Rabbi Michael Lerner of Tikkun is appalled by the Israeli murders of Palestinians.

We at Tikkun are in mourning for the seventeen Palestinians killed and hundreds wounded by the Israeli army on the eve of Passover. We are outraged by the use of violence and force by the Israeli soldiers who faced no threat to their safety or to the security of the State of Israel (though there were a handful of violent provocateurs among the thousands of nonviolent Gazans who came to the border with Israel to protest the ongoing blockade that has caused incredible suffering and many deaths among those living in this tiny area of mostly Palestinian refugees).

We are also once again grieving for a Judaism that is being trampled on by those Jewish leaders who turn a blind eye to the brutality orchestrated by the Israeli army and justified by the Israeli government.

I have included below a summary of three articles that I encourage you to read to gain a deeper understandings of the situation on the ground and responses both in Israel and the U.S. *

Please circulate this widely, and urge those who agree with these ideas to write letters of protest to your elected US officials in both political parties who give automatic support to every funding bill for Israel and every resolution backing Israel, and express your upset also to the various Israeli consulates and embassies around the world.

We should not allow those who support the policies of Occupation to call themselves “pro-Israel” when in fact they are following a path that may lead to Israel’s destruction and already have led many people in parts of the world that never had any religious antagonism to Jews (such as, China, India, or much of Africa) to be open to hating Jews because they identify all Jews with the immoral policies of the current Israeli government. Jewish values require us to speak out on behalf of ‘the stranger’ amongst us and to stand in solidarity with them when the power of the Israeli government comes crashing down on them. Loving the Jewish people, ahavat yisrael, requires that we help people in our society understand that the actions of the current Israeli government do not represent Judaism or Jews as a whole and that criticizing the Occupation of the West Bank and the blockade of Gaza is not per se anti-Semitic.

* The three articles will follow over the coming week.


Rabbi Michael Lerner is editor of Tikkun


Israeli Army Slaughters Non-Violent Protesters On Eve Of Passover

Rabbi Michael Lerner of Tikkun is appalled by the Israeli murders of Palestinians.

We at Tikkun are in mourning for the seventeen Palestinians killed and hundreds wounded by the Israeli army on the eve of Passover. We are outraged by the use of violence and force by the Israeli soldiers who faced no threat to their safety or to the security of the State of Israel (though there were a handful of violent provocateurs among the thousands of nonviolent Gazans who came to the border with Israel to protest the ongoing blockade that has caused incredible suffering and many deaths among those living in this tiny area of mostly Palestinian refugees).

We are also once again grieving for a Judaism that is being trampled on by those Jewish leaders who turn a blind eye to the brutality orchestrated by the Israeli army and justified by the Israeli government.

I have included below a summary of three articles that I encourage you to read to gain a deeper understandings of the situation on the ground and responses both in Israel and the U.S. *

Please circulate this widely, and urge those who agree with these ideas to write letters of protest to your elected US officials in both political parties who give automatic support to every funding bill for Israel and every resolution backing Israel, and express your upset also to the various Israeli consulates and embassies around the world.

We should not allow those who support the policies of Occupation to call themselves “pro-Israel” when in fact they are following a path that may lead to Israel’s destruction and already have led many people in parts of the world that never had any religious antagonism to Jews (such as, China, India, or much of Africa) to be open to hating Jews because they identify all Jews with the immoral policies of the current Israeli government. Jewish values require us to speak out on behalf of ‘the stranger’ amongst us and to stand in solidarity with them when the power of the Israeli government comes crashing down on them. Loving the Jewish people, ahavat yisrael, requires that we help people in our society understand that the actions of the current Israeli government do not represent Judaism or Jews as a whole and that criticizing the Occupation of the West Bank and the blockade of Gaza is not per se anti-Semitic.

* The three articles will follow over the coming week.


Rabbi Michael Lerner is editor of Tikkun


3 comments:

  1. Interesting read. I have long said corporate Zionism is a global obstacle to social justice and of course among the victims will be ordinary Jews. Thought the religious point was well made, Sam Harris springs to mind, when celebrity atheists are pointing out the fascist element within Islam, or the moral inconsistences within Christianity they never mention the State of Israel was founded on the same line as these religions. The holy trinity of war. The connection with the Saudis and evangelists resonated. In our natural response to criticise other extremists but forget our own, we forget all these fundamentalists in all religions have mutual benefit in acrimony and war believing they're doing their lords bidding. A open intellectual opposition to Zionism within Judaism would be much needed. Calling Norman Finklestein and the like self hating Jews is nonsensical. Although Zionism will give anti semites more ammunition sadly these people will always exist, any excuse to hate anybody and make their own life less tedious, less accountable.

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  2. The above comment was supposed to be under the Zionist have become an existential problem to Jews article, my tablets fucked

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