JC Pesach advert 17 April 2008 and subsequent responses

View PDF of the advert

Editorial comment in the same issue

Pesach politics
18/04/2008

If everything is political, then how much more so a festival whose main theme is one of liberation. Pesach has much contemporary relevance, especially when we consider Tibet's struggle for autonomy, the political turbulence in Zimbabwe and, yes, the search for a peaceful and equitable solution to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But this does not mean that the festival should become a cynical lever for interested parties to exploit. This week, consistent with our policy not to censor lawful ads from Jewish organisations, the JC is running a full-page plea from Jews for Justice for Palestinians which rather crassly appears to equate "the bitterness of slavery" with the situation in Gaza. This, they imply, is "the enduring message of Pesach". In Israel itself, the strictly Orthodox parties have chosen to make political capital over whether goods containing chametz can be sold openly during Pesach or not. Having been thwarted in their intention of banning such goods during the festival, Shas is threatening a terrible revenge for next year. And in Jerusalem, as they have done for the last two decades, residents will be drawing their water from sources other than the Kinneret just in case some inconsiderate fishermen had thrown their sandwiches into the lake, thus making it treif. All of the above goes a long way to distorting both the spirit and the unique meaning of this festival. The JC wishes all its readers a happy and reflective Pesach.

Papers faces backlash over BNP election ads 17/04/2008 by Dana Gloger

Final two paras:

Jews for Justice for Palestinians has taken a full-page advert, with many celebrity endorsements, in this week’s JC to ask whether Jews can enjoy their Seder while Palestinians are suffering “slavery”.

JC editor David Rowan said: “Although I understand that many readers will object to the sentiments in this advert, it has not been this newspaper’s policy to censor lawful advertisements from Jewish organisations — even where they conflict with the newspaper’s editorial position.”


Letters on 24 April, all but the final one hostile

How about Justice for Israel for providing fuel for Gaza?
24/04/2008

Whilst the concern of Jews for Justice for Palestinians is admirable, I feel I must clarify some grave misconceptions: their advertisement (JC, April 18) claims that the blockade on Gaza is “collective punishment” which is “illegal under international law”. However, Israel is under no legal obligation to provide Gaza with anything — water, electricity, food, medicine or fuel — as it unilaterally withdrew in 2005.

There is no legal obligation for any country which once occupied a non-sovereign territory to provide it with any goods. Under the same thinking, Egypt would be legally compelled to do the same. As such, anything that Israel does provide to Gaza is not by legal compulsion, but out of humanitarian concern. Indeed, Israel continues to provide aid and to allow Gazans into Israel for medical treatment. Perhaps this is not enough, but it is nonetheless remarkable for a country, in this situation, to provide it with even a grain of salt, let alone fuel (given that half of it may be used by Hamas for its rockets on Sderot).

What Israel is legally compelled to do is not to obstruct the passage of aid from external sources. However, when Israel halts the smuggling of 6.5 tons of potassium nitrate for making dynamite, disguised in sugar packets labelled “EU assistance”, it is Hamas which breaks the laws of international fair play and twists Israel’s hand into extending further restrictions.

When the Palestinians elect a guerrilla force into government, they must bear responsibility for the actions of those elected in their name. When a body acts in the capacity of a nation state but refuses to accept the responsibility and culpability of a nation state, it is that body which must be held accountable for what it brings upon its people.

Hamas’s mastery in propaganda is astonishing — and we are said to control the world media! They have people, including JfJfP, believing that Israel should respond to Hamas’s overtures of negotiation based on the ’67 borders, forgetting the caveat that they want a full return for refugees. I have pity and contempt for those who believe Hamas is a viable peace partner when its conditions for peace are, first, Israel’s political suicide, and then its genocide at the hands of Hamas.

Kudos to the JC for publishing the ad. At least it refutes Avi Shlaim’s recent claims that we are “stifling debate” and free speech.

Eylon Levy, eylonlevy@googlemail.com

It would be a real Pesach miracle if we could see a full-page advertisement from Palestinians for Justice for Jews. Alas, no such organisation exists, which is significant in itself!

Instead we are treated to a perversion of “the Enduring Message of Pesach” with no mention of the Eleventh Plague — the Kassam rockets which the residents of Sderot must daily endure. We are further asked to “respond to the Hamas offer of a ceasefire”, which is superficially seductive but is actually a prescription for catastrophe. It would enable Hamas — surely the present-day Amalakites — to upgrade its missile infrastructure, smuggle in advanced weaponry and send its members abroad for training as well as renewing hostilities at a time of its choosing.

I do not know the cost of a full-page ad, but the monies spent would surely be better employed in alleviating the suffering of both Israelis and Palestinians caught up in the present conflict.

Malvyn Benjamin, Downage, London NW4

JfJfP must be under the impression that they are the only Jews who pray for peace in the Middle East. Most Jews would, begrudgingly, accept a total Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank if it would guarantee peace. But that guarantee will not be given, especially by Hamas which does not wish for negotiations “based on the 1967 borders” but based on the elimination of the Jewish state. It should also be remembered that past negotiations — the 1937 Peel Commission, UN Resolution 181 of 1947 and the Camp David negotiations of 2000 — have led directly to even greater tragedy for both sides in the shape of, respectively, a deeper Arab uprising; a war; and the second intifada. One must ask JfJfP why would this time be any different from all other times?

Richard Millett, rmillboy@aol.com

We should all welcome the admission by JfJfP that the violence in Gaza, Sderot and Ashkelon was initiated by Hamas, and that the Israeli response was self-defence. A question remains. Few readers of the JC vote in Israel, serve in the army or are violent to Palestinians. I doubt the leaders of Hamas or Hizbollah see the JC. Surely JfJfP should put their advertisement where the people they wish to influence will see it? If not, I am afraid their document reeks of emotional self-indulgence.

Bryan Reuben, Claverley Grove, London N3

Nu, what’s common to Neturei Karta and Jews for Justice for Palestinians? The former are motivated by religious fervour, the latter by misguided secular zeal. The end result is identical: hastening the end of the only Jewish state. JfJfP is urging us to “respond to the Hamas offer of ceasefire”. The Arabic language has a dozen words for our “ceasefire”, each with a different meaning. Hamas’ proffered one is: We agree to stop killing you while we regroup, rearm and wait till we spot a weakness in Israel, then deliver the fatal blow. This is exactly what JfJfP are urging your readers to accept.

A Soudry, Glasgow G77

At the end of your story on the Ham & High accepting adverts from the BNP, there were two paragraphs on the JC advert from JfJfP. The unmistakable inference was that JfJfP and the BNP are similar pariahs in the Jewish community, different only in that the JC (apparently with heavy heart) prints adverts from the former. I was not a signatory to the JfJfP advert, but I do not accept that its call for justice towards the Palestinians at Pesach necessarily equates to support for the racist far right. It is precisely these kind of semi-hysterical insults that disfigure our Jewish community.

Dr Keith Kahn-Harris, kkahnharris@blueyonder.co.uk

Letters 1 May 2008, all but one supportive

Signatories of the gaza-blockade ad reply to their JC critics
02/05/2008

As a signatory of the Jews for Justice for Palestinians advertisement on Gaza, I must correct Eylon Levy’s assertion that “Israel has no legal obligation for provide Gaza with anything...as it unilaterally withdraw in 2005” (Letters, April 25). As a matter of fact Israel neither withdrew in 2005, nor indeed suggested that withdrawal was its intention.

Under the disengagement plan issued by the Cabinet on June 6, 2004, the future status of Gaza is dealt with in section B (3) entitled “security situation following the relocation”. Paragraph (1) reads: “The state of Israel will guard and monitor the external land perimeter of the Gaza Strip, will continue to maintain exclusive authority in Gaza airspace and will continue to exercise security activity in the sea off the coast of the Gaza strip.”

Thus the military control of Gaza that began in June 1967 continued after what Israel called variously “disengagement” or “relocation” from Gaza. As a consequence the occupation of Gaza continues and Israel remains obliged by the relevant provisions of the Hague and Geneva Conventions for the welfare of the civilian population under occupation.

It is in Israel’s hands to end this situation immediately by unconditionally withdrawing from all the territory it occupied in 1967.

John Strawson, University of East London, Stratford High Street, London E15

There was by no means any “admission” in the JC advertisement that “the violence in Gaza, Sderot or Ashkelon was initiated by Hamas and that the Israeli response was self-defence”, as is claimed by Byran Reuben (Letters, April 25). To quote the actual words of the ad: “We condemn all violence against civilians, whether Israeli or Palestinian. We also insist that the rocket attacks on Sderot and Ashkelon cannot justify the scale of death and suffering wrought by Israel’s action against Gaza. The blockade of Gaza will simply perpetuate the vicious cycle of terror rooted in the long Israeli occupation and settlement of Palestinian land.”

This makes clear the root cause of the cycle of terror, in which Israel’s retaliation for Palestinian revenge attacks is grossly disproportionate and only produces more violence against Israeli civilians.

Deborah Maccoby, Clapton, London E5

I do worry when “free speech” has to be bought at the price of several thousand pounds before it can appear. It would be even better if the content was what was debated rather than the permissibility of making it in the first place. The JC has carried adverts from JfJfP and other peace groups before and has not felt the need for an exceptional editorial as on this occasion. The same issue was accompanied by an interesting and varied collection of articles in the magazine celebrating 60 years of Israel’s independence. Where was the editorial comment on the acceptance of adverts there — including one censured recently by the Advertising Standards Authority for suggesting that the Occupied West Bank constituted part of Israel? Where is the editorial comment on the acceptance of adverts in the magazine (and in a recent property supplement) on the acceptance of adverts promoting homes for sale in the Occupied Territories?

Dan Judelson, Chair, Jews for Justice for Palestinians, info@jfjfp.org

The recent JfJfP advertisement with its traditional Pesach message drawing attention to hunger, suffering and affliction has evoked some “traditional” responses from contributors to your letters pages.

First there was the casuistical son. What did he say? “What occupation? Gaza’s no longer occupied. Everyone knows that.” Then there was the rape-apologist son. What did he say? “Look at the way these Arabs carry on. They just ask for it. So we give it to them.”

Then there was the simply paranoid-racist son. What did he say? “The Arabs, they’re just out to get us. That’s what they’re brought up to.”

And what of those other thousands of sons and daughters, readers of the JC? Their personal sense of decency is in such conflict with their identification with Israel that they are silent. They know not how to ask its government: “Why are you doing this to the people of Gaza?” That is why we have to ask for them.

Murray Glickman, Ilford, Essex

These words at the opening of the Haggadah: “This is the bread of affliction, let all who are hungry enter and partake thereof”, have a particular resonance for me as, perhaps, for many Jews.

This year, as I read them, I felt the horror of Israel’s blockade of Gaza. Together with the fuel blockade which is making the delivery of food by UNRWA all but impossible, the siege is inducing real starvation. This strategy was developed by Ariel Sharon’s henchman, Dov Weissglas, who laughingly said Israel would put “the people of Gaza on a diet”. This demonstrates that Israel, who controls all access to Gaza since its “withdrawal” in 2005, is responsible directly for the damage it is inflicting on a subject population.

It is therefore reasonable to enquire how far our own Jewish community goes in its efforts to react to our sages’ plea to dispel hunger, especially at Passover. If the responses of the letter writers and the extraordinary JC editorial, castigating those, like me, who signed the JfJfP advertisement, are anything to go by, it would seem that many in mainstream British Jewry have little awareness of our proud heritage of social justice.

I read with anguish the insensitive letters trying to defend this wholly indefensible siege and would say that if we Jews are so immune to the suffering cries of those over whom we hold dominion, we are indeed, as a community, in desperate straits.

Diana Neslen, D.Neslen@dsl.pipex.com

When fringe groups like JfJfP place full-page ads in our national newspapers, such as the one that appeared in the JC before Peasach, the response must take the same format, so that the lies, distortions and absence of context are exposed to the same readers. There is no better use of funds for Israel’s hasbarah, for silence is invariably interpreted as a tacit admission of guilt.

Roslyn Pine, Upper Park Road, Manchester

Letters 9 May - nine hostile letters

Jews for Justice for Palestinians ‘are not representative’
08/05/2008

Dan Judelson complains that his organisation, Jews for Justice for Palestinians, only has “free speech” when bought in the form of expensive advertisements (Letters, May 2).

Have I missed something, or does the frequent publishing of their letters in the JC (last week occupying the top two-thirds of the page) and numerous articles expounding their philosophy, such as the recent, full-page JC one by Avi Shlaim, not constitute free speech? One could also add the privileged and easy access that many of their signatories have to the BBC, Guardian, Independent and others.

Of course, the caveat to Judelson’s notion of free speech is that he and his fellow ideologues should be free to vilify and delegitimise the Jewish state without their accusations being held to account.

If their arguments stand up to scrutiny, why then should they take such exception to the JC editorial which explained the reasons for the decision to publish the offending ad? And no, genuine freedom of speech dictates that the JC is under no obligation to explain any other ads it chooses to accept with similar editorials.

The behaviour of members of JfJfP and their sister organisations is consistent with a totalitarian mindset, and considering that their 500 signatories only account for some 0.2 per cent of Anglo Jewry, they should acknowledge the vastly disproportionate free media coverage that they manage to achieve for their totally unrepresentative views.

Sara King, Brampton Grove, London NW4

I am offended by Dan Judelson’s statement that “the JC has carried adverts from JfJfP and other peace groups before”.

First, the JfJfP is not a peace group. A genuine peace group is one that respects both sides and acts in a positive manner. Nowhere does the JfJfP advertisement express support for the state and people of Israel. Two weeks later, many of the people who signed that advertisement wrote a letter to the Guardian criticising the existence of Israel. That was no surprise, as some of those people had previously written that they were hostile to both Judaism and Zionism.

Second, his statement tries to confuse JfJfP in readers’ minds with a peace group like Peace Now, whose advertisements have always expressed support for the views of large numbers of loyal Israeli soldiers and citizens. When I monitor anti-

Israel events, I see that JfJfP are usually prominent in their organisation.

If we want peace and justice for Israelis and Palestinians alike, we should celebrate Israel’s 60th anniversary. We must respect ourselves in order to respect those Arabs we can talk to.

Mark Drukker, Margaret Close, Reading RG2

I note that you printed a letter from the chair of Jews for Justice for Palestinians. I look forward to reading the views of the chair of Palestinians for Justice for Jews.

Martin Saffer, Cardrew Avenue, London N12

Signatories to the JfJfP Pesach advert seem to think that Israel “controls all access to Gaza”, but last time I looked Gaza had a border with Egypt.

Richard Millett, rmillboy@aol.com

If Deborah Maccoby considers the Israeli response to rocket attacks from Gaza to be “disproportionate” (Letters, May 2), perhaps she would advise the Israeli government (from the safety of her home in Clapton) as to what would be a proportionate response. Firing on Gaza City the same number of rockets as Hamas aims at Israel?

Alan J Miller, Cloister Gardens, Edgware HA8

Perhaps all the people who signed the JfJfP petition would like to spend a day in Sderot and experience the trauma of having up to 30 rockets being fired indiscriminately into your town on a daily basis. Would they consider a “proportional” IDF response to be to set up rocket-launchers among the densely populated civilian areas in Israel and fire random rockets on Gazan civilians, giving them 15 seconds to run to a place of safety? Why is the suffering of Israelis of no consequence to them?

Ruth Leveson, Flamstead, Herts AL3

The JFJFP advert states that the people of Gaza are “enduring severe deprivation of food”, as does one of its signatories, Diana Neslen, writing that “the siege is inducing real starvation” (Letters, May 2). I have yet to see any images to corroborate this. On the contrary, when one sees footage of mass rallies and demonstrations, the people appear to be well fed, well clothed and, in many cases, well armed.

Andrew Fisher, Brampton Grove, London, NW4

Diana Neslen is brazenly mendacious in blaming Israel for the situation that obtains in Gaza today. There is no blockade by Israel of either fuel or humanitarian aid to Gaza, but there is a deliberate strategy by Hamas of disruption and sabotage of the conduit of those supplies in order to demonise Israel in the court of Western public opinion.

In recent weeks, Hamas has forced strikes in petrol stations and bakeries, refused fuel deliveries and attacked fuel silos, such as in Nahal Oz with the killing of two Israeli civilians employed there.

Since the Hamas coup of July 2006, 505,554 tons of humanitarian aid (21,000 trucks) have crossed the main crossing points from Israel, and 13,000 Palestinians have been allowed to seek medical treatment there, including terrorists. Details of every consignment are published daily by the Israel Ministry for Foreign Affairs with the cooperation of Palestinian traders and independent observers.

Could Ms Neslen explain why on April 23, for example, despite the co-operation of Colonel Nir Press, head of the Coordination & Liaison Administration of the Gaza Strip, in coordination with UNRWA, 100,000 litres of diesel and 20,000 litres of gasoline were to be transferred and drawn from the depot at Nahal Oz, but the withdrawal was blocked by thousands of Palestinians near the entrance to the depot, thus preventing fuel leaving?

Hamas has not allowed the withdrawal of fuel during the past month and it alone is responsible for all the hardship.

Roslyn Pine, Upper Park Road, Manchester, M74

What happens to the connection between facts and logic for academics when they sign up for Jews for Justice for Palestinians? John Strawson wants us to believe that the total absence of Israeli troops permanently on the ground in Gaza constitutes an “Occupation” (Letters, May 2). This is identical to Mugabe claiming that Britain is occupying Zimbabwe at the present moment or those who claim that the Americans occupy the Moon because they landed there some years ago.

David Simmonds, Mulberry Close, London NW4

Letters 16 May

Jews for Justice for Palestinians respond
16/05/2008

Ruth Leveson suggests spending a day in Sderot before making the points included in the Jews for Justice for Palestinians (JfJfP) ad (Letters, May 9). So she will be glad to know that is exactly what I did in March. I spoke with Sderot residents and with students at Sappir college where Roni Yehiye was tragically killed a few days earlier.

They expressed contempt for the ineffectual government responses. While they are mistrustful of Hamas, they are clear that it if it means an end to the barrage, talking to Hamas is a bullet worth biting. In the meantime, the burden of aggression from both Hamas and the ineffective IDF is resting heavier and heavier on residents of not just Sderot, but Ashkelon, southern Israel and the Gaza Strip.

Sara King upbraids me for misunderstanding free speech (Letters, May 9) but she has taken aim at my concern with all the accuracy of a blind man with a pistol. My point was precisely that neither the editorial nor the news coverage examined the messages in the ad, far less held it or us to account. We would welcome such a debate.

Dan Judelson, JfJfP, info@jfjfp.org

For the record, JfJfP has almost three times as many as adherents as Sara King thinks. But who is counting? Going by recent polls our views are well represented in Israeli opinion and representative of public opinion in the wider world, more so anyway than those of many JC correspondents.

Irene Bruegel, JfJfP, ibruegelsbu@yahoo.co.uk

I would not wish to minimise the fear and physical injury suffered by the inhabitants of Sderot, still less to justify Hamas’s rocket attacks on a civilian population. However, I suspect that Gazans would be greatly relieved if they only had to endure the same level of rocket attack as Sderot.

Israel has for years unleashed its enormously greater and more accurate fire power upon the trapped and vulnerable inhabitants of Gaza, and the toll is many times that on the Israeli side.

Stephanie Krayer, Lampeter, Ceredigion, SA48

Ms Pine calls in aid Colonel Nir Press to protest that, contrary to my claim that sanctions and a siege are reducing the people of Gaza to starvation, it is Hamas who is to blame because they prevented the delivery of fuel supplies in April (Letters, May 9).

As an Israeli government functionary, Col Press is no more an impartial reporter than is a Hamas official.

The impartial sources, like UNRWA, OCHA, the NGOs working in the field do not back up this statement.

In fact nowhere in the carefully balanced report of John Ging, Director of UNRWA, is there any corroboration of Ms Pine’s statements.

In essence he confirms that no fuel has been delivered since April 10, and that “the humanitarian emergency in Gaza is a shocking and shameful situation”.

Diana Neslen, Cranbrook Road, Ilford, Essex