Newprofile Message :2679 -
Jewish Peace Activists Defend German Critic of Israel
/fontfamily>We've
sent out a press release to more than 800 contacts regarding the
statement "On Anti-Semitism, Boycotts, and the Case of Hermann
Dierkes: An Open Letter from Jewish Peace Activists." A copy of
the press release is attached and pasted below.
Since the statement has been made public, further people have
been telling us that they'd still like to sign. Therefore, we
have set up an on-line petition site where peace activists of
Jewish background can add their names. The site is
/x-tad-smaller>
www.gopetition.com/petitions/dierkes-letter.html/x-tad-smaller>/color>
Please consider signing the petition and help spread the word.
Steven Shalom and Racheli Gai
/x-tad-smaller>For immediate release
/x-tad-smaller>Contacts:
Stephen R. Shalom,
/x-tad-smaller>stephenrshalom@gmail.com/x-tad-smaller>/color>
Racheli Gai, /x-tad-smaller>
racheli@sonoracohousing.com/x-tad-smaller>/color>
/x-tad-smaller>
Jewish Peace Activists Defend German Critic of Israel
Calling for a Boycott of Israel for its Treatment of Palestinians is not Anti-Semitic
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Montclair, NJ, April 8, 2009 -- More than 370 Jewish peace
activists from around the world signed a statement defending
German politician Hermann Dierkes against charges of
anti-Semitism.
Dierkes, a left-wing politician with a distinguished record of
fighting for social justice, called for a boycott of Israeli
goods as a means of putting pressure on the Israeli government
to end its oppression of Palestinians. For this he has been
subjected to vicious denunciations for anti-Semitism.
The signers of the statement -- from Israel, Germany, the United
States, and several other countries -- expressed their objection
to those "who use charges of anti-Semitism to attempt to squelch
legitimate dissent."
The signers have differing views on the wisdom and efficacy of a
general boycott, some favoring it, some preferring a more
selective boycott focused on the occupation, but all agree that
a call for a boycott of Israel has nothing in common with the
Nazi policy of "Don’t buy from Jews."
"It is no more anti-Semitic to boycott Israel to end the
occupation," the statement declared, "than it was anti-white to
boycott South Africa to end apartheid."
Among the U.S. signatories are Phyllis BENNIS; Stephen Eric
BRONNER; Leslie CAGAN; Noam CHOMSKY; Daniel ELLSBERG, Melanie
KAYE/KANTROWITZ; Joanne LANDY; Zachary LOCKMAN; Frances Fox
PIVEN; Adrienne RICH, Matthew ROTHSCHILD; Sami SHALOM CHETRIT;
Jerome SLATER; and Howard ZINN.
Among the foreign signers are Tikva HONIG-PARNASS, Adam KELLER,
Lea TSEMEL, and Michel WARSCHAWSKI (Israel); Daniel BENSAÏD and
Michaël LÖWY (France); Naomi KLEIN (Canada); Felicia LANGER
(Germany); and Moshe MACHOVER and Eyal WEIZMAN (UK).
"We gathered these names in just a week," said Stephen R.
Shalom, a professor of political science at William Paterson
University, one of several individuals who initiated the letter
in response to their outrage at the accusation of anti-Semitism
levelled at Dierkes. "We've been getting a constant stream of
additional names of people who want to add their names to the
statement." They can do so at.
Racheli Gai, an Israeli-American peace activist, noted that " "There
is real anti-Semitism in the world, and -- like all forms of
racism -- it must be vigorously denounced. But frivolously
making charges of anti-Semitism makes fighting the real thing
harder, because it cheapens its meaning, and renders the
motivations of even those who are making the charge legitimately
suspect." As the statement concluded, "The Holocaust was one of
the most horrific events in modern history. It is a dishonor to
its victims to use its memory as a bludgeon to silence
principled critics of Israel's unconscionable treatment of
Palestinians."
Hermann Dierkes, a former city counsellor in the German city of
Duisberg representing the Left Party, said the accusations of
anti-Semitism hit him very hard. "Because I am well aware of the
German inextinguishable heritage of fascism and the genocide of
the European Jews, I feel especially obliged to fight against
racist prejudices and oppression. Human rights are indivisible
for all individuals and peoples of the world. The right of
self-determination has to be guaranteed for the Palestinian
people too. This is a precondition to gain peace for the whole
region."
Among the many messages of solidarity he has received thus far,
said Dierkes, "what moved me most was the open letter, signed by
more than 370 Jewish peace activists from so many countries,
including Israel."
The full text of the open letter is given below, along with the
full list of initial signatories. The developing list of
additional signers can be seen at /x-tad-smaller>
www.gopetition.com/petitions/dierkes-letter/signatures.html/x-tad-smaller>/color>.
/x-tad-smaller>On Anti-Semitism, Boycotts,
and the Case of Hermann Dierkes:
An Open Letter from Jewish Peace Activists
/x-tad-smaller>
We are peace activists of Jewish background. Some of us
typically identify in this way; others of us do not. But we all
object to those who claim to speak for all Jews or who use
charges of anti-Semitism to attempt to squelch legitimate
dissent.
We have learned with dismay the allegations regarding Hermann
Dierkes, a trade unionist and leader of the Left Party (DIE
LINKE) in the German city of Duisburg. Dierkes, in response to
the recent Israeli assault on Gaza expressed the view that one
way people could help Palestinians obtain justice would be to
support the call of the World Social Forum to boycott Israeli
goods, so as to put pressure on the Israeli government.
Dierkes has been subjected to widespread and vitriolic
denunciations for anti-Semitism, and accused of calling for a
repeat of the Nazi policy of the 1930s of boycotting Jewish
products. Dierkes responded that "The demands of the World
Social Forum have nothing in common with Nazi-type racist
campaigns against Jews, but aim at changing the Israeli
government’s policy of oppression of the Palestinians."/x-tad-smaller>
/x-tad-smaller>
No one has made any claims of anti-Semitism against Dierkes for
anything other than his support of the boycott. Yet he has been
accused of "pure anti-Semitism" (Dieter Graumann the
Vice-President of the Central Jewish Council), of uttering words
comparable to "a mass execution at the edge of a Ukrainian
forest" (/x-tad-smaller>Westdeutsche
Allgemeine Zeitung/x-tad-smaller>
editorialist Achim Beer), and of expressing "Nazi propaganda"
(Hendrik Wuest, General Secretary of the Christian Democratic
Party).
We signatories have differing views on the wisdom and efficacy
of calling for a boycott of Israeli goods. Some of us believe
that such a boycott is an essential component of a campaign of
boycott, divestment, and sanctions that can end the
four-decade-long Israeli occupation; others think the better way
to pressure the Israeli government is with a more selective
boycott focused on institutions and corporations supporting the
occupation. But all of us agree that it is essential to apply
pressure against the Israeli government if peace and justice are
to prevail in the Middle East and all of us agree that a call
for a boycott of Israel has nothing in common with the Nazi
policy of "Don’t buy from Jews." It is no more anti-Semitic to
boycott Israel to end the occupation than it was anti-white to
boycott South Africa to end apartheid. Social justice movements
have often called for boycotts or divestment, whether against
the military regime in Burma or the government of Sudan. Wise or
not, such calls are in no way discriminatory.
Violence in the Middle East has indeed led to some acts of
anti-Semitism in Europe. There was a call to boycott
Jewish-owned stores in Rome that was widely and appropriately
condemned. We deplore such bigotry. Israel's crimes cannot be
attributed to Jews as a whole. But, at the same time, a boycott
of Israel cannot be equated with a boycott of Jews as a whole.
An acute and disturbing form of racism rising in Europe today is
Islamophobia and xenophobia directed at immigrants from Muslim
countries. Dierkes has been a champion in defense of the rights
of immigrants, while some of those who accuse all critics of
Israel of being anti-Semitic often participate themselves --
like the Israeli government and state -- in such forms of racism.
The Holocaust was one of the most horrific events in modern
history. It is a dishonor to its victims to use its memory as a
bludgeon to silence principled critics of Israel's
unconscionable treatment of Palestinians.