Thursday, May 17, 2018

I Used To Call For Boycotts Of Israel — Until I Spoke With Holocaust Survivors


singled out Israel as the source of the problem. And my conscience did not hurt. Ironically, I had submitted a term paper discussing the Holocaust in media from 1950 to 1960 only two days ago. In my paper, I had made references to Anne Frank, my childhood hero.
that was two years ago. I am a journalist today. I don’t buy diamonds.
I also don’t boycott Israel.
Some of my friends would call me a hypocrite. How could I have gone back on my own words? How can I boycott chocolate brands like Nestlé for their bad trade practices while eating Sabra hummus which is owned by an Israeli company? How can I be so sensitive to the sufferings of Syrian refugees while ignoring those of the Palestinians?
And as someone did ask me, “How could you abandon your principles and become a Zionist?”I understand their disbelief and anger. I used to be one of them. They are not anti-Semites. Neither was I. It is just that I gained perspective over the last two years while they continue to see only what social media shows them. Most of them have never met a Jew, let alone an Israeli. And many in South Asia are emotionally invested in the fate of Palestine because of Jerusalem’s religious significance. Personally, I haven’t stopped caring about the Palestinians. I have simply started caring about the Israelis as well. To boycott Israel seemed like a good idea two years ago. Afterall, the boycott had worked in South Africa. There was no reason to think it wouldn’t work in Israel. It took me a while to realize that the story in the Middle East is not one of white supremacy vs. People of Color and that the boycott called for total economic, cultural, and academic isolation of Israel, civil society included.




11 comments:

  1. Can you enlighten us as to the real reason rav shternbuch is coming to America? We don't believe its just for satmar; He's smarter than that, of course.

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  2. Israel has a sordid history of using the Holocaust as a defense against it's crimes. They ignoreigni collaboration the Zionists committed with the Nazis, such as Rudolf Kastner collaborating with Adolf Eichmann.

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  3. “I Used To Call For Boycotts Of Israel — Until I Spoke With Holocaust Survivors”
    Beautiful: “Seventy years later, a second Holocaust seems like a highly unlikely thing. However, history has shown us that it takes but a few sparks of bigotry to start a wildfire of mass insanity. Rwanda, Yugoslavia, Indonesia, the partition of India and Pakistan, the liberation of Bangladesh, and the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya people are a few examples of how empty the words ‘Never Again’ are when hatred goes mainstream.”
    May I show you my letter today to Judge Prus, NYS Inspector General, TIAA, NYS Comm. on judicial conduct, and Susan?

    1.I submit this letter on my behalf, acting pro se. I request leave to contact the Court, the clerk's office or chamber's staff for the purposes of the cancellation of the $25,000 fines against me and for the freeing up of my TIAA pension. I also seek to perfect my appeal challenging the validity of your September 10, 2013 Judgment of Divorce and of your awarding my house to Susan. I also seek ending the court's, TIAA, and Susan's responsibility over the QDRO---to free my TIAA pension. I also seek a copy of the (fake/fraudulent) 1995 Judge Rigler Order of Separation.
    3.I'm complaining that John P. Asiello, Aprilanne Agostino, Marylin Rothstein, TIAA, and Susan choose silence and refuse to assist me on my requests for a copy of the (fake/fraudulent) 1995 Judge Rigler Order of Separation and on my efforts to lift the dubious $25,000 Rigler/Garson sanctions against me…
    4.In the Talmud (shtika kehodaah) and common sense, choosing silence when faced with an accusation is an admission of guilt. I quote the Bible:
    Proverbs 6:23-30: “For the commandment is a lamp, The teaching is a light, And the way to life is the rebuke that disciplines. It will keep you from an evil woman, From the smooth tongue of a forbidden [lit.\ alien] woman. Do not lust for her beauty Or let her captivate you with her eyes. The last loaf of bread will go for a harlot; A married woman will snare a person of honor. Can a man rake embers into his bosom Without burning his clothes? Can a man walk on live coals Without scorching his feet? It is the same with one who sleeps with his fellow's wife; None who touches her will go unpunished. A thief is not held in contempt For stealing to appease his hunger”
    Wow https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-treasury-sanctions-a-top-hezbollah-financier-and-representative-to-iran-1526582699?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=1
    “U.S. Treasury Sanctions a Top Hezbollah Financier and Representative to Iran Latest imposition of sanctions is part of a broader U.S. effort to sideline terror-designated group”

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  4. defense against its crimes

    Which crimes are you speaking of????? None of the "crimes" that these people are claiming are crimes. Not one.
    Their hatred does not have any relationship to the beef a Frum person may have/has with the Medina.

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  5. Nonsense, Eichman - yemch shmo - "offered" to save 1 millions Jews if the allies would give 10,000 trucks. Kastner /Joel Brand thought this deal could be achieved. Nobody was willing to supply these trucks - the Allies were not interested in helping Germany to save some Jews.
    Why is it that Hareidi leaders sometimes bury their own statements that the Jews should not leave, eg Satmar. Although, at least some celebrate R' Elchonon's letter that it is better to die physically than to die spiritually in YU or HTC.

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  6. That has nothing to do with the Vrba–Wetzler report Kastner helped bury and lead hundreds of thousands of Jews to their murder by his buddy Eichmann ym's. Even Eichmann credited Kastner for helping liquadate Hungarian Jewry to Aushwitz. Eichmann said he could never have murdered so many Jews without Zionist Kastner''s assistance.

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  7. You place a lot of emphasis on 1 character named Kastner. His actions were not under the auspicies of the Zionist Leadership in Israel. His actions are a matter of debate. You say "the Zionists", but he was raised as a frum yid, so does this mean all frum people are guilty of his actions? And yo place too much emphasis on the trustworthiness of the Germans, whilst many people did not take these schemes , eg trucks for blood as being genuine.
    He was part of the "Budapest Aid and Rescue Committee (Va'adat Ezrah Vehatzalah, or Vaada), which smuggled Jewish refugees into Hungary during World War II, then helped them escape from Hungary"
    In Israel he was found guilty of collaboration, then was assassinated, then his conviction overturned.

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  8. Kastner was a Zionist leader himself. He was the leader of Zionism in Hungary.

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  9. he was a shaigetz, I am not defending him.
    This article is highly critical of him https://www.timesofisrael.com/on-quest-to-clear-kasztner-historian-shocked-to-prove-nazi-collaboration/
    However, your argument is that you are making a k'lal (against Zionists) from prat or actions of a yachid. he also committed adultery with Joel Brand's wife, FYI.
    Now , if we are to use your methodology, then how does Mr Berland figure in your argument. Mr Berland is head of a chassidic orthodox sect, he was talmid chacham muvhak of the Steipler gaon, who described him as a pure Tzaddik. He is also a menuval, who has re-ignited Sabbateanism and Frankism , using his Kabbala and Rabbinic power to brainwash married women in his cult to have relations with him. According to your argumentation, this is proof that "all" Orthodox , or all hareidim are Sabbateans and menuvalim, and perverts. If the Steipler called Berland a Tzaddik, it puts berland much higher in the hareidi world than Kastner, who was a pen pusher and not a big name in Zionism. he took advantage of Brand who got arrested by the British to take power in chaotic times.
    Again, i am not defending K, I am saying that you are drawing generalisations from his case, whereas in many othe cases where Rabboninm - both Hareidi and DL are menuvalim, you would not make generalisations.

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  10. Where'd you get the adultery bit from?

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  11. It's in the article I cited.

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