Alice Rothchild
Overview
Alice Rothchild has conducted anti-Israel speaking tours, created and promoted an anti-Israel documentary and spread anti-Israel conspiracy theories.She has also demonized Israel, published anti-Israel scholarship and praised anti-Israel activists.
Rothchild is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement and has supported anti-Israel activism on campus.
She is also an active member of Jewish Voices for Peace (JVP).
Rothchild is a Corresponding Member of the Faculty in Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology at Harvard University (Harvard).
Anti-Israel Speaking Tours
On April 10, 2015, Rothchild addressed a National Press Club conference, titled: “THE ISRAEL LOBBY: Is It Good for the US? Is It Good for Israel?” in Washington, D.C.Rorthchild’s prefaced [00:01:47] her talk, titled “Silencing Voices That Question Israeli Actions” with the statement: “I’m going to first speak from my personal experiences as a self-hating Jew.”
In her discussion, Rothchild claimed [00:05:48] that “when I try to speak at [Jewish] Temples, that’s like getting up against the wall of McCarthyism,” and mocked [00:03:49] complaints from a university Hillel, “stating that Jewish students on campus ‘did not... feel safe having me on campus.’”
Rothchild blamed [00:09:53] Israelis for Palestinian violence committed against them, claiming that the perception of Palestinian violence is a result of the fact that [00:10:31]“Palestinian history, trauma, aspirations, rights have been really invisible in Western discourse.”
Rothchild went on to argue that such perceptions are partly due to racism towards Arabs and Islamophobia as well as“guilt about the Holocaust, and manipulation by Zionist leaders,” and “cultural, economic and military imperialism.”
Rothchild then alleged [00:14:25] “we now have our police emulating the Israel Defense Forces. We have academics being monitored and attacked. We have university donors pressuring administrators.”
On March 27, 2019 Rothchild tweeted a list of dates for an upcoming national lecture tour she announced about her “personal journey as an American Jew learning to support Palestinians.” She said she would “also speak about how critics of Israel are silenced.”
Creating and Promoting Anti-Israel Documentary
In 2013, Rothchild co-directed a film titled “Across the Divide,” which posited that “Palestinians continue to suffer the indignities of occupation, permits, checkpoints, loss of land, refugee camps, military incursions, and exile. Israeli society is bearing the fruit of being an occupying force and the society has largely turned its back on these issues.”In October 2015, Rothchild’s documentary was screened at a conference, titled “Israel/Palestine: Shadows of the Past–Visions of the Future,” where Rothchild was also the keynote speaker.
The film included a series of shots from a set of misleading maps dubbed “The Map That Lies.”
The maps claim that lands once controlled by Britain, Egypt and Jordan as autonomous “Palestinian land” were purportedly stolen by Israel. In February 2016, publisher McGraw-Hill Education recalled copies of a college textbook containing the fraudulent maps. In October 2015, American cable news network MSNBC apologized for airing a similar series of maps and retracted them.
Spreading Anti-Israel Conspiracy Theories
In a June 18, 2014 article, Rothchild claimed that excavation sites in Jerusalem were “designed to prove that the Jews were here first and thus can toss out the several thousand years of subsequent ownership and history,” and that “there is an active program to dispossess the local Palestinians and turn property over to right wing Jewish settlers.”On May 19, 2013, Rothchild published an article responding to the news that Israeli medical experts had lent help to Boston after the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings, accusing Israel of using the bombings as an opportunity to manipulate its public image.
Rothchild wrote: “I have no doubt that the Israeli trauma team was filled with good intentions as well as expertise, but this feels like an opportunistic political moment where good deeds are actually part of a larger intent to manipulate image making.”
Demonizing Israel
On May 23, 2019, Rothchild tweeted: “One out of ten social media posts against ‘Arabs’ contains hate speech or calls for suchviolence as rape and murder. Apparently hate speech against Palestinians is normative but objections to the Israeli occupation, siege, & brutality towards Palestinians is deviant in Israel.”On the same day, Rothchild published another tweet in which she claimed: “Israelis a world leader in cybersecurity technologies and surveillanceand, on platforms like Facebook and Twitter, uses predictive socialmedia policing systems to increasingly limit Palestinians’ freedom of expression.”
In an October 22, 2018 Mondoweiss article, Rothchild described how she had received a letter criticizing her activism, to which she responded, “What Israel hasbara organization and/or perhaps Israeli military intelligence unit now has me in their radar? Will they send out their troops to disrupt the next time I am giving a presentation?”
In the same article, Rothchild claimed that “The anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism that can now be found in Muslim countries began almost entirely with the founding of the State of Israel.”
In a Mondoweiss article published on June 18, 2015, Rothchild accused Israel of “deliberate state-sponsored erasure of Palestinian voices,” which she claimed “constitutes a form of historical genocide, of attempting to destroy the memory of a people’s history and thus the people themselves.”
Rothchild claimed that Israel achieves this erasure of Palestinian voices by “nation building, territorial expansion, racist attitudes towards the ‘other,’ justifications for military and state behaviors within a certain framing such Biblical promises [sic], the Nazi Holocaust and permanent victimization.”
On September 20, 2014, Rothchild wrote an article in which she alleged “ongoing land grabs, continued Jewish settlement growth, and arrests and killings of Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.”
The article was in response to Israel’s Operation Protective Edge.
Israel commenced Operation Protective Edge (OPE) in July 2014, to stop rocket fire targeting Israeli civilians and to destroy Hamas attack tunnels.
Rothchild then concluded: “Perhaps the recent level of horror produced by the invasion and bombing of Gaza is waking people up to the inherent contradictions between Zionism and democracy and the bankruptcy of US backed Israeli policy.”
On June 21, 2013, Rothchild published an article blaming Israel for the uprising of violence in Palestinian youth, claiming: “Most violent kids are sons of martyrs. Now these children beat their parents... The Israeli forces have effectively attacked the psyches and sanity of Palestinian children and destroyed the functions and authority of previous healthy families.”
In an article published on April 18, 2013, Rothchild argued that Israel is similar to the Jim Crow South in the United States. In the article, Rothchild wrote that, on a recent trip to Israel with fellow anti-Israel activists, “Informed by our experiences and knowledge of the segregated South, sit-ins, bus boycotts and nonviolent marches, many were unprepared for the striking parallels we faced.”
Rothchild went on to describe Israel as “an increasingly frightened, racist society” and concluded that “Discrimination, racism and segregation are the prevailing reality.”
In an October 17, 2012 Mondoweiss article, Rothchild wrote: “We are witnessing the rape of Palestine, and I feel such a sense of violation that is worse each time I am drawn back, like a reoccurring bad dream, stimulating old memories and adding to a growing list of new outrages.”
On the same day, Rothchild published another article, recalling her participation in a violent protest. In the article, Rothchild wrote: “I was crying from the tear gas and from my sorrow and rage at the Israeli government (with US support, thank you Mr. Obama) for its continued endless land grab and brutality towards its Palestinian neighbors and for Palestinians resiliently and bravely fighting back despite endless losses.”
Rothchild went on to write: “So now in the modern western democracy of Israel, Jewish ghettos dot the West Bank landscape while Palestinians themselves are further ghettoized by the machinery of occupation and colonization.”
In a January 2, 2011, Mondoweiss article, Rothchild suggested that deadly forest fires in Israel were the result of Divine retribution, writing: “If I believed in a wrathful God, I might wonder why the Jewish National Fund forests were burning?“
On January 13, 2010, Rothchild published an article in which she condemned “the Zionist dream which by definition privileges Jews over Palestinians, and thus, by definition does not treat Palestinians as equal human beings with rights and dreams and mistakes and aspirations.”
In an article published on January 7, 2010, Rothchild claimed that “the vast majority of people in administrative detention are nonviolent civil society activists” and that “the IDF has a history of assassinating or imprisoning the more moderate Palestinian leadership.”
Anti-Israel Scholarship
In 2016, Rothchild published a book titled “Condition Critical: Life and Death in Israel/Palestine.” According to its description, the book “dares (and inspires) its readers to examine the painful consequences of Zionism and Israeli expansion.”In 2007, Rothchild published a book titled “Broken Promises, Broken Dreams Stories of Jewish and Palestinian Trauma and Resilience,” in which she “raises troubling questions regarding US policy and the mainstream Jewish community's insistence on giving unquestioning support to all Israeli policy.”
Praising Anti-Israel Activists
In an article published on June 2, 2010, Rothchild praised a May 2010 flotilla sent to break the blockade to Gaza.Israel and Egypt implemented a United Nations-approved [pp. 39–41] joint blockade of the Gaza Strip in 2011 to stop Hamas from acquiring more sophisticated rockets.
In her article, Rothchild wrote that “For years, in the West Bank and Gaza, Palestinians have been killed and maimed invisibly, but now the IDF kills international peace activists apparently with impunity as well.”
The Mavi Marmara was the lead ship in the “Freedom Flotilla” that attempted to sail to Gaza in May 2010. Activists aboard the ship agitated for violent confrontation and chanted a slogan glorifying the killing of Jews. When Israeli security forces boarded the Marmara, protesters attacked them with iron bars, metal chairs, knives, stun grenades and firearms, rocks and bottles. A United Nations report found that the flotilla agitators initiated an organized, violent confrontation with Israeli forces, and that the Marmara was carrying no humanitarian aid, only weaponry.
After condemning Israeli actions against the flotilla, Rothchild concluded her article, stating: “I cannot stand with this Israel... I am ashamed of what this county has done in my name.”
Supporting BDS
On December 23, 2018, Rothchild tweeted: “There are many of us! @jvplive is a group of Jewish people of all genders who support Palestinians' including their call for #BDS.”On January 15, 2018, Rothchild tweeted: “MLK's quote is still relevant: “The greatest purveyor of violence in theworld: My own Government, I can not be Silent." That includes $3 billion in aid from the US to Israel. We must continue tostand against racism and violence with non-violent action, including #BDS #MLKDay.”
On May 30, 2017, Rothchild published an article in Palestine Square, the blog of the anti-Israel Institute for Palestine Studies USA (IPS-USA), condemning a piece of anti-BDS legislation that had been proposed to the Massachusetts legislature.
In her article, Rothchild defended BDS, arguing that “Many Israeli universities and businesses are complicit in Israeli policies because they are involved in developing weapons systems, military doctrines, and moral frameworks for the Israeli occupation.”
Rothchild went on to claim that Israeli universities “are often located on stolen Palestinian land; and have aided policies that violate human rights and international law. Such policies include continued settlement growth in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, extra-judicial killings of Palestinians, a brutal siege of Gaza, and a host of other serious concerns.”
On December 30, 2016, Rothchild tweeted: “We need to stop funding the occupation and instead #EndTheOccupation and put international pressure on Israel, including #BDS.”
On December 16, 2016, Rothchild tweeted: “To change an openly apartheid state, we need to support international pressure andthe #BDS movement. #IsraeliAmbassador.”
In a May 8, 2016 article, Rothchild advocated for the passage of a BDS resolution by the United Methodist Church. Rothchild concluded her article by stating: “As a Jewish American, I am proud to stand with my Christian brothers and sisters in the U.S. and Palestine, to support boycott and divestment as powerful tools to bring occupation to an end.”
In a July 20, 2011 Mondoweiss article, Rothchild expressed support for BDS, calling on her readers “to support socially responsible investing and the establishment of social screens that prohibit investment in companies that profit from Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory and the ongoing subjugation of Palestinians. This is only the beginning of a long and critical struggle.”
In a January 7, 2011 Mondoweiss article, Rothchild recalled her efforts to pass through Israeli security with anti-Israel materials in her bags. Rothchild wrote: “I am acutely aware that in my bag are BDS stickers (we all have them), materials about BDS, brochures from the Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committee and two copies of my book which would instantly get me in trouble.
She continued: “I keep turning them over so the title is not visible. And then there are pages of incriminating notes and hundreds of easily accessible photos. Usually before any security check, I “cleanse” my belongings and make the evidence difficult to find. I have been careless.”
Defending Campus Anti-Israel Activists
Rothchild signed a 2017 letter, condemning a decision by Fordham’s dean to block the establishment of a Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter on campus. The letter was authored by the anti-Israel Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) organization.Signatories demanded that Fordham “immediately rescind the rejection of SJP as a student group on campus, apologize to the students affected by this harmful decision, and reaffirm Fordham’s commitment to free speech and academic freedom.”
The petitioners also highlighted SJP’s BDS activity, characterizing SJP’s efforts to promote anti-Israel boycott as part of “a time-honored non-violent mode of political expression.” The petition accused Fordham’s administration of a “fundamental misunderstanding of what boycotts are, the purpose of a university, and the goals of SJP.”
The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) in cooperation with Palestine Legal (PL), and civil rights attorney Alan Levine sued Fordham on behalf of four students in April 2017. A New York court annulled Fordham’s decision in August 2019, mandating that the university recognize SJP as an official club.
Fordham appealed the ruling to the NY State Supreme Court Appellate Division in January 2020. On July 24, 2020, Fordham SJP students filed a brief asking the appellate court to deny Fordham’s appeal of the lower court’s decision.
As of October 2020, a variety of groups, not directly involved in the case, filed amicus briefs with the Appellate Division for the court's consideration including JVP.
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.
Social Media and Weblinks
University Website: https://connects.catalyst.harvard.edu/Profiles/display/Person/29584Personal Website: http://alicerothchild.com/
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/715762568
Twitter:https://twitter.com/alicerothchild
