[Peace-discuss] News from Ann Arbor

[David Green]

Message: 1         
   Date: Tue, 06 Dec 2005 08:18:16 -0500
   From: Henry Herskovitz <hersko at umich.edu>
Subject: Report on Beth Israel vigil 12-03-2005


Dershowitz Protest - Success or Failure?

Some local criticism aside, everybody attending - 25
people plus Baby 
J and Star the Wonder Dog - had positive feelings that
we were not 
letting the powerful Jewish Federation of Washtenaw
get away with 
waltzing Alan Dershowitz into town "unappreciated".
Big thanks go out 
to our friends in Toledo, but where were the student
activists, and 
those from nearby Dearborn? The event produced two Ann
Arbor News 
articles, and Jewish Witnesses for Peace and Friends
was mentioned in 
both. See entire articles below signature, and visit
photographs at 
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~hersko/Photos/ Here's
one ...

[]




After the Protest

Videographer Jon H. went inside the lobby of the
Marriott right after 
the outdoor protest, hoping to film the rest of us as
we entered the 
door. To his surprise, he was confronted with a fairly
belligerent 
'Marriott Director of Catering Sales' Barry Phillips
who employed the 
rule of "no photographs in the lobby", though when
asked, did not 
produce the rule. Compounding this intrusion on our
hotel guests in 
the lobby, Samantha Buescher*, owner of the security
services 
employed by the Marriott, also stipulated an
unsubstantiated rule 
that only four guests could be in the lobby, and that
she was going 
to have her men "clear out the lobby", which they did.
Samantha also 
demanded that our own Marcia F "stop talking to the
children", who 
were providing musical entertainment for Dershowitz's
flock. She then 
had the temerity to tell this writer that she "wasn't
taking sides, 
just doing my job". Right.

After the "Big Event"

This writer was able only to identify two Ann Arbor
City Council 
members - Woods and Lowenstein (though there might
have been others) 
- as they left the conference. As taxpayers in this
town, it is 
painful for JWPF members to see our duly elected
officials helping an 
event that raises money for the State of Israel, which
was founded 
and continues to exist on the subjugation and physical
removal of the 
Palestinian people. We can only hope that our
continued presence will 
bring an awareness to these council members, which
will convince them 
to engage in more just and democratic activities.

Getting Colder

Saturday: 23 degrees and overcast conditions greeted
15 vigillers, a 
number augmented by the brief appearance of three JWPF
members. One 
woman enthusiastically greeted us, held our hands and
said she so 
much appreciated what we were doing. And it was almost
with a tone of 
apology that she explained she was attending Beth
Israel merely to 
celebrate a young friend's Bat Mitzvah. She needed no
explanation - 
JWPF encourages attendance at the synagogue. We have
never attempted 
to deny access, in fact we have always encouraged it.


Reject Israeli Apartheid,
Henry Herskovitz
Jewish Witnesses for Peace and Friends
<http://www.a2vigil.org/>http://www.a2vigil.org

* - Crime Prevention Security
      741 Emerick St.
      Ypsilanti, MI 48198
       734-480-2777



Pickets protest Dershowitz speech

http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-15/1133538021235150.xml?aanews?NEA&coll=2

Interfaith Council asks group to end protests at
synagogue
Friday, December 2, 2005
BY CATHERINE O'DONNELL
News Staff Reporter

The Interfaith Council for Peace & Justice is asking
the group that 
protested legal activist Alan Dershowitz's talk in
Ypsilanti on 
Thursday to cease similar protests it's held at Beth
Israel 
Congregation in Ann Arbor.

Jewish Witnesses for Peace has been outside Beth
Israel during 
Saturday morning services the past two years,
protesting Israel's 
occupation of Palestinian territory. The group's
leader, Henry 
Herskovitz, also is pushing Beth Israel for sit-down
talks about the 
Palestinian occupation.

Outside the Ypsilanti Marriott at Eagle Crest on
Thursday, the group 
carried signs protesting the occupation and accusing
Dershowitz of 
plagiarizing from Joan Peters' book, "From Time
Immemorial: The 
Origins of the Arab-Jewish Conflict Over Palestine."
Security 
officials said about 20 protesters stood outside the
building for 
most of the event.

In an interview before his speech at the Washtenaw
County Jewish 
Federation's fifth annual Main Event, Dershowitz
defended his work, 
saying he cited Peters eight times in his book, "The
Case for 
Israel," and included a footnote distancing himself
from her 
conclusions.

The Interfaith Council, which has 2,500 members mostly
from area 
religious groups, sent a letter to the Jewish
Witnesses on Oct. 27, 
asking the group to stop the protests at Beth Israel.

"This has come to be experienced as harassment by
almost everyone at 
the synagogue, including those who oppose the
occupation," stated the 
letter. "Everyone is focused on the vigils rather than
the occupation."

The letter was signed by the Rev. Joe Summers,
president of the 
council's steering committee. The committee is a panel
of 15 council 
members, about a third of whom are leaders of faith
communities in 
the Ann Arbor area.

Interfaith Council Director Chuck Warpehoski said that
18 months ago, 
Jewish Witnesses asked his group to weigh in on the
Beth Israel 
matter, but formulating a response had taken time.
Warpehoski said he 
understands that the Jewish Witnesses mean well, but
the 
demonstrations are counterproductive.

"When I talk with people of faith, they find it harder
to speak out 
about peace," Warpehoski said. "They're concerned
about the 
Palestinians but don't want to get lumped in with
Henry's group."

Warpehoski also said the council is forming a
multidenomination task 
force to find common ground on the occupation.

The Jewish Witnesses has replied to the council letter
and asked the 
interfaith group to prove its allegations. Herskovitz,
the group's 
leader, said the council has not replied to that
request.

"I see this as a continuation of the power elite
flexing its muscles 
and having various groups respond," Herskovitz said.

Herskovitz also said he and his group will stop what
they call vigils 
if Beth Israel invites them inside the synagogue for
substantive 
discussions on the occupation.

Staff reporter Art Aisner contributed to this report.
Catherine 
O'Donnell can be reached at codonnell at annarbornews.com
or 734-994-6831.




The case for balance in viewing Israel Noted lawyer
presents his 
argument

http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-15/1133538129235150.xml?aanews?NEA&coll=2

Friday, December 2, 2005
BY ART AISNER
News Staff Reporter

Alan Dershowitz has been asked the question so many
times now that he 
laughs when he hears it.

How can one of America's premier legal scholars, who
has focused his 
career on protecting equality and preserving civil
liberties, be a 
vocal advocate for the state of Israel at the same
time?

"The only question I'm asked more is, 'How I could
defend all those 
people,"' the Harvard law professor and author said
with a smile.

But just as he counseled high-profile and seemingly
guilty clients, 
such as O.J. Simpson and Claus Von Bulow, over the
years, Dershowitz 
is unmistakably serious about presenting the case for
a strong and 
thriving Israel.

"What's the conflict?" Dershowitz posed to the more
than 700 people 
in attendance Thursday night at the Jewish Federation
of Washtenaw 
County's fifth annual Main Event. He delivered the
keynote speech.

"I support Israel precisely because I am a civil
libertarian. 
Precisely because I've devoted my life to human rights
and precisely 
because I've always defended the underdog when they've
been wrongly 
accused," he said.

As Dershowitz delivered the keynote speech inside,
about 20 members 
of Jewish Witnesses for Peace carried signs outside
the Ypsilanti 
Marriott at Eagle Crest Marriott protesting Israel's
occupation of 
Palestinian territory. They also accused Dershowitz of
plagiarizing 
from Joan Peters' book, "From Time Immemorial: The
Origins of the 
Arab-Jewish Conflict Over Palestine."

In an interview before his speech, Dershowitz said he
cited Peters 
eight times in his book, "The Case for Israel," and
included a 
footnote distancing himself from her conclusions. "I
will donate 
$1,000 to the Jewish Witnesses if they can identify a
single sentence 
that has been borrowed from Joan Peters without citing
her directly 
or as a secondary source," Dershowitz said.

During his speech, Dershowitz called the protesters
hindrances to 
peace and criticized their ongoing protests outside
Beth Israel 
during Saturday morning services the past two
years."Don't believe 
the people standing outside the (synagogue) in Ann
Arbor," Dershowitz 
said, receiving a round of applause. "They are
literally encouraging 
terrorism by sending a double negative message. The
message to 
Palestinians is: Don't compromise. The message to
Israel is: What 
good does the pain (of concessions) do you? You get no
benefit from 
these radicals who keep criticizing you just as
stridently after you 
make compromises."

One of the protest leaders, Henry Herskovitz of Ann
Arbor, called 
Dershowitz a shill for Israel. Dershowitz said his
defense of Israel 
is based on international law and a historical
narrative that he says 
are increasingly under attack on college campuses and
in communities 
nationwide. He's written several best-selling books on
Middle East 
peace, and he has spoken out on behalf of Israel's
rights of 
self-defense and self-determination on television, in
academic 
debates and speaking tours.

Israel's detractors argue that the creation of the
Jewish state is 
discriminatory and that its government has subjected
Palestinians to 
an oppressive occupation.

Dershowitz said those criticisms come without
acknowledging the 
country's strong record with regard to religious
freedom and the 
rights of women, homosexuals and the physically and
mentally 
disabled. They also ignore a progressive supreme court
that has ruled 
in favor of free speech, dissent and an open political
process while 
repeatedly overruling army and government policies to
the benefit of 
Palestinians.

Dershowitz said those critics have created an
illusionary dilemma for 
liberals that they shouldn't buy into.

Ann Arbor resident Alida Silverman doesn't.

"It used to be, in my parents' generation, that you
supported Israel 
without question on anything," said Silverman, a New
York native who 
moved to Ann Arbor more than 30 years ago.
"Governments come and go 
and each issue is different, but you can support
Israel and their 
right to exist without agreeing with everything they
do."

Dershowitz isn't without criticism for Israel, either.

He said he believes retaining control of cities
heavily populated by 
Palestinians following the 1967 Six Day War was a huge
mistake that 
complicates the conflict today. Also, Jewish
settlements established 
in largely Palestinian-populated regions are not
pragmatic for a 
two-state solution, which he supports.

Although viewed as a hawk by his critics, Dershowitz
said he believes 
in a viable, economically thriving Palestinian state
bordering Israel 
that is based on demographics and negotiations. He
supports 
withdrawal from territories captured in 1967, dividing
Jerusalem 
between the nations and some recognition of
Palestinian refugees. All 
would be considered dovish philosophies in Israel
today, he said.

Ann Arbor resident Aaron Ahuvia, a board member of the
Jewish 
Alliance for Justice and Peace - a national
organization that is 
often critical of the Israeli government but committed
to the 
country's well-being through negotiated peace with
Palestinians - 
said he was pleased to hear Dershowitz's stance on
Jerusalem.

"I'm glad he said it because I think the people in
this room trust 
Alan Dershowitz, and they need to hear it from someone
they trust," 
said Ahuvia, adding that resolving the Jerusalem
question fairly will 
be the key to any viable peace agreement.

Ahuvia, an associate professor of marketing at the
University of 
Michigan-Dearborn, said Dershowitz's speech showed
that he maintains 
many core liberal ideals and supports Israel making
painful 
compromises for peace.

The only significant difference between the arguments
made by 
Dershowitz on Thursday and Ahuvia's organization, he
said, was where 
the blame for past failures lie. Ahuvia said leaders
on both sides 
are responsible for repeated cycles of violence, while
Dershowitz 
views Israel as a flexible, peace-seeking nation and
Palestinians as 
rejectionists.

However, Dershowitz said, new Palestinian leadership
and the birth of 
a potentially powerful centrist party led by Israeli
Prime Minister 
Ariel Sharon can hopefully bring about a "season of
peace" he said.

"I believe the elements are all in place, we must
simply let it 
happen. But it has to be a peace based on pragmatism,
not promises," he 
said.

Art Aisner can be reached at aaisner at annarbornews.com
or (734) 
994-6823.  

[This message contained attachments]



		
__________________________________________ 
Yahoo! DSL – Something to write home about. 
Just $16.99/mo. or less. 
dsl.yahoo.com