Ben Doernberg

Doernberg also participated in the group’s 2017 protest against the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) Conference, as well as in INN’s campaign to oppose the U.S. embassy move to Jerusalem.

Doernberg has promoted INN on social media, expressed support for anti-Israel agitator Ahed Tamimi and demonized Israel and Jewish Institutions.

As of February 2018, Doernberg mentioned on Facebook that he does “Jewish social justice organizing with IfNotNow.” Doernberg added “I help run social media (Instagram/Twitter/Facebook), train high school and college students on social movement strategy, and help plan actions and campaigns.”

As of December 2018, Doernberg’s LinkedIn page said he graduated from Wesleyan College (Wesleyan) in 2013 with a bachelors’ degree in Sociology and is an “activist/organizer” based in Boston.

INN actions have aimed to demonize [00:38:13]Israel, harass the American Jewish establishment and decrease support for Israel among Diaspora Jewish young adults.

On May 17, 2018, Doernberg tweeted: “I’m trading in my (((echoes))) for an eternal flame. I’m proud to be Jewish, to be committed to the never-ending fight for justice everywhere (including Israel/Palestine), and I’m done letting Nazis define my identity for me. Grateful to have an organizing home @IfNotNowOrg”

On December 23, 2018, Doernberg and fellow INN leaders, Emily Bloch and Shira Tiffany filmed [00:36:42] the aftermath of their disruption of a Birthright Israel heritage trip they were on. Birthright’s administration said Doernberg, Bloch and Tiffany broke the terms [00:51:16] the initial waiver they had signed and asked them to leave the trip. 

As The Jerusalem Post reported on December 24, and as INN as tweeted about, a then-recently added clause in the Birthright contract signed by participants stipulated that if participants “hijack a discussion or create an unwarranted provocation,” they could be dismissed from the program. 

Tiffany posted a video on Facebook that was taken of herself, Bloch and Doernberg after they were asked by Birthright to leave the trip. 

Birthright offered all three plane tickets home for the same day.

Tiffany added to her Facebook post the hashtags “#NotJustAFreeTrip” and “#NoSuchThingAsAFreeTrip.” The hashtags are part of an INN campaign titled “Not Just a Free Trip” that declared “we can no longer allow a free trip that hides the truth about the Occupation be synonymous with being a young Jewish person in America.”

In the video, Doernberg accused Birthright of presenting [00:05:12] the perspective that “Arabs are crazy terrorists.” Doernberg labeled [00:14:42] Birthright “Sheldon Adelson’s Right-wing propaganda trip” and characterized [00:15:15] the soldier providing security for the Birthright participants as “scary” “intimidating” and “not friendly.”

In the video, Doernberg claimed [00:16:05] that Birthright was kicking them off because they had “the wrong views on the occupation.”  

Towards the end of the video, Doernberg said [01:18:07] to Bloch and Tiffany “this has been really interesting getting to know you guys over the course of this process.”

None of the three admitted to being INN leaders or of knowing each other prior to the trip, however, Doernberg and Tiffany were two of the eight INN activists who were arrested while blockading Boston’s AIPAC office, after blockading Boston’s Israeli Consulate, in April 2018.

Birthright Israel is a heritage trip to Israel for Jewish young adults from across the world.

On December 23, 2018, INN posted a video on Facebook featuring Bloch and Doernberg after they had disrupted the trip. INN wrote: “Emily and Ben Were Kicked Off Birthright for Asking Questions. We've been in touch with Emily Dora, Shira Leah, and Ben who were just kicked off their Birthright trip for asking questions about the Occupation. They asked to share this video explaining what happened.”

Also on December 23, 2018, INN posted a graphic on Facebook describing Bloch only as a “Birthright participant” and quoting her as saying “I WAS KICKED OFF for just asking about the relationship between Trump and Netanyahu’s policies. For me this makes it clearer than ever that the people who control Birthright’s agenda are the same people who support Trump and his wall.”

The INN post urged people to harass the Birthright office, claiming: “We are horrified to discover that Birthright just kicked 3 people off of their trip for asking questions about the Occupation. They are enforcing their new code of conduct which punishes people for asking questions. Birthright needs to know that our generation will not accept their bribe — we will not stay silent.”

The post also asked people to phone Birthright and demand that they “change their code of conduct today.”

On that same day, INN posted a statement to Twitter claiming that the three were “kicked off for asking questions about Palestine” and claimed that the Birthright Code of Conduct “will be seen as a sign to be intimidated from seeking the truth.” 

In the same Twitter thread, INN also stated that Bloch, Tiffany and Doernberg would join INN activists Harry Weisman and Rachel Salzberg, who had walked off their Birthright trip the previous Friday.

That same day, Doernberg tweeted an extensive thread demonizing Birthright, where he said: “Basically, throughout the entire trip it was pretty standard right-wing propaganda. *Literally* every single time an Arab or Palestinian was mentioned in a story, it was to talk about someone who was a crazy terrorist murderer who likes killing Jews for fun. Every. Single. Time.”

Also on December 23, 2018, the activists created a fundraising page, which Bloch wrote was “to ensure that anyone else who gets kicked off because their politics or values are deemed unacceptable to Birthright are able to get home.”

She also claimed “Accepting their Code of Conduct is accepting their bribe: we give you a free trip, and you accept our talking points as facts.”

On December 24, 2018, The Jerusalem Post released Birthright’s statement that said: “When activists aggressively disrupt the experience of the other participants then, like in any organized group experience, we have to ask them to leave regardless of their agenda.” 

Birthright added that they welcome participants views and questions, however they “will not condone any coordinated plans to ruin the experience for others in order to promote a specific agenda.”

That same day, The Forward published an update admitting Doernberg, Bloch and Tiffany’s INN membership, and that INN provided contact information for the three to the Forward.

On June 28, 2018, Doernberg shared to Facebook a video of INN activists disrupting a Birthright trip and wrote: “I'm so appreciative of the five people who walked off their Birthright trip today to go see the realities that Birthright was hiding from them.”

Doernberg added: “They knew they'd be perceived as 'traitors' by others on their bus, by many on social media, and probably by members of their own families. But they did it anyway, *because* they care about what happens in Israel/Palestine, which is supposedly what the people behind Birthright are trying to achieve.”

On June 27, 2018, Doernberg contributed to a thread on twitter, writing: “people go to ‘see Israel.’ Well guess what, the Occupation is a major part of Israel, and it’s political af [as f**k] to avoid it for 10 days. My point is, you can’t just ignore the massive civil/human rights violation at the core of the country’s status quo.”

On April 3, 2018 Doernberg was arrested during an INN demonstration to “protest Israel violence against Palestinian protesters in Gaza.” Doernberg was one of eight  INN activists, including Shira Tiffany, who chained themselves to the entrance to the Israeli consulate in Boston to defend the Hamas-organized violent “March of Return.” 

During the protest, an INN activist condemned [00:04:36] “the brutality of the IDF at the March of Return” and [00:05:04] “the inhumanity of shooting at unarmed protestors.”

An INN member then led [00:16:00] participants in saying Kaddish “for the 18 Gazans who were killed.”

The Jewish Mourner’s Kaddish is a prayer traditionally said by close relatives for their deceased.

On April 7, 2018, Doernberg indicated on Facebook that he “went” to a “Rally to #StopDeportations and End Violence On Gaza” co-hosted by INN and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP).

The Facebook event description declared: “Over the past two weeks the Israeli army has shot and tear gassed unarmed Palestinian protesters in Gaza, wounding thousands of people and killing 27.” The event called on Israel to “end its violence” and “killings” of Palestinians, adding “we will honor the humanity of Palestinians fighting for their rights.” 

On April 13, 2018, Doernberg indicated on Facebook that he “went” to INN Boston’s event “#HowManyMore? Mourner’s Kaddish for Protesters Killed in Gaza.”

The event description claimed that “On March 30th, the first night of Passover, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) snipers shot at unarmed protesters in Gaza, killing 18 people and wounding at least 1,600 more. Since March 30th, the IDF has used lethal violence to repress peaceful protest, killing 31 Palestinians and wounding over a thousand protesters.” 

On May 15, 2018, Doernberg indicated on Facebook that he “went” to a Boston event titled: “Remember and Resist: 70 Years of Ethnic Cleansing in Palestine.” 

The event description claimed “In Gaza, the Great March of Return, a peaceful encampment and weekly protests along the border with Israel, has been met with Israeli snipers firing live ammunition” 

The event description declared that “Palestinians and their allies are marking 70 years of Nakba, or the ethnic cleansing of Palestine since 1948” by “Zionist settler colonialists.” The description also asserted that “Palestinians in Gaza live in the world’s largest open-air prison.”

On May 24, 2018 Doernberg published a Facebook post saying: “Last Monday, the same day the Israeli army killed 60 Palestinians and wounded thousands more, tens of thousands turned out in Tel Aviv...to celebrate Israel's win in the Eurovision song contest.” 

In his post, Doernberg also condemned “the absurdity and cruelty of attempts (by Israelis, American Jews, right-wing Christian Zionists etc) to pretend the Occupation isn't happening or doesn't matter.”

As of December 24, 2018, Doernberg deleted this Facebook post.

On June 26, 2018, Doernberg contributed to a Twitter thread about the March of Return, writing that “Clearly Israel's live-fire policy reliably leads to the shooting and killing of civilians who are no threat to anyone. I’m comfortable calling that murder.”

On March 26, 2017, INN members organized a protest outside the Washington D.C. venue of the annual AIPAC Conference. Several hundred protesters spent hours chanting outside the venue, while some chained themselves to the entrance of the conference center.

Doernberg came from Boston to attend the protest. In an article published on March 31, 2017, Doernberg was quoted stating that “The reason we went down there was to say the status quo in the Jewish establishment is not taking moral leadership.”

On December 6, 2017, Doernberg attended and promoted INN Boston’s event, titled “EMERGENCY RALLY: Jews Say No to Trump Embassy in Jerusalem.” The rally was held at AIPAC's Boston office, to protest U.S. President Trump’s announcement that he would be moving the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. 

The event description labeled President Trump’s decision to move the embassy “deliberate incitement of violence.”

In his Facebook post, Doernberg wrote: “Trump is going to risk World War 3 tomorrow, and shamefully AIPAC has come out strongly in support of his deliberate incitement of violence. Please join me downtown at 6pm!”

On February 1, 2018, Doernberg shared a video on his Facebook page of high school activists protesting in support for anti-Israel agitator, Ahed Tamimi. Alongside the video, Doernberg wrote “Really proud to be following the lead of kids in high school(!) who understand better than anyone that Ahed Tamimi should be spending her 17th birthday with friends and family, not hidden away in an Israeli military prison.”

On December 22, 2017, Doernberg tweeted: “#WhenIWas16 in Israel joking about being behind bars, I didn’t know that Palestinian kids my age were in military jail a few miles away #FreeAhedTamimi #FreeAhed #FreeTamimiWomen”

Demonizing Israel and Jewish Institutions

On May 17, 2018 Doernberg tweeted: “fwiw [for what it’s worth] INN doesn't use the word apartheid. we’re trying to move the American Jewish community specifically, & we find that certain words cause people to tune us out.”

Doernberg continued: “I personally agree that it’s apartheid, as do many (not all) people in INN, but most of the people we’re trying to reach don’t think of it as apartheid right now, and are just *starting* to wrap their heads around the word ‘Occupation.’ It’s unfortunate, and obviously people should use the language that feels right to them! Just explaining why INN probably won’t rt your really good tweet ❤️.”

On May 13, 2018, Doernberg wrote on Facebook: “Israel's love affair with Donald Trump is just a symptom of the fact that Israel is several years ahead of the US on the path to open fascism, if they're not already there.”

On October 19, 2017 t Doernberg tweeted: “as American Jews we're attached to Israel whether we like it or not, because the US backs occupation etc in our name.”

In a tweet posted on June 19, 2017, Doernberg wrote: “when Netanyahu claims he’s a ‘representative of the entire Jewish people’ he’s occupying in our name.”

Social Media and Weblinks

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/100005216042079

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BenDoernberg

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bendoernberg/

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/bedhead18/ [Deleted]

YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/user/bdoernberg 

Github:https://github.com/BenDoernberg 

About.me: https://about.me/bendoernberg