{"id":294161,"date":"2010-02-08T09:30:58","date_gmt":"2010-02-08T14:30:58","guid":{"rendered":"tag:blogs.rj.org,2010:\/rac\/\/2.2431"},"modified":"2010-02-08T09:33:50","modified_gmt":"2010-02-08T14:33:50","slug":"learn-the-truth-new-attack-on-democracy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/294161","title":{"rendered":"Learn the Truth: New Attack on Democracy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rarely have I been so disturbed as when I learned that my good friend Naomi Chazan, chairwoman of the New Israel Fund, had become the personal target of a hate campaign<\/a> launched last week by a group called Im Tirtzu<\/i>. It’s important you know the truth about this organization, whose members purport to be leaders of the “second Zionist revolution”, but whose main activities consist of silencing dissent and slandering someone’s good character. Even the Anti Defamation League has called their work a strike against democracy. <\/p>\n

In response to the attack against Naomi Chazan and the New Israel Fund, I wrote an open letter of support that has also been published in The Jerusalem Post<\/i>. <\/p>\n

Please read my letter below and forward it to your friends. And take some time to read through this week’s articles, which tell a fascinating – albeit troubling – story.<\/p>\n

Dear Naomi,<\/p>\n

While I know you’re not one to be intimidated easily, or frightened
\ninto silence by a personal attack paid for by dubious organizations and
\npublicized in newspapers and online – or even posted on electronic
\nbillboards in Tel Aviv – I was personally insulted when I saw the crude
\ncaricature of you: a rhinoceros horn tied around your head, someone’s
\ntired play on words with keren as “horn” and keren as “fund”, or the
\nsuggestion that you and the NIF intend to drive a “horn” through
\nIsrael. It was dehumanizing, cruel, and, in my opinion, something they
\nwould not have done to a man. It is too bad they didn’t think of the
\nthird meaning of keren, as ray of light – as in, ki keren or paniv –
\nrays of light shone from Moses’s face, not horns after all.<\/p>\n

That the caricature stirs up dangerous associations is not an original
\nobservation to make – I know I’m not the first. That a Jewish
\norganization claiming to represent “the second Zionist revolution” runs
\nsuch an ad – that is more interesting. It certainly says something
\nabout the character of Im Tirtzu, an organization which we all know by
\nnow is funded by the Christians United for Israel lobby and its
\nfrequently controversial, frequently anti-Semitic Evangelist preacher
\nJohn Hagee. <\/p>\n

Though it seems I can’t criticize them overmuch for their association
\nwith John Hagee, since the CUFI has recently disassociated itself from
\nIm Tirtzu’s inappropriate campaign.<\/p>\n

Which brings me to my next point. What does Im Tirtzu do with the money
\nit receives? They spend it on primetime ad space: full-page ads in the
\nnewspapers and seemingly permanent banner ads on the Internet. So much
\nmoney is being invested in this hate campaign, which, unfortunately,
\nhas been characterized by an especially vicious personal attack on you.
\nThink of all the hundreds of thousands of dollars spent in an attempt
\nto desecrate your name. <\/p>\n

Then think of how they could have spent the money otherwise. Im
\nTirtzu’s money is not being used to help people directly – none of it
\nis being channeled toward Israeli organizations that help Israelis as,
\nin contrast, so many of NIF’s recipient organizations do. <\/p>\n

You, Naomi, are a patriot. You do not need a lesson in patriotism or
\nZionism or how-to-be-a-good-Israeli from the bullies at Im Tirtzu. Your
\nfather was an Israeli ambassador to the U.S., your mother was an MK,
\nand you yourself were an MK for several terms. And you have also been
\nmy model of strength. You are one tough Sabra. One good example: you
\nleft the cozy world of academia for the desert of Israeli politics.<\/p>\n

When I think about you, I often think first about your last name,
\nChazan, or cantor. As chairwoman of the New Israel Fund, you are a
\nChazan for our time, telling us what we need to hear – though we may
\nnot always want to – and professing values we need to uphold. <\/p>\n

You and your work with NIF make me proud to be an Israeli. We are both
\nintimately aware of the growing number of incidents of intimidation and
\nharassment of human and civil rights leaders in Israel. In such an
\natmosphere, where voices of dissent or those which stray too far from
\npopular opinion are silenced, it is our responsibility more than ever
\nto keep singing.<\/p>\n

And since I believe in openness and debate as necessary parts of a
\ndemocracy, I do not seek to limit anyone’s free speech but rather, to
\ncreate a discussion. We can have open discourse in Israel: we don’t
\nneed to silence our opponents by cutting off their voices – or their
\nfunds. <\/p>\n

I’d like to propose an alternative to Im Tirtzu – Im Nirtze<\/em>. If we wish to stop the hunting and hounding of liberal and pluralistic forces in Israel, we can do so – if we will it. <\/p>\n

And we will with you, Naomi, my friend. We are with you.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rarely have I been so disturbed as when I learned that my good friend Naomi Chazan, chairwoman of the New Israel Fund, had become the personal target of a hate campaign launched last week by a group called Im Tirtzu. It’s important you know the truth about this organization, whose members purport to be leaders […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4316,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-294161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4316"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=294161"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294161\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=294161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=294161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=294161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}