{"article":{"id":28704,"heading":"ANSWER does it again: The Banning of Rabbi Lerner","author":"David Corn","created":"2003-02-12 18:03:42","modified":"2013-11-10 23:48:32","last_modified":"Mon, 11 Nov 2013 06:48:32","article":"

The Banning of Rabbi Lerner

by David Corn



War looms. Troops are moving into place. Administration officials refuse to discuss alternatives. And everyday George W. Bush has some new rhetorical device to turn up the heat. The game is over. The game is really over. I mean it: the game is really, really over. Americans opposed to (or skeptical about) this war are desperately trying to mount preemptive protests, as conquest--bombing, invasion and occupation--nears. Antiwar actions have been organized for the weekend of February 15 and 16, to coincide with protests around the world. In the United States, the main events will be demonstrations held in New York and San Francisco. This could be the last chance the antiwar warriors have before the cruise missiles fly. Yet the peaceniks pulling together the San Francisco march and rally may have tainted their efforts by allowing the banning of Rabbi Michael Lerner as a speaker.

Also See:

Let Anti-War Rabbi Michael Lerner Speak

Lerner is the progressive Jew. He edits Tikkun, a magazine mostly written by lefty Jews. (Its name is Hebrew for \"to mend, repair and transform the world.\") He can be counted on to sign on to most liberal causes. He is a signatory to the Not In Our Name antiwar pledge. His Tikkun Community is a member of the United for Peace & Justice coalition that opposes a U.S. war against Iraq. (Other members include the American Friends Service Committee, Global Exchange, Greenpeace, TransAfrica, Working Assets.) He has been a leading Jewish voice against the hawks of Israel and a supporter of Palestinian rights, while calling himself a Zionist.

So it was natural that his name was floated as a speaker for the protest. Not In Our Name and United for Peace & Justice were two of the four coalitions behind the event. (According to Lerner, he did not ask to address the San Francisco rally. \"You can't say much in three minutes,\" he notes.) But International ANSWER, another of the organizers, said no.

Lerner's crime: he had dared to criticize ANSWER, an outfit run by members of the Workers World Party, for using antiwar demonstrations to put forward what he considers to be anti-Israel propaganda. That ANSWER objected to Lerner is not surprising. The WWPers in control of ANSWER are socialists who call for the revolutionary overthrow of capitalism, who support Slobodan Milosevic and Kim Jong Il, who oppose UN inspections in Iraq (claiming they are part of the planning for an invasion aimed at gaining control of Iraq's oil fields), and who urge smashing Zionism. Last month, referring to an upcoming ANSWER demonstration, Lerner wrote, \"In my view, the organizers of this demonstration have allowed far too many speakers who believe that this war is being done because Israel wants the war, far too few who share my view that this war is not in the best interests of either Israel or of the United States.\" Yet Lerner didn't let his differences with ANSWER trump his opposition to the war; he encouraged people to attend the rally. After that protest, he told The New York Times, \"There are good reasons to oppose the war and Saddam. Still, it feels that we are being manipulated when subjected to mindless speeches and slogans whose knee-jerk anti-imperialism rarely articulates the deep reasons we should oppose corporate globalization.\"

ANSWER's nyet doesn't irk Lerner as much as the fact that Not In Our Name and United for Peace & Justice acquiesced. Before Lerner had been suggested as a speaker, the coalitions engineering the San Francisco event had agreed that any individual who had publicly disparaged one of the organizing groups could be vetoed as a speaker by that group. ANSWER used this right to banish Lerner. (The rabbi maintains he had no intention of using his podium time to slam ANSWER: \"Why waste my three minutes on ANSWER?\") Other organizers of the San Francisco event argued against ANSWER's thumbs-down but ended up abiding by the agreement. (ANSWER has not been involved in the organizing of the coming New York City protest.)

ANSWER could cite Lerner's criticism of ANSWER as a reason for blocking him. But its objection to Lerner also jibes with the group's political agenda. On January 28, Tony Murphy, the media coordinator for ANSWER, appeared on a radio show in New York and said, \"I know that the ANSWER coalition would not have a pro-Israel speaker on its platform.\" (Lerner is pro-Israel in that he supports the existence of the Jewish state.) ANSWER's anti-Israel stance has also been reflected in its relationship with at least one troubling anti-Zionist. At its January march in Washington, ANSWER handed a microphone to Abdul Malim Musa, a Muslim cleric. On October 31, 2001, Musa had appeared at a news conference at the National Press Club with other Muslim activists and members of the New Black Panther Party, where speakers asserted that Israel had launched the 9\/11 attacks and that thousands of Jews had been warned that day not to go to work at the World Trade Center. At that press conference, Musa blasted the \"Zionists in Hollywood, the Zionists in New York, and the Zionists in D.C.\" who \"all collaborate\" to put down blacks and Muslims. ANSWER has room in its antiwar coalition for Musa, but not Lerner.

On Monday, Lerner disseminated an email reporting he had been banned. And Beyt Tikkun synagogue, where Lerner serves as a rabbi, released a statement saying, \"we do not believe that had ANSWER been criticized by a major feminist or gay leader and then vetoed that leader to speak at a demonstration that the other coalition partners would go along with that. So why should criticism of anti-Semitism and Israel-bashing be treated differently?....So why should our voice of critique of ANSWER's anti-Israel policy serve as justification for excluding our rabbi from speaking?\"

ANSWER did not return my call seeking comment. Which isn't a shock. I've written critically about their role in the antiwar movement, and their folks, in return, have assailed me. I also tried reaching Andrea Buffa, the San Francisco-based co-chair of United for Peace & Justice, and didn't hear back. Ditto for the San Francisco office of Not In Our Name. On Monday evening, organizers of the rally were trying to \"resolve\" the matter, according to one source. But Lerner was not offered a speaker's slot. Instead, he says, he has been asked by the organizers to talk about all this after the event. In the meantime, The Wall Street Journal and National Public Radio have interviewed Lerner about ANSWER's rejection of him and the other organizers' acceptance of that. And over 150 progressive writers and activists have signed a letter decrying the Lerner ban. (Click here to read the petition.)

\"This is about the suppressing of dissent among the dissenters,\" Lerner asserts. \"My progressive Jewish allies said, 'Don't raise this issue, it's more important to stick to the struggle against the war.' But in my view, we should be able to critique the war and this section of the antiwar movement, just as did the women who fought against sexism in the antiwar movement in the 1960s. I don't accept an either\/or.\"

Some peace activists in San Francisco were dismayed that Lerner took the dispute public. \"What Michael did doesn't help,\" one says. But Lerner was more of a mensch than the people of ANSWER. Even after being blackballed, he has been advising people to attend the protest. \"I don't want to boycott the demonstration,\" he says. \"It's extremely important for progressive Jews to be standing up and critiquing the war, particularly when so many in the Jewish world are supporting it. We'll be part of the event, no matter what they do to me.\"

Perhaps he should have stayed silent for the good of the cause. Who needs such tsuris right before an important protest? But Lerner was not the source of the problem; ANSWER was. This distracting episode shows what can happen when sincere do-gooders enter into deals with the ANSWER gang. If the reasonable and responsible foes of war are fortunate enough to have further opportunity to rally opposition to the conflict before it occurs, they ought to reconsider their alliance with the censors of ANSWER.

Copyright © 2003 The Nation<\/p>\n","contact":"","link":"","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/plain","summary":" The Banning of Rabbi Lerner\r\nby David Corn","numcomment":17,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/","filesize":null,"article_url":"\/news\/2003\/02\/28704.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[{"id":28706,"heading":"indefensible","article":"I may be in the minority here, but I find ANSWER's actions indefensible. I appreciate all their organizing, but refuse to buy into this type of heavy-handedness--which plays directly to critics of the anti-war movement who say we're getting our strings pulled by sectarian puppet-masters. I think the Bush presidency is a disaster, but I am equally glad that ANSWER isn't running the country. This whole thing makes me sad.","author":"Matt Olson","parent_id":28704,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-02-12 18:10:19","modified":"2003-02-12 18:10:19","fileurl":""},{"id":28707,"heading":"indefensible","article":"I may be in the minority here, but I find ANSWER's actions indefensible. I appreciate all their organizing, but refuse to buy into this type of heavy-handedness--which plays directly to critics of the anti-war movement who say we're getting our strings pulled by sectarian puppet-masters. I think the Bush presidency is a disaster, but I am equally glad that ANSWER isn't running the country. This whole thing makes me sad.","author":"Matt Olson","parent_id":28704,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-02-12 18:10:31","modified":"2003-02-12 18:10:31","fileurl":""},{"id":28718,"heading":"Cornholed","article":"Wow, it looks like David is sure earning\r\nhis paycheck from his budies in the CIA.","author":"Sheepdog","parent_id":28704,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-02-12 19:22:52","modified":"2003-02-12 19:22:52","fileurl":""},{"id":28767,"heading":"I also find it indefensible","article":"I really appreciated how Rabbi Lerner told KPFK radio yesterday that people should go to protests and marches sponsored by answer because the cause is greater then the fit they have against him.\r\n\r\nThis is a big deal, now is not the time to be creating devisions like this, and ANSWER should not be doing this. Lerner is a great activist, he speaks to a lot of people. Luckily, he and most of the rest of us are mature enough to critique while also support the greater cause. Stop the war. Protest the war, remain suspect to all leaders.","author":"irpy","parent_id":28704,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-02-13 00:01:52","modified":"2003-02-13 00:01:52","fileurl":""},{"id":28771,"heading":"Typical","article":"This is pretty typical of how ANSWER operates. They are sectarians who throw temper tantrums when other activists don't follow orders. What really sucks is to hear from activists who defend ANSWER, which just insults the groups that have been fucked over by them. Just today I talked to a veteran activist who explained to me how her group was being jacked around by an ANSWER supporter.\r\n\r\nOh yeah, please don't buy into ANSWER crying about being the victims of red-baiting. They engage in red-baiting and other shitty stuff against other activists off stage. \r\n\r\nANSWER is not the answer.","author":"Chuck0","parent_id":28704,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-02-13 01:10:07","modified":"2003-02-13 01:10:07","fileurl":""},{"id":28774,"heading":"seriously","article":"i mean come on seriously International Answer gets a lot of flack for the whole front group thing which i don't think is really a good basis to condemm the group but the situation around Rabbi Lerner is ridiculous. How can you have the gaul to try and censor the most prominent Jewish activist because he criticized your boring group. I'm glad people got around to make up a statement to petition against this b.s. I hope Nion and United for Peace put out a statement in support of Lerner. \r\nAnswer is really running out of bridges to burn","author":"mlm","parent_id":28704,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-02-13 01:15:46","modified":"2003-02-13 01:15:46","fileurl":""},{"id":28781,"heading":".","article":"The ANSWER censorship is goofy, but if you read that article, Lerner never asked to speak.\r\n\r\nSomehow it's fucked up, and not an issue at the same time.","author":"JK","parent_id":28704,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-02-13 03:25:23","modified":"2003-02-13 03:25:23","fileurl":""},{"id":28785,"heading":"Banning Lerner is Best ANSWER decision yet","article":"Banning Michael Lerner is an outstanding decision based on his anti-Communism and his support of the Israeli military to the extent that his son is NOT a refusenik but a paratrooper in the Israeli military! This swine just got done telling us on KPFA in Berkeley, CA that he objects to people wearing the kaffiyeh, the Arab scarves, at our peace demonstrations! The fact that CIA mouthpiece, David Corn, praises Michael Lerner is additional proof that ANSWER is doing something right. For more information on the despicable Michael Lerner, see:\r\nhttp:\/\/www.sf.indymedia.org\/news\/2003\/02\/1572342.php ","author":"Holocaust Family Member","parent_id":28704,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-02-13 03:50:40","modified":"2003-02-13 03:50:40","fileurl":""},{"id":28786,"heading":"I am not a Zionist, but...","article":"Again, Protest now and protest often along-side answer. But, to quote Michael Lerner, he seeks a\r\n\r\n> "progressive middle path" that is both pro-Israel \r\n> > and pro-Palestine, and argues that the best \r\n> > interests of each can only be achieved if the other \r\n> > side also achieves its best interests.\r\n\r\nWhat are the interests of Palestinians. A homeland.\r\nWhat are the interests of Israel. A homeland.\r\n\r\nWhere are both people right now? In the historic land of Israel\/Palestine, or Palestine\/Israel. OK, so, we have jews in isreal right now. What happens if isreal stops being a country? Where do the 6 million jewish people go who are on the ground right there?\r\n\r\nI am not a zionist. I lived in Israel, hated it and left. But, what happens if suddenly the Israeli army disapeared?\r\nWhat would happen to all those people living there?","author":"irpy","parent_id":28704,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-02-13 04:13:41","modified":"2003-02-13 04:13:41","fileurl":""},{"id":28788,"heading":"Rabbi Lerner Support Letter","article":"\r\nLET ANTI-WAR RABBI MICHAEL LERNER SPEAK\r\n\r\n\r\nRabbi Michael Lerner has been banned from speaking at the antiwar rally in San Francisco this Sunday, February 16. One of the rally organizers, Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (ANSWER), has stated that it will not allow a "pro-Israel" speaker to take the stage -- despite the fact that Rabbi Lerner has been an outspoken critic of Israeli policy in the occupied territories, has endorsed ANSWER's antiwar rallies in the past, has signed the Not in Our Name petition against the war, and is widely known to be among the most progressive of American rabbis. Other coalitions organizing the rally, including Not in Our Name and United for Peace and Justice, have acceded to ANSWER's opposition to Lerner, on the grounds that they had previously accepted as a condition for participation in the demonstration the agreement that if one of the groups vetoed a speaker that all would have to agree. \r\nWe, the undersigned, protest ANSWER's refusal to let Rabbi Lerner speak at this Sunday's rally. At a time when the antiwar movement needs as broad a platform and as broad an appeal as possible, ANSWER has chosen instead to put the interests of sectarianism ahead of the interests of all those who oppose this foolish and unnecessary war. We believe this is a serious mistake, and that it exemplifies ANSWER's unfitness to lead mass mobilizations against war in Iraq. \r\n\r\nPartial List of Signers:\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Greg Goldin, writer\r\nRobert W. McChesney, writer\r\nJack Newfield, writer\r\nHoward Zinn\r\nDoug Ireland, writer\r\nAriel Dorfman, writer\r\nMarc Cooper, writer\r\nMichael Berube, Penn State\r\nCandace Falk\r\nBarbara Ehrenreich\r\nJanine Jaquet, Nation Institute\r\nJohn Powers, writer\r\nKatha Pollitt, writer\r\nGeorge Regas, Rector Emeritus of All Saints Church, Pasadena CA\r\nSuzi Weissman, professor \r\nEricAlterman, writer\r\nKateri Butler, writer\r\nTodd Gitlin, writer\r\nHerbert J Gans, Columbia University\r\nSuzy Marks\r\nWally Marks\r\nJo Ellen Green Kaiser, Tikkun\r\nMichael Pugliese\r\nJudy Bertelsen \r\nRichard Falk\r\nPaul Buhle\r\nJohn Nichols, journalist\r\nPeter Gray\r\nTom Christie, writer\r\nEyal Press, writer\r\nJon Wiener, historian UCI\r\nSalam Al-Marayati\r\nMichael Kazin, Georgetown University\r\nKim Chernin\r\nLinda Gordon\r\nRabbi Leonard Beerman\r\nMaxine Phillips\r\nJeffrey Ballinger\r\nFrancis X. Tobin\r\nLily Rivlin\r\nNelson Lichtenstein \r\nA. Tom Grunfeld\r\nRobert Vitalis\r\nRuth Indeck \r\nLaura Tillem\r\nMark Levine, UCI\r\nShulamith Koenig\r\nFred Myers, NYU\r\nSylvain Nagler\r\nDr. Jeffrey Levine\r\nFrances Fox Piven\r\nChristopher Lowe\r\nMoss Roberts, NYU\r\nErik Olin Wright\r\nLee Smith, writer\r\nMichael Balter, writer\r\nCarl Bromley, Nation Books\r\nHarold Meyerson, writer\r\nStew Albert\r\nJudy Albert\r\nAl Wasserman\r\nAnne Wasserman\r\nHorace Small, Union of Minority Neighborhoods\r\nCeleste Fremon, writer\r\nMatthew Rothschild, Editor, The Progressive\r\nStanley Aronowitz\r\nIsaac Balbus\r\nDavid Bensman\r\nKen Brociner\r\nShirley Bryant\r\nChaz Bufe\r\nLeo Casey\r\nBogdan Denitch\r\nTom Edminster\r\nStuart Elliott\r\nIrene Theodore Heinstein\r\nMaurice Isserman\r\nPeter Kosenko\r\nJustin Paulson\r\nJason Schulman\r\nTimothy Sears\r\nClifford L. Staples \r\nLuke Weiger\r\nArthur Wilke\r\nIan Williams\r\nEllen Willis\r\nAdam Shatz, writer\r\nEmily Jane Goodman\r\nSonia Jaffe Robbins\r\nPhyllis Chesler\r\nRichard Healey\r\nDorothy Healey\r\nRoy Ulrich, attorney\r\nNaomi Glauberman, writer\r\nJudith Long, The Nation\r\nMaurice Zeitlin, author and professor\r\nBruce Shapiro, writer\r\nTad Daley, UCLA\r\nAndrew Gumbel, journalist\r\nDr. Aryeh Cohen, University of Judaism, Los Angeles\r\nNalini Lasiewicz, Lasiewicz Foundation\r\nBarbara Osborn, Liberty Hill Foundation\r\nFr. Chris Ponnet, Co-Chair Pax Christi USA, Los Angeles Chapter\r\nAnita Frankel, former Public Affairs Dir. Pacifica Radio\r\nRoane Carey, The Nation\r\nEllen Bollinger, The Nation\r\nReverend Ed Bacon, Rector, All Saints Church, Pasadena CA\r\nProf. Steve Ross, USC\r\nDr. Lawrence Littwin, CSUN\r\nKenneth Pomeranz\r\nElla Taylor, writer\r\nDaniel Sokatch, Executive Director, Progressive Jewish Alliance\r\nFrancisco Letelier\r\nDevra Weber\r\nJules Tygiel, SFSU\r\nEllen Carol DuBois, UCLA\r\nMike Davis, UCI\r\nMichael Hudson \r\nMarla Stone, Occidental College\r\nTerrence McNally\r\nVicki Ruiz\r\nPeter Dreier, Occidental College\r\nBobbi Murray, Journalist\r\nGinger Varney\r\nKevin B. Anderson, Purdue University\r\nJody Zonenchin\r\nRobert H. Silk, Attorney \r\nSusan T. Silk. PhD, Biochemist\r\nFrank Smyth, journalist\r\nJoe Domanick, writer\r\nLaurie Salen\r\nDave Anderson\r\nSam Bottone\r\nDavid Nasaw, CUNY Grad Center\r\nMoshe Machover\r\nRobin Arie-Donch\r\nAmie Potsic\r\nAna Villa-Lobos \r\nConstance Bernstein\r\nGretchen Mackler-Lipow \r\nArthur Lipow\r\nMaggie Helwig, writer\r\nRabbi Shaya Isenberg, University of Florida\r\nRichard H. Schwartz, College of Staten Island\r\nMarcia Diaz\r\nHoward A. Rodman\r\nRabbi Rachel Cowan, Nathan Cummings Foundation\r\nScott Tucker\r\nDaniel Pope, University of Oregon\r\nJordan Elgrably, Open Tent Middle East Coalition\r\nDon Bustany, \u201cMiddle East in Focus\u201d KPFK\r\nMarge Piercy\r\nHabiba Alcindor\r\nRichard Applebaum\r\nChester Hartman, Exec. Dir., Poverty & Race Research Action Council.\r\nSean Strub, POZ Magazine\r\nLarry Gross, University of Pennsylvania\r\nDavid E. James\r\nRita Adessa\r\nSusan Windle, poet\r\nFlavia Potena\r\nSule Ozler\r\nMike Feinstein, Santa Monica City Council\r\nPaul Isaacs\r\nKelly Candaele\r\nKaren Schanche\r\nArlene Stein, Rutgers University\r\nSandy Polishuk\r\nVicky Loel \r\nJuan Romano \r\nPerry Loel\r\nSusan Katz\r\nDaniel S. Beagle\r\nElaine Fresco\r\nRon Sherman\r\nZora L. Kolkey, MFT\r\nCatherine Vibert, producer New Dimensions Radio\r\nSally Dinsmore \r\nSusan Mogul\r\nRobert A. Rosenstone\r\nJudith Stacey, USC\r\nStephen Holman\r\nEllise Holman\r\nHelen E. Tevlin\r\nBernard Rosen\r\nJan Lee\r\nJudith Malamut\r\nRuth Elkin\r\nAlissa Hirshfeld-Flores\r\nMichael Charlesworth\r\nFrank Fried\r\nMark Cullen\r\nClaire Kahane, UCB\r\nPamela M. Cooke\r\nJennifer Kenny, Portland State University\r\nRabbi Steven B. Jacobs \r\nMarjorie Becker, USC\r\nHilary McQuie\r\nJanice Steinberg, author\r\nDoris Bittar, Artist, Arab-American \r\nSusan Orlofsky \r\nRuth Heifetz UCSD\r\nRuth Wallen, artist, Goddard College\r\nJulie Novkov, University of Oregon\r\nLisa Henderson, UMass\r\nGene Warren\r\nGerald A. Gerash\r\nDick Walker\r\nSam Fleischacker, VP Chicago Peace Now\r\nBen Page\r\nSara Halprin\r\nAlan Horowitz\r\nPeter Curtis\r\nJohn Baumann\r\nDebbie Goldman\r\nJane Garry\r\nDan Halpern\r\nRoy Money\r\nJennifer Gwirtz\r\nDr. William Barclay \r\nRalph Palmer, Keene State College\r\nGeorge Warburg\r\nARON KAY\r\nE Haberkern, Center for Socialist History\r\nDavid Kleiman \r\nSeth Segall, Ph.D.\r\nRacheli Gai\r\nRev. Natalie Shiras\r\nGordon Fellman, Brandeis\r\nPam Rosenthal\r\nTara Cohen\r\nCorla Varney\r\nJon Snyder\r\nDalia Karpel \r\nSybil Adelman Sage \r\nSusan Littwin, writer\r\nPeter Thacker\r\nJim Berger, Hofstra\r\nDr. Michele Ritterman\r\nLarry George\r\nEllen Greist \r\nAaron rosenfield\r\nCarmiya Kasse\r\nRabbi Aryeh Hirschfield, Portland, OR\r\nRachel Goldstein\r\nTerri Stern\r\nAndrea Resnick\r\nSpencer Pack, Connecticut College\r\nRachel Antell\r\nAbby Ginzberg, filmmaker\r\nHope Singer, labor lawyer\r\nMaxine Phillips\r\nJoel Bellman\r\nRoger Waldinger, UCLA\r\nRoger Lowenstein, L.A. Leadership Academy\r\nMark Schubb\r\nNoah Isenberg\r\nIrena Klepfisz, poet\r\nAlan Mandell\r\nDavid Theo Goldberg, UCI\r\nIra Katznelson\r\nNick Braden\r\nChuck Munson\r\nChristopher Rhoades Dykema\r\nMary Ellen Strote, writer, editor\r\nJanet Sternberg, author and photographer \r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n","author":"Willy Neuman","parent_id":28704,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-02-13 04:32:54","modified":"2013-11-10 23:48:32","fileurl":""},{"id":28800,"heading":"Way to go ANSWER","article":"I constantly marvel at the democratic process. It's got a nice self-correcting quality to it that tends to marginalize the marginal, and subvert attempts at "vanguardism".\r\n\r\nI hope Not In Our Name is learning something here.\r\n\r\n","author":"baby stepping revolutionary","parent_id":28704,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-02-13 06:02:42","modified":"2003-02-13 06:02:42","fileurl":""},{"id":28804,"heading":"What did you expect, Cream Cheese?","article":"The ANSWER coalition is composed of unreformed Stalinists. They may claim to be on board the opposition to Bush's War but I for one question their motivation. These are the types of people who were apologists for the Gulag, the Liquidation of the Kulaks, and the Great Terror. Some peace activists. They are on board because they see an opportunity to forward their cause - which in the long run is definitely not peace and freedom.","author":"Diogenes","parent_id":28704,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-02-13 06:36:45","modified":"2003-02-13 06:36:45","fileurl":""},{"id":28929,"heading":"the democratic process","article":"What does a bunch of people putting their name on a\r\npetition have to do with "the democratic process"?\r\nSounds like you're just another ignorant American who\r\ncan't separate symbol ("democracy", "freedom",\r\n"free speech", "the free world", etc. ad nauseam) from\r\nreality.","author":"eh?","parent_id":28704,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-02-14 04:36:52","modified":"2003-02-14 04:36:52","fileurl":""},{"id":28942,"heading":"Oeste","article":"Your'e all pathetic. The country is in the process of making laws that will make all of you even more irrelevant than you are now. Ooh but let's have our little spat 'cause some rabbi makes us puke. No war in Iraq? Your'e going to stop this war like your'e going to walk down to the beach and order the waves to break backwards. Hussein is going to end up like Mussolini did. The right is united like you imbeciles could'nt be in a million years. Most people in USA would rather bomb San Francisco flat than Baghdad. ","author":"Paul Ward","parent_id":28704,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-02-14 06:20:56","modified":"2003-02-14 06:20:56","fileurl":""},{"id":28980,"heading":"FEB. 16 ANTI-WAR COALITIONS ON MICHAEL LERNER","article":"FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\t \r\nFebruary 12, 2003 \t\t\t\r\nCONTACT:\r\nBert Knorr (510) 644-8071, (415) 307-8028 \r\n(cell)\r\n\r\nBAY AREA UNITED AGAINST WAR NOT IN OUR NAME PROJECT INTERNATIONAL ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) COALITION UNITED FOR PEACE & JUSTICE\r\n\r\nSTATEMENT FROM FEB. 16 ANTI-WAR COALITIONS\r\nREGARDING RABBI MICHAEL LERNER\r\n\r\nWe would like to clarify the misunderstanding regarding Rabbi Michael \r\nLerner's perception that he was "banned" from speaking at the peace \r\nrally. \r\nHis charges are untrue, and we wish to set the record straight.\r\n\r\nAs the Bush Administration continues its relentless drive toward war, \r\nthe \r\nmass mobilizations in cities around the world on the weekend of Feb. \r\n15-16 \r\nhave taken on great significance. Millions of people are expected to \r\ndemonstrate in cities around the world in what may be the last \r\nopportunity \r\nto stop a new war on Iraq before it starts.\r\n\r\nIn the San Francisco Bay Area, four coalitions -- each comprised of \r\nmany \r\norganizations and individuals -- have come together to sponsor a broad \r\nand \r\nunited anti-war march and rally on Sunday, Feb. 16.\r\nThe four coalitions -- Bay Area United Against War, Not In Our Name \r\nproject, United for Peace & Justice, and the International ANSWER (Act \r\nNow \r\nto Stop War & End Racism) Coalition -\u00ad have been working together \r\nsuccessfully for the last several weeks to maximize the turnout on Feb. \r\n16.\r\n\r\nOne of the first agreements that was made between the groups organizing \r\nthe \r\nFeb. 16 anti-war protest was that none of the coalitions would propose \r\nrally speakers who had publicly attacked or worked to discredit one of \r\nthe \r\ncoalition groups. When members of the Tikkun Community, who have \r\nactively \r\nparticipated in the organizing meetings for Feb. 16, suggested to Bay \r\nArea \r\nUnited for Peace and Justice that it propose Michael Lerner as a \r\nspeaker, \r\nit was explained by members of UFPJ that since he had publicly attacked \r\nANSWER in both the New York Times and Tikkun community email \r\nnewsletters, \r\nhis inclusion in the program would violate the agreement among the Feb. \r\n16 \r\norganizing groups.\r\n\r\nIt was this issue -- Michael Lerner's public attacks against one of the \r\nanti-war coalitions -- that resulted in his not being formally proposed \r\nas \r\na speaker on Feb. 16; his views on Israel and Palestine had nothing to \r\ndo \r\nwith it.\r\n\r\nWithin the anti-war movement, there is a wide spectrum of diverse and \r\nopposing views regarding Israel and Palestine, and those views will be \r\nheard on Feb. 16. On that day, two rabbis, David Cooper and Pam \r\nFrydman-Baugh, both of whose views are similar to those of Michael \r\nLerner, \r\nwill be speaking. To reiterate, the fact that Michael Lerner was not \r\ninvited to speak on Feb. 16 was not the consequence of a veto by the \r\nA.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition. None of the coalitions have veto power over the \r\nFeb. 16 program\r\n\r\nWe strongly abhor all forms of racism and bigotry, including \r\nanti-Semitism. \r\nAt the same time, we don't believe that criticism of Israeli government \r\npolicies should be labeled as anti-Semitism any more than criticism of \r\nU.S. \r\ngovernment policy should be labeled as anti-American. On the eve of a \r\nterrible war, we call upon everyone to join together in making Feb. \r\n15-16 a \r\nmassive and powerful statement for peace and justice. We're heartened \r\nby \r\nthe broad range of participation that is developing for Feb. 16, \r\nincluding \r\nwithin the Jewish community, and invite one and all to join with us in \r\nour \r\nefforts to stop the war on Iraq.\r\n\r\nIssued by: Bay Area United Against War, International A.N.S.W.E.R. (Act \r\nNow \r\nto Stop War & End Racism) Coalition, Not In Our Name Project, United \r\nfor \r\nPeace and Justice","author":"ANSWER","parent_id":28704,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-02-14 18:49:41","modified":"2013-11-10 23:48:33","fileurl":""},{"id":29053,"heading":"JVP","article":"A JEWISH VOICE FOR PEACE RESPONSE TO LERNER \r\n\r\nA frenzy has been whipped up around the issue of whether or not Rabbi Michael Lerner will speak at the upcoming demonstration in San Francisco, taking place on Sunday, February 16. The accusation that the anti-war movement does not incorporate Jewish voices is a serious one, one that deserves a serious response.\r\n\r\nAt A Jewish Voice for Peace, we have found close and staunch allies in the anti-war coalition. We have found that our opinion is sought time and time again and that our stance in support for a truly just peace between Israelis and Palestinians and respect for Israeli human rights as well as Palestinians’ has been respected and represented in the speakers that have been chosen. At the upcoming demonstration, Mitchell Plitnick, Director of Administration and Communication for JVP, will speak, along with Israeli\r\nrefusenik Ofer Shorr, and Kate Raphael from San Francisco Women in Black, Rabbi Steven Pierce, Rabbi Pam Frydman-Baugh, and Rabbi David Cooper. This represents a broad spectrum of Jewish anti-war views.\r\n\r\nRabbi Lerner's views are welcomed in the coalition. He is an important spokesperson for the movement for peace and justice in Israel and Palestine. It was because he criticized one of the coalition partners, ANSWER, in the New York Times and over TikkunMail, that the coalition, including the Tikkun representative present at the meeting, decided that we were capable of finding another speaker with views similar to his who did not openly attack a coalition partner. Therefore the question of Rabbi Lerner speaking was never even brought before the coalition’s program committee. The proviso that anyone who had taken such action would not be welcomed to speak can be debated, but it was agreed to well in advance by all members of this coalition.\r\n\r\nWe work with all of our allies to ensure that our movement remains free of anti-Semitism as well as sexism, homophobia, racism, classism and any other form of marginalization. We work hard every day to address the legitimate concerns raised by some in our community regarding their discomfort and feelings of isolation as Jews in the anti-war movement by engaging with both our allies in the peace movement and the Jewish community. We stand in unity with Tikkun in calling for a joint Jewish anti-war, anti-occupation contingent. We stand in unity with the coalition of organizations who are\r\nsponsoring this march in opposing the attack on Iraq. We intend to continue working with both groups, and not choose sides in this destructive conflict.\r\n","author":"repost","parent_id":28704,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-02-15 03:55:01","modified":"2003-02-15 03:55:01","fileurl":""},{"id":29059,"heading":"CHILD MURDERS AND RABBI LERNER","article":"CHILD MURDERS AND RABBI LERNER\r\nBy Israel Shamir\r\n\r\nNovember 21, 2002\r\n\r\nRabbi Michael Lerner published a letter (see below) containing an attempt to attach collective guilt for a single crime to the whole Palestinian people, and to shift the blame for the bloodshed to the victims. The Metzer murder, a revolting crime committed by a deranged individual, is (mis)presented by Michael Lerner as an act of Arafat’s (and Palestinian national) policy. Moreover, it is described as a “Palestinian act of terror”. It is an unacceptable lie. Would we refer to yesterday’s murder of two Palestinian toddlers in Khan Yunes as to “Jewish child-murders”, or even to Mark Rich’s deeds as to “Jewish fraud”, Rabbi Lerner would certainly call it “anti-Semitism”. That is why his letter should be condemned as an incitement to hate. \r\n\r\nThe deranged criminal from Metzer acted alone, and his action was met with horror by Palestinians and Jews alike. If and when he will be apprehended he will certainly be punished. On the other hand, the murderers of the Palestinian children in Khan Yunes remain at large; they are protected and their crimes condoned by the Jewish state. When a Palestinian girl child was murdered by a Jewish fanatic near Nablous, the witness for defence, Rabbi Yitzhak Ginzburg, claimed a Jew may kill a Goy with impunity. It appears his opinion won the day: practically none of the Jews who murdered three hundred innocent children in Palestine was brought to justice. Hilmi Shusha, a Palestinian child from Husan, was murdered by a settler Naum Korman in the eyesight of the entire village, but the Jewish judge Ruth Orr has sent Nahum Korman, the child murderer, for six months of public service in the old folks house. \r\n\r\nFriends of Palestine won’t stoop as low as the late PM Golda Meir, who proclaimed “I can’t forgive the Palestinians that they force us to kill their children”. We won’t lie as the late PM David Ben Gurion who tried to attach blame for the Deir Yassin Massacre to ‘Arab irregulars’, and for Sharon’s massacre in Kibie to the relatives of ‘Arab terror victims’. We won’t try the line of Madeline Albright who thought the murder of Iraqi children was worth its while. Instead, we call to bring to the International Criminal Court every Jewish murderer of Palestinian children.\r\n\r\nRabbi Lerner should pay heed to a recent letter to Haaretz newspaper by Dr Miriam Reik, who wrote: \r\n“Killing kids gets to be routine.\r\nIsrael is, in many ways, unique. It is the only country in the world in which a child, throwing a stone, is considered to have committed a capital crime, and a soldier can kill him with a bullet with impunity--no questions asked. \r\nHaaretz reported the death in this fashion yesterday of Mohammed ali Zeiz, a 15 year old, without comment. It is the only country in the world in which the occupying army does not hold its fire when an innocent child is on the scene, much less rush to protect him. \r\nIbrahim al-Madani, 12 years old, died in this way yesterday, as reported by Haaretz, without comment. We all know of dozens of such incidents, which led Amnesty International to characterize the current conflict as one in which the lives of children are treated with "utter disregard," a charge met with cynical protestations of innocence by the IDF. \r\nHowever, it is also a sad comment on the general deterioration of standards in Israel, that Haaretz can report such incidents, time and again, without editorial comment. Anything, I suppose, can become routine.\r\nMiriam M. Reik, PhD”\r\n\r\nRabbi Lerner writes: “There is never any moral equivalence between one act of murder and another”. He is absolutely right. That is why, while mourning the dead of Khan Yunes and Metzer, we observe the vast difference between a one-man-crime and an act of the Jewish state-condoned and sponsored child murder. \r\n \r\n","author":"repost","parent_id":28704,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-02-15 04:30:12","modified":"2003-02-15 04:30:12","fileurl":""}]}