Letter to the Editor
The Jewish Week
Dear Gary,
Your article on David Myers downplays his “leftist” leanings to which he readily admits, and attributes the calls for his ouster as being on “political grounds.” You speak about the “lunatic fringe” of the Israeli right, to which Americans for a Safe Israel must also belong. We joined with Ronn Torossian, ZOA and JCC Watch in demonstrating outside the Center for Jewish History on September 27 to educate attendees to the Center, and passers-by, about the reasons we are calling for Myers to be fired.
Those reasons include Myers’ writings which are revisionist versions of Jewish history. Instead of seeing the Israeli victory of 1948 as a great moment that precipitated the declaration of the Jewish state, Myers speaks about the “wound of the Naqba” – the Arab word for disaster.
Myers also sees Israel’s 1967 victories which restored lost lands to Israel as the “conquering” of those lands. He preaches “the inevitable demise of Israel” and he excuses Arab terrorism as “frustration driven.” Although he denies affiliation with SJP, he is silent about his support for J Street, the New Israel Fund, and groups that support BDS, which blame the “occupation” and “West Bank settlements” for their boycotts, divestments and sanctions against Israel.
A large protest is planned outside the Center on October 18 to make it clear that those calling for the firing of Myers are not going away. Tragically, his supporters and the editor of Jewish Week do not see that they themselves are driving wedges within the Jewish world. Gary Rosenblatt writes that the “current toxic political climate, when divisiveness is a White House goal, and distorting the news is a favored technique, it is normative behavior for those who disagree on an issue – in this case, what it means to be “pro-Israel” – to seek to marginalize, demonize and defeat those with a different point of view…”
How sad that legitimate criticism, backed by facts and quotes, is blamed on President Trump, a toxic political climate, and labels pro-Israel defenders as demonizers. Clearly, the “left” is ready to see the re-writing of Jewish history, erasing the truths, and substituting the PC “moral equivalency” version.
We, who see ourselves as the defenders of Israel refuse to stand silently by with folded hands. We will continue to protest, and those who can evaluate the truth, will join us.
Helen Freedman
Americans for a Safe Israel/AFSI
afsi.org