Yup, he said it
- Details
- Published on Friday, 02 May 2014 13:20
- Written by editor
Action Alert
How low will the Israel lobby go in order to preserve the oppression of Palestinians?
Oops! I said it...
Tell the lobby it cannot stop people from using the word Apartheid.
Secretary of State John Kerry unleashed the wrath of the Israel lobby this week when he used a painful but fair word to describe the direction he believes Israel is heading: apartheid.
In fact, many of us, including high-ranking Israeli officials, believe that after 47 years of occupation, Israel already is a de facto apartheid state. But such unvarnished truth-telling is a threat to groups like the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), AIPAC and the American Jewish Committee (AJC), who came down hard on Kerry and helped pressure him to backtrack on his remarks.
Unless we act now, and call out Israel lobby groups for trying to police the truth, they will continue to silence others with impunity. Can you help us flood these three groups with our message now?
The AJC and ADL in particular claim to fight for the human rights of Jews and others. Yet they, along with AIPAC, are standing in the way of a lasting and just peace by repeatedly acting as though telling the truth about unjust Israeli policies is a form of bigotry.
As a Jew who has experienced real anti-Semitism, I resent it deeply. And Kerry’s rapid response, including along mea culpa for using the term, was frankly an embarrassment.
Please join me in flooding the in-boxes of AIPAC, the ADL and the AJC with our message: they cannot stop people from speaking or knowing the truth about Israeli policies. And they cannot do it in the name of Jews and others who care about human rights.
When it comes to Israel, what these groups care about is not human rights or democracy. They care about preserving the status quo, where Israel controls most of the land and rules over Palestinians against their will.
Netanyahu talks about ‘peace’ when he means more settlements. The Lobby does exactly the same. Why are they more outraged about a solitary word than about Israel’s continued settlement expansion and military occupation?
The Israel lobby spoke. Now it is your time to reply.
Best,
Sydney Levy
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