Book Party
for Jack Ross, author of
Rabbi Outcast: Elmer Berger and American Jewish Anti-Zionism

(Potomac Books, Dulles, Virginia, 2011)

January 26, 2012

7:30 p.m.

Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture

53 Prospect Park West

(Between 1st and 2nd streets. Take 2, 3 trains or 41 bus to Grand Army Plaza, or 69, 67 bus to Seventh Avenue and 1st Street)

All are welcome!

Light refreshments will be served.

Admission is free (donations welcome)

Brooklyn For Peace is sponsoring this author event at the Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture on Thursday, January 26^th. Jack Ross will make a presentation, with lots of time for questions and answers and informal talk around the refreshments table.

Download flyer here.

Dramatic changes have taken place in the last decade in the views of the American Jewish community toward Israel and Zionism. However, anti-Zionism in America has a long, and partly hidden, history. Elmer Berger was undoubtedly the best-known Jewish anti-Zionist during most of his lifetime. A Reform rabbi, Berger served throughout that period as the executive director of the American Council for Judaism, an anti-Zionist organization founded by leading Reform rabbis.

In this biography, Jack Ross places liberal Jewish anti-Zionism (as opposed to that of Orthodox or revolutionary socialist Jews) in historical perspective. That brand of anti-Zionism was virtually embodied by Rabbi Berger and his predecessors in the Reform rabbinate. He advocated forcefully for his position, much to the chagrin of his Zionist detractors. The growing renaissance of liberal Jewish anti-Zionism, combined with the forgotten work of Rabbi Berger and the American Council for Judaism, makes this full-length, definitive biography not only fascinating history, but inspiring and timely.

Praise for Rabbi Outcast:

“An important book for anyone interested in understanding the complex history of how American Jews have related to the State of Israel. Jack Ross not only tells a fascinating story about the life and times of Rabbi Elmer Berger, a deeply committed anti-Zionist, but he also makes it clear that Zionism is not the religion of all American Jews and certainly was not in the decades before Israel was created.”
– John J. Mearsheimer, University of Chicago, coauthor of The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy.

“A seminal book, nothing less than the rediscovery of American Jewry’s dissenting tradition…a nuanced and readable portrait of people and ideas undeservedly erased from American Jewish history.”
– Murray Polner, author of Rabbi: The American Experience,
and coeditor of Shalom: The Jewish Peace Letter.

“Berger was a great teacher for many of us who caught up on these questions only in the last few years…A prophet without honor in his own land. But if anyone can help restore honor, it is young Ross, who knows the religious terrain, and also the political terrain, and is fiercely independent.”
– Philip Weiss, Mondoweiss.net

Jack Ross’ Rabbi Outcast is available from Potomac Books, Amazon and Barnes and Noble online.

Jack Ross is a freelance writer based in Brooklyn. His work has appeared widely, including Taki’s Magazine, Washington Report for Middle East Affairs, The American Conservative, History News Network, and the blog Mondoweiss.net. He is a member of the Kolot Chayeinu Synagogue.

Sponsored by: Brooklyn For Peace and the reading group of the BFP Israel-Palestine Committee.

With the 10th anniversary of 9/11 and the widely expected vote at the U.N. on recognizing Palestinian sovereignty, September will be marked by important campaigns and events in New York City. One is an important Mass Transit campaign placing ads through the NYC Subways that raise public awareness and call for ending U.S. military aid to Israel. The campaign has already appeared in press (see the Daily News story, and others, below).

“Be on our side. We are on the side of peace and justice.” These words come from Palestinians and Israelis. Underneath this headline, the subway advertisements show an Israeli and Palestinian parent with their children, while the text calls to “End U.S. military aid to Israel” and directs riders to the national website of Two Peoples, One Future. There viewers can learn how U.S. military aid to Israel ($30 billion over the next 10 years) is bad for Palestinians, bad for Israelis, and bad for Americans.

According to the Congressional Research Service, Israel received $61.3 billion in military aid from 1949-2010. $30 billion in military aid has been promised by the U.S. through 2018, making Israel the recipient of more military aid than the rest of the world combined. Weapons purchased by Israel using U.S. aid have been used against civilians, in violation of U.S. law. All this while about 500,000 Israeli settlers live within the occupied Palestinian territory in violation of international law, and more illegal settlements are being built today. The website provides details sources for all these facts, and also documents how aid hurts Palestinians, hurts Americans by diverting tax money and fueling anti-American sentiment, and hurts Israelis by sustaining a militaristic culture and a right-wing minority who oppose a peaceful agreement.

The “Be on Our Side” media and education project promotes a positive, productive U.S. policy toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The goals of the campaign are:

• to encourage U.S. policies that promote peace, equality, and security for Israelis and Palestinians
• to inform Americans about the scale and consequences of U.S. military aid to Israel
• to promote awareness of the importance of ending U.S. military aid to Israel

The project uses media to reach a wide range of viewers, mostly the transit advertisements and the clear, detailed website, but also Facebook, Twitter, and 4×6 inch “fast facts” cards to hand out. The New York posters will be on display from now until October 3rd, see Press Release.

Over the past nine months this constructive mass transit advertising campaign has run successfully in four major U.S. cities. It has been brought to New York City in September to coincide with the U.N. General Assembly session. This campaign will reach a huge new audience of people who have likely only seen the distorted representation of the Israel-Palestine situation is the mainstream media.

Several of the stations where the ads will be seen are in Brooklyn. Brooklyn For Peace will be coordinating leafleting at these stations, providing further information and calling attention to the ad campaign. Please contact us for more information.

Financial contributions are also needed for the ads and for printing and supplies. Click here to make a tax deductible contribution through Pay Pal to the WESPAC foundation for the ad campaign. Or send a check referencing “Be On Our Side-NYC” to WESPAC Foundation, 52 Broadway, White Plains, NY 10603.

Media Coverage

The subway campaign has already created some coverage, and controversy, in the press. Below are some sample articles:

• JTA, September 9, 2011: “N.Y. subway ads calling for end of U.S. aid to Israel“
• CBS-NY Evening News, September 14, 2011 (Segment on controversy caused by ad)
• Jerusalem Post, September 15, 2011: “NYC ads call to end US military aid to Israel”
• The Gothamist, September 15, 2011: “The ‘Dangerous’ Pro-Palestine Subway Ad Dov Hikind Doesn’t Want You To See“
• MondoWeiss.net, September 15, 2011: “Campaign to end military aid to Israel enters NY, underground“
• The New York Daily News, Friday September 16, 2011: “Subway station billboard battle is latest flareup in Israeli-Palestinian conflict“
• CNN, September 16, 2011: Pros, cons of U.S. aid to Israel argued in New York subway posters
• Y net, September 16, 2011 “Mideast ‘subway war’ in NY“
• The New York Times, September 19, 2011: “Welcome to the Annual Circus of Foreign Leaders“
• New York Daily News, September 20^th, 2011: “Blogger Pamela Geller vows to sue MTA if subway ad calling Israel’s enemies ‘savages’ isn’t approved“

More information about the campaign and information on U.S. aid to Israel, is available at the Two Peoples, One Future website, www.twopeoplesonefuture.org.

Israel-Palestine Information and Actions

Brooklyn For Peace regularly issues Action Alerts via email. The Israel-Palestine Committee has also sponsored and co-sponsored forums relating to Israel-Palestine and supported related demonstrations.

Outreach to Decision Makers

We arrange face-to-face meetings with Brooklyn Congressmembers urging them to them to support bills which advance peace in Israel-Palestine. We also encourage members to communicate by letter, telephone, and e-mail with elected officials.

Israel-Palestine Reading Group

The Israel-Palestine Reading Group meets monthly on a weekday afternoon, see the reading list. A separate reading group meeting in the evenings will be starting in early 2009. Discussions are also held at I-P committee meetings based on recent news. Click here for information on the next meeting or email us at is.pales@brooklynpeace.org.

 

The Israel Palestine Committee has drawn up some brief fact sheets to give background to resent stories relating to Israel and Palestine, such as Palestine’s proposal at the UN in September, international law as it applies to the regions, and other events. Special thanks to Bob Alpern for his work on these. We expect more to be added in the future:

• Fact Sheet on the International Criminal Court
• Fact Sheet on the Palestinian Authority (PA)
• Fact Sheet on the PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization)
• Fact Sheet on the Status of Palestine at the United Nations
• Fact Sheet on United Nation’s Processes

Ahava, an Israeli cosmetics company, is violating basic principles of international law by profiting from the occupation of Palestine.

Read about the international boycott.

Brooklyn For Peace developed a Working Paper on the Goldstone Report, analyzing how principles of international law relate to the
Israeli invasion of Gaza (Dec 2008-Jan 2009, Operation Cast Lead).

Goldstone-Report-Working Papers.

Brooklyn For Peace opposes the blockade of Gaza. We do not believe that it is justified by any real self-defense or security concerns of Israel.

See the open letter from Brooklyn For Peace to President Barack Obama, in response to the Israeli attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla.

 

This delicious, organically grown oil is produced in Palestine. For sale at $20 per 750 ml bottle all proceeds support Palestinian farm families and contribute to Brooklyn For Peace.

Thanks so much to those who have ordered Olive Branch Olive Oil for themselves and friends, and in so doing have made an important contribution to the struggling Palestinian economy, as well as to Brooklyn For Peace.

Learn more about how to order.