The Lerner Affair

Michael Pugliese debsian at pacbell.net
Wed Feb 12 02:09:20 PST 2003


Tikkun Mail Feb. 11, 2003

 

I. Bannng of Lerner-- background

II. Op-ed by Rabbi Lerner

III. Article from The Nation.com about Banning of Lerner

IV. Letter Being Circulated Nationally by The Nation

protesting the banning of Lerner from speaking at the

anti-war rally.

 

I. Background Info:

 

Perhaps you've heard about this-- that Rabbi Michael Lerner was

banned from speaking at a major anti-war demonstration

scheduled for San Francisco this weekend--because of his

criticism of the anti-Israel bashing that had occurred at some of

the previous rallies sponsored by a group called ANSWER.

We at TIKKUN do not want this incident to undermine our

commitment to trying to stop Bush's war against Iraq. We are

urging people to participate in the demonstrations even while

Lerner has been prevented from speaking. But we are also asking

people who are concerned about this to contact the leadership of

one of the other coalitions-- United for Peace and Justice

(that had actually requested that Rabbi

Lerner speak, but then went along with the ban once ANSWER had

issued it--because of a previous agreement to let the major sponsors

have veto power). We question whether it would have happened

this way had the person being banned by ANSWER been banned

for criticizing the anti-war movement for not having enough gays,

women or Blacks. We suspect that a double standard operates

around issues of anti-Semitism-- and that that issue is treated with

much less seriousness than it deserves in the liberal and progressive

movements. (We'd strongly urge you to read Rabbi Lerner's book

on this topic: The Socialism of Fools, anti-Semitism on the Left). So

we hope that you'll tell the leadership of United for Peace and

Justice that they should invite Rabbi Lerner to speak the next

time they have a major rally in Washington D.C. --and give

him enough time to educate people about the difference between

a critical perspective on Israel (that we at Tikkun have) and an

anti-Semitic perspective (one that singles out Israel, never

mentions the violence of terrorists against Israeli civilians, never

mentions the people who have been calling for the destruction of

the State of Israel, never mentions that Israel's human rights abuses

pale in comparison to those of Saddam Hussein both in regard to

his own population and in regard to Kurds, and instead seems to

suggest that Israel is not only doing something immoral (a point we

ourselves make all the time) but something that deserves more

attention than all the other outrages in the world and is presented

as worse when it certainly is not.

We are including here a letter that is being circulated by

people from The Nation magazine critiquing Lerner's exclusion. You

can contact the leadership of UPJ to urge them to be sure to

include Rabbi Lerner at future national rallies.

Of course, the best way to show solidarity to Rabbi Lerner

is to JOIN the Tikkun Community at www.tikkun.org and come to the

national conference and Teach-In To Congress in Washington DC

June 1-4, 2003. It's not too late to start planning to be there--now.More

info at www.tikkun.org or through marisa at tikkun.org

**********************************************************************

*****************************************************************

 

II. Op-ed

 

Fighting on Two Fronts: Against the War with Iraq and Against

Anti-Semitism in the Anti-war Movement

by Rabbi Michael Lerner

Editor, Tikkun magazine

 

Imagine my surprise when I learned that I had been banned from

speaking at the peace rally in San Francisco, February 16th. As

co-chair of the TIKKUN COMMUNITY, an interfaith organization

of people committed to a world of love, generosity, kindness, peace and

social justice, as well as editor of TIKKUN magazine, the largest

circulation liberal Jewish

magazine in the world, I have critiqued the proposed war in Iraq,

even though I have also unequivocally condemned Saddam

Hussein’s brutality and called for the world community to bring him

to justice for crimes against humanity. Yet, we at TIKKUN do not

believe this war will bring democracy to the Middle East, and is

more likely to increase the threats of terrorism to American citizens

as well as to provide a slippery slope encouraging American

fantasies of world economic and political domination and the

likelihood of yet more wars. The likely killing of thousands and the

wounding and maiming of tens of thousands of innocent Iraqi

civilians may well be hidden from view by an American media

which is consistently obsequious to power, but it will be a war crime

unrivaled since our war against the Vietnamese people.

 

So what had been my sin that led to my being blackballed?

I had been publicly critical of the way that A.N.S.W.E.R., one of the

four groups sponsoring the S.F. demonstration,, has used the

anti-war demonstrations to put forward anti-Israel propaganda. An

A.N.S.W.E.R. spokesperson, speaking on the Brian

Lehrer show on WNYC, said that they would not agree to have

a "pro-Israel" speaker at their rally. The other groups have said they

disagree with A.N.S.W.E.R. but will honor an agreement to let each

group reject any speaker who has publicly criticized any of these

co-sponsoring groups. Yet it is inconceivable that these anti-war

coalitions would allow A.N.S.W.E.R. to ban a speaker had that

speaker’s crime been to critique A.N.S.W.E.R. on the grounds of

racism, sexism or homophobia. Why should anti-Semitism be

treated differently?

 

It is offensive and outrageous that those of us who wish to

protest against what we see as a fundamentally unjust war must be

subjected to a barrage of slogans and speeches that are

one-sidedly hostile to Israel, as though our opposition to war had

suddenly made us champions of Palestinian groups which use

terror and violence against Israeli civilians. There is a huge

difference between critical of Ariel Sharon’s repressive treatment of

the Palestinian people and not accepting the fundamental legitimacy

of Israel’s existence. For years, this line has been blurred by

right-wingers in the Jewish world who like to claim that those of us\

who want democratic rights for Palestinians must be “self- hating

Jews’ or anti-Semites. Now, a leftist group that managed to dominate

A.N.S.W.E.R. was using our anti- war movement to blur the

distinction in the opposite way, insisting that if we support human

rights we must therefore uncritically support the violence of some

Palestinian “freedom fighters� who have made no secret of their

desire too overthrow the Zionist enterprise.

 

That’s why we recently created a new national organization,

The TIKKUN COMMUNITY, supporting a “progressive middle path�

that is both pro-Israel and pro- Palestinian. We call for an end to the

Occupation, the creation of a Palestinian state, and reparations for

Palestinian refugees�but also calls for reparations for Jews who

fled Arab states and for admission of Israel into NATO or some

other equally powerful military alliance to give Israel genuine

security. Our point: the well being of both Israelis and Palestinians

depends on the well-being of the “other� side. No peace will work

which is not based on a spirit of genuine reconciliation, generosity

and open-heartedness for both sides.

It is this kind of balance which has been absent, both from the

Jewish establishment, and now, in the opposite way, from a central

part of the anti-war movement.

 

. What has been most painful is to watch other anti-war groups

make unprincipled compromises with A.N.S.W.E.R.�insisting that

they would allow a pro-Israel speaker as long as that speaker

doesn’t publicly offend A.N.S.W.E.R. by critiquing the anti-Semitic

logic that has allowed that anti- war group to support

self-determination for every group in the world except the Jewish

people. Fellow progressive Jews, some anxious to speak at these

rallies, have cautioned me to not raise the issue of anti- Semitism in

the Left�after all, stopping the war against Iraq is so much more

important.

 

But why should we have to choose? TIKKUN will be bringing

thousands of our supporters to the demonstration�because we will

not let this war be carried out in our names. Like many who fought

against sexism and homophobia that once predominated in the Left

till they were publicly challenged, we will simultaneously be saying

no to a war with Iraq and challenging the anti-Semitism and Israel

bashing in the Left, just as we challenge the morally blind adherents

to Ariel Sharon’s policies in the American Jewish world.

 

Our most effective way to do this is to communicate our message

directly to the media and the political leadership of the country. That's

why we are urging you to come to Washington DC on June 1-4--to

present a new "progressive Middle path" on Israel/Palestine and on

Iraq, a path that is at once practical and visionary, a path that insists

that we stop the blame game, recognize that responsiblity and

culpability lies on all sides, and now move forward to the substance

of actually building a path to peace that could work. Since that

voice is not going to be heard at the anti-war rally, please make it

heard in Washington DC June 1-4 (registration information at

www.tikkun.org).

 

Michael Lerner is editor of Tikkun

-- Michael Pugliese

"Without knowing that we knew nothing, we went on talking without listening to

each other. Sometimes we flattered and praised each other, understanding that

we would be flattered and praised in return. Other times we abused and shouted

at each other, as if we were in a madhouse." -Tolstoy



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