Not all Jews want never-ending war against Gaza

Congratulations to these Jewish brothers and sisters standing up for human rights, not simply Zionist loyalty: British Zionist activists reacted on Tuesday with “bemusement” to a letter cosigned by hundreds of pro-Palestinian Jewish compatriots urging Gordon Brown to adopt the Goldstone Report, which accuses Israel of committing war crimes during its operation last winter in…

Laying claim to Judaism

The following is an extract adapted from the final section of part III of Offence: The Jewish Case, by Brian Klug (London: Seagull Books, 2009). Distributed by University of Chicago Press: On 11 January 2009 a rally in support of Israel, organized jointly by the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership…

Jews who don’t accept Israeli apartheid

Independent Jewish Voices Canada has made a monumental decision that deserves global praise: Ottawa – Independent Jewish Voices (Canada) voted to join the growing international campaign in support of the Palestinian call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel, at its first Annual General Meeting this past weekend. This decision makes IJV the first…

The lobby has battles on many fronts

Israeli peace activist Uri Avnery writes about the controversy over Charles Freeman and the Zionist lobby’s successful attempt to stop him becoming Chairman of the National Intelligence Council. His main point? “It may be too early to call this episode the Rape of Washington”, he writes, but argues it’s clear that the Obama administration has…

The more Jews the better

As co-founder of Independent Australian Jewish Voices, I was asked to contribute to this recently released British-collection of dissident Jewish voices, A Time to Speak Out. The latest review of the book appears in The Jewish Quarterly: Most of IJV’s [Independent Jewish Voices] founding statement consists of generalities in favour of human rights, peace and…

An open letter To David Miliband From Independent Jewish Voices

This letter was published as an advertisement in the New Statesman, 15th January 2009: Dear Foreign Secretary, We are writing as concerned Jews who are utterly dismayed by Israel’s actions against the Palestinians. We object to the misleading representation of this conflict as entirely instigated by Hamas and merely defensive on the part of Israel.…

They don’t speak for millions of us

Brian Klug, co-founder of the UK-based Independent Jewish Voices, has published a statement on the situation in Gaza: In any conflict between peoples, there is a time for balancing the books, for placing facts neatly in the debit and credit columns, for issuing measured statements about the rights and wrongs on both sides. But not…

How should we feel about Obama?

The recently released Verso book, A Time to Speak Out, in which I contribute a chapter about progressive Jewish thought, has just launched a blog. My first post is the following: As one of the contributors to this important new book, currently in Sydney, Australia, the issue of Jewish identity in the 21st century is…

Complicit in silence

My following article appeared in yesterday’s Guardian Comment is Free section: During the current Israeli siege of Gaza – correctly described by Saree Makdisi as “strangulation”, Israel’s ambassador to Australia issued a plea for understanding the Jewish state’s position. The ambassador, Yuval Rotem, argued that, “the people of Gaza are not the enemy”. He also…

The need for Jewish dissent grows

Lynne Segal, Guardian Comment is Free, February 5: Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) celebrates its first year with its eyes on Gaza, demanding an end to the Israeli blockade and, on the uneven playing field of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, an end to human rights abuses on both sides. IJV was formed a year ago to raise…

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