Which reminds me that I met Steve Silver at a Shabbat service and potluck dinner in Riverside Park last Friday. Once we started talking about our blogs 5-6 people wanted to know their names, so my online and face-to-face lives are now slightly less distinct than they were. (I am not trying to be anonymous, but neither am I in a hurry to have everyone I know read KT; it makes me self-conscious.)
Anyway, in the course of fisking Chris Hedges' glowing portrait of her in the NYTimes, Steve mentioned that some of his Rutgers friends knew and disliked New Jersey ISM organizer Charlotte Kates, who made a name for herself by her zealousness (as befits an ex-Scientologist jumping from one cause to another). Now it turns out that - like most zealots - she has alienated the members of her own group who actually want to win friends and influence people, as opposed to just being self-righteous and doctrinaire.
Seven of New Jersey Solidarity's 25 members — representing all of the group's Arab members — resigned in protest recently, as the group pushed an increasingly radical anti-Israel agenda explicitly calling for the destruction of Israel. These seven formed a splinter group that aired its concerns on a pro-Palestinian Internet message board.(Well, I appreciate the attempt to insist on human decency, but I still don't see much daylight between the two groups.)
"NJS members have recently been involved in actions that have been thoughtless and immoral," wrote the seven dissidents. "Those who prefer reckless rhetoric have tried amending the mission statement to include 'Israel has no right to exist' and have openly welcomed the idea of inviting Hamas to events. We have had debates against steering committee persons who hold tight to the idea that there are no Israeli civilians and when confronted with 'Even the kids?' the reply was 'Yes, everyone's fair game.' This has been escalating for a number of months now. It has gone well past the point of return."
Faced with the New Jersey group's growing radicalism, the conference's organizing committee last week voted by the requisite two-thirds majority to move the third North American Student Conference on the Palestine Solidarity Movement — scheduled for October 10 to October 12 — from Rutgers in New Brunswick, N.J., to Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio.
In the same article, Charles Lenchner of Jews for Peace in Palestine and Israel says of ISM and their ilk:
"They're not making a difference between selling weapons and Israel existing as a country . . . I don't have a moral problem with divestment. I think it's an unwise strategy in Israel's case because in order to achieve peace you have to convince them that it's in both societies' interest. Instead of demonizing one side and glorifying the other, you have to point to shared interests."That's my litmus test for any supposed Israeli-Palestinian "peace" group: Do they demonize one side? Are they for a two-state solution? Do they rush to the territories straight from Ben Gurion Airport without ever spending any time in Israel talking to regular Israelis? Do they truly renounce violence as a means, or do they talk "nonviolence" while defending violent acts, making excuses for doing so, and engaging in their own attempts at violent intimidation?
There are numerous genuine peace, and reconciliation, and mutual project, and dialogue groups. (I have the most hope for the joint business ventures.) Somehow you never hear about any of these efforts from groups like ISM. Not as glamorous as throwing your body in front of bomb factories, I guess. And, you know, you might have to wear a tie once in a while.
UPDATE: Huwaida Arraf, co-founder of ISM and blushing bride of Adam "I am not a Jew but I play one on TV news" Shapiro, issued a communique on the subject of the Jerusalem bus bombing. True to form, she bitches about being expected to mention it at all, and blames it on . . . the Occupation.
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