Brant Rosen

Overview

In 2010, Brant Rosen founded and became co-chair of the Rabbinical Council of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP). He is involved with the group’s chapter at the University of Chicago (JVP UChicago).

Rosen also works as the Midwest Regional Director of American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) — an anti-Israel, Quaker organization that promotes the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. AFSC takes its cues from the BDS National Committee — whose first listed member is the Council of National and Islamic Forces in Palestine. AFSC also subscribes to the "three core BDS rights" which comprise a veiled prescription for the destruction of Israel.

Rosen runs a blog in which he reinterprets the meaning and significance of Jewish texts, festivals and practices and uses them to attack the historical ideals of Jewish nationhood and a national home.

Rosen is the Rabbi of the Tzedek Chicago congregation, a self-described "non-Zionist" Jewish community. The congregation rejects nationalism — singling out Jewish nationalism for condemnation— and rejects “the view that any one people, ethnic group or nation is entitled to any part of our world more than any other.”

Rosen is the former president of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association.

Passover: Israel is "Pharaoh" and Palestinians are “Israelites”

On March 31, 2015, Rosen published an article on his blog before the Jewish festival of Passover with a link to a Passover Supplement promoting Palestinian propaganda and libels. Rosen’s supplement suggests that Jews read the following during their Seder on the first night of the holiday.

"We also gather to affirm that our telling of this story cannot be complete unless we include the experience of the Palestinian people, whose Exodus story is all too real and all too ongoing. As we tell their story, we ask ourselves:

– Are we ready, as Jews, to honestly acknowledge that in this Exodus telling, we have, in fact, become Pharaoh?

On April 28, 2016, in a blog article on Passover, Rosen again likened Israel to the Biblical Pharaoh.

Rosen characterized the Jews’ repatriation to their Biblical homeland from the late 19th century through 1947 as "decades of Zionist colonization and Jewish immigration." The article also falsely implied that Israel intentionally implemented “the forced expulsion of Palestinians from their homes” and “refusal to allow them to return” in order to “solve” the issue of “demographics.”

Rosen concluded by stating that "it would be a mistake to assume that the contemporary state of Israel must be seen as equivalent to the biblical Israelites" and that the Palestinians are in fact the new “Israelites” since they the “people who suffer under oppressive government policies.”

Jewish Fast Days: Demonize Israel

On August 1, 2014, Rosen wrote on his blog about the Jewish fast day of Tisha B'av, a day where Jews mourn the destruction and sacking of the first and second Temples in Jerusalem and other tragic events in Jewish history. Rosen took this as an opportunity to preach about Gaza through a "reworking of the first chapter of Lamentations," a biblical work read on the fast day. He hoped that Jews would “mourn the mounting dead in Gaza — along with what Israel has become…”

On October 11, 2015, Rosen published an article on his blog about inviting anti-Semitic journalist Max Blumenthal to his Tzedek Chicago synagogue on Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of Atonement to preach to the congregation about Blumenthal’s experiences in Gaza.

Blumenthal’s 2013 book, “Goliath: Life and Loathing in Greater Israel,”was dubbed “The Israel Hater’s Handbook” by Eric Alterman of the progressive magazine The Nation.

On September 23, 2015 — the day after the Yom Kippur Service — Blumenthal tweeted "Here is part of the confession Tzedek Chicago recited at last night's Kol Nidre services." The list of reported confessions blamed American Jews for alleged Israeli “war crimes” including the “warehousing of humanity,” keeping Palestinians in an “open air prison,” of “repeatedly unleashing devastating military firepower on a population,” and “rationalizing away Israel’s oppression of the Palestinian people.”

Justifying Campus Anti-Semitism

On April 20, 2015, on his blog, Rosen defended those who perpetrated a widely publicized anti-Semitic incident.

Rachel Beyda, a Jewish candidate for University Students Association Council (USAC) at UCLA, was pointedly questioned about her involvement in the Jewish community and barred from joining the USAC judicial board. The New York Times reported that the discussion following Beyda’s questioning "seemed to echo the kind of questions, prejudices and tropes — particularly about divided loyalties — that have plagued Jews…for centuries." Beyda was accepted at a re-vote. The council members who objected to her candidacy submitted a formal apology to the Jewish community.

Rosen, however, implied in his blog that the profiling of Beyda was understandable given that Jewish student groups have working relationships with pro-Israel organizations. He attacked the "anti-Semitic, obnoxious, or merely naive" attitudes toward Jewish students – “particularly those who serve on student boards,” by levelling allegations of “heavy-handed interventions of off-campus advocates of Israel into student politics.” Rosen went on to smear the involvement of “right-wing Zionist groups” with allegations of underhanded financial dealings.

Rosen also testified that since he has worked with "SJP and JVP on several campuses over the years," he “can personally attest” that he has “found these student leaders to be smart, passionate organizers who are motivated by deeply held anti-racist values – and who understand full well the difference between anti-Israel and anti-Semitic.”

Rosen then blamed the Jews for the direct correlation between BDS activity and a marked rise in anti-Semitic campus activity. He wrote that on occasions when the line between anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism gets blurred — "we might well ask ourselves: is this due to the abject Jew-hatred on the part of Palestinian solidarity activists or a contemporary Jewish communal mentality that has placed support for the State of Israel at the center of Jewish identity?"

Likening Israel to Nazi Germany

On May 16, 2016 Rosen tweeted "Israel Independence performance draws Nazi comparisons." The tweet linked to an article about a stage performance by soldiers who formed various popular Israeli symbols and idioms, including the sentence "one people, one state."

On April 16, 2015, Rosen wrote an article on his blog on Yom Hashoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) likening Israeli security policies to Nazi segregation laws based on race. Rosen fraudulently claimed that "In the West Bank, Jews and non-Jews are segregated by separate legal systems, separate roads, separate transportation systems, and in some cases,separate sidewalks." There are no such distinctions in Judea and Samaria dividing Jewish-Israeli citizens and non-Jewish Israeli citizens.

Rosen doubled down, writing: — "I cannot help but note that the very country that first established Holocaust Remembrance Day itself enforces its own form of legal segregation between Jews and non-Jews…"

Drawing comparisons between Israel and the Nazis is a form of anti-Semitism according to the United States Department of State definition.

Attacking Birthright

On May 29, 2015, Rosen tweeted — "Birthwrong: meet the pranksters celebrating the Jewish diaspora." The tweet linked to an article about a radical, alternative trip to Spain called “Birthwrong.”

Birthwrong is a parody of the Birthright heritage trips to Israel. Organized by some British Jews calling themselves "Jewdas," Birthwrong urges Jewish students to idealize the Diaspora and to celebrate communism.

The article linked to by Rosen fraudulently suggested that a Jewish identity that is pro-Israel espouses "the idea that Jewish unity and survival depends on violent, racist nationalism.“ The article also divorced Jews who believe “we need Israel, that we are entitled to Israel, that we must support Israel" from those who “focus on social justice” and “show solidarity with all oppressed and dispossessed people.”

Jew-Washing British Party Labour Anti-Semitism as Anti-Zionism

On May 1, 2016, Rosen tweeted — "How to Criticise Israel Without Being a D**k," linking to an article about former Mayor of London Ken Livingstone. Livingstone misstated that Hitler “supported Zionism” — and defended Naz Shah, who was suspended from Britain's (Leftist) Labour Party for suggesting that Israel be “replanted in the United States.”

On the same day, Rosen accused the British Conservative Party of anti-Semitism and tweeted a link to an article with the headline — "The Naz Shah Scandal Shows that the Right Has an Anti-Semitism Problem."

The suspension of Livingstone and Shah were the spark of an an embarrassing revelation of Labour Party anti-Semitism in the Spring of 2016, when approximately 50 members of Jeremy Corbyn’s party were secretly suspended from the party due to anti-Semitic comments exposed on social media.

Claiming Zionism is Settler-Colonialism

On April 2, 2016, Rosen tweeted "Yes, Zionism is Settler Colonialism" linking to an articlethat claimed that “Zionism is a form of settler colonialism” and falsely accusing Zionist leaders of planning to replace the Palestinian population.

Rosen went on to cite fabricated quotes attributed to Zionist leaders, such as the founder of the modern Zionist movement Theodor Herzl, and Israel’s first Prime Minister David Ben Gurion.

Brant then cited Palestinian propaganda that misrepresented the context of an Israeli-Arab battle at Lydda during the 1948 war as the "depopulation of the Palestinian village."

Brant concluded with a quote by James Baldwin that falsely claimed that — "The state of Israel was not created for the salvation of the Jews; it was created for the salvation of the Western interests." Rosen claimed Israel’s “oppressive policies” are “part of a larger hegemonic system of white supremacy and institutionalized racism that exists in the US and throughout the world.”

Insisting that Zionism Equals Racism

Rosen on more than one occasion has branded Jews of being complicit with White Supremacists.

On April 27, 2016, Rosen tweeted an article with the headline — "Diversity Won't Challenge Jewry's Role in White Supremacy."

On December 10, 2015, JVP UChicago tweeted a photo of Rosen speaking at a JVP UChicago organized protest against the Jewish United Fund — "Tzedek's @RabbiBrant connects killings of Rekia Boyd & Fadi Alloun to white supremacy & militarism #light4justice."

Rekia Boyd was an unarmed black woman shot in the back while walking away from an off-duty Chicago detective detective in November, 2013.

Fadi Aloon was shot by Israeli security forces after he stabbed a 15-year-old Israeli boy. Several hours before the attack, Aloon posted “Either martyrdom or victory” on his Facebook page.

U of C Divest

On March 31, 2016, Rosen delivered a lecture titled —” Not in my Name, The Jewish Case for Divestment” — sponsored by Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of Chicago (SJP U of C) and JVP UChicago as part of a series of events aimed at promoting support for UofC Divest.On March 28, 2016, a coalition of organizations including Jewish Voice for Peace UChicago (JVP UChicago), SJP at the University of Chicago (SJP U of C), Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán at UChicago (M.E.Ch.A.) and Queers United in Power launched the ‪‎UofC Divest‬ campaign. The campaign called on U of C’s College Council to pass a resolution urging the university’s divestment from targeted companies doing business with Israel. The launch urged students to sign a petition supporting the resolution.

UofC Divest’s inaugural Facebook post claimed that “we act in direct response to the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement” — that lists the Council of National and Islamic Forces in Palestine as the first member of its national committee and takes its financing, inspiration and marching orders from foreign sources.

Also on March 28, 2016 UofC Divest hung banners throughout the (U of C) campus, supporting the divestment resolution. Dozens of BDS supporters held a rally, marching with a huge Palestinian flag through U of C’s central quad.

Students at the U of C who were opposed to UofC Divest responded by launching a counter campaign — “University of Chicago Coalition for Peace.”

On April 11, 2016, UofC Divest uploaded a video promoting its campaign, featuring SJP and JVP members. One member said — “this University shouldn’t be profiting off the murder of women and children.” Another student who presented herself as a recipient of financial aid complained that “it makes me really angry to know that the money used to fund my education comes from loads of human rights violations.” Another student said she supports UofC Divest because she doesn’t “support a state founded on Apartheid.” Diana Lozano, co-chair of M.E.Ch.A. — speaking in Spanish claimed — “the same colonial forces in the U.S.-Mexico borders are the ones that are oppressing Gaza.”

On April 14, 2016, two-weeks after the UofC Divest campaign’s launch, the College Council passed the resolution in an 8-4-3 vote.

In a marked departure from prior College Council policy, all photography and voice recordings were prohibited at the divestment vote. Representatives’ individual votes on amendments disassociating the resolution from the international BDS movement and asserting Israel’s right to exist were not captured on the record. Two attempts by the university newspaper to re-poll members of the Council yielded different numbers than the totals from that night — and indicated that at least two representatives misreported their votes.

Following the vote, some students sought to illustrate that UofC Divest was not about human rights, but about singling out Israel. They proposed a resolution to the college council to divest from Chinese weapon manufacturers due to China’s record of human rights violations and its occupation of Tibet. Council members condemned the resolution — and tabled it indefinitely— claiming it was political and offensive to Chinese students.

Demonizing Israel and Defending Hamas

On July 11, 2014, during Operation Protective Edge, Rosen tweeted a deceptive AJ+ (Al Jazeera) video, about the nature of the Gaza conflict, with the directive: Watch and share widely: "What the media isn't telling you about Israel's attack on #Gaza."

Israel commenced Operation Protective Edge (OPE) in July 2014, to stop rocket fire targeting Israeli civilians and to destroy Hamas attack tunnels.

On July 26, 2014, Rosen tweeted a picture of himself with a sign reading: "Jews Oppose Israel’s War on Civilians" and “End The Siege On Gaza.” On August 10, Rosen tweeted another picture of himself holding an identical sign.

On July 21, 2014, during Operation Protective Edge, Rosen tweeted that Hamas’ use of human shields was a "myth." On July 24, 2014 Rosen also suggested on Twitter that BBC’s Jeremy Bowen failure to see Hamas using human shields, was proof positive that Hamas did not use human shields.

On August 16, 2014 Rosen again tweeted that Hamas did not use human shields — and that Israel’s claim to the contrary was baseless. Rosen cited to an article by Diana Buttu — who, on July 14, 2014, was caught lying on television, to Jake Tapper of CNN, about this very issue. Hamas has openly advocated the use of civilians as human shields.

On August 7, 2014, Rosen tweeted a Max Blumenthal article that falsely accused Israel of using its citizens as human shields.

Collaborating With A Child-Endangerer

On November 25, 2013, Rosen wrote an article on his blog titled — Seeing Palestinian Resistance for Ourselves — where he reports on a trip he made to the West bank village of Bil’in. Rosen was part of a delegation of Chicago-area Jews and Palestinian Americans to show solidarity with the Palestinian Popular Resistance (PPR) movement through participating in their activities.

Rosen met with PPR leaders who told him and his group "of their desire to create a ‘Third Global Intifada’ worldwide movement of solidarity consciously modeled on the grassroots popular resistance of the First Intifada." This included meeting with Palestinian propagandist and provocateur Bassem Tamimi.

Bassem Tamimi has exploited young children as political props in staged confrontations with Israeli soldiers. In 2011, he was jailed for organizing violent rallies and inciting minors to commit violent crimes such as rock-throwing.

Tamimi’s United States visa was revoked in 2015, for his failure to disclose his prior arrest and conviction. Prior to the revocation of his U.S. visa, Tamimi delivered a controversial presentation to third-graders in Ithaca, New York. The presentation was geared to foster hatred of Israel and Tamimi concluded by encouraging [00:11:29] the children to become “freedom fighters for Palestine.”

Bassem is a relative of Ahlum Tamimi.

Ahlam Tamimi is reportedly a Hamas terrorist who masterminded the 2001 suicide bombing at Jerusalem’s Sbarro cafe, which murdered 15 people, including eight children, and wounded 130. Tamimi later boasted of her role in committing the bombing.

Idolizing Convicted Student-Killer Rasmea Odeh

On March 11, 2015, in an article for the anti-Israel website Mondoweiss, Rosen wrote a statement of support for unrepentant terrorist-murderer Rasmea Odeh. Rosen described Odeh as a "devoted and important leader" and a “treasured member of our community” whose past “has been used to unfairly portray her as dangerous.”

Odeh was a key military operative [00:02:08]with the terrorist group the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). In 1969, Odeh masterminded a PFLP bombing that killed two college students in a Jerusalem supermarket. Odeh also attempted to bomb the British consulate.

Odeh confessed, in a highly detailed account, the day following her arrest. In a 2004 documentary, one of Odeh’s co-conspirators directly implicated [00:10:53] Odeh as the mastermind.

In 1970, an Israeli court tried and convicted Odeh for her involvement in both bombings and sentenced her to life imprisonment. However, Odeh was released 10 years later, in a prisoner swap and emigrated to the United States.

On November 10, 2014, a Michigan federal jury convicted Odeh for immigration fraud because she failed to disclose her prior conviction and life sentence on her immigration application. On March 12, 2015, she was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

In 2017, after an appeal and a lengthy court battle, Odeh admitted to immigration fraud, was stripped of her U.S. citizenship, deported to Jordan and banned from re-entering the U.S.

Slandering the Jewish National Fund (JNF)

In late October 2015, Rosen led JVP UChicago members in a protest against the Jewish National Fund (JNF). Demonstrators chanted, "JNF stop pretending; you’re promoting ethnic cleansing." One demonstrator made the libelous claim that the JNF steals water, resources and land from Palestinians, although the JNF purchased land from absentee landlords. Another demonstrator claimed that planting trees is “destructive to the land… and people of Palestine.” Protesters chanted “how do you spell justice? BDS!!” and falsely accused Israel of Apartheid.

On January 15, 2014, Rosen co-opted the Jewish festival of Tu B’Shvat, the New Year for the trees, as an opportunity to condemn the JNF for planting trees in Israel. Rosen accused the JNF on his blog of usurping a Jewish festival and asked — "Might there be a way to decouple Tu B’shvat from this destructive legacy of colonialism and disenfranchisement?" He went on to suggest that the date and locale of Tu B’Shvat be changed to celebrated as a “harbinger of spring” in the colder climates of the northern-hemisphere diaspora” and concluded “[i]n the chilly diaspora, we can celebrate the invisible forces of liberation reborn underground.”

JVP UChicago - Spreading Blood Libels

On November 10, 2014, Rosen wrote on his blog — "While I did not participate in the actual disruptions, I was present in the Hilton Towers ballroom to give my fellow protesters support, to film the action taking place and tweet pictures of the disruptions as they unfolded." Rosen was also escorted out from the event. He wrote — “my participation in this action was a profound, even sacred experience...It is truly my honor to be counted with the disrupters.”

JVP UChicago- Boycotting Palestinian Livelihood

On April 23, 2014, JVP Chicago members joined a rally calling on a Boycott of the Israeli company, Sodastream.

500 Palestinians eventually lost their jobs when Sodastream moved its factory from Judea and Samaria to southern Israel. Although Sodastream denied that BDS had an impact on its decision to relocate, the BDS movement took credit for the factory’s closure and the termination of the Palestinian workers.

JVP UChicago - Demonizing Israel

On October 6, 2015, JVP UChicago posted a misleading statement on Facebook concerning the then-current wave of religiously incited Palestinian murder of Israelis. The post described Israeli counter-terror measures as an "escalated level of collective punishment being imposed on Palestinians." The post then blamed Israel for the Palestinian terror attacks, alleging “Months of incitement by the Israeli government and decades of occupation, institutionalized discrimination, and displacement” led to the attacks. Finally, the post urged that “... economic pressure, and an end to unconditional US military and diplomatic aid to Israel are the path towards a long term resolution.”

JVP

JVP was founded in Berkeley, California in 1996, as an activist group with an emphasis on the “Jewish tradition” of peace, social justice and human rights. The organization is currently led by Rebecca Vilkomerson and its board members include Israel critics Naomi Klein, Judith Butler, Noam Chomsky and Tony Kushner.

JVP, which generally employs civil disobedience tactics to disrupt pro-Israel speakers and events, consists of American Jews and non-Jewish “allies” highly critical of Israeli policies. A staunch supporter of the BDS movement, JVP claims to aim its campaigns at companies that either support the Israeli military (Hewlett-Packard) or are active in the West Bank (SodaStream).

Although several Jewish groups critical of Israeli policies, like J Street and Partners for a Progressive Israel, make efforts to operate within the mainstream American Jewish community, JVP functions outside. The group is often criticized for serving as a tokenized Jewish voice for the pro-Palestinian camp and is widely regarded as the BDS movement’s “Jewish wing.”

JVP denies the notion of “Jewish peoplehood” and has even gone so far as to refer to its own Ashkenazi (Jews who spent the Diaspora in European countries) leadership as “white supremacy inside of JVP.”

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has accused JVP of being “the largest and most influential Jewish anti-Zionist group in the United States,” and said the group “exploits Jewish culture and rituals to reassure its own supporters that opposition to Israel not only does not contradict, but is actually consistent with, Jewish value.”

The ADL also claimed that “JVP consistently co-sponsors rallies to oppose Israeli military policy that are marked by signs and slogans comparing Israel to Nazi Germany, demonizing Jews and voicing support for groups like Hamas and Hezbollah.”

According to the ADL website, JVP “uses its Jewish identity to shield the anti-Israel movement from allegations of anti-Semitism and provide it with a greater degree of legitimacy and credibility.”

BDS

The Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement was founded by Omar Barghouti in 2005 to challenge “international support for Israeli apartheid and settler-colonialism.” BDS is an allegedly “Palestinian-led movement,” although leading BDS activists have admitted [00:01:01] this is not true.

One of the demands of BDS includes [point 3] what is generally known as the “right of return,” a demand discredited as a way to eliminate Israel. Barghouti said the “right of return” is a means to “end Israel’s existence as a Jewish state.”

Barghouti has said that BDS “aims to turn Israel into a pariah state, as South Africa once was.”

In his activism, Barghouti has also said [00:05:55] regarding Israel: “Definitely, most definitely, we oppose a Jewish state in any part of Palestine. No…rational Palestinian, not a sellout Palestinian, will ever accept a Jewish state in Palestine.”

The movement has been linked to numerous terrorist organizations and received a public endorsement from Hamas in 2017.

BDS initiatives include calling on institutions and individuals to divest from Israeli-affiliated companies, promoting academic and cultural boycotts of Israel, and organizing anti-Israel rallies, protests and campaigns.

The movement’s most notable achievement has been the infiltration of university campuses through lobbying for “BDS resolutions.” In these cases, student governments and student groups, backed by their own anti-Israel members and affiliates, have proposed resolutions on some form of boycott of, or divestment from, Israel and Israeli-affiliated entities.

Boycott resolutions, although non-binding, have been passed by student governments on numerous North American campuses.

BDS activity is often aggressive and disruptive. It has been noted that universities that pass BDS resolutions see a marked increase in anti-Semitic incidents on campus. On one campus, when the student government debated a BDS resolution, reports emerged of violent threats against those opposing it.