JVP and Anti-Semitism
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Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) regularly dismisses and enables anti-Semitism. In various campaigns and events, JVP has repeatedly refused to acknowledge anti-Semitism disguised as anti-Zionism and has chosen to align itself with anti-Semites and even convicted murderers of Jews.
Attempting to Redefine Anti-Semitism
In 2017, JVP produced a book titled “On Antisemitism: Solidarity and the Struggle for Justice,” which attempted to separate anti-Zionism from anti-Semitism. The book contained essays from a host of ardent anti-Israel and pro-BDS professionals, including Linda Sarsour and Omar Barghouti, the founder of the BDS movement.
Barghouti wrote: “Israel, its lobbying groups, and the international Zionist movement have been aggressively trying to normalize and impose a new definition of antisemitism that encompasses anti-Zionism, criticism of Israel’s policies or laws, and advocacy of effective measures to hold it accountable to international law, especially through the BDS movement for Palestinian rights.”
In a JVP video promoting the book, Sarsour ignored the possibility of any conflation between anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism and claimed that anyone who criticizes Israel is labeled an anti-Semite by the right-wing. She also suggested that anti-Semitism is not as much a concern as other types of bigotry since it is “not systemic.”
Sarsour has frequently used the word “Zionist” as a pejorative and has tweeted that “nothing is creepier than Zionism” and that “right wing zionists… get paid to lie.” She has also expressed support for the infamous anti-Semite Louis Farrakhan.
In November 2017, a JVP panel on anti-Semitism titled “Antisemitism and the Struggle for Justice,” featured Sarsour. During the event, Sarsour slammed the “Jewish Media” for calling attention to her problematic alignment with Farrakhan.
The panel event’s description indicated that the event’s focus was more towards shielding critics of Israel from accusations of anti-Semitism than actually fighting anti-Semitism. The CEO of the ADL, Jonathan Greenblatt, criticized the event, tweeting: “Having Linda Sarsour & head of JVP leading a panel on #antisemitism is like Oscar Meyer leading a panel on vegetarianism. These panelists know the issue, but unfortunately, from the perspective of fomenting it rather than fighting it.”
Protesting the Anti-Semitism Definition and Anti-Semitism Awareness Act
In 2015, JVP launched a campaign against the U.S. State Department’s definition of anti-Semitism, charging that it punishes “people for speaking out against Israel's human rights abuses.”
The U.S. State Department’s definition of anti-Semitism states that “criticism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country cannot be regarded as anti-Semitic,” but highlights examples where attacks on Israel do constitute anti-Semitism, such as “Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, and denying Israel the right to exist.”
The definition has been endorsed by the European Parliament and adopted by the 31 nations that constitute the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA).
JVP also campaigned against the 2016 Anti-Semitism Awareness Act (AAA), which directed the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) to apply the U.S. State Department’s definition of anti-Semitism to incidents at schools and college campuses.
JVP launched petitions opposing the bill, saying that “real anti-Semitism” came from the “white supremacist movements in this country” and claiming support for BDS was “not inherently anti semitic.” JVP also claimed that the bill “conflates legitimate criticism of the policies of the Israeli government with anti-Semitism.”
Deadly Exchange
In 2017, JVP launched its “Deadly Exchange” campaign that invoked the anti-Semitic conspiracy theory of Jewish state power by blaming American Jewish organizations for state violence, human rights abuses and police brutality against minorities and activists in the U.S.
The campaign accused exchange programs between American and Israeli security personnel of promoting “worst practices,” “discriminatory and repressive policing” and “racist policies” in both countries. JVP claimed that these “policies” included: “extrajudicial executions, shoot-to-kill policies, police murders, racial profiling, massive spying and surveillance, deportation and detention.”
The campaign video insinuated that Jewish organizations were linked to the killing of Michael Brown in August 2014, by claiming that the former St. Louis County police chief Timothy Fitch had “trained with the Israeli military three years before.” But Fitch, who had attended a counter-terrorism seminar in Israel, was retired at the time of Brown’s killing, and the officer who shot Brown was from a different police department.
Critics described JVP’s campaign as an “anti-Semitic libel designed to paint Jews with blood and hold Jews responsible for state violence,” and criticized JVP’s “evidence” as “bare-faced insinuations, misrepresentations, and alleged causation.” Another critic noted that JVP’s “causal logic is so deeply implied but so empirically thin as to imply a secret conspiracy.”
Promoting Terrorists
JVP’s ties to anti-Semitism also extend to promoting and showing support for convicted terrorists.
JVP regularly partnered with and celebrated Rasmea Odeh, a key military operative of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Odeh was convicted for masterminding a 1969 PFLP bombing that killed two college students in a Jerusalem supermarket, and for attempting to bomb the British consulate.
Odeh featured as a keynote speaker in JVP’s 2017 annual conference, where she was described as “a feminist leader” and was introduced by JVP Deputy Director Alissa Wise “with love, with appreciation, with gratitude for all that you are.”
JVP also campaigned in support of Marwan Barghouti and the Palestinian prisoners’ hunger strike he initiated.
Barghouti is currently serving five consecutive life sentences for his role in suicide bombings and shooting attacks that killed five Israelis during the second intifada. He led the the Palestinian Authority (PA) terrorist Tanzim force and founded the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. He also financed the guitar-case bomb used in the Sbarro Cafe massacre, where 15 civilians were killed and 130 injured.
In 2017, JVP San Diego was one of the endorsing organizations of a campaign to “Free Ahmad Sa’adat.” Sa’adat is the Secretary General of the PFLP, currently serving time in an Israeli prison for terror activities, including his role in the 2001 assassination of Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze’evi. Under Sa’adat’s leadership, the PFLP perpetrated many suicide bombings against Israeli civilians during the second intifada.
Partnering with Anti-Semites
In addition to their regular partnership with the premier anti-Israel campus group Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), JVP has partnered with various other anti-Semitic individuals and groups.
Organizations have included Addameer, reportedly an “affiliate” of the PFLP terrorist organization and American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) which has been accused of providing a platform for anti-Semitism and of having connections to Hamas.
In 2016, JVP produced a video honoring Manal Tamimi, who regularly spreads anti-Semitic blood libels on social media, supports terrorists, has called for a third intifada and the death of Jews. JVP also hosted Bassem Tamimi, who was jailed for organizing violent protests and inciting minors to commit violence against Israelis.
JVP has also promoted Israeli MK Haneen Zoabi, who has said that Jews are not a people, as well as Miko Peled, who suggested the US/Israeli aid deal explains why "Jews have reputation 4being sleazy thieves,” and Alison Weir. Weir promoted the medieval blood libel that Jews ritually murdered Christian children and then modernized it by claiming that Israel has been “harvesting” Palestinian organs to sell on the international black market.
JVP has repeatedly crossed the line from criticism of Israel to anti-Semitism. While they launch campaigns that appear to fight anti-Semitism, in reality, they provide a platform for activists to disguise anti-Jewish hatred as mere criticism of Israel. Rather than being a voice for peace, JVP has proven itself to be a voice for anti-Semitism.