Aura of intimidation
Thanks to j. for covering the Peter Beinart cancellation (“ ‘Zionism’ author cancels KPFA talk in Berkeley,” March 30). As the invited moderator of what promised to be a stimulating evening, I’m disappointed we lost this opportunity. I’m outraged at conservative Bay Area funders who, together with the S.F.-based Jewish Community Federation guidelines, support a climate of intimidation, policing what it is permitted to say and where — and who one may even “associate with”— or risk losing funding.
These guidelines and climate try to silence advocacy of Palestinian rights to self-determination, safe homes, clean water, access to education — rights Israeli Jews hold dear.
In 2007, the late Adrienne Rich, a Jewish lesbian feminist of literary genius, gave a reading at the JCCSF and spoke out against the JCC’s ban on renting space to Jewish Voice for Peace, an organization on whose advisory board Rich sat. As we mourn this exceptional writer, we wonder: in 2012, would Rich have been allowed to speak at the JCCSF?
What are we losing by letting funders dictate the boundaries of public discussion?
I couldn’t be prouder to be a founding board member of JVP, an organization with 100,000 online supporters, that advocates for human rights and full equality for Israelis and for Palestinians.
Penny Rosenwasser | Oakland
Federation’s funding policy is on the mark
It was Deborah Kaufman (“Intense response to documentary on ‘culture wars,’ ” March 30) who regularly scheduled anti-Israeli propaganda in the films she booked as the first director of the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival.
She also wrote a piece in 2009 for the Chronicle that addressed the anger the JFF precipitated concerning the Corrie issue. If one did not know better, readers of that piece would have been given to believe that the showing of the film about Rachel Corrie was the sole area of controversy. Kaufman made no mention that Cindy Corrie was invited by the JFF to shill on behalf of her late daughter’s organization, the ISM, which supports those who work for the destruction of the Jewish state.
The federation is quite right to cease funding those who call for the end of Israel as a Jewish state. And those who see films made by Ms. Kaufman or read her words should understand that she is a polemicist who places a minimum of value on any articulation of truth.
Dan Spitzer | Berkeley
Shame on Ameinu
Naomi Jatovsky’s letter was misguided as to the mission of AIPAC (“AIPAC’s inconsistency,” March 30). So was this statement by Judith Gelman, a leader of the progressive Zionist organization Ameinu and a delegate on AIPAC’s National Leadership Council, on the Ameinu website: that Ameinu’s goal is “to mobilize American Jews who seek opportunities to foster social and economic justice both in Israel and the United States.”
One person’s view of justice can be viewed as tyranny by others. Just look at the debate on health care in the United States.
This is why AIPAC does not meddle in the domestic affairs of Israel or the United States. Its goal is to foster the Israel-American relationship. It is not partisan in either Israeli or American politics.
Ameinu is the opposite. Jatovsky’s line that AIPAC should reflect her values is absurd. It should advocate for the democratically elected government of Israel to the democratically elected government of the United States even though individual members may disagree with certain policies of each nation. Shame on Ameinu for trying to undermine AIPAC’s mission for its own socio-political agenda.
Gilbert Stein | Aptos