Jewish Voice for Peace
Jewish Voice for Peace is an American Jewish advocacy organization that opposes the current Israeli government's policies, such as the construction of the Israeli West Bank barrier and military excursions into Gaza and the West Bank, and supports Israeli refuseniks.
Activities
During 2004 and 2005 the organization targeted Caterpillar Inc. for selling bulldozers to Israel, and claimed that Israel's use of the D9 armoured bulldozers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip is a violation of human rights and Caterpillar's business code of conduct. Along with four Christian groups, they raised a resolution calling on Caterpillar to re-examine its sales of bulldozers to Israel, but the resolution was rejected with an overwhelming 97 percent votes in the 2005 annual shareholders meeting.[1]
Jewish Voice for Peace, which opposes the American war in Iraq, is one of a small number of organizations that have confronted United for Peace and Justice, the organizer of large anti-war rallies, on the issue of the anti-Israel bias of its speakers.[2]
In 2006, Jewish Voice for Peace helped organize a demonstration outside the meeting of American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) in Sacramento, California. The purpose of the protest, according to the organizers, was to demonstrate that AIPAC doesn't represent the views of all American Jews regarding Israel.[3]
In early 2007, The Forward reported that Jewish Voice for Peace launched a blog called MuzzleWatch in order to track alleged intimidation of critics of Israel from pro-Israel lobbying groups.[4]
Criticism
 | The neutrality of this section is disputed. |
The Jewish Bulletin of Northern California wrote in 2003 that "the mainstream Jewish community has viewed A Jewish Voice for Peace [sic] as a group of radical Jews who air dirty laundry by criticizing Israel when the Jewish state is under attack. Some go as far as to label the members self-hating Jews."[5]
In 2004, Jewish Voice for Peace was denied permission to set up a booth at "Israel at the Ballpark," described as "the Bay Area's biggest Jewish community event of the year." The event's sponsors told the organization that it "didn't sufficiently support Israel."[6]
At FrontPageMag.com, Lee Kaplan and Bill Levinson wrote that the group's members attended "conclaves" held by the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, with groups such as the International Solidarity Movement, Sabeel and Al Awda (which the article describes as "openly anti-Semitic"). Kaplan and Levinson also claimed that "in the earliest JVP newsletters, [Mitchell] Plitnick [of Jewish Voice for Peace] even went so far as to write that it is doubtful that Jews ever lived in the Holy Land at all and that they were probably from Khazaria in Russia, thus not indigenous to the region like their Arab cousins." They also wrote that Plitnick has written "that the exodus and the First Temple were just myths, designed to legitimize a Jewish state in the region, and now used as a publicity ploy by modern Jews to steal a state from the Arabs" and noted that "similar canards were used by the PLO to legitimize its terror war against Israel."[7] However, thus far these assertions have not been verified in other publications.
On January 28, 2007, the Anti-Defamation League convened "Finding Our Voice", a conference co-sponsored by more than 50 Jewish organizations for the purpose of discussing the rise in anti-Semitism. Tikkun and Jewish Voice for Peace were not invited to co-sponsor the conference. A spokesperson for JVP said "From our perspective, you cannot get to the roots of anti-Semitism in the progressive movement without honestly addressing the severe human-rights violations that Israel engages in every day. Judging by the lineup, that kind of honest examination is not likely to happen at this conference."[8]
Staff
- Mitchell Plitnick, Director of Education and Policy
- Cecilie Surasky, Director of Communications
Elected Board members
- Henri Picciotto, Board Chair
- Stephanie Roth, Board Vice Chair
- Dana Bergen
- Glen Hauer
- David Makofsky
- Penny Rosenwasser
References
- ^ Rothstein, Jordana (2005-04-22). "Caterpillar rejects anti-Israel motion". Jewish News of Greater Phoenix / Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved 2007-02-05.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^
Siegel, Jennifer (2005-09-30). "Jewish Protesters Counter Anti-Israel Groups at D.C. Anti-war Rally". The Jewish Daily Forward. Retrieved 2007-02-05.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^
Scheide, R.V. (2006-12-14). "The Lobby: Local activists take on the American Israel Public Affairs Committee". Sacramento News and Review. Retrieved 2007-02-05.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^
Spence, Rebecca (2007-02-09). "Left-wing Critics of Israel Launch Blog To Combat Alleged Intimidation". The Forward. Retrieved 2007-02-12.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^
Wall, Alexandra J. (2003-01-24). "Jewish Voice for Peace gets grants, opens area office". Jewish Bulletin of Northern California. Retrieved 2007-02-05.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^
Kaplan, Esther (2004-07-12). "The Jewish Divide on Israel". The Nation. Retrieved 2007-02-05.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^
Kaplan, Lee, and Levinson, Bill (2006-11-27). "The ISM's "Jewish Voice for Peace"". FrontPageMag.com. Retrieved 2007-02-05.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Harris, Ben (2007-01-23). "'Progressive' anti-Semitism? S.F. meet considers phenomenon". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved 2007-02-12.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)
External links
- Jewish Voice for Peace website
- A website which protests against Caterpillar and the Israeli usage of its bulldozers, operated by Jewish Voice for Peace
- MuzzleWatch, tracking efforts to stifle open debate about US-Israeli foreign policy, a project of JVP
 | This article about a subject related to a Jewish organization is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 | This Israel-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |