Gary Trudeau? That’s the rabbi knocking
It's one thing when a couple of fans ask anxious questions, or when a professional purveyor of gevalt such as myself makes an issue of a reference in Doonesbury to tired anti-Jewish tropes about vengeful Gods, etc.
It's quite another when Rabbi David Sapertsein, the veteran civil rights fighter, the director of the Reform movement's Religious Action Center, the guy who delivered the invocation when Barack Obama accepted the Democratic presidential nomination, takes time out to write a letter.
Here it is:
Dear Mr. Trudeau,
On behalf of the Union for Reform Judaism, whose more than 900 congregations across North America include 1.5 million Reform Jews, and the Central Conference of American Rabbis, whose membership includes more than 1,800 Reform rabbis, I write out of concern about the Sunday, May 31st edition of your popular comic strip, Doonesbury.
The strip, we hope and assume unwittingly, perpetuated centuries of anti-Semitic canards about Biblical-era moneylenders – who were almost uniformly Jewish – as the enemies of Jesus and the villains of the New Testament. As you know, similar caricatures have been used throughout the years to incite hate against the Jewish community and have cultivated and perpetuated offensive stereotypes.
This is, of course, not a small matter, nor is it only of historical interest. A recently released study by the Anti-Defamation League reports that American Jews are the religious group most often targeted in hate crimes. Whether intentional or not, public expression that smacks of anti-Semitism, even in cartoon form – and especially by someone as well-regarded as yourself – is cause for concern.
To be clear, I write as a fan. Satire is an invaluable means of focusing public attention on issues facing our society. It can amuse and illuminate, as you have shown repeatedly throughout your career. I hope my reading of the cartoon is correct that the focus appears to be on the current financial crisis; in this case, however, a line was crossed that allowed a pernicious stereotype to find its way into the discourse about the current economic challenges faced by our nation and world. If you agree with me that these challenges are not the fault of any one individual, group or religion, then I hope you share my concern that your cartoon might be read as blaming Jews.
In light of this incident, I hope that in the future, you will pay particular attention to ensuring careful consideration of the weight of the allusions made in your artwork and the many ways in which they may be interpreted.Sincerely,
Rabbi David Saperstein
0 Comments |
Share This
|
‘Murder is Bad,’ by committee
I'm not telling tales out of school when I reveal here that about 99 percent of my time (okay, exaggeration - but a slight one) is spent dealing with Jewish groups wanting more JTA inchage. ("But how could you not know that we're recognized international experts on Andorran narco-terrorism!")
My problem with this is that these folks take an age to get their statements out. (There are exceptions.) When I point this out, I get sheepish, "well, we had to run it by the board" replies.
Last night, I got a flood of replies from non-Jewish groups condemning the murder of Dr. George Tiller, one of the few remaining physicians to provide late term abortions in the United States - and within hours of the assassination taking place in Tiller's Wichita church.
These groups and institutions also have boards and bureacuracies - chief among them, the White House, where President Obama has been known to be especially cautious on the abortion issue - and yet somehow managed to say the right thing within hours of the attack.
This would seem a no-brainer - yes, kids, shooting someone dead in a place of worship is a bad thing - but the Jewish reactions are trickling in only now. And it's not as murdering an abortion provider does not have Jewish resonance - Barnett Slepian was murdered in 1998 not long after welcoming in Shabbat.
Anyway, in the spirit of better-late-than-never, here are the Jewish reactions, in order of their arrival:
The Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, attributed to Dr. Cheryl Gutmann, Chair of the Commission on Social Action of Reform Judaism:
We are shocked and saddened at the murder yesterday of Dr. George Tiller, who for decades provided critical reproductive health care services, including abortion services to women facing some of the most difficult medical circumstances. Jewish tradition emphasizes the sacredness of life, healing, and health. Dr. Tiller believed in these values, risking his own life to provide compassionate care that others were unwilling to offer and facing often-violent harassment by those who sought to deny women and their families access to such treatment. As our hearts and prayers go out to Dr. Tiller’s family, we think of his personal heroism and that of the other brave and courageous providers and professionals who are part of reproductive health centers across this country. We call on all Americans to condemn this tragic act of violence and on law-enforcement officials to fully prosecute the perpetrators of such acts. The murder of Dr. Tiller is a tragic reminder that we must find common ground on the divisive issue of abortion. We renew our commitment to engage those with whom we disagree, based on a shared desire to protect women’s health and oppose acts of violence.
The National Council of Jewish Women, atrributable to President Nancy Ratzan:
NCJW is shocked and deeply saddened by the murder of Dr. George Tiller. Dr. Tiller devoted his life to ensuring that women did indeed have choices when confronted with an unintended or untenable pregnancy. His murder – his assassination – is intended to terrorize not only all involved with providing abortions but anyone even remotely associated with abortion rights. That Dr. Tiller’s assassin sought him out in his place of worship makes this crime all the more heinous. We extend our heartfelt condolences to Dr. Tiller’s family, his colleagues, and all those who loved him and benefitted from his courageous insistence on continuing to deliver needed health care, despite ongoing harassment, bombings, and an earlier near-fatal attack. Dr. Tiller was one of a very few physicians nationwide willing to provide late-term abortion services. CJW deplores the ongoing clinic violence that has left seven others dead and many others victimized. This campaign of terror has driven physicians and clinics that provide much-needed services from many parts of the country for fear of their own safety and that of their patients. We welcome the news that Attorney General Holder has upgraded security measures protecting abortion providers, and we call on local law enforcement authorities to do the same. May George Tiller be the last to die a martyr’s death in the struggle to ensure that the constitutional rights of American women can be freely exercised.
The American Jewish Congress, with a neat footnote about how long it has championed choice:
The killing of Dr. George Tiller, because he performed abortions, exemplifies criminal anarchy, not legitimate protest. Dr. Tiller’s murder was not just a terrible crime against an individual. It was also a crime against our democracy. His killer or killers therefore must be punished with the utmost severity. Differences in our society over abortion are profound. That is perfectly acceptable. As President Obama said last month, our democracy tolerates, even encourages such debate, so long as it is conducted with civility. Murder is not a debating technique. It is never, and must never be, an accepted way of advancing a point of view. Although some anti-abortion groups have now condemned Dr. Tiller’s murder, others in the movement continue to justify this heinous act. Meanwhile, as the Justice Department has already done, governments across the country must put in place urgent measures to protect the abortion providers and their clinics, and the women who frequent them. These activities are constitutionally protected. They must be protected against recurring vigilante violence.
The American Jewish Congress is a membership association of Jewish Americans, organized to defend Jewish interests at home and abroad, through public policy advocacy, in the courts, Congress, the executive branch and state and local governments. Since 1958, it has supported the right of women to chose whether to carry a pregnancy to turn.
0 Comments |
Share This
|
OU: Where’s the outcry on Abbas
The Orthodox Union's blog is criticizing what it calls the "pro-peace process Jewish left" for its failure to react to Mahmoud Abbas's comments that he has "nothing" to do except wait:
These statements by Abbas and his people, brazenly acknowledging they have little interest in the peace process (and also saying they couldn't accept the incredible concessions offered a few months ago by previous Prime Minister Olmert) was so at odds with devotees to the peace process and the view that any problems it suffers must be the fault of Israel, that on Saturday the New York Times criticized Abbas for his statement of "depressing passivity" and called upon him to do more.
But where is the dismay of the "pro-peace-process" Jewish left? Oh. they were quick last week to applaud Secretary of State Hilary Clinton for pressing Israel for a settlement freeze, and calling upon Congressman Eric Cantor to explain why he was more supportive of Israel of late than other members of congress.
But they haven't said a word about Abbas' transparent treachery.
Does the Jewish left only exist to blame Israel?
We asked J Street executive director Jeremy Ben-Ami (who is pro-peace process but argues he's not left, he's actually in the Jewish center) what he thought of Abbas' comments, and he felt that they were being misinterpreted.
Abbas believes the Palestinians are "fulfilling their commitments," such as beefing up security, and "now it is the turn of the Israelis," said Ben-Ami, who along with representatives of other non-profit groups and think tankers met with the Palestinian leader when he was here last week. "He wasn't saying we don't have to do anythying. He was saying they are doing what they are supposed to do."
3 Comments |
Share This
|
Will there be sanctions for not stopping settlements?
Helene Cooper at the The New York Times reports that the Obama administration is thinking about some "tactics" to use if Israel refuses to stop settlements:
The measures under discussion — all largely symbolic — include stepping back from America’s near-uniform support for Israel in the United Nations if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel does not agree to a settlement freeze, administration officials said.
Other measures include refraining from the instant Security Council veto of United Nations resolutions that Israel opposes and making use of Mr. Obama’s bully pulpit to criticize the settlements, officials said. Placing conditions on loan guarantees to Israel, as the first President Bush did nearly 20 years ago, is not under discussion, officials said.
Still, talk of even symbolic actions that would publicly show the United States’ ire with Israel, its longtime ally, would be a sharp departure from the previous administration, which limited its distaste with Israel’s settlement expansions to carefully worded diplomatic statements that called them “unhelpful.”
Mr. Obama is to give a much-anticipated speech to the Muslim world from Egypt on Thursday. “There are things that could get the attention of the Israeli public,” a senior administration official said, touching on the widespread belief within the administration that any Israeli prime minister risks political peril if the Israeli electorate views him as endangering the country’s relationship with the United States.
But, the official added, “Israel is a critical United States ally, and no one in this administration expects that not to continue.” He spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the issue publicly.
2 Comments |
Share This
|
Bibi getting the message on settlements
Laura Rozen at Foreign Policy says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is getting the message that the United States is very serious about stopping settlements:
Last night, shortly after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told journalists that the Obama administration "wants to see a stop to settlements -- not some settlements, not outposts, not natural growth exceptions," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called a confidant. Referring to Clinton's call for a settlement freeze, Netanyahu groused, "What the hell do they want from me?" according to his associate, who added, "I gathered that he heard some bad vibes in his meetings with [U.S.] congressional delegations this week."
In the 10 days since Netanyahu and President Barack Obama held a meeting at the White House, the Obama administration has made clear in public and private meetings with Israeli officials that it intends to hold a firm line on Obama's call to stop Israeli settlements. According to many observers in Washington and Israel, the Israeli prime minister, looking for loopholes and hidden agreements that have often existed in the past with Washington, has been flummoxed by an unusually united line that has come not just from the Obama White House and the secretary of state, but also from pro-Israel congressmen and women who have come through Israel for meetings with him over Memorial Day recess. To Netanyahu's dismay, Obama doesn't appear to have a hidden policy. It is what he said it was.
"This is a sea change for Netanyahu," a former senior Clinton administration official who worked on Middle East issues said. The official said that the basis of the Obama White House's resolve is the conviction that it is in the United States' as well as Israel's interest to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "We have significant, existential threats that Israel faces from Iran and that the U.S. faces from this region. It is in our mutual interest to end this conflict, and to begin to build new regional alliances."
Netanyahu needed to engage Obama directly, the former official said. "Now that he has done so, and also sent a team of advisors to meet [special envoy to the Middle East George] Mitchell, he has very clearly received a message: ‘I meant what I said on settlements. No natural growth. No elasticity. There will be a clear settlement freeze.'" (Netanyahu sent a team of advisors including minister for intelligence Dan Meridor for meetings with Mitchell in London Monday.)
The pressure is not just coming from the White House but also from Congress:
It's not just the administration that's delivering Netanyahu that message, however. Whereas in the past Israeli leaders have sometimes eased pressure from Washington on the settlements issue by going to members of Congress, this time, observers in Washington and Israel say, key pro-Israel allies in Congress have been largely reinforcing the Obama team's message to Netanyahu. What changed? "Members of Congress have more willing to follow the leadership of the administration ... because [they] believe it is in our national security interest to move toward ending the conflict and that it is not a zero sum for Israel," the former senior Clinton administration official said.
1 Comment |
Share This
|
Abbas: I’m just going to wait
The Washington Post's Jackson Diehl had a fascinating interview with Mahmoud Abbas last week, in which the Palestinian Authority leader told Diehl that right now he's got nothing to do -- he's just killing time waiting for everyone else to do something:
On Wednesday afternoon, as he prepared for the White House meeting in a suite at the Ritz-Carlton in Pentagon City, Abbas insisted that his only role was to wait. He will wait for Hamas to capitulate to his demand that any Palestinian unity government recognize Israel and swear off violence. And he will wait for the Obama administration to force a recalcitrant Netanyahu to freeze Israeli settlement construction and publicly accept the two-state formula.
Until Israel meets his demands, the Palestinian president says, he will refuse to begin negotiations. He won't even agree to help Obama's envoy, George J. Mitchell, persuade Arab states to take small confidence-building measures. "We can't talk to the Arabs until Israel agrees to freeze settlements and recognize the two-state solution," he insisted in an interview. "Until then we can't talk to anyone."
Abbas' comments, Diehl writes, mark the return of a "long-dormant Palestinian fantasy":
What's interesting about Abbas's hardline position, however, is what it says about the message that Obama's first Middle East steps have sent to Palestinians and Arab governments. From its first days the Bush administration made it clear that the onus for change in the Middle East was on the Palestinians: Until they put an end to terrorism, established a democratic government and accepted the basic parameters for a settlement, the United States was not going to expect major concessions from Israel.
Obama, in contrast, has repeatedly and publicly stressed the need for a West Bank settlement freeze, with no exceptions. In so doing he has shifted the focus to Israel. He has revived a long-dormant Palestinian fantasy: that the United States will simply force Israel to make critical concessions, whether or not its democratic government agrees, while Arabs passively watch and applaud. "The Americans are the leaders of the world," Abbas told me and Post Editorial Page Editor Fred Hiatt. "They can use their weight with anyone around the world. Two years ago they used their weight on us. Now they should tell the Israelis, 'You have to comply with the conditions.' " ...Abbas and his team fully expect that Netanyahu will never agree to the full settlement freeze -- if he did, his center-right coalition would almost certainly collapse. So they plan to sit back and watch while U.S. pressure slowly squeezes the Israeli prime minister from office. "It will take a couple of years," one official breezily predicted. Abbas rejects the notion that he should make any comparable concession -- such as recognizing Israel as a Jewish state, which would imply renunciation of any large-scale resettlement of refugees.
Instead, he says, he will remain passive. "I will wait for Hamas to accept international commitments. I will wait for Israel to freeze settlements," he said. "Until then, in the West Bank we have a good reality . . . the people are living a normal life." In the Obama administration, so far, it's easy being Palestinian.
After the jump, the transcript of Abbas's press conference with President Obama last Thursday afternoonRead More >>>
2 Comments |
Share This
|
Blog Roll
