Linda Holtzman
Overview
Linda Holtzman spread hatred of Israel and Zionism, endorsed anti-Israel agitators and engaged in anti-Israel activism. She has also demonized a Philadelphia philanthropist and is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.As of March 2022, Holtzman was listed as a member of the JVP Rabbinical Council.
In March 2015, Holtzman was listed as a member of Open Hillel’s rabbinical council.
Open Hillel is an organization that aims to “eliminate” Hillel International’s Standards of Partnership for Israel Activities, which ban partnerships between Hillel affiliates and groups that deny Israel’s right to exist, delegitimize the Jewish state or support the BDS movement.
As of September 2021, Holtzman was reportedly the former rabbi of Congregation Mishkan Shalom in Philadelphia and previously served as interim rabbi and education director. Holtzman was the rabbi of Beth Israel Congregation in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, from 1979 to 1985.
Holtzman graduated from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (RRC) with a rabbinic ordination in 1979. Holtzman also holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Temple University and a bachelor’s degree in Hebrew letters from Gratz College (Gratz). In April 2016, Holtzman was reportedly a faculty member of the RRC.
Hatred of Israel
Holtzman signed an August 2021 “Interfaith letter” titled: “Stop Ethnic Cleansing in Silwan and Sheikh Jarrah, Jerusalem and all of Palestine.”Jewish ownership claims to lands in Silwan, a Jerusalem neighborhood also known as Shiloach, have been frequently met with Palestinian violence against Israelis who sought to reclaim their property rights.
On March 21, 2021, Holtzman spoke [00:06:15] at a JVP online event titled: “Deadly Exchange Virtual Rally: This is How We Win.” At the event, Holtzman said [00:07:17]: “We have brought to light the ‘deadly exchange.’ We’ve brought to light the ways the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has brought the worst practices of the Israeli military, of Israeli policing, to the United States and built on the racism and violence and cruelty that is already a part of American policing.”
In 2017, JVP launched the “Deadly Exchange (DX)” campaign, which accused American Jewish organizations of promoting human rights abuses. JVP also released a video that blamed [00:04:04] U.S.-based Jewish organizations for violence that occurs against Black and Brown communities, immigrants and activists in the U.S.
Other speakers featured in JVP’s “Deadly Exchange Virtual Rally” included BDS founder Omar Barghouti, BDS leader Sandra Tamari and anti-Israel agitators Lara Kiswani, Linda Sarsour and Noura Erakat.
Anti-Israel agitator and BDS activist Noura Erakat has endorsed PFLP terrorist Rasmea Odeh and defended a designated terrorist organization Hamas.
Holtzman was listed as “endorsing clergy” for a December 30, 2017 protest organized by JVP DC Metro against the “Concert Against Hate” at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts hosted by the ADL. Protesters stood outside the venue and distributed anti-Israel materials promoting JVP’s “Deadly Exchange” campaign.
Holtzman wrote the text of the “Gaza War & Al Nakba Day Memorial Ritual” for JVP first featured at their 2015 National Members Meeting.
The term “Nakba” is generally translated as “catastrophe” in Arabic, referring to the outcome of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. It is a term used to delegitimize the creation of the State of Israel by drawing a comparison to the Holocaust, known in Hebrew as the Shoah, meaning “catastrophe.”
Hatred of Zionism
On February 25, 2020, Holtzman participated in a webinar posted to YouTube by Community Peacemaker Teams (CPT) called: “Zionism and Palestine Webinar.”The event description read: “The roots of Zionism run deep in Christianity and Judaism, and their impacts are felt in Palestine. In this webinar, Rabbi Linda Holtzman and Rev. Amy Yoder McGloughlin will share stories about their recent trip to Palestine, and how they see Zionism impacting this occupied territory.”
Zionism is the belief that Jews have the right to self-determination in their own national home, and the right to develop their national culture. Zionism is a core part of the identity of most Jews.
At the webinar, Holtzman claimed [00:08:24] that “the colonial project of Zionism… was there as a form of supremacy for the Jewish people who largely came from Eastern Europe and who wanted to come in and really take over a land…”
Later in the talk, Holtzman again stated [00:42:20] that “Israel…was clearly a colonialist project of many Jews in Europe.”
Holtzman moderated a JVP webinar posted to YouTube on January 22, 2020, titled: “Spotlight: RABBIS – ‘Judaism Beyond Zionism: Challenges w/Text, Liturgy, and Theology.’”
At the webinar, Holtzman said [00:05:45]: “What have we become that we can pretend our need to feel safe, to be safe, justifies colonization, occupation, imprisonment, mass murder?”
Endorsing Anti-Israel Agitators
Holtzman signed a July 31, 2018 letter of support from JVP for Jeremy Corbyn.Jeremy Corbyn, a British politician and leader of the Labour Party, has repeatedly referenced terror organizations Hamas and Hezbollah as “friends,” shared platforms with extremists and anti-Semites and compared Israel’s government to ISIS.
In November 2018, Hill was fired from his contributor position at CNN (Cable News Network) after he gave an anti-Israel speech at the United Nations. He called [00:20:47] for a “free Palestine from the river to the sea,” a phrase associated with demands to dismantle the State of Israel. Hill also accused [00:16:19] Israel of “ethnic cleansing,” as well as [00:17:49] “white supremacy” and [00:17:56] “settler colonialism.”
Anti-Israel Activism
Holtzman spoke at a July 10, 2021 anti-Israel protest titled: “Philly for Palestine: March Against Israeli Apartheid.” The protest was co-sponsored by the Philadelphia chapters of JVP, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) and IfNotNow (INN).Protesters reportedly chanted: “We don’t want your ‘two states,’ we want all of ‘48.”
“48” refers to 1948, the year the State of Israel was established.
One protester, Talia Gallagher was photographed holding a flag with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) logo on it and another protester held a PFLP poster with a quote that said: “VICTORY TO THE INTIFADA AND ALL WHO RESIST ZIONISM.”
The PFLP has been designated a foreign terrorist organization (FTO) by the United States, Canada, Israel, the European Union, the Gulf Cooperation Council and Australia.
Since the early 2000s, the term “intifada,” which translates from Arabic as “uprising” or “insurrection,” has carried the connotation of violence.
On April 22, 2018, Holtzman was featured in a photo posted to Facebook by JVP with the caption: “Leaders of Jewish spiritual communities in solidarity with Palestine from across the country gathered for Shabbat to work towards a better world at JVP gathering.”
Shabbat is the day of rest in Judaism commemorating the completion of Creation by God, which is celebrated on the seventh day of the week (Saturday).
On May 15, 2015, Holtzman sent an email to Holtzman’s Chavurah email list with a link to a video that claims to show “the devastation of last summer's war and the ongoing Nakba in Gaza.”
Israel commenced Operation Protective Edge (OPE) in July 2014, to stop rocket fire targeting Israeli civilians and to destroy Hamas attack tunnels.
Demonizing a Philadelphia Philanthropist
In a Facebook live stream of the protest, Holtzman claimed [00:00:31] that Yass was “using his wealth to try to destroy an entire people.” Holtzman charged [00:01:21] that Yass was “using his billions to destroy the people of Palestine” and asked [00:02:45]: “Do you want to be known as someone who destroyed lives?” Holtzman concluded: [00:03:26] “we demand that you do teshuva now.”
“Teshuva” is a general term referring to the Jewish concept of repentance from sin.On September 23, 2021, during the Jewish festival of Sukkot, JVP Philly activists erected a tent on the private lawn of Jeffrey Yass to protest his funding of various causes in the United States and Israel.
JVP Philly protesters gathered there with signs that said: “YASS FUNDS FASCISTS” and “YASS FUNDS ISRAELI APARTHEID,” as well as “YASS CASH HARMS OUR PLANET” and “YASS CASH HARMS OUR SCHOOLS.”JVP Swarthmore also participated in the protest.
A JVP Philly Facebook post about the protest claimed: “...his money is making the world a more dangerous, violent, and unequal place…But we are watching…His neighbors are hearing about it. His employees are hearing about it. The word is out. #AllEyesOnYass 🧿.”
JVP Philly passed out a flyer to Yass’s neighbors that claimed Yass was financing “Israeli apartheid policies which cause great harm to Palestinians and any possibility of peace in the region.”
The flyer also said: “TIRED OF SEEING US HERE? TELL JEFF HIS CHOICES ARE NOT JUST HARMING THE WORLD, THEY’RE BUGGING HIS NEIGHBORS TOO. MAYBE THAT WILL MAKE HIM CHANGE HIS WAYS!”
The protest reportedly marked the launch of JVP Philly’s “All Eyes on Yass” campaign, following two other protests they had held earlier that year against Yass.
On June 4, 2021, JVP Philly held a protest with around 100 participants outside Yass’s home. JVP Philly accused Yass of funding “the displacement and murder of Palestinians” and demanded that he stop his support of pro-Israel initiatives.
Protesters stood in Yass’s front yard holding [00:00:24] a large sign that said: “ISRAELI APARTHEID FUNDED HERE” and shouted [00:01:30] “shame” while banging on tables.
In a Facebook live stream of the protest, Elana Baurer, a JVP organizer, said [00:00:35] the protesters were calling on Yass to “stop participating in the ongoing Nakba.”
The term “Nakba” is generally translated as “catastrophe” in Arabic, referring to the outcome of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. It is a term used to delegitimize the creation of the State of Israel by drawing a comparison to the Holocaust, known in Hebrew as the Shoah, meaning “catastrophe.”
At the protest, Alissa Wise, a JVP leader, said [00:11:30] into a megaphone: “last week we were at his office…this week we’re at his house because his employees, his staff, his colleagues, his neighbors, they know what he’s doing,” and continued [00:12:20]: “we must build outrage in everyone in his community until we get what we want.”
On May 21, 2021, JVP Philly held a sit-in at the lobby of Yass’s office in Philadelphia. Protesters held anti-Israel banners outside the office and accused [00:00:40] Yass and his business partner, Arthur Dantchik, of “funding genocide, apartheid and ethnic cleansing” in Israel, as they chanted [00:00:52]: “Israeli apartheid is funded here, Jews say Free Palestine.”
JVP Philly activists also placed flyers on employees’ cars that accused Israel of “the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians…and violent murder and destruction.”
The protest ended with JVP Philly leader Alissa Wise leaving a voicemail on Yass’s personal number, saying [00:21:08]: “what you’re doing to the Palestinian people is a shande [disgrace]...we’re really disgusted by what you’re funding and we want to urge you to cease funding it now...and we’ll keep coming back as long as it takes.”
Support for Pro-Hamas Encampment at Penn
On April 28, 2024, Holtzman spoke [slide 7] at a passover seder held at the pro-Hamas encampment at Penn, called the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment."During her speech, Holtzman said [00:00:13]: “...if there is a permanent ceasefire, but the apartheid regime does not fall…it is not enough…” and [00:00:36] “if we as Jewish people celebrate this…holiday of liberation, but do not act to make liberation possible from the river to the sea…it is not enough…”
“From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free” is a chant used [00:02:47] to call for the elimination of the State of Israel. It has also been employed by Hamas leader Khaled Mashal to call for the replacement of Israel with an Islamic state. In April 2024, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution condemning the chant as antisemitic.
On April 25, 2024, anti-Israel activists from Penn, Temple University and Drexel University set up the "Gaza Solidarity Encampment" on the Penn campus to protest Israel's war against Hamas.
Protesters harassed Jewish students, blocked Jews from campus facilities and shouted anti-Semitic slogans. They occupied campus grounds, in many cases illegally, caused property damage, violently took over buildings, celebrated terrorism and promoted the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.
Activists set up encampments to oppose Israel’s right to wage war against the Hamas terror group following October 7, 2023, when Hamas murdered approximately 1,200 people, including 32 American and 8 Canadian citizens. Hamas also kidnapped 252 people, including 11 Americans and the bodies of 2 murdered Canadians. As of May 26, 2024, 125 hostages remained in Hamas captivity.
Supporting BDS
On February 25, 2020, Holtzman participated in a “Zionism and Palestine Webinar” posted to YouTube by Community Peacemaker Teams (CPT), where Holtzman stated [00:45:53]: “I’m a strong supporter of BDS right now.”Holtzman signed an April 16, 2018 Philly BDS petition, which urged the Philadelphia Orchestra to cancel scheduled performances in Israel. The petition claimed that the Old City of Jerusalem “is occupied Palestinian territory, where Israel’s ethnic cleansing has been most acute.”
According to their website, at a January 14, 2018monthly meeting of the Tikkun Olam Chavura: “Rabbi Linda Holtzman and the Steering Committee unanimously passed a resolution [sic] become an HP Free Zone in support of the global Boycott Divestment Sanctions (BDS) campaign targeting Hewlett Packard for their complicity in profiting from abuse of Palestinian human rights by Israel.”
Holtzman signed a February 2014 JVP petition urging the TIAA-CREF to divest from Israel.
TIAA-CREF is the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America and College Retirement Equities Fund, which provides financial services for “people who work in the academic, research, medical, cultural and governmental fields.”
On June 21, 2014, Holtzman tweeted: “Grateful to the Presbyterians for voting with integrity on marriage equality and divestment!” Holtzman’s tweet was referring to the June 20, 2014 vote by the Presbyterian Church USA to divest from Israeli companies.
JVP Philly Chapter Overview
JVP Philly whitewashes terrorism, shows support for terrorists, demonizes Jewish organizations and actively promotes the BDS movement. In 2021, JVP Philly led a campaign of harassment against a Philadelphia-based philanthropist Jeffrey Yass and organized a series of anti-Israel protests.JVP Philly - Promoting BDS 2021
JVP Philly signed a May 19, 2021 statement by Penn Students Against the Occupation of Palestine (PAO) that called on the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) to “divest from companies that profit from and/or are complicit in the Israeli occupation of Palestine.”The statement accused Israel of the “ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestinians,” a “massacre of Gaza” and of having “genocidal intentions.” It also urged Penn students, faculty, staff and alumni to “call on the US government to place sanctions on Israel.”
JVP Philly - Spreading Incitement 2021
On May 15, 2021, JVP Philly co-hosted an event with other anti-Israel groups, including Philly BDS and Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapters at Temple University and Drexel University in Philadelphia, titled: “PHILADELPHIA: #SaveSheikhJarrah.”Protesters held signs that said: “RESISTANCE IS JUSTIFIED” and “WHEN INJUSTICE BECOMES LAW… RESISTANCNCE (SIC) BECOMES A DUTY!!!” Other signs said “F**K ISRAEL,” claimed that “ZIONISM IS GENOCIDE” and called to “END ZIONISM.”
Zionism is the belief in the right to self-determination and statehood of the Jewish people in their ancestral homeland, Israel. The word Zion originates in the Bible, where it refers to the land of Israel and Jerusalem.
Demonstrators also displayed signs that read: “FROM THE RIVER TO THE SEA PALESTINE WILL BE FREE” and “HANDS OFF OF OUR LAND.”
The chant “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free” has also been employed by Hamas leader Khaled Mashal to call for the replacement of Israel with an Islamic state. It is a chant calling to dismantle the State of Israel.
The cover photo on the Facebook page of the event JVP Philly co-hosted was a flyer featuring a graphic of Palestinians armed with rifles and text that read: “RESISTING COLONIALISM SINCE 1948.”
The Facebook event description called for protesters to “march against the state-sanctioned violence, settler-colonialism and apartheid occurring in Sheikh Jarrah and all of Occupied Palestine” and accused Israel of “genocide and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.”
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 values.”
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.
Extra Videos
Videos
Photos & Screenshots
