The Salt Water Challenge

The Salt Water Challenge

Today, there are 6300 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli prisons; this number includes 300 children and 500 administrative detainees (those imprisoned without charge or trial).

Since April 17, Palestinian Prisoners Day, more than 1500 of these political prisoners have engaged in an open-ended hunger strike. Today is Day #37. These prisoners have refused to eat food, only consuming salt water to maintain their health, until the Israeli government meets their demands for basic human rights as stipulated by the Geneva Convention. Freedom and dignity are universal rights inherent in humanity – to be enjoyed by all human beings.

The demands of these hunger strikers include:

An end to administrative detention An end to solitary confinement An end to the denial of family visits Access to proper medical care and treatment, and The right to access distance higher education On Monday, May 22, we stood with Jews Say NO! and the Granny Peace Brigade to join a growing, worldwide, social media campaign – #SaltWaterChallenge – to draw attention to the plight of Palestinian political prisoners. As supporters of these hunger-strikers, we drank salt water to stand in solidarity with those who refuse a life of humiliation.

Now, we challenge you to do the same.

Helaine Meisler and Nic Abramson

DHFC returns to Vassar to intimidate students, activists

http://miscellanynews.org/2017/05/03/opinions/dhfc-returns-to-vassar-to-intimidate-students-activists/

DHFC returns to Vassar to intimidate students, activists

May 3, 2017

By Ally Fernandez and Sarah Cohn

Courtesy of Ally Fernandez and Sarah Cohn

On Friday, April 28, around 3 p.m., two people with briefcases were spotted outside of Ferry House putting up hateful, Islamophobic and racist posters on dorm buildings, benches and trash cans. It was on behalf of the same group, the David Horowitz Freedom Center (DHFC), that targeted students and faculty by name last semester and took a strong interest in Vassar campus life during last year’s Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign. Members of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) and Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) were immediately alerted to the postings and made efforts to remove them, contacting administrators and security.

We, as members of JVP and believers in equity and justice, refuse to be bullied. Instead, we will use instances like this to speak out and reaffirm our commitment to global human rights. We have seen these outsiders come to our campus in order to intimidate and harass students before. The people behind these posters intend to make us feel unsafe and incite a fear that would pit students on campus against each other. On the one hand, they are trying to isolate and target students involved with JVP and SJP. On the other, they are trying to convince uninvolved students that they are in danger from their activist peers. And perhaps most importantly, this poster implicates Muslim and Arab students, regardless of political affiliation, suggesting that their presence at Vassar is neither welcome nor valued. We refuse to give into fear; these posters are loathsome.

The posters use puppet imagery to imply that Hamas has controlling power over student groups like SJP. It plays off the popular alt-right conspiracy theory, exemplified in a previous Miscellany News article, that radical students are being misled and inspired by an outside force. It should certainly raise some flags to see a common anti-Semitic trope (where Jews are the controlling monetary force behind all leftist movements) mobilized by an organization that claims to stand up for Jews. And by raise some flags, we mean make perfect sense considering the anti-Semitic yet pro-Israel far right at the highest rungs of our government empowering organizations like the DHFC.

Posters like this, along with organizations such as Canary Mission, are exemplary of a long history of external pro-Israel groups using their influence to menace Vassar students, specifically Muslim and Arab students, students of color and all those who vocally criticize Israel. Their various tactics, such as doxxing, put vulnerable students at risk for harassment, both online and in real life. Some are not able to get jobs post-graduation, are shunned from religious communities, or are closed off from necessary resources.

These posters follow a very emotional argument that hits right at two powerful right-wing discourses. One, that violence against the state is unacceptable (i.e. terrorism), while violence from the state towards its citizens and other peoples is unquestioned, even encouraged. The other discourse creates a looming foreign enemy out of Palestinians and their supporters, who seek to destroy national identity and health. In this case, critiques of the State of Israel are transformed into threats against individual Israelis and American Jews. There is a reason pro-Israel groups rely on emotional and personal talking points (i.e. linking critiques of Israel as a state to personal attacks) instead of nuanced, political arguments—when you look at the actual power differential between Israel and Palestine and learn the history of the conflict, the argument falls apart. To suggest that pro-Palestine activists want to “wipe Israel off the map” as the posters do invokes territorial response wherein no conversation about Palestinians’ lives under occupation can be tolerated.

SJP and JVP have never endorsed Hamas, nor are we receiving money from them or any other outside source (if you want to look at our budgets from the VSA, they’re online). We don’t advocate terrorism, but we do want to reconsider which groups and people are framed as terrorists. Why are Palestinians terrorists, while American white supremacists deserve free speech? Instead, we believe that white supremacist violence and American imperial violence (which is directly tied to the actions of its allies such as Israel across the globe) are the most institutionalized and unquestioned forms of terrorism in the modern era.

To take this propaganda as fact is to silence thoughtful critiques of the state of Israel. Calling us and our fellow students “campus terrorists” makes people afraid. It personalizes the argument and discourages people to seek out further information on the conflict. Any information on the conflict from a pro-Palestine source is coded as violent and “pro-terrorist.” And when we say silence, we really mean silence. Narratives of lived Palestinian experiences are rarely circulated or centered. People don’t hear those narratives, and even when they are highlighted, there is immediate and overwhelming backlash. Free speech has been a hotly debated topic on this campus, but it’s incredibly important to contextualize what kind of consequences come to which people for speaking their opinions.

We are not talking about Ann Coulter getting booed at Berkeley. We are talking about people’s livelihoods and safety on campus being threatened when they dare to speak to their own experiences and challenge existing power structures. Conversations about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict on college campuses across the country are incredibly one-sided due to an unequal distribution of resources in the United States given to pro-Israel institutions and groups.

And speaking as two Jewish women, we know that it doesn’t only hurt the cause of the Palestinians, but unwavering loyalty to Israel hurts Jewish communities as well.

For instance, one of the most important Jewish institutions on college campuses, Hillel International, has been instrumental in curbing any dialogue within Jewish communities that is critical of Israel due to their exclusionary “Standards of Partnership.” As an example, the Ohio State Hillel recently removed its group for LGBTQ+ Jews, B’nai Keshet, for partnering with JVP for an event supporting refugees, denying them funding and Jewish communal resources. This was after the Hillel received a $73,000 grant from “Mosaic United,” a group founded by Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett, who seeks to create an Israel-centric, and homophobic, anti-interfaith Jewish diaspora community. Money talks.

So even while pro-Israel groups claim to be protecting Jews on college campuses, they use their resources and their fear tactics to divide students and make us feel unsafe and unwelcome. Again, it’s not a matter of who is “allowed” to speak their views, or an abstract political concept like free speech; it’s about differences in power, resources, influence and consequences for marginalized students. It isn’t even about who is “right” in the dialogue, it is about which side has the largest ability to inflict harm.

Anti-Jewishness takes on many forms. As two anti-Zionist Jews, we are familiar with the dual identity that consists of rejection from both the Christian hegemonic world and from a mainstream Jewish community that discourages open dialogue on Israel. Our lack of loyalty is seen as a lack of Jewishness. Therefore, we are not even given the dignity to claim an identity that we are proud of, even when it places us on the margins. And of course, this exclusion is compounded when it comes to Jews of color, non-Ashkenazim and LGBTQ+ Jews who are excluded by the idealization of a certain type of Jew espoused by the Israeli government. We see echoes of this exclusion and harm in these posters. As Jewish students are scared into falling in line, Muslim and Arab students are demonized as terrorists. We refuse to allow this harassment to continue in the name of our so-called “safety” as Jews.

In conclusion, we stand behind our comrades in JVP and SJP. We remain committed to supporting self-determination for Palestinians. These posters and the David Horowitz Freedom Center represent a cowardly group of people who fear growing, self-directed student power. We stand behind all those targeted by the victims of this violence. We will continue to define our own community and values, and we will not let powerful outside voices do that for us.

We as a campus, no matter where we stand, must have our own conversations amongst each other, no matter how hard. We must be able to honestly hear each other without the influence of hateful organizations with a specific agenda, without the consequences for some students being so much greater than for others. These groups resort to scare tactics like this because our movement has found success, and we will continue down this path until we have freedom and equity for all Palestinians, all Jews and all oppressed people.

Friday, May 5 in Woodstock

We artists,writers, poets, musicians and thespians love what we are doing and struggle through the most difficult times (like now!) to continue doing it!  We know everything about working in a small community to keep the arts lively and flourishing and the community - through the creative arts- lively and flourishing too!

We are lucky to live in the mid-Hudson Valley, NY, supportive of our endeavors. Now, think of living as a refugee trying to make art or do theatre in a small impoverished community elsewhere in the world.  Think of children dedicating themselves to the lively arts in such circumstances - learning to express what they are feeling; talk about their struggles; show the lives of their people. I am speaking of the children of Jenin refugee camp who have found their voices through the Jenin Freedom Theatre. Come watch these ‘kids’ produce and perform in films of their own making this Friday night, 7 pm at the Woodstock Town Hall.  Let’s learn from each other the fine art of creating in difficult times!

Jane Toby

JVP National Conference and movie in Woodstock

I am thankful to the people of our Hudson Valley communities and others throughout the U.S. who have been engaged in vitally important gatherings and actions of resistance in these difficult times, critical to the future of us all.  Old and new voices are joining together, contributing insights, experiences and skills towards creating a more sane, honest and non-violent world.  

I have recently returned from a conference of Jewish Voice for Peace where 1000 people from across the U.S. and internatlionally have confronted difficult issues and have returned with renewed strength to enter into our collective struggle for human rights and dignity for all.  One of the amazing women I met at the conference was Alice Rothchild, Jewish-American obstetrician-gynecologist who has worked in health care reform and women's movements for many years.  

From 2004 to 2013, she was Assistant Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology at the Faculty of Medicine, Harvard University.  Her second and concomitant career as writer and film-maker came out of her visits to Israel and Palestine.  She has brought delegations to the region, her most recent visit with Physicians for Social Responsibility. Raised on the tragedies of the Holocaust, Rothchild was opened to harsh realities and new realizations.  She has written, filmed and traveled the U.S. doing book readings, film screenings, analytic presentations.  

This Friday night, April 7. Alice Rothchild will be in Woodstock, 7 pm at Woodstock Town Hall, through a Skype interview together with her enlightening film "Voices Across the Divide" that documents interviews of rarely-heard personal stories.  Rothchild sees - as we all must and as it has come home to our communities - that our future rests on ethical behavior and personal responsibility - not on nationalistic orientation.  I urge you to be there!

Jane Toby

Letter to Westchester Legislators

Subject: Supporting human rights: withdraw Act 9190

Dear Ken Jenkins, Virginia Perez, Benjamin Boykin, Michael Kaplowitz, and Alfreda Williams,

I am very concerned to hear about the proposed Act 9190 which would discriminate against supporters of BDS.

I am the granddaughter of an orthodox rabbi born in Jerusalem. I fully understand the current concern about the upsurge in anti-Semitism. But this is a time when we should all be working together to address both anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.

BDS is supported by socially-conscious Jews both in Israel and around the world, as well as by Palestinians and many other non-Jews. It is a nonviolent means of pressuring the Israeli government to establish justice. It is a way to demand human rights for the Palestinian population—those who have been caged behind barbed wire for 60 years as well as those who live in Israel as second-class citizens. BDS is pro-human rights, not anti-Semitic.

Passing this or other discriminatory bills is simply capitulating to the extreme Jewish lobby. They do not represent the majority of the Jewish population in this country.

As you know, boycotts are a constitutionally protected form of free speech. In the past, boycotts have been effectively used to end injustice, for example in South Africa and the American South. Surely you want justice to prevail in Israel and Palestine, as it eventually did in South Africa and the US.

Please withdraw Act 9190 and any other proposed acts that discriminate against supporters of BDS.

Sincerely,
Jo Salas

For Rachel Corrie and Nan Freeman

Friends and comrades,

As I do every year on this date, I want to commemmorate the murder of Rachel Corrie at the hands of Zionist home-destroyers in Gaza in 2003 by sending out my 2012 poem, "The Brutal Planting of Souls" (Oyster Bay, NY: Feral Press, 2015):


THE BRUTAL PLANTING OF SOULS
For Rachel Corrie and Nan Freeman
“Quick eyes
Gone  under earth’s lid”
-Ezra Pound 1921
“La lucha continuara’/The struggle goes on and on”
-Rose-Redwoods 1972
Rachel, you had no way of knowing,
on that day, in 2003, US attacking Iraq, Israel
attacking Palestine, both
on a treadmill that goes
on and on and on, both
partway through an endless cycle of violence
You had no way of knowing, Rachel,
young girl with blonde hair
from Olympia Washington
your whiteness against the dark
of Palestine, no way of knowing,
back then,
that you too would be made
part of the treadmill, part of the cycle,
you too would be plowed
under the earth by war machines,
like the “quick eyes”
of the young men of WWI,
like the body of Nan Freeman,
another student, killed in Florida
by other robbers of the earth, by their
machines that crushed soul and body,
in 1972,
no way of knowing that  you
would become  part of the struggle
That goes on and on, la lucha, al intifada
Que continua y continuara’,
No way of knowing that you too
Would be spoken of as a martyr,
Shahida, like scores of other people,
Breaking themselves against the war machine,
lighting up the night
all over the world, from Germany
and Czechoslovakia  to America to Vietnam
to Palestine to Tunisia to Egypt to Syria
and back to Palestine
and back to your own
Disunited States of America
Year of Our Lord 2012,
9 years later, Rachel!
no way of knowing
when your name was given to you
In honor of the woman
of whom it is said
“Weeping is heard in Ramah, Rachel/Rahel
weeping for her children, and would not
be comforted,” and there is weeping heard, Rachel,
today in Ramallah and in Ramleh and in Jerusalem
and in Jenin and in Gaza and in Rafah
and in Damascus and in Halab and in Homs,
and in Cairo and in Tunis and in New York
and in Seattle and Portland and Oakland
Rachel weeping for her children
and cannot be comforted but you,
Rachel Corrie, you can be comforted!
You can be celebrated!   Mother of the revolution,
martyr to youth, wake up call
to us all, your body and soul
are planted seeds in the earth, seeds
of truth and light, which shall sprout
once more
into the Tree of Life, beacon for us,
inviting acts of light, acts
that keep the human race going forward.
Forward, people, together, Avanti popolo!
Let us harvest the seedlings of light!

Woodstock. January 23, 2012



Barry Fruchter, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
English, Jewish Studies, Latin American Studies
Nassau Community College

Progressive except for Palestine is a lie

Progressive except for Palestine or PEP is a well known phenomenon. Sufferers of PEP are often champions of human rights in all areas except for one. They are on the side of Blacks, immigrants, gays, and even Muslims (as long as they aren't Palestinian). They fight for equal rights in Darfur, Tibet, on Native American reservations, and in our inner cities. Just don't ask them about the people that have suffered through 60 years of Israeli occupation. That's where their love of humanity runs out.

Trump is experimenting with another type of cognitive dissonance, encouraging racism in his white Christian base, while exempting Jewish people from that toxic mix of emerging hatred. Racist except for Jews, or REJ. The more our president stirs up his fascist base, the more they turn to vandalizing Jewish cemeteries and threatening to blow up synagogues. But that's OK, because he reminds the nation that he is the "least antisemitic person" that the world has ever seen. Let's hope that the alt right movement, Trump's power base, is listening.

The problem is that one can't be for human rights for some people and not for others. Trump, for all his promises and Jewish son-in-law, won the election by appealing to white Christian bigots. He is their man in the White House now, and the gloves are off for anyone different: Blacks, gays, Latinos, Asians, Muslims, and yes, Jews. 

Progressive except for Palestine is a lie. Racist except for Jews is too.   

Fred Nagel