By COLlive reporter
The Rabbinical Alliance of America—Igud HaRabbonim, representing over 950 American Orthodox Rabbis—calls on the Black Lives Matter movement to purge anti-Semitism from its platform.
The organization said it recognizes that the tragic events that led to the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis have spurred a much-needed conversation on racism, they wrote in a statement.
“As a nation, we have an obligation to engage in this important discussion which hopefully will lead to concrete policy proposals and constructive solutions to eradicate racism from our nation once and for all,” they said.
Igud HaRabbonim is led by Rabbi Hanania Elbaz, Rabbi Yehoshua S. Hecht, Rabbi Yaakov Klass and Rabbi Yaakov Spivak, with Rabbi Mendel Mirocznik serving as Executive Vice President and Rabbi Moish Schmerler as Director.
The rabbis said they are concerned with anti-Semitism within the ranks of the Black Lives Matter movement. Recently, anti-Israel and anti-Semitic slogans were expressed during a July 1, 2020, march held in Washington DC. The marchers carried Black Lives Matter and pro-Palestinian signs. Protestors at the demonstration chanted, “Israel, we know you, you murder children, too.”
The demonstration was billed as an event in support of the Days of Rage called by the Palestinian Authority and other groups to protest Israel’s consideration of proclaiming sovereignty over parts of the West Bank.
The march, from the Lincoln Memorial to the Capitol building, referred to Israel as a “puppet master of continents,” an old conspiracy theory alleging that Jews rule the world. The marchers equated the Israeli occupation of the West Bank with genocide.
Black Lives Matter protesters chant in DC: 'Israel we know you, you murder children too'
It was a matter of time before the #BLM protests turned Antisemitic.
It's not about equality or justice, it's a political war. pic.twitter.com/1otzK2EQyi
— Hananya Naftali (@HananyaNaftali) July 3, 2020
“Nothing can be further from the truth,” the rabbis write. “Israel does not engage in genocide and has no intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group. There is no sound logical nor legal basis to compare Israeli occupation of the West Bank to genocides of the 20th century, such as those in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Rwanda, or Armenia, or the Nazi Holocaust in Europe.
“Each of these travesties constituted a devious, calculated and evil plan to destroy specific ethnic groups, and each of these crimes against humanity killed hundreds of thousands to millions of innocent people who were murdered solely for who they were. Israeli does not systematically kill anyone and any claims to that effect are merely nefarious lies used to stir hatred.”
They stressed that “the Black Lives Matter platform fails to address the use of violence by Hamas, including the rocket attacks against Israeli civilians that Human Rights Watch has classified as a war crime.”
A review of the platform of the Black Lives Matter reveals that the movement labels Israel an “apartheid state.”
“Black Lives Matter has joined with the BDS movement in calling for the total academic, cultural, and economic boycott of Israel, a demand made for no other country,” the rabbis wrote.
“Israel is not an Apartheid State. Apartheid was the official South African policy that sought to maintain a complete political and social separation between the white and black population of South Africa. Under South African Apartheid, blacks were not permitted to eat in white restaurants or cafes; to attend white schools or universities; to be treated in white hospitals; to live in white neighborhoods; to serve in the white government or judiciary.
“Anyone familiar with Israel knows that there is no such apartheid segregation in Israel. Israeli Arab citizens are full citizens. They attend all of Israel’s universities. They can seek medical treatment in all of Israel’s hospitals. They are employed by the Israeli government and by its judiciary and are welcomed at all of Israel’s restaurants and cafes. Furthermore, Palestinian Arabs residing in the West Bank live under the political control of the Palestinian Authority and enjoy the full range of rights guaranteed by the Palestinian Authority. Clearly, it is an erroneous conclusion to compare Israel to an Apartheid state.”
The Rabbinical Alliance of America called on the Black Lives Matter movement to purge itself of inaccurate and anti-Semitic policies and platforms.
“By doing so, the Black Lives Matter movement will be taking the righteous step in advancing and advocating the elimination of racism and bigotry as we sadly know it, a change that the Rabbinical Alliance of America supports whole-heartedly,” they said.
It will never happen.
Only “BLACK LIVES MATTER”,…… and everything is the fault of the Jews.
Suggesting that Iggud HaRabbonim focus on increasing the awareness and observance of the 7 Mitzvos bnai Noach and implementing a Moment of Silence in the public schools.
Focus energies on positive productive acts!!
It’s a terroists party. It’s been exposed. All terroists parties need to be eradicated
BLM is an evil Marxist organization. They don’t care about black lives, or would be working to curtail black on black crime. They look to disrupt the USA (and the world) on “intersectional” lines of victimhood, and the Fakenstinians fit right into their agenda. Jews and Israelis, who don’t buy into victimhood models, are the enemy.
Pretty sure they where chanting “israel we know you JEWS murder children too” not you
The “Black Lives Matters” organization is by definition a terrorist organization.
Who’s going to defend our Torah institutions, our accomplishments and achievements, against this army of terrorists? Certainly not the naive liberals, who tried so hard to assimilate and appease the ruling white-Christian elites.
Daven to Hashem for a miracle, we don’t need to save the thugs from Hashem’s judgment.
We can’t just demand that others change their anti-Semitic ways, we need to purge racism from ourselves as well. Some frum people continue to deny this need for change and it’s disheartening. Please, let’s operate from a place of love to all, otherwise a call for change on the part of others simply doesn’t hold much weight.
I’m tired of brainless loonbags like you telling our community to purge racism. We are not racist. We don’t harm others. This is a ONE WAY street where they harm us day in and day out.
We don’t need to change ANYTHING. Stop blaming the victims.
Bla bla bla operate from a place of love bla bla bla. Go tell that to our hateful, spiteful neighbors that were shooting fireworks 24/7.