Came across this demonstration the other day and was handed a flyer by one of the demonstrators.
It starts off:
" Over the last few days, anti-Zionist Jews in the Holy Land have held a series of protests against the construction of a housing project over an ancient cemetery in Beis Shemesh, a city near Jerusalem,. For some demonstrators, the protest came to a tragic and bloody ending.
"The construction 1,000 apartments is taking place in an area known as the Golovenzitz compound. So far, 327 ancient burial caves have been discovered.
" The current incident differs from previous cases in the which the Israeli antiquities authority moved ancient bones to make room for construction ( which is also forbidden by Jewish Law).
In this case bulldozers are simply digging up and destroying the entire cemetery at once. Such wanton disregard for a cemetery would not be tolerated by any other nation or government."
There follows a lengthy tract along similar lines...
It also gives website addresses which my computer warned me against going to, for whatever that is worth.
This demonstration got absolutely no publicity that I know of...let me see what is on internet
Maybe this article from Wikipedia will put this all in perspective
International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network (IJAN) is a network of anti-Zionist Jews pledged to "Oppose Zionism and the State of Israel".[1]Advocacy and activity
The IJAN views Zionism as a racist movement, and Israel as an apartheid state.[1] The charter of the organization states "[w]e are an international network of Jews who are uncompromisingly committed to struggles for human emancipation, of which the liberation of the Palestinian people and land is an indispensable part. Our commitment is to the dismantling of Israeli apartheid, the return of Palestinian refugees, and the ending of the Israeli colonization of historic Palestine."[2] It also calls for the unconditional freeing of all Palestinian prisoners in Israel. The group also opposes the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, capitalism, and Islamophobia. Prominent members of IJAN include feminist activist Selma James and holocaust survivor Hajo Meyer. It comprises groups in the USA, Canada, India, Argentina, and several European countries.[3]Irish academic David Landy describes IJAN as one of the few Jewish organizations not to "sideline" anti-Zionism, "believing Zionism to be the underlying problem that must be tackled in order to achieve Palestinian liberation and incidentally reclaim the Jewish commitment to liberation."[4]
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has said that whilst the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network does not organise "a significant number of events", it has an important role "in creating policy and setting anti-Israel agendas".[5]
History
Sara Kershnar[6] and others founded the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network in 2008.[7]During the Gaza War (2008–2009) six members chained themselves to the Israeli consulate in Los Angeles, while around 40 others protested in front, shutting it down for two hours.[8] Members of IJAN have taken part in many protests in London and elsewhere.[9]
In 2010 Ireland’s national trade-union federation invited the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network to a conference in Dublin on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.[10]
IJAN member and Auschwitz survivor Hajo Meyer[11] author of The End of Judaism: An Ethical Tradition Betrayed, was a key speaker in IJAN's 2010–2011 "Never Again – For Anyone" tour, with talks in the UK and Ireland.[12]
In 2011 IJAN was one of a number of organizations that organized a 13-city speaking tour of the USA, which according to the Jerusalem Post "compares Israel’s relations with the Palestinians to the Nazis’ treatment of Jews during the Holocaust".[13]
In September 2012, members of the IJAN travelled to Iran to meet with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.[14] In November 2012, members of the IJAN participated in a protest against a meeting of the Jewish National Fund in Toronto, Canada.[15]
Criticism
Next to the expected criticism by supporters of the policies of the State of Israel in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, IJAN has also been strongly criticized by Gilad Atzmon, a harsh critic of Israel and of what he calls "Jewishness", for operating as a "Jews only" political cell, thereby not being "part of a solution but just another aspect of the problem",[16] calling them "'anti' Zionist stooges".[17] IJAN rejected Atzmon's accusations in a statement that described him as a "an antisemitic ideologue and promoter of holocaust denial."[18]Jonny Paul has characterised the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network in The Jerusalem Post as a "small radical fringe group".[19]
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