Open letter to Board of Deputies


September 23, 2014
Sarah Benton
 

BoD

 

Rosh HaShanah open letter from the JfJfP executive to the Board of Deputies of British Jews.

September 23, 2014

Dear Board of Deputies,

We have read with interest your Jewish Manifesto for the 2015 General Election, ” aimed at informing both existing and prospective members of the UK Parliament about Jewish interests and concerns”.

We note in particular, among your Ten Commitments, these two:
“5) advocate for a permanent, comprehensive solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, resulting in a secure Israel alongside a viable Palestinian state.
6) Promote peace projects that unite communities, and resist boycotts that divide communities.”

In January 2011, a resolution declaring support for a two state solution in the Middle East was defeated at a Board of Deputies meeting by a 79-51 vote. We are delighted that, via Commitment 5, you now express an unequivocal endorsement of a viable Palestinian State alongside a secure Israel.

Commitment 6, however, is more problematic. We would appreciate it if you would clarify the words “boycotts that divide communities”. We are wondering if you mean only boycotts against Israel per se or if you include boycotts against the Occupation, such as boycotts against settlement goods and against companies that operate in the Occupied Territories?

If the latter, we would urge you to rethink. From our experience, boycotts in the latter category do anything but “divide communities” in Britain. On the contrary, Jewish support for such boycotts not only puts pressure on the Israeli government to act in Israel’s own best interests by ending the illegal Occupation – recognised as such by international law throughout the world – but also reaches out to non-Jewish people.

We note too that recently you issued, together with the Muslim Council of Britain, a statement of co-operation that called for “constructive dialogue”.  We welcome a joint statement, but are concerned, as Antony Lerman has written, that : “The statement simply brushed the difficult issue of Palestine under the carpet”.

Genuinely constructive dialogue (for instance the dialogue in recent decades between Jews and Christians in which Christians acknowledged the historical Christian record of persecution of Jews) involves not ignoring difficult issues but facing up to and engaging with them. During Operation Protective Edge, JfJfP was deluged with emails from Muslims thanking us for our strong stand against Israel’s devastation of Gaza – a stand in contrast to that created by your entirely uncritical support of the Israeli attack on Gaza that suggested that this onslaught was endorsed by the whole Jewish community.

If we are to build constructive links with the Muslim community and also reduce antisemitism, we would suggest that the JfJfP positions on Gaza and on boycotting the Occupation are far more likely to be successful than your very unspecific joint statement which avoided key issues or the new ‘Campaign Against Antisemitism’ which you support.

The High Holy Days are, for us all, a time for reflection and stock-taking. We contribute our comments in the hope that you will accept them in the spirit of friendship in which they are offered.

Shana Tova,

The Executive, Jews for Justice for Palestinians

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