Socialism of Fools, anti-Semitism on the Left). So
>we hope that you'll tell the leadership of United for Peace and
>Justice that they should invite Rabbi Lerner to speak the next
>time they have a major rally in Washington D.C. --and give
>him enough time to educate people about the difference between
>a critical perspective on Israel (that we at Tikkun have) and an
>anti-Semitic perspective (one that singles out Israel, never
>mentions the violence of terrorists against Israeli civilians, never
>mentions the people who have been calling for the destruction of
>the State of Israel, never mentions that Israel's human rights abuses
>pale in comparison to those of Saddam Hussein both in regard to
>his own population and in regard to Kurds, and instead seems to
>suggest that Israel is not only doing something immoral (a point we
>ourselves make all the time) but something that deserves more
>attention than all the other outrages in the world and is presented
>as worse when it certainly is not.
> We are including here a letter that is being circulated by
>people from The Nation magazine critiquing Lerner's exclusion. You
>can contact the leadership of UPJ to urge them to be sure to
>include Rabbi Lerner at future national rallies.
> Of course, the best way to show solidarity to Rabbi Lerner
>is to JOIN the Tikkun Community at www.tikkun.org and come to the
>national conference and Teach-In To Congress in Washington DC
>June 1-4, 2003. It's not too late to start planning to be there--now.More
>info at www.tikkun.org or through marisa at tikkun.org
>**********************************************************************
> *****************************************************************
>
>II. Op-ed
>
>Fighting on Two Fronts: Against the War with Iraq and Against
> Anti-Semitism in the Anti-war Movement
> by Rabbi Michael Lerner
> Editor, Tikkun magazine
>
> Imagine my surprise when I learned that I had been banned from
> speaking at the peace rally in San Francisco, February 16th. As
> co-chair of the TIKKUN COMMUNITY, an interfaith organization
>of people committed to a world of love, generosity, kindness, peace and
>social justice, as well as editor of TIKKUN magazine, the largest
> circulation liberal Jewish
> magazine in the world, I have critiqued the proposed war in Iraq,
>even though I have also unequivocally condemned Saddam
> Hussein’s brutality and called for the world community to bring him
> to justice for crimes against humanity. Yet, we at TIKKUN do not
> believe this war will bring democracy to the Middle East, and is
>more likely to increase the threats of terrorism to American citizens
>as well as to provide a slippery slope encouraging American
> fantasies of world economic and political domination and the
>likelihood of yet more wars. The likely killing of thousands and the
> wounding and maiming of tens of thousands of innocent Iraqi
> civilians may well be hidden from view by an American media
>which is consistently obsequious to power, but it will be a war crime
> unrivaled since our war against the Vietnamese people.
> So what had been my sin that led to my being blackballed?
> I had been publicly critical of the way that A.N.S.W.E.R., one of the
>four groups sponsoring the S.F. demonstration,, has used the
>anti-war demonstrations to put forward anti-Israel propaganda. An
> A.N.S.W.E.R. spokesperson, speaking on the Brian
>Lehrer show on WNYC, said that they would not agree to have
> a "pro-Israel" speaker at their rally. The other groups have said they
> disagree with A.N.S.W.E.R. but will honor an agreement to let each
> group reject any speaker who has publicly criticized any of these
>co-sponsoring groups. Yet it is inconceivable that these anti-war
>coalitions would allow A.N.S.W.E.R. to ban a speaker had that
>speaker’s crime been to critique A.N.S.W.E.R. on the grounds of
> racism, sexism or homophobia. Why should anti-Semitism be
>treated differently?
> It is offensive and outrageous that those of us who wish to
> protest against what we see as a fundamentally unjust war must be
> subjected to a barrage of slogans and speeches that are
> one-sidedly hostile to Israel, as though our opposition to war had
> suddenly made us champions of Palestinian groups which use
> terror and violence against Israeli civilians. There is a huge
> difference between critical of Ariel Sharon’s repressive treatment of
>the Palestinian people and not accepting the fundamental legitimacy
>of Israel’s existence. For years, this line has been blurred by
> right-wingers in the Jewish world who like to claim that those of us\
> who want democratic rights for Palestinians must be “self-hating
>Jews’ or anti-Semites. Now, a leftist group that managed to dominate
> A.N.S.W.E.R. was using our anti-war movement to blur the
>distinction in the opposite way, insisting that if we support human
> rights we must therefore uncritically support the violence of some
>Palestinian “freedom fighters” who have made no secret of their
>desire too overthrow the Zionist enterprise.
>
> That’s why we recently created a new national organization,
> The TIKKUN COMMUNITY, supporting a “progressive middle path”
>that is both pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian. We call for an end to the
> Occupation, the creation of a Palestinian state, and reparations for
>Palestinian refugees—but also calls for reparations for Jews who
> fled Arab states and for admission of Israel into NATO or some
> other equally powerful military alliance to give Israel genuine
> security. Our point: the well being of both Israelis and Palestinians
>depends on the well-being of the “other” side. No peace will work
> which is not based on a spirit of genuine reconciliation, generosity
> and open-heartedness for both sides.
>It is this kind of balance which has been absent, both from the
>Jewish establishment, and now, in the opposite way, from a central
>part of the anti-war movement.
>
>. What has been most painful is to watch other anti-war groups
> make unprincipled compromises with A.N.S.W.E.R.—insisting that
> they would allow a pro-Israel speaker as long as that speaker
>doesn’t publicly offend A.N.S.W.E.R. by critiquing the anti-Semitic
> logic that has allowed that anti-war group to support
> self-determination for every group in the world except the Jewish
> people. Fellow progressive Jews, some anxious to speak at these
>rallies, have cautioned me to not raise the issue of anti-Semitism in
>the Left—after all, stopping the war against Iraq is so much more
>important.
> But why should we have to choose? TIKKUN will be bringing
>thousands of our supporters to the demonstration—because we will
> not let this war be carried out in our names. Like many who fought
>against sexism and homophobia that once predominated in the Left
>till they were publicly challenged, we will simultaneously be saying
>no to a war with Iraq and challenging the anti-Semitism and Israel
>bashing in the Left, just as we challenge the morally blind adherents
> to Ariel Sharon’s policies in the American Jewish world.
> Our most effective way to do this is to communicate our message
>directly to the media and the political leadership of the country. That's
>why we are urging you to come to Washington DC on June 1-4--to
>present a new "progressive Middle path" on Israel/Palestine and on
>Iraq, a path that is at once practical and visionary, a path that insists
>that we stop the blame game, recognize that responsiblity and
>culpability lies on all sides, and now move forward to the substance
>of actually building a path to peace that could work. Since that
>voice is not going to be heard at the anti-war rally, please make it
>heard in Washington DC June 1-4 (registration information at
>www.tikkun.org).
>
>Michael Lerner is editor of Tikkun: A Bimonthly Jewish Critique of
>Politics, Culture and Soceity, author of Healing Israel/Palestine
> (available from TIKKUN Books at 415 575 1200) and rabbi of
>Beyt Tikkun synagogue in San Francisco. www.tikkun.org
> rabbilerner at tikkun.org
>
>***********************************************************************
> III. From: The Nation, February 11, 2003
>
>War looms. Troops are moving into place. Administration officials
> refuse to discuss alternatives. And everyday George W. Bush has
>some new rhetorical device to turn up the heat. The game is over.
> The game is really over. I mean it: the game is really, really over.
>Americans opposed to (or skeptical about) this war are desperately
>trying to mount preemptive protests, as conquest--bombing,
> invasion\ and occupation--nears. Antiwar actions have been
>organized for the weekend of February 15 and 16, to coincide with
>protests around the world. In the United States, the main events will
>be demonstrations held in New York and San Francisco. This could
>be the last chance the antiwar warriors have before the cruise
>missiles fly. Yet the peaceniks pulling together the San Francisco
> march and rally may have tainted their efforts by allowing the
> banning of Rabbi Michael Lerner as a speaker.
>
>Lerner is the progressive Jew. He edits Tikkun, a magazine mostly
>written by lefty Jews. (Its name is Hebrew for "to mend, repair and
> transform the world.") He can be counted on to sign on to most
>liberal causes. He is a signatory to the Not In Our Name antiwar
> pledge. His Tikkun Community is a member of the United for
> Peace & Justice coalition that opposes a U.S. war against Iraq.
> (Other members include the American Friends Service Committee,
> Global Exchange, Greenpeace, TransAfrica, Working Assets.) He
>has been a leading Jewish voice against the hawks of Israel and a
>supporter of Palestinian rights, while calling himself a Zionist.
>
>So it was natural that his name was floated as a speaker for the
> protest. Not In Our Name and United for Peace & Justice were two
>of the four coalitions behind the event. (According to Lerner, he did
>not ask to address the San Francisco rally. "You can't say much in
> three minutes," he notes.) But International ANSWER, another of
>the organizers, said no.
>
>Lerner's crime: he had dared to criticize ANSWER, an outfit run by
> members of the Workers World Party, for using antiwar
>demonstrations to put forward what he considers to be anti-Israel
> propaganda. That ANSWER objected to Lerner is not surprising.
>The WWPers in control of ANSWER are socialists who call for the
> revolutionary overthrow of capitalism, who support Slobodan
> Milosevic and Kim Jong Il, who oppose UN inspections in Iraq
>(claiming they are part of the planning for an invasion aimed at
>gaining control of Iraq's oil fields), and who urge smashing Zionism.
> Last month, referring to an upcoming ANSWER demonstration,
>Lerner wrote, "In my view, the organizers of this demonstration have
>allowed far too many speakers who believe that this war is being
>done because Israel wants the war, far too few who share my view
>that this war is not in the best interests of either Israel or of the
>United States." Yet Lerner didn't let his differences with ANSWER
>trump his opposition to the war; he encouraged people to attend the
>rally. After that protest, he told The New York Times, "There are
>good reasons to oppose the war and Saddam. Still, it feels that we
>are being manipulated when subjected to mindless speeches and
> slogans whose knee-jerk anti-imperialism rarely articulates the
> deep reasons we should oppose corporate globalization."
>
>ANSWER's nyet doesn't irk Lerner as much as the fact that Not In
>Our Name and United for Peace & Justice acquiesced. Before
> Lerner had been suggested as a speaker, the coalitions
> engineering the San Francisco event had agreed that any
>individual who had publicly disparaged one of the organizing
>groups could be vetoed as a speaker by that group. ANSWER used
>this right to banish Lerner. (The rabbi maintains he had no intention
> of using his podium time to slam ANSWER: "Why waste my three
> minutes on ANSWER?") Other organizers of the San Francisco
> event argued against ANSWER's thumb's-down but ended up
> abiding by the agreement. (ANSWER has not been involved in the
> organizing of the coming New York City protest.)
>
>
>ANSWER could cite Lerner's criticism of ANSWER as a reason for
> blocking him. But its objection to Lerner also jibes with the group's
> political agenda. On January 28, Tony Murphy, the media
> coordinator for ANSWER, appeared on a radio show in New York
> and said, "I know that the ANSWER coalition would not have a
>pro-Israel speaker on its platform." (Lerner is pro-Israel in that he
> supports the existence of the Jewish state.) ANSWER's anti-Israel
> stance has also been reflected in its relationship with at least one
> troubling anti-Zionist. At its January march in Washington, ANSWER
> handed a microphone to Abdul Malim Musa, a Muslim cleric. On
> October 31, 2001, Musa had appeared at a news conference at the
> National Press Club with other Muslim activists and members of the
> New Black Panther Party, where speakers asserted that Israel had
>launched the 9/11 attacks and that thousands of Jews had been
>warned that day not to go to work at the World Trade Center. At that
>press conference, Musa blasted the "Zionists in Hollywood, the
> Zionists in New York, and the Zionists in D.C." who "all collaborate"
> to put down blacks and Muslims. ANSWER has room in its antiwar
>coalition for Musa, but not Lerner.
>
>On Monday, Lerner disseminated an email reporting he had been
> banned. And Beyt Tikkun synagogue, where Lerner serves as a
>rabbi, released a statement saying, "we do not believe that had
> ANSWER been criticized by a major feminist or gay leader and then
> vetoed that leader to speak at a demonstration that the other
> coalition partners would go along with that. So why should criticism
>of anti-Semitism and Israel-bashing be treated differently?....So why
> should our voice of critique of ANSWER's anti-Israel policy serve
>as justification for excluding our rabbi from speaking?"
>
>ANSWER did not return my call seeking comment. Which isn't a
> shock. I've written critically about their role in the antiwar movement,
>and their folks, in return, have assailed me. I also tried reaching
> Andrea Buffa, the San Francisco-based co-chair of United for
>Peace & Justice, and didn't hear back. Ditto for the San Francisco
> office of Not In Our Name.
>"This is about the suppressing of dissent among the dissenters,"
>Lerner asserts. "My progressive Jewish allies said, 'Don't raise this
>issue, it's more important to stick to the struggle against the war.' But
> in my view, we should be able to critique the war and this section of
>the antiwar movement, just as did the women who fought against
>sexism in the antiwar movement in the 1960s. I don't accept an
> either/or."
>
>Some peace activists in San Francisco were dismayed that Lerner
> took the dispute public. "What Michael did doesn't help," one says.
> But Lerner was more of a mensch than the people of ANSWER.
>Even after being blackballed, he has been advising people to attend
>the protest. "I don't want to boycott the demonstration," he says. "It's
>extremely important for progressive Jews to be standing up and
> critiquing the war, particularly when so many in the Jewish world
> are supporting it. We'll be part of the event, no matter what they do
>to me."
>
>Perhaps he should have stayed silent for the good of the cause?
>Who needs such tsuris right before an important protest? But Lerner
> was not the source of the problem; ANSWER was. This distracting
>episode shows what can happen when sincere do-gooders enter
>into deals with the ANSWER gang. If the reasonable and responsible
> foes of war are fortunate enough to have further opportunity to rally
> opposition to the conflict before it occurs, they ought to reconsider
> their alliance with the censors of ANSWER.
>***********************************************************************
>
>IV. Letter Being Circulated. Please sign and send it to
>United For Peace and Justice and to Tikkun
>
>Rabbi Michael Lerner has been banned from speaking at the
>antiwar rally in San Francisco this Sunday, February 15. 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. We believe that future anti-war demonstrations
>should do all they can to include Rabbi Lerner and others from
>the Tikkun Community and other progressive peace groups
>(inlcuding Peace Now, Shalom Center, Gush Shalom, Rabbis for
>Human Rights) which support the pro-Israel, pro-Palestine view
> that TIKKUN espouses.
>
>
>(Sign here and give your email)
>
>
>Email this to the leadership of United for Peace Justice:
>llesliecagan at igc.org PO BOX 607, Times Square Station,
>NY NY 10108
>Andrea Buffa andrealbuffa at yahoo.com 415-255-7296
>
>and to
>
>Judy Tergis, Tikkun Magazine 2107 Van Ness Ave, Suite 302,
>S.F. 94109
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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