Due to a recent controversy in San Francisco involving financial sponsorship of an event featuring a film that honored Rachel Corrie* the San Francisco chapter of the Jewish Federation has adopted a policy governing which type of events or activities it will support. I thought it might be interesting to post this considering the controversy on-going in Orange County over the support given to the UC-Irvine Olive Tree Initiative by the OC Jewish Federation and the Rose Project.
* Rachel Corrie was an American girl who traveled to the Holy Land and worked witrh the International Solidarity Movement protesting against Israel. She was killed when she sat in front of a bulldozer as it was taking down a house used to tunnel into Israel proper with weapons. Her parents are currently activists against the state of Israel.
http://octaskforce.wordpress.com/2010/12/03/the-jewish-community-federation-of-san-fransisco-peninsula-marin-and-sonoma-counties-funding-guidelines/
It is a perfectly valid policy for any private voluntary association to adopt, to define for members, potential members, and non-members, what the group's goals and purposes are, and are not, and how they will be implemented.
ReplyDeleteOf course, there may end up being Jewish Federation 1, Jewish Federation 2, and Jewish Federation 3, since Jews, like most human beings, are rumored to be independent thinkers who come to a wide variety of conclusions and do not march in lockstep.
One wonders what position THIS Jewish Federation would take if presented with an undemocratic Jewish state of Israel? Shas seems to have ambitions in that direction, as does Beteinyu. This is not your socialist kibbutzim state of Israel. The Hagganah wouldn't recognize it - nor would Gary Fouse have supported the Hagganah.
Rachel Corrie didn't throw herself under a bulldozer, she was playing "chicken" with one. A big difference.
ReplyDeleteIt is understood that her friends filmed the episode, but the film has been hidden due to the nature of her antics and it exonerates the IDF.
In any case, her actions made her eligible for an Darwin Award .