COPS seeks environmental groups’ denunciation of Gaza eco-terrorism
Arthur Stark, Chairman, and Malcolm Hoenlein, Executive Vice Chairman/CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations issued the following statement on Tuesday:
“Throughout the past 100 days Hamas launched countless flammable materials and explosives via kites, balloons, and other devices into Israeli territory. Hamas has taken children’s toys and used them to spark daily fires that have not only harmed Israeli residents but have burned thousands of acres of farmland, parks, and forests. Hamas has even used birds wrapped in flammable materials to ignite fires over the border. To date they have destroyed 32,000 dunams (7-8,000 acres) of land, the majority of which is in nature reserves and parks as well as 1,500 acres of productive farmland.
“The damages of the arson terror are devastating to the economy, disruptive of life, and endangering the environment. This latest incarnation of the terrorist war being carried out by Hamas and other Iranian-backed groups in Gaza, has caused broad environmental damage, devastation to nature reserves and forests, serious air pollution, loss of life of wildlife species, millions in economic loss and more. Mr. Hoenlein and Mr. Stark said “These are acts of terror that must be condemned by all those who profess to care about the poisoning of the atmosphere and the destruction of the ecosystem, let alone peace in the region.”
“We urge environmental organizations in the U.S and abroad as well as people of good will to join in condemning these acts of eco-terrorism. With every day that passes more children and families are inhaling the toxic smoke, more farmers are losing their crops, and more nature reserves are suffering irreversible destruction. We implore governments, officials, and opinion leaders to join us in making it a priority to end the arson and protect the lives of civilians, their homes and farms, and the productivity and protection of this precious resource. Failure to do so will assure that this new form of terrorism will be repeated elsewhere.” —From Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations
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The Israeli Knesset has approved a law banning “Breaking the Silence” from public schools in Israel, with principal sponsor MK Shuli Moalem-Rafaeli arguing that the organization of ex-IDF soldiers is intent on delegitimizing Israel.
Education Minister Nafatali Bennett, another supporter, was quoted in the Jerusalem Post as saying: “Organizations that undermine Israel and besmirch IDF soldiers will no longer be able to reach Israeli students. Breaking the Silence long ago crossed the red lines beyond legitimate discourse when they started libeling Israel in the international arena. As long as they operate against Israel and the IDF abroad, I won’t let them in the education system.”
Im Tirtzu CEO Matan Peleg praised the passing of the law. “This law sends a clear message to anti-Israel delegitimization organizations that they cannot have their cake and eat it too. Whoever slanders Israel and IDF soldiers in the international arena will not be able to do the same from within Israel.”
“We hope that this law will lead to the ouster of other delegitimization organizations from Israel’s public institutions,” added Peleg. —From Im Tirzu
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Jewish Voice for Peace in drive against anti-BDS legislation
Jewish Voice for Peace has spearheaded a drive among like-minded groups around the world to protest anti-BDS legislation and other legislative measures meant to counteract efforts by anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian groups to isolate the Jewish state.
In a news release, JVP’s executive director, Rebecca Vilkomerson, announced that over thirty Jewish organizations across the globe came together in a statement condemning attempts to stifle criticism of Israel. The statement warns of a growing trend of legislative campaigns to target organizations that support Palestinian rights, particularly the nonviolent Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
“From our own histories we are all too aware of the dangers of increasingly fascistic and openly racist governments and political parties,” the global letter states. “The rise in antisemitic discourse and attacks worldwide is part of that broader trend. At times like this, it is more important than ever to distinguish between the hostility to or prejudice against Jews on the one hand and legitimate critiques of Israeli policies and system of injustice on the other.”
Vilkomerson said, “The United States has witnessed increasing legislative efforts to criminalize the boycott of illegal Israeli settlements and repress advocacy for Palestinian human rights by defining such acts as antisemitic, with two bills currently under discussion in US Congress. Such efforts are mirrored at the state level, where more than 25 state legislatures have considered or enacted various forms of targeting advocacy for Palestinian rights. Of particular concern is the usage of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, intentionally worded such that it equates legitimate criticisms of Israel and advocacy for Palestinian rights with antisemitism, as a means to suppress the former.
“A similar approach is being employed across Europe,” Vikomerson said. “In France and Germany, the bank accounts of BDS groups were closed and campaigns promoting the boycott of goods from illegal Israeli settlements were convicted of incitement to hatred. The UK has witnessed an ongoing battle about the legality of local government boycotts against Israeli settlements.
“The state of Israel has waged its own campaign against advocates of BDS. In January, the Israeli Ministry of Strategic Affairs announced a ban prohibiting the leaders of 20 organizations worldwide from entering Israel, including Jewish Voice for Peace, for supporting BDS. And in 2015, the Israeli High Court upheld a law which allows individuals to sue individuals calling for a boycott of Israel or of companies profiting from illegal Israeli settlements.”
The organizations joining the U.S.A. – based Jewish Voice for Peace in the protest were Academia4equality (Israel); Boycott from Within (Israeli citizens for BDS); Coalition of Women for Peace (Israel); Collectif Judéo Arabe et Citoyen pour la Palestine (Strasbourg, France); Dayenu: New Zealand Jews Against Occupation (New Zealand); Een Ander Joods Geluid (A Different Jewish Voice) (The Netherlands); Een Andere Joodse Stem – Another Jewish Voice (Flanders, Belgium); European Jews for a Just Peace; Free Speech on Israel (UK); Gate48 – critical Israelis in the Netherlands; Independent Jewish Voices (Canada); Independent Jewish Voices (UK); International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network; Italian Network of Jews Against the Occupation; Jewish Anti-Fascist Action Berlin (Germany); Jewish Voice For Labour (UK); Jewish Voice for Peace members in London (UK); Jews Against Fascism (Melbourne, Australia); Jews for Justice for Palestinians (UK); Jews for Palestinian Right of Return (USA); Jews of Color & Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews in Solidarity w/ Palestine (USA); Jews Say No! (USA); JIPF – Judar för Israelisk Palestinsk Fred (Sweden); Jüdische Stimme für gerechten Frieden im Nahost e.V. (Germany); Junts, Associació Catalana de Jueus i Palestins (Catalonia, Spain); Los Otros Judíos (Argentina); Manchester Jewish Action for Palestine (UK); Quebrando Muros – Judeus Brasileiros Pela Descolonização da Palestina (Brazil); SEDQ Network- A Global Jewish Network for Justice; South African Jewish Voices for a Just Peace (South Africa); South African Jews for a Free Palestine (South Africa); Union des progressistes juifs de Belgique (Saint-Gilles, Belgium); United Jewish People’s Order (UJPO)-Canada; Union Juive Française pour la Paix (France); andWorkman’s Circle, Boston (USA) — From Jewish Voice for Peace
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Ginna Green new chief strategist for Bend the Arc
Bend the Arc: Jewish Action has announced that Ginna Green will be the organization’s new Chief Strategy Officer.
For more than a decade, Green has crafted winning messages and campaigns in pursuit of social change. Most recently, she was the Managing Director for the Democracy Collaborative at ReThink Media, splitting her time between South Carolina and Washington, DC.
At Bend the Arc, Green will lead the strategy of the organization’s campaigns to mobilize tens of thousands of Jewish Americans to win progressive change and defend our democracy. Her leadership will seek to make the movement more inclusive — including Jews of color, religiously observant Jews, and Jews who do not yet see themselves as activists — and bring the full breadth of the Jewish community to the table to make change on matters like immigration, racial justice, economic equity, and civil rights.
With Green on board, Bend the Arc continues to be an outlier among national Jewish institutions, which are almost exclusively led by men. Bend the Arc’s Executive Team, as well as the chair of the board of directors of Bend the Arc: A Jewish Partnership for Justice, are all women. — From Bend the Arc
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Preceding culled from emails sent to editor@sdjewishworld.com
The Jewish Council of Public Affairs (JCPA) and the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL) strongly condemn Hamas eco-terrorism attacks against Israel and its people. We urge the international community to do everything in its power to preclude future such attacks.
For more than three months, Hamas has carried out eco-terrorism attacks against Israel and its people. With the use of incendiary devices attached to kites, balloons, and even protected birds, such as kestrels, these acts of arson have set fire to approximately 8000 acres of land, which includes sensitive ecosystems. These fires have caused devastating damage to fragile ecosystems, some 1500 acres of important farmland, and human communities. Most of this damage has occurred in nature reserves and parks, destroying habitats and killing many animals. The fires have also led to severe air pollution, exposing increasing numbers of children and their families to toxic smoke, which can lead to serious health problems.
For many years, environmental cooperation across Middle East borders has been a bright spot amid continued political unrest and armed conflict. From joint efforts to curb water contamination and preserve safe drinking water to “birds across borders” programs that have helped Palestinian, Jordanian, and Israeli farmers protect their crops using barn owls instead of toxic pesticides, governments and environmental groups have worked together to improve the health of the environment and the human communities that depend on it.
These acts not only threaten environmental cooperation, but inspire other terrorist groups to copy these attacks in other regions of the world.
We call on governmental and environmental organizations, here in the U.S. and around the world to join with us in condemning these attacks and putting a stop to them before the damage spreads further.