How about AIPAC? The Anti-Defamation League? American Jewish Committee? Aish HaTorah? The Jewish National Fund? These are all organizations we tend to count on to be supportive of Israel, to counter the virulent anti-Israel propaganda that seems to pop up under every rock and in every venue these days. But while dedicated individuals like Martin Solomon are struggling to keep this kind of garbage out of our high schools, it appears that the above-named organizations are content to support it on our college campuses.
Yes, you read that right. Ludicrous, you say? I couldn't agree more. Neither could the ZOA.
New York - At a time when Israel bashing and anti-Semitism on college campuses are reaching new heights, nine major Jewish groups that comprise the Steering Committee of the Israel On Campus Coalition (ICC) have unanimously voted not to address campus programming sponsored by ICC members that criticizes Israel without regard to fact and context, and that may actually incite hatred of Israel among college students. The Committee also unanimously voted that there was no "cause under the ICC's membership criteria to remove [the Union of Progressive Zionists, an ICC group member] from the Coalition." The Jewish groups on the Steering Committee who cast these votes are the American Jewish Committee, the Anti-Defamation League, AIPAC, Aish HaTorah, the Jewish National Fund, Hillel, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, and the Shusterman Foundation.
The ICC is a pro-Israel umbrella group whose mission is to "foster support for Israel on campus," promote "Israel advocacy," and "counter the worrisome rise of anti-Israel activities on college campuses." In December 2006, the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), a member of the ICC, expressed concern that the Union of Progressive Zionists (UPZ), another ICC member, has been sponsoring a program on campuses that harshly and falsely criticizes Israel for human rights abuses against the Palestinian Arabs. The UPZ-sponsored program - called "Breaking the Silence" - omits historical facts, provides no balance or context, and promotes outright falsehoods about Israel. The ZOA acknowledged the UPZ's general right to promote this hateful program, but not as a member of the ICC, which was set up to build support for Israel and reduce anti-Israel intimidation and harassment on college campuses.
Examples identified by the American Jewish Congress from Breaking the Silence's Web site demonstrate how the program demonizes and incites hatred of Israel. Israel is condemned for its alleged "violence and law-flouting." The IDF is condemned for supposedly ordering its soldiers "to shoot to kill unarmed people without fear of reprimand." Allegedly, Israeli soldiers "who stick to morality are the exceptional," not the norm. And Jewish settlers purportedly "inflict the purest evil on their neighbors."
Let's take a look at the ICC's mission statement again, close up:
Contrast and compare with the UPZ's mission:
So the underlying assumption of the UPZ's mission is moral equivalence: both sides must cease their respective acts of terrorism and violence against civilians; both sides are equally responsible for the conflict. Well, almost. When you get right down to it, it's Israel that needs to end the "occupation." It's Israel that needs to provide social and economic parity. It's Israel that must be pressured into upholding the values of democracy, social justice and pluralism. Because those values abound in the palestinian Arab occupied territories. Those values are the foundation of Hamas and Islamic Jihad. And Fatah. And it's not as if Israel has already been the lone Middle Eastern nation promoting them for the past 59 years. Oh, wait. Yes it has.
What the hell is this organization doing in a coalition for Israel advocacy on campus? Don't ask me. Ask the ADL. Ask Hillel. Ask the American Jewish Committee. Ask AIPAC. Please. And maybe consider withholding your support until you get a good answer.
*Please note: The Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA), referenced in this article, is not to be confused with the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA), which is not affiliated with the ICC and would, I'm certain, have voted quite differently if it was.
