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Jewish Voice for Peace Tag

In dozens of posts we’ve highlighted how the anti-Zionist, non-Jewish group "Jewish Voice for Peace" (JVP) enables, legitimizes and mainstreams antisemitism by providing a seemingly Jewish cover for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) and similar movements. But JVP isn't merely an enabler of antisemitism. JVP also itself is a producer of anti-Jewish animus.

On June 24, 2017, Jews who carried a Jewish LGBT Pride flag with a Star of David on it at the "Dyke March Chicago" were singled out by organizers and kicked out of the event, which was held on public property. The actions were anti-Semitic despite claims by the organizers they were only "anti-Zionist," as explained in our post, Psychosis-laced anti-Semitism: Anti-Israel LGBT activists ban Star of David from Chicago parade:
Claims of anti-Semitism are being made over actions yesterday by organizers of a “Dyke March” in Chicago to remove certain Jewish participants from the event because they carried a Jewish LGBT Pride Flag that had a Star of David in the Middle of a rainbow flag. The flag was alleged to be “triggering” to “pro-Palestinian” participants....

We reported yesterday on the exclusions of certain Jews from a "Dyke March" in Chicago when they were spotted carrying a Jewish Pride Flag, the classic rainbow flag with a Star of David in the middle, Psychosis-laced anti-Semitism: Anti-Israel LGBT activists ban Star of David from Chicago parade. In that post, we detailed the history of the anti-Israel movement embraced by some radical LGBT activists, despite the obvious detachment from reality of siding with one of the most homophobic societies on the planet (Palestinians) against one of the most enlightened (Israel). That detachment from reality is understood only by understanding how anti-Israel activists specifically have set out to hijack other movements and redirect them from the original cause to an anti-Israel movement.

There apparently is no depth to which so-called Jewish Voice for Peace will not go in its anti-Zionist activism. For those who are not familiar, JVP's name itself is highly misleading, as it is not Jewish and is not for peace. Rather, JVP provides a Jewish cover for the anti-Semites and Israel-bashers of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. One of JVP's primary modus operandi is disruption -- to make it difficult for pro-Israel voices to be heard without being shouted down or pushed off stage, or having their events disrupted. JVP once even disrupted a NYC Council vote commemorating liberation of Auschwitz:

The Palestinian terrorist prison hunger strike led by Marwan Barghouti, serving 5 life sentences for murder, is over. The hunger strike was launched through an Op-Ed by Barghouti in the NY Times on April 14, 2017. Barghouti was one of the leaders of the bloody Second Intifada, which killed over 1000 Israeli civilians. Barghouti was charged with dozens of murders, but the Israeli court applied exacting evidentiary standards, resulting in Barghouti escaping punishment for most of the murders for which he was charged.

In July 2016 I documented a growing tactic in the anti-Israel movement, to blame Israel for domestic U.S. police shootings of blacks, such as Michael Brown in Ferguson. The tactic, meant to exploit preexisting racial tension and stoke anti-Semitism to turn people against Israel, had been many years in the making, as I wrote in Exposed: Years-long effort to blame Israel for U.S. police shootings of blacks:
... there has been a multi-year effort by left-wing and Islamist anti-Israel, anti-Zionist, and openly anti-Semitic activists to hijack racial tensions in the United States and redirect that anger towards Israel. That effort has been on overdrive since the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson and is accomplished through a combination of false and misleading statements regarding the militarization of domestic U.S. police departments and U.S. police training in Israel.

Last night anti-Israel groups, led by Students for Justice in Palestine and "Jewish Voice for Peace," took advantage of the Passover Holiday when many Jewish students already had left for home for the Passover Seders, to bring to the Tufts University student Senate a resolution to divest from certain companies doing business with Israel. The resolution was loaded with defamatory "Whereas" clauses portraying Israel as at the "intersectional" center of worldwide injustice, much as the international Jew has been portrayed in classic antisemitic literature as the source of the world's problems. I discussed the details and how the process was manipulated in my prior post, Another sneak Passover Divestment attack, this time at Tufts University. That resolution will not change any facts on the ground but it reflects the continuing reality of the passage from the traditional Passover Haggadah:
For not just one alone has risen against us to destroy us, but in every generation they rise against us to destroy us; and the Holy One, blessed be He, saves us from their hand!

I have seen this movie before. In early April 2014, anti-Israel students at Cornell University, led by Students for Justice in Palestine, brought a last minute resolution before the student assembly to divest from certain companies doing business with Israel. The resolution was managed in such a way as to provide the bare minimum notice and, most important, just before the Jewish Holiday of Passover, when many Jewish students travel home. These student divestment resolutions have no power, because student governments do not control university investments. Rather, these are symbolic resolutions meant to demonize Israel. I reported on April 8, 2014, ALERT: Sneak Passover Anti-Israel Divestment attack at Cornell:

Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) is a non-Jewish organization that undermines the fight against, and enables, antisemitism by legitimizing and mainstreaming the anti-Israel movement’s assault on Jewish identity. JVP presents itself as a social justice organization committed to non-violence and peace. But as we’ve documented in dozens of posts, its tactics and affiliations tell a different story. JVP masquerades as merely devoted to ending Israel’s ‘occupation’ of Judea and Samaria/the West Bank when what it really wants is to end Israel. Its leadership and activists frequently promote and partner with extremist individuals and groups that demonize the Jewish state and delegitimize Zionism, while trafficking in negative stereotypes of Jews.

We have covered the case of Rasmea Odeh for the past two and one half years. Rasmea was convicted of the 1969 supermarket bombing in Jerusalem that killed Edward Joffe and Leon Kanner. The evidence against Rasmea was overwhelming, and has become even more so with recent video interviews with her co-conspirators who described Rasmea's involvement. Rasmea's claim that she only confessed after 25 days of sexual torture is contradicted by the evidence that she in fact confessed after just one day, and there was substantial other corroborating evidence.

“Jewish Voice for Peace” bills itself as a Jewish pro-peace organization. But JVP is not a Jewish organization. At most it claims to support “Jewish traditions of social justice” as set forth on its 2016 listing of Core Values. JVP also is not a pro-peace organization. As our extensive coverage over the years has demonstrated, JVP in reality is dedicated to delegitimizing Israel by providing an “as a Jew” cover for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement and others who seek the destruction of Israel.

Rasmea Odeh, whose case we have been covering for over two years, has agreed to a plea deal according to her defense committee. That deal will avoid prison for her immigration fraud, but she will leave the country and surrender her citizenship. The Rasmea Defense Committee issued as statement on the deal, full of the types of lies Rasmea and her supporters have been telling for years about her underlying terrorist bombing of the SuperSol supermarket that killed Edward Joffe and Leon Kanner.

Rasmea Odeh, a military member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, was convicted in 1970 in Israel for the 1969 bombing of the SuperSol supermarket that killed two Hebrew University students, Edward Joffe and Leon Kanner. Rasmea also was convicted of the attempted bombing of the British consulate. Rasmea faces a re-trial in May 2017 on immigration fraud charges, based on her failing to disclose her convictions and imprisonment for the bombings, and her involvement with a terrorist group. Despite the overwhelming evidence of Rasmea's involvement in the supermarket bombing, including video statements for pro-Palestinian documentary films by Rasmea's two co-conspirators, Jewish Voice for Peace has been one of Rasmea's strongest supporters.

Hotel Kaiserwasser and Hotel Regina in Vienna, Austria, have canceled a BDS event by a British-Palestinian lawyer. News agency Heute.at reported that Hotel Kaiserwasser canceled the event due to charges of antisemitism and one employee received threats by the Jewish community. Some have disputed this:
“Nonsense,” said Raimund Fastenbauer, general-secretary of the 7,000-member Vienna Jewish community, adding that he informed the hotel about the “antisemitic character of BDS” movement targeting the Jewish state. The Hotel said it canceled the event due to “operational unfeasability,” according to Heute.at. Fastenbauer told the news site, “Nazis demanded, ‘Don’t buy from Jews,’ BDS formulates the [Nazi] demand in a similar way today.”

Rasmea Odeh will be a featured speaker at the 2017 annual meeting of Jewish Voice for Peace in Chicago, March 31st – April 2nd. The invitation has created controversy, particularly after Rasmea's involvement in the March 8, 2017, International Women's Strike and Day Without A Woman created widespread media attention. The JVP invite has been covered widely, including at Algemeiner, Jerusalem Post, Chicago Tribune, Daily Caller, Washington Free Beacon, and The Tower, among others. ADL also has commented on the invitation. Rasmea is listed as one of the featured speakers, on a Who's Who list of anti-Israel activists (image below is only partial list).

Rasmea Odeh is rising to prominence in radical circles in the U.S. In addition to injecting her anti-Israel activism into Black Lives Matter protests, which we previously covered, Rasmea is part of a group organizing a planned "national strike" of women in March 2017, to protest Donald Trump. Rasmea also has been fully embraced by the anti-Israel Jewish Voice for Peace, which has supported her for a long time and which is featuring her on a panel at JVP's upcoming annual conference.

Despite its name, Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) isn’t Jewish or for peace. It’s a radical group that provides cover to the anti-Israel movement, particularly on campuses, by legitimizing and mainstreaming its assault on Jewish identity. As we’ve noted in prior posts, JVP usurps various Jewish celebrations, religious holidays, and commemorative life-cycle events by incorporating within them virulently anti-Israel themes and reinforcing that this Israel-bashing is consistent with Jewish values. Last year, as we highlighted in our posts, this identity theft of Jewish heritage was particularly visible during Passover and the High Holidays. Now, JVP is hijacking Chanukah (also spelled "Hanukkah") too.