Brit Tzedek v'Shalom
Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace
Activities
Executive Director Updates
Friday, October 03, 2003
Dear Members and Supporters,
This has been a very busy month for Brit Tzedek v’Shalom as we prepare for many exciting upcoming events.
• BRIT TZEDEK NATIONAL CONFERENCE 10/31-11/02
Come hear MK Amram Mitzna, Naomi Chazan, Congressman Barney Frank, Stephen P. Cohen, Sumaya Farhat-Naser, James Zogby, Debbie Friedman and many more. Network with like-minded activists from across the country.
To read more, click here
• BOARD PRESIDENT MARCIA FREEDMAN TO TOUR THE MIDWEST 10/16-23
Former MK Marcia Freedman will speak on Current and Future Directions in Israel’s Road to Peace in
Madison (10/16-17), Chicago (10/19, Bloomington, Indiana (10/20 Ann Arbor (10/21, Detroit Area (10/22) and
Minneapolis/St.Paul (10/26-27).
To read tour details, click here
• MK AMRAM MITZNA TO TOUR PHILADELPHIA, NEW YORK CITY, AND CHICAGO 11/2-4
Following Brit Tzdek’s National Conference, MK Amram Mitzna will be hosted on a speaking touring by Brit Tzedek Chapters in Philadelphia (11/2), New York City (11/3) and Chicago (11/4).
To read tour details, click here
• CAMPAIGN TO BRING THE SETTLERS HOME TO ISRAEL
We now have over 8000 signers to our Call. Please continue to encourage your friends and family to sign on [click to sign].
Help us meet our goal of 10,000 signers by signing now.
• NATIONAL ADVOCACY CO-CHAIR DIANE BALSER TO SPEAK IN BOSTON AT EVENT CO-HOSTED BY AMERICANS FOR PEACE NOW 10/8
National Advocacy Co-Chair Diane Balser will be joined by Mark Rosenblum, Founder and Policy Director of Americans for Peace Now and Rabbi Ben-Zion Gold, Director Emeritus of Harvard Hillel in a forum entitled “The Current Situation in the Middle East: What Can U.S. Jews Be Doing?” The event will be held on Wednesday, October 8th at 7:30 PM at Temple Beth Zion, 1566 Beacon Street, Brookline. For more information, contact: boston@btvshalom.org.
• MERETZ USA/GIVAT HAVIVA EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION 2003 ISRAEL SYMPOSIUM LEAVES OCTOBER 26th
This tour of Israel will include meetings with top leaders in the Knesset, prominent Israeli and Palestinian peace activists, government officials, leading journalists and academics, and more. For more information and to register, call (212) 242-4500.
IMPORTANT ARTICLES IN THE NEWS
There have been a number of significant articles on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict published over the past month. A summary of these four recent articles is posted below. A complete list can be found under “New and Timely Articles” [read more]• The Price of Not Keeping the Peace
by Rabbi Arthur Hertzburg, New York Times, August 27, 2003
[read more]
Jewish scholar Rabbi Arthur Hertzburg argues that the United States must take punitive action against both Israel and the Palestinians to force them to agree to a settlement. He believes that "the mainstream in Israel and in the Jewish Diaspora will be grateful to America for saving Israel from itself."
• A Failed Israeli Society Collapses While Its Leaders Remain Silent
by MK Avraham Burg, Forward, Aug 29, 2003
[read more]
Knesset member and former chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel, Avraham Burg, eloquently warns us that "crying out is a moral imperative...[because] we cannot keep the territories and preserve a Jewish majority in the world's only Jewish state - not by means that are human and moral and Jewish."
• Separation Now
by Amram Mitzna, Ha'aretz, August 31, 2003
[read more]
Former Labor Party leader MK Amram Mitzna ominously warns that "the continued control of Judea, Samaria, and Gaza mean the liquidation of Zionism and the end of the Jewish state" [or "we are currently at a critical point that will decide whether Israel will continue to exist as a democratic Jewish state or become a bi-national state in which there will be an Arab majority within a few years."]
• The Price of Settlements
Ha'artez, September 26, 2003
[read more]
This special New Year's supplement from Ha'aretz explores the cost of continued Israeli settlement expansion - which greatly exceed the NIS 800 million spent on them - to the Israeli economy and society.
I look forward to meeting many of you personally in Boston.
Hag sameach,
Aliza Becker, Executive Director
Brit Tzedek v'Shalom: Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace
PO Box 180175
Chicago, IL 60618-0175
Ph: (773) 583-5747
Fax: (773) 583-5772
E-mail: aliza@btvshalom.org