Young Boston Jews hold Passover seder outside AIPAC, JCRC offices

On Tuesday, April 11, at 5:00 pm, 20 young Jewish people gathered for a seder (traditional celebration of Passover) outside 126 High Street in Boston, the building that houses the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and Boston's Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC). The group expressed their support for Palestinian human rights and opposition to AIPAC's and JCRC's unquestioning support for Israel and its governmental policies. With a banner that read "Passover means liberation for all. Justice for Palestine," they conveyed the message to the organizations inside and to the media that AIPAC and JCRC do not speak for all Jews.

The group set up a seder table and recited Passover's traditional four questions, one of the many ways the story of Exodus is told during Passover. The four questions include symbols and explanations for why we use these symbols during the holiday. The group's explanations included facts about Israel's demolition of Palestinian homes, confiscation and destruction of Palestine's land resources for the expansion of settlements and the Separation Wall, and malnutrition and poverty in Palestine caused by Israeli closure and movement restrictions.
According to Marjorie Kent, one of the organizers of the seder, "During Passover, every generation of Jewish people is commanded to remember that we were slaves and to tell the story of the Exodus so that we can recognize oppression that happens today and work to stop it. Today we committed ourselves to this task."

AIPAC pushes the US government to support Israeli policies which result in the brutal oppression of Palestinian people and denial of their internationally recognized human rights. JCRC, while claiming to speak for all Jews, invests enormous time and energy suppressing any voice of opposition to Israeli policies, especially Jewish voices. "Our generation has had enough of AIPAC's and JCRC's complicity in Israel's human rights abuses of Palestinians," said Hannah Mermelstein, another seder organizer. "Their support of these policies betray the libratory message of Passover."
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Read the whole artice, and most importantly, see the beautiful photos.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article4638.shtml

people in Israel who are not happy with the policies against Palestine. I think this is the first time I've heard about this in the U.S.

This is a nice way to start a sunny Sunday.

Thanks for posting. My heart is lifted by clear thinking youth.

The tradition of "Third Seder" and "Third Seder for Social Justice" goes back to the 1950's at least.

I remember (and attended) "Third Seders for Social Justice"

* To honor and show support for targets of McCarthyism and HUAC, and to pray for clemency for the Rosenbergs.
* For cvili rights through the 1960's and 1970's.
* There were at least two such "Third Seders" in the Bay Area this year.

at the door..not everyone could get in..in support of Gay Jewish Marriage....

There are many Jewish people in the US who are organizing for justice in the USA.
See for example Jewish Voice for Peace http://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/
International Solidarity Movement has sent many people to occupied Palestine to protest the occupation with Palestinians, and probably 30% of these volunteers have been Jewish.
http://palsolidarity.org/

There are Jewish groups like Jews For a Free Palestine that reject the whole concept of "Aliyah" that gives Jews the automatic right to become citizens of Israel (despite that in many cases no traceable ancestor has ever lived in the Middle East) yet denies Palestinians who were forced out of Israel/Palestine (over 700,000 were forced out in 1948 alone) and have no right to return to their homes. Most of the villages that Palestinians were forced out of are now deserted, homes bulldozed to oblivion.

visited Iran recently to show support for Ahmadenejads Holocaust schtick...

Not a large amount of Jews in any of these organizations to be sure..out of 12 Million, I wonder how many...

I wasn't thinking of that religious group, the Natura Karta, which is very small, but more secular groups. There are many who think god did not give Jews exclusive rights to the land called Israel. Many others (religious or not) who believe in sharing. And then there are many thousands who do not buy the aipac/jcrc line. Even many zionist groups, like Tikkun http://www.tikkun.org/, disassociate themselves from aipac/jcrc lines of support for Israel's policies of oppression.

Who knew that Jewish mainstream view was like what your describing there..very enlightening indeed..millions of Jews would be surprised..

:rofl:

I said many. I did not even say most. I certainly did not say all. There is no way to every Jew believes anything in particular... as there is no way of saying that about any group.

Please get assistance for any reading/comprehension problems before posting.

If the USA could just divert money spent on war/occupation to education and anti-drug programs, things like this would happen less often.

Are you saying I am uneducated and on drugs?

or is it just my reading comprehension problem?

Is this the way to counter arguments ?

Where do I get an education like this to learn this debating method , once I go into rehab. for my drug problem?


And lastly ,`If the USA could just divert money`, would not help me at all, as I do not live in the USA,was not educated there,and never used drugs there either...


:eyes:

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And it was difficult getting my Doctorate whilst on Drugs..


Goodbye.....



This discussion is just getting SILLY....

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It's just that I didn't read anything in the article that gave any indication that this group of Boston Jews didn't support Israel. In fact, by some of the reactions in this thread, I'm being led to believe that showing concern for the humanitarian plight of Palestinians in some way equates to not supporting Israel. I sure hope that's not the case, but that's definately how it's coming across...

Violet...

that's the point I was going to make, too.

Support can mean many things......and think of support at the spiritual level, too.

and his policies. Or it means supporting policies of imperialism and aggression.

Others think that is the most anti-U.S. position of all. Equating Bush policies or war policies with US people is repugnant. These policies are killing us.

Could it be that Israel's current policies of colonization and oppression is suicidal, and not just harmful toward Palestinians?

It's possible Israel's policies are damaging to Israelis and, ironically, to the development (constructive evolution) of the state of Israel.

And that is in addition to the increased risk this conflict brings to the whole region. Israel can never be excluded from that risk.

are you claiming that there are non jewish members of Neturei Karta??

Or is there some kind of greenie group for Rabbi's called Natura Karta that I am unaware of :rofl:

as for the passerby who screamed his homeland should never be given over to the Arabs, where does he think the Palestinians homeland is? There is much talk of Hamas not recognizing Israel but I think it works both ways.

Go to many Reform Temples? -- and many Hillel Houses during Passover?