Minutes of AGM, 9 May 2004, (Caxton House, St John’s Way, N19)

Attendance and Apolgies

The meeting was attended by approximately 70 people and a further 50 had sent apologies.

JfJfP Programme Discussion Groups (11.15-12.30)

The morning session consisted of four discussion groups, which later reported back to the plenary session on the main issues that had been raised.  These were as follows:

Group A: Work in the UK Jewish Community

• Getting Jewish scholars to speak
• How to increase the number of Jewish leaders who support JfJfP?
• Offering speakers
• Letting Jews know we exist
• Letting them know we are Jewish
• Slide show (and talk)
• Laura Gordon (ex birthright) tour
• One by one approach
• Work with Israeli refuseniks
• Local meetings
• Address Jewish community’s fear of anti-semitism
• Speakers from Israeli ‘peace’ groups in UK
• (Better) system of communication (of above)
• Letters to the press
• Go to Jewish group meetings
• free debate amongst JfJfP

Group B: Support for Israeli Peace Groups

• Seek areas of agreement: human rights approach; the wall; identify with Palestinian suffering
• Issues for us to clarify: right of return for refugees; suicide bombing and assassinations; understanding embattled Israelis
• Organisations we can work with: Israeli, Palestinian and joint.
• Legitimacy in the diaspora enhanced by links in Israel.  Need to be much better known.
• Fundraising (charitable trust) and publicity
• Projects we can support and the need for priorities:

- Windows

- Mosaic communities (land ownership)

- Refuseniks [seen by many as a priority]

- Maschom Watch (women monitoring checkpoints)

- Against house demolitions (ICAHD)

- Physicians for human rights

- Rabbis for human rights

- Historical and political studies/promoting speaker tours

- Political dissidents (advertising)

- Visits to UK

- Bereaved parents (Arab and Jewish)

Group C: Support for Palestinian Peace Initiatives

• Discussion of our role: Jews for Justice for Palestinians

Important to be:

- Inclusive

- Boycott: tactics and strategies

- Maintain dialogue

• Palestinian aid: Medical Aid for Palestinians
• Joint Palestinian/Israeli organisations

- Faculty for Israeli/Palestinian Peace (Belgium 2-4 July)

- Parents

- Windows

- Israeli committee against house demolitions

- Musicians’ groups

Conclusion: individuals playing to their strengths

• Palestinian prisoners
• UK groups ( particularly with secular Palestinians)

- Tour of refuseniks with War on Want (and Stop the War)

- European Social Forum (October in London)

- International Solidarity Movement

• Dialogue with P.S.C. and similar organisations: we need someone to co-ordinate this through attendance at Joint Co-ordinating Committee

Group D: Getting Known: Our Media and Political Presence

• JfJfJP letter writing group (send draft to the group who will edit it)
• Write as an individual and mention that you are a member
• List of signatories (including those who are well known)
• System of pairing
• Need for more people outside London
• Expect aggressive responses if send letters to Jewish press
• Think about which style to use: emotional or analytical
• Try and get an interview in the JC; difficulty of getting ‘head to head’ with London Jewish News
• Approach Jonathan Friedland
• European Social Forum in London
• Get political article in Jewish Quarterly
• Identify an agenda

Afternoon Session (1.30-2.30)

Mike Cushman demonstrated the website: those wishing to put something on to it should send an email to webmaster@jfjfp.org     Richard Kuper and Stephen Marks explained other aspects, including the fact sheets and news sections.

Annual Report and Priorities

Irene Bruegel introduced the report, with the additional items: thanks to Naomi Wayne for establishing the charitable trust; deep regret at the death of Ruth Cohen, who had died on 25 December and who had done so much to help with the women’s tour to Israel/Palestine.  Other points raised in the discussion were:

• Mike Cushman explained the Mosaic group (Palestinian/Israeli joint housing initiative) and a collection was made
• Irene emphasised the importance of reading the web-site and getting back with suggestions
• It was agreed to get prominent members to sign a letter re Bush and Sharon in support of the US and UK diplomats: Irene reported that this was in draft and could be circulated.
• The name of JfJfP was raised again
• There was some lack of clarity about the existence of two letter writing groups
• A meeting on the garden party would be held later in the week

Financial Report

Current income was £15,000, but expenditure had been £16,500.  The charitable trust would be making an appeal.

Reports from Morning Sub-Groups

The reports from the morning sub-groups were presented (as above), with the following additional points:

Group A

• The work in Limmud had been effective and should be taken further
• The central focus should be on communicating more effectively
• A further group meeting will be arranged

Group D

• The lobbying group had held a very positive meeting with Lord Levy; it was also meeting Michael Ancram and was trying to arrange a meeting with Menzies Campbell and Hilary Benn
• There were divergent views on whether we should have a definite line on particular issues
• The student group had been very active
• The idea of employing someone as a press liaison officer had been supported (though there had been different view on this.

Particular Points for Action

The following points from the group reports were identified as requiring attention by JfJfP as a whole:

• The question of whether (finance permitting) someone should be employed and, if so, what the job description should be
• The need to be involved in the European Social Forum
• Co-ordination with the PSC
• Further development of the website, which could be more widely used.

Responsibilities for 2004-5

Chair: Richard Kuper

Secretary: Irene Bruegel

Web: Mike Cushman

Minutes: Mike Newman

Recruitment: Debbie Fink

Letter Writing: Debbie Fink

Jewish community: Miriam David

Israeli Peace Groups: Colin Purkey

Palestinian Groups: Judy Price/Stephen Marks

Lobbying: Arthur Goodman, Vivien Lichtenstein

Circulation by post: Ines Newman

Student groups: Ben and Bernard

Data Base: Vivien Lichtenstein and Devra Wiseman

London Action Group: email jfjfp@yahoo.co.uk if prepared to be involved

Press Liaison: Dan Judelson

2.30-5.00  Anti-Semitism, Racism, the Left and Conflict in the Middle East

Brian Klug (St Benets College, Oxford) spoke on ‘ Peace, Power and Prejudice’.  Using some anti-semitic texts (from Henry Ford, T.S.Eliot and the Hamas Charter), he distinguished between these and criticisms of Israeli actions.  Criticisms of Israel could be anti-semitic only if stereotypical characteristics of Jews were projected onto Israel and Israel was condemned in such terms.  However, anti-semitism in Europe had historically been associated with Jewish powerlessness and the situation in Israel/Palestine was quite different.  Over-stating the role of anti-semitism tends to legitimise the Israel Right.  Philip Spencer (Kingston University) then spoke on the evolution of anti-semitism, differing explanations for it, strategies to defeat it, and left-wing responses to it.  He argued that anti-semitism could migrate from one area to another, with some continuities and some differences; that the response of the Left and Marxists (particularly in relation to Nazis anti-semitism) in tending to view it in general and universal terms had been inadequate; and that it was important to call it anti-semitism when this was the case.   Halleli Pinson (University of Cambridge) then summarised research she had done in 2001-02 in Israel amongst school students, focusing on their perceptions of themselves and others in relation to citizenship.  She had interviewed three groups: secular Jews, Jews in a religious school and Palestinians in a Palestinian school.  While the secular Jews maintained some theoretical support for the idea of equal citizenship, they still saw Arabs as outsiders.  The religious Jews had totally exclusionary notions, effectively believing that Jews were the ‘chosen people’ with a right to the land of Israel.  The Palestinians either did not feel that they were citizens or rejected the notion of citizenship in Israel.  In general, there were strong tendencies on all sides towards ‘racialised discourse, with citizenship identified with ‘sameness’, constituted by blood, family and historical narratives.