Adam Hanieh <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
From: "Adam Hanieh" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Fri, 18 May 2007 09:40:40 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: [Nidah] CAIA Response to B'nai Brith Attack
-- CAIA Response to B'nai Brith Attack -- Please forward widely
** Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid Urges Bnai Brith to Embrace Human
Rights for All **
May 18, 2007
The Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid was surprised to see a press
release issued by Bnai Brith Canada (dated 17 May 2007) characterizing
the national campaign to boycott Chapters Indigo bookstores as a
"misguided attempt to delegitimize the Jewish State of Israel and its
supporters".
The boycott of the Chapters Indigo book chain was launched at the end of
2006 by the Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid in response to the
establishment of the 'Heseg Foundation for Lone Soldiers' by the book
chain's majority owners. Heseg distributes scholarships and support to
former lone soldiers - individuals with no family in Israel who choose
to serve in the Israeli military. As Israeli soldiers, they are
responsible for enforcing the occupation of Palestinian land and numerous
well-documented human rights abuses.
CAIA notes that Bnai Brith purports to be the Jewish communitys
foremost human rights agency. It is surprising indeed, that their embrace
of human rights extends to a defence of the Israeli military an
organization that has been noted by almost every human rights organization
on the planet as responsible for egregious and decades long violations of
human rights. CAIA poses a simple question to Bnai Brith: exactly what
would the Israeli military have to do to warrant their condemnation for
human rights abuses?
Bnai Briths attempt to sanitize Heseg and the support given by the
majority owners of Chapters Indigo to this foundation confounds the basic
principles of human rights. CAIA notes, according to the Jerusalem Post on
22 November 2006, that at a ceremony honoring a Lone Soldier killed during
Israels attacks on Lebanon Levine's platoon commander handed Levine's
firearm to Canadian business duo and philanthropists Gerry Schwartz and
Heather Reisman, the financial backers of the Heseg project. Israels
invasion of Lebanon killed over 1000 Lebanese civilians and attempted to
reduce the country to rubble. What kind of philanthropic activity sees
the owners of a book chain awarded a gun used in the attempted destruction
of a country? Is Bnai Brith concerned with the fact that Hesegs board of
advisors includes Doron Almog, former head of Israeli forces in the Gaza
Strip who was in charge of Israeli military command when a one-ton bomb
was dropped on a house in Gaza killing 14 civilians, including nine
children - an individual for which a warrant for suspicion of war crimes
was issued in Britain? Or that other high-ranking Israeli military
personnel serve on the board of advisors to this philanthropic
organization?
Furthermore, it is ironic that Bnai Brith a supposed human rights
organization decries attempts to delegitimize the Jewish State of
Israel. This week, Palestinians commemorate the 59th anniversary of Al
Nakba (the catastrophe) that saw the expulsion of three-quarters of the
Palestinian population from their land in 1948. At least 20% of Israels
population is non-Jewish. CAIA is opposed to any state that defines itself
on the basis of one ethnicity or religion. We wholeheartedly support the
right of all Israeli citizens to full equality regardless of their
religion, ethnicity or nationality. It is for this reason that we are part
of a global campaign against Israeli apartheid that includes boycott,
divestment, and sanctions in the manner of the campaign that helped
isolate and end South African apartheid.
We challenge Bnai Brith to publicly announce their support for the human
rights of all people, including Palestinians, and join us in the campaign
to boycott Israeli apartheid. First and foremost, B'nai Brith should
endorse the national day of action against Chapters Indigo that will be
happening outside bookstores across the country on June 9th. More
information can be found at www.caiaweb.org.
-end
"Only Those Who Do Nothing Avoid
Criticism."
Susan's English as a Second Language Blog http://suzansesl.blogspot.com
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