Does Lerner not know that the Greens have called for boycots of oil companies, complained bitterly about Halliburton, and called for an immediate withdrawl of troops from Iraq? I imagine he does.
Russia and China have very different relations to the US than Israel and making such a simplistic comparison as Lerner does is of no real help to anyone.
Divest from China? How could that even begin to be seriously taken into consideration in todays economy?
Knee-jerk reactions against the use of the term are a problem but since Lerner offers no real support for his assertion that the Greens are employing "a double standard that smacks of traditional anti-Semitism." questioning this assertion is reasonable.
John Thornton
On 11 Feb 2006 at 12:24, Chip Berlet wrote:
I am not a big fan of Lerner, but his statement below is perfectly reasonable. There is plenty of antisemitism in the U.S. political left, and knee jerk reactions against any use of the term are a real problem.
-Chip Berlet
________________________________
>
>
> I think the Greens have made a big strategic as well as moral mistake.
> What Israel is doing is a violation of human rights and a big sin. But
> it is not in the same league with the sins of many other nations, first
> and foremost the U.S. If the Greens were calling for divestment from the
> U.S., Russia (because of Chechnya), China (because of Tibet), and Sudan
> (because of Darfur) then adding Israel to that list would be appropriate
> and I'd support such a multi-focused divestment. But to single out
> Israel, while not calling for divestment from U.S. corporations that
> make possible the far more bloody occupation of Iraq, is a double
> standard that smacks of traditional anti-Semitism.
>
> Rabbi Michael Lerner
> editor, Tikkun
> RabbiLerner at tikkun.org