Finally, I have secured the full Seattle Jewish federation letter attacking Kadima just before it hosted Palestinian anti-Occupation cleric, Canon Naim Ateek here in Seattle earlier this month. Here it is:
Rainer Adkins [sic]
Kadima
xxxxxxx
Seattle, WA xxxxxDear Rainer,
It has come to our attention that Kadima will be hosting Naim Ateek, founder of Sabeel on July 18th. We are greatly concerned about this choice of speakers. Ateek does not present the facts of the Arab/Israeli conflict in a balanced or even-handed manner, nor does he promote peace and justice. His writings and speeches are filled with factual errors, misrepresentations, material omissions and distortions, and he portrays Jews and Israelis in the harshest light possible.
To be clear, we are not arguing your own stance on Israel’s policies. We are writing because we believe that hosting this “wolf in sheep’s clothing“ goes too far. Kadima is the first Jewish agency in over 30 years to sponsor a forum for his ideas.
Ateek reveals his own bias and racist attitudes with overt stereotyping of Jews and Israelis as inherently immoral, racist, violent, and conspiratorial. It does a disservice to members of your own organization and the community supporting Israel to lend legitimacy, to his words by providing a platform for Ateek’s inherent anti-Jewish and anti-Israel message.
On your own website, you suggest that bringing Ateek reflects Kadima’s “commitment to building bridges for understanding and dialogue, whether in agreement or disagreement.” We, the undersigned, do not understand why you would want to build a bridge with someone who espouses such flawed and racist anti-Israel and anti-Jewish positions, and we vehemently oppose any support for this pretext of “bridge building.”
Sincerely,
Richard Fruchter, Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle
Carolyn Hathaway, Hadassah, Immediate Past President
Daniel Weiner, Temple De Hirsch Sinai
David Brumer, Director of Social Services, Kline Galland Home, Executive Committee member of SWU/NW & AJC/Seattle Chapter
Rob Jacobs, StandWithUs
Jordan R. Assouline
Sandy Berger
Linda Capeluto
Sharon Finegold
Bernel Goldberg
Lorna Isenberg
Kim Greenhall
I have further learned that the Jewish Council on Public Affairs, a national Israel advocacy organization which heavily monitors Christian divestment campaigns and other allegedly anti-Israel activity, organized a national effort to shadow Naim Ateek on his tour of the U.S. Representatives from the Seattle community participated in the JCPA outreach effort. By the way, you’ll find no reference to JCPA’s anti-Ateek campaign on its website, a typical stealth effort. At this point, the federation Israel committee only knew Ateek would be hosted by Christian congregations while here. This resulted in a follow-up effort by members of the Federation’s Israel Programming Committee.
On a separate, but related matter, local community leaders became exercised at what they perceived as the anti-Israel line of local groups like Kadima and Brit Tzedek. They contemplated rewriting the Israel Accord that had been formulated after two community leaders, Rob Jacobs and Rick Harkavy, played instrumental roles in the arrest of then Kadima Rabbi Drora Setel at an Israel Day rally. [CORRECTION: Jacobs’ predecessor as ADL director, Brian Goldberg was responsible for this and not Jacobs; and the Israel Accord I refer to above was written in 2004 in the context of the Gaza withdrawal, and not in the aftermath of the 2001 arrest of Setel and Jonathan Rosenblum] The purpose of the reformulation would be to define a ”kosher” communal organization in such a way that Kadima and Brit Tzedek could be excluded from the committee and local activities around Israel.
Then when committee members heard Kadima planned to host Ateek at a Shabbat service, they decided to focus their efforts on this letter.
I have long wondered who spearheaded the letter. While JTNews was technically correct in saying it emanated from the Israel Program Committee. It actually was spurred by one particular member of the committee. And interestingly, his name isn’t even listed as a signatory. Apparently this individual, along with the group he represents, prefers to lurk in the netherworld and wield his hatchet behind the scenes, erasing any fingerprints before the blow falls. You could call this cowardice or not having the courage of one’s convictions. You could call this an attempt to preserve plausible deniability so you can tell the world in clear conscience that you and your group would never have anything to do with actions like this. At any rate, we have one chicken-shit communal leader here in Seattle.
I mistakenly accused Rob Jacobs of being the spearhead of the letter and he wasn’t. But Rob was involved in the letter from the beginning and enthusiastically endorsed it as did his capo di tutti, David Brumer.
Further, I note that there is no demurral on this letter indicating the individuals who list organizational affiliation do so without claiming to represent their organizations. This could lead us to believe that these signatories are speaking for their organizations in signing it. I would specifically address the Kline Galland Home and ask why David Brumer is using the organization’s name to denounce a group within the community on a subject that has nothing to do with Kline Galland’s mission. Does a Jewish retirement home need or want a senior staff member to weigh in on an internal communal dispute of this sort?
I have it on good authority that there were communal leaders who refused to endorse this letter. To those who were solicited to sign and replied that the letter was a bad idea–you are a profile in Jewish courage.
I would ask the other leaders of this community who didn’t sign this letter–is this the kind of Jewish community you want here in Seattle? Do you want to allow members of Stand With Us and other right-wing pro-Israel groups define ‘who is a Jew’ on this issue? Or do you stand for diversity of opinion and viewpoint? If the Israel committee speaks for most affiliated Seattle Jews then perhaps we progressive Jews who dissent from the Israel lobby standard line are the disenfrancised being told to go elsewhere?
Regarding the actual argument in this anti-Ateek letter, I have already critiqued much of its rhetorical garbage .
My final comment about the letter: you’d think if you wanted to attack a fellow leader of the community you’d bother to address them by their proper name: Rainer Waldman-Adkins and not Rainer Adkins. Perhaps a small error (though Selma Waldman, Rainer’s mother, would not think so were she alive to read this), but a sign of the sloppiness of the entire endeavor.
I also want to take Kadima to task for its totally inadequate response to this affair. Some of the key leaders of the community are prepared to put you in herem and what do you do? You roll over and play dead. You need to re-examine the decision-making that led to your silence in the face of this attack. If I didn’t feel you were allies, I’d say your behavior was shameful. But since you’ve only hurt yourselves and your agenda within the community all I can say is how deeply pained I am at the inadequacy of your response.
I have not mentioned the source of all this information and will not to protect confidentiality. Suffice to say, this is someone who knows what they’re talking about.
Is “Kadima” the same Kadima as the Israeli party?
It would be odd if the party that won the most seats in the latest Israeli election would then be cast as “disloyal”.
Peace requires hearing the others’ perspective. It does two things:
1. It makes sure that I/we/they are not engaging in denial, in self-talk. I/we can learn something.
2. It provides a precedent for being heard respectfully. (“I sincerely listened to your perspective. Please hear mine.”)
http://www.kadima.org
Who’d’ve thunk?
Seattle’s Kadima is a progressive Jewish spiritual/political community which long predates the Kadima party. Kadima roughly translated means “forward” or “progress” (hence, “progressive”). Naturally, the Kadima party is not progressive, but has co-opted the term.
Richard,
The sneak letters and the outright lies about a clergy person of another faith are not new in Seattle. We saw the same in Los Angeles. The same characters appeared on the scene with money to take out ads and paid professionals to devote full time to telling the lies and then celebrating them.
Chicago has been a scene of the same kind of activity.
I attended the Sabeel Conference in Pasadena. I didn’t agree with every one who spoke. I found the Jews who spoke the least temperate. The Christians tended to measure their words more carefully. In any case, from Rev Ateek there was opinion expressed but not anti-semitism nor anything like it. Criticism of Israeli policies but a loud call for justice. I was uncomfortable with some of rhetoric but then again it was Christian and I don’t believe in that religion.
Silverstein seems to be asking why Ateek’s hosts did little to prepare a defense of Ateek or themselves. That is a good question. Do they really want to hear other views? Then they must be willing to take the heat. That means an added burden which then leads most busy leaders to decide that it is not worth hassle.
The Jewish community defenders have worked very hard to quash differences of opinion. This isolation and unreality helps people to remain ignorant.
Haim
Richard, can you get any of your facts right? Your record is one of mistakes, unproven assumptions and a consistent failure to check any of your allegations (as you have said to me, “Do your own research”).
This time you have stated that “[Jewish community leaders] contemplated rewriting the Israel Accord that had been formulated after two community leaders, Rob Jacobs and Rick Harkavy, played instrumental roles in the arrest of then Kadima Rabbi Drora Setel at an Israel Day rally.”
First of all, I not only had nothing to do with the arrest of Setel, I was not even involved in the Seattle Jewish community at that time, apart from being a member of Congregation Beth Shalom. I was teaching at the University of Washington and heading up the Center for Technology Entrepreneurship and did not attend the rally you refer to or even know about the arrest until two years later when I took over as regional director of the ADL.
So you are flat out wrong again with yet another unfounded, unsupported, unresearched assertion.
Second, what the heck is the Jewish community “Israel accord” to which you refer? I have no idea what you are talking about and I doubt you do either.
Please stop creating fiction out of unsupported assumptions.
If your belief system on Israel and the Middle East is based on the same fantasies you evidence in this discussion, no wonder you reach some of your bizarre conclusions.
As far as the letter which I called an “Israel accord,” JTNews’ editor calls it a “community protocol” in describing it here. You apparently can’t be bothered to read anything that isn’t sufficiently propagandistic enough for StandWithUs standards. But do try to read JTNews as it is our community newspaper:
Take back your claim that this is a fiction or I’ll label you a smearmonger of the first order.
As for the issue of Rabbi Setel’s arrest it was your predecessor at the ADL, Brian Goldberg and Rick Harkavy who were responsible for this despicable act. And your predecessor was even defiant & nearly proud of the fact that Setel was arrested:
So, no I was mistaken in blaming you for this incident though undoubtedly had you been ADL director at the time, the same thing would’ve happened.
And another thing, Rob. The Israel committee was instrumental in creating the ltr. and you were deeply and personally involved in it (though you didn’t write it). Ha-mayvin yavin.
Brian Goldberg now serves on the Board of Education of Beverly Hills —- his recent efforts to kick out the non-resident students who had been attending the schools on permit have made news and you might want to view his interview on the Huffington Post video — here is the link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tom-gregory/beverly-hills-schools-liv_b_414311.html
There is something widely known in the Seattle Jewish community as the “Israel Accord,” giving you grounds to accuse Mr. Jacobs of disingenuity for claiming not to know what the heck it was? The JTNews piece does not refer to it as such, quoting instead Ranier Waldman-Atkins speaking about “community protocol” rather than any formalized agreement.
And though you admit you were mistaken to blame Mr. Jacobs for an incident for which he could have had no responsibility, you say it matters little, since you are certain (“undoubtedly”) that had he held the position he did not hold, “the same thing would’ve happened.” Wow, that’s really fairminded of you! (BTW, do you personally subscribe to that “Israel Accord,” which it seems would require respect for those in the Jewish community hold different views on how to support Israel?)
It is actually called the Derech Eretz Statement & published as a full page ad in the Jewish Transcript. And whadaya know, Rob Jacobs even signed it himself! Yet he claims it as a fiction I made up myself. Perhaps Rob is having severe memory loss and needs to see his physician.
As for whether the Derech Eretz statement requires that I respect you or Rob Jacobs, I wasn’t a signatory. But even if I were, I grant no respect whatsoever to anyone who deliberately lies about my own views and speaks untruths about his own record and actions.