Brit Sheker
In looking over the official website of Brit Tzedek v’Shalom, I have come to a conclusion: This organization is misleading.
This may seem harsh at first. Let’s break it down.
- A Google search for the word “Israel” on the BTVS website yields “about 15,100” results.
- A Google search for the word “Palestinian” yields “about 12,700” results.
- A Google search for the word “Terrorism” yields “about 351” results.
- Google searches for the words “Zion“, “Zionism” and “Zionist” yield about 389 results combined.
How can I be so harsh as to judge by the numbers like that? The answer is simple. In an age and climate where even the term “Palestinian Territories” has become loaded, the very act of making mention matters. For an organization that translates it’s own name as “The Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace”, they seem to have forgotten that one crucial part of being Jewish, Zionism.
Instead of dealing with the issues, such as why the American Jews they seek to mobilize are still calling Israel after bombing to make sure none of their friends or family are hurt, BTVS has chosen to skirt the issue and pay more attention to the pieces of Israeli governmental policy that make them non-neutral than the murder of Jews in the holy land. The page which supposedly contains the political positions of BTVS, entitled “Where We Stand”, doesn’t even go so far as to mention terrorism, let alone condemn it.
If BTVS is about peace, then why would one of their action alerts instruct members to thank their senators for voting against a foreign aid bill that contained the following text:
(Sec. 1032) Provides that any assistance to the Palestinian Authority (PA) may only be provided when the President certifies to Congress that: (1) providing direct assistance to the PA is important to U.S. security interests; and (2) the PA has made demonstrable progress in combating terrorism and dismantling terror networks and cooperating with Israel’s security services, eliminating anti-Israel incitement, and has taken steps to ensure democracy and financial transparency.
………..
(Sec. 1415) Condemns and enumerates the attacks on U.S. citizens by Palestinian terrorists and demands that the PA work with Israel to protect all innocent individuals, regardless of citizenship, from terrorist atrocities. Offers congressional condolences to the families of U.S. citizens killed by Palestinian terrorist attacks.
How is this a bad thing? The action alert itself reads more like a piece of Palestinian propaganda than a plea for peace.
Why can BTVS not realize that while supporting Israel can include the criticizing of Israeli governmental policy, it doesn’t mean being a yes-man or offering silent consent to Palestinian terror.
I attended the presentation by two ex-soldiers at TBH. I did not hear anything that condoned terrorism. What I heard was that the Israeli army has done some shameful things that I didn’t know about. I am sure it was in the Arab press, but I don’t read that and I might not believe it if I did. I think you are right that being critical of the govt is not anti-Israel.