From the Genesee River to the “Town of Greece v Galloway”
Peter Eisenstadt

There are many mysteries about the lamentable US Supreme Court decision earlier this week, “Town of Greece New York v Galloway,” that gave license to local political bodies, such as town councils, to sponsor opening prayers that are overtly denominational and sectarian. It is not hard to guess what happens next. In most communities, as happened in Greece, Christianity will be the only religion that gets prayed to, and in many places there will political pressure for a “rush to Jesus,” and the increasing Christianization of public discourse before the business of government can be addressed. And those who don’t like it, those of minority religious persuasions, or different forms of Christianity, will be told that they are too “sensitive,” and that the will of the majority rules, and that’s that. read more

My visit with Jalil Muntaqim in Attica
Kathleen Kern

The release of Betty Medsger’s book The Burglary this winter once again drew attention to the conspiracies of COINTELPRO, a program devised by J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI that sought to discredit and destabilize minority empowerment and self-defense groups like the NAACP, Black Panthers

and American Indian Movement—sometimes to the point of assassinating members of their leadership.

The false evidence and prosecutorial misconduct used to convict high profile COINTELPRO prisoners such as Leonard Peltier is a matter of public record. But J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI also framed dozens of lesser known individuals such as Attica inmate Jalil Muntaqim (formerly Anthony Bottom) who, like Peltier, are still in jail decades after the Church Committee held hearings in 1975 exposing this misconduct. read more

How Not to Piss in a Tent; Or, the Story of American Jewish Leadership
Peter Eisenstadt

This is one of my favorite political stories, like all good stories probably apocryphal and a bit risqué, and I hope no one is offended. Lyndon Johnson, the story goes, was bothered by a rival giving him fits. He told an operative to make a deal with him, get him within Lyndon’s coalition, beneath his big tent, because, when it came to tents, it was better to have someone inside the tent pissing out, rather than outside the tent pissing in. Lyndon Johnson knew from big tents and broad coalitions. Malcolm Hoenlein and the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations does not. And now, Mr. Hoenlein, we know what direction to pee in, thank you very much. read more

The NBA and Racism in America
The Jewish Pluralist Op-Ed
Peter Eisenstadt and Ayala Emmett

Racism’s ugly head is exposed yet again. Social media made Donald Sterling’s racism

a public spectacle in a way that his previous and well-known bigotry did not. The reaction was swift. This time action, there was decisive action against a bigoted tycoon, because, among other things, past and present NBA players, a number of them powerful successful and prominent got into action. A practicing bigot and bully was banished for life from a public space that he so clearly relished and shamelessly abused. There is much to praise in the swiftness of Silver’s reaction, in the grassroots support for the players and various forms of public outrage that made action possible. read more

J Street Excluded from The Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations

The Jewish Pluralist Editorial Statement:
It is in the spirit of inclusion and pluralism that we are publishing J Street’s disappointment by the decision of the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organization to exclude it from the organization. It is an exclusion that flies in the face of Jewish tradition of “those and those are the living words of God” (TB Eruvin 13a) אלו ואלו

J Street disappointed by Conference of Presidents’ exclusion

J Street is disappointed that our bid for membership to the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations has been rejected. read more

Paratroopers Concerned about Israel’s Future
Delivered at a Reunion on 2.15.2014
Amos Goren
Israel

We are gathered here today 50 years after our first training as soldiers and commanders of the Paratroopers of Company B Battalion 890. When we first volunteered as paratroopers we took it upon ourselves to fight and defend our country and we did it with some guiding principles: to never leave a solider behind, to be the first as commanders to lead our soldiers, to work as a team, to follow moral values even while fighting, to be innovative, to practice humility, voluntarism, and professionalism. read more

HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS LIVING IN POVERTY
David Langerman
Kiryat Motzkin
Israel
April 26, 2014

Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Memorial Day is two days away. It is shocking to face the fact that 70 years after the Shoah, Holocaust survivors in Israel live in poverty according to a report published two days ago.

I would like to mention a few of the findings of the report published by the Foundation for the Benefit of Holocaust Victims in Israel on April 24, 2014:

There are currently about 190,000 Holocaust survivors in Israel. 50,000 of them live below the poverty line and 40,000 have an income of NIS 3,000 a month. According to the Foundation’s report 40,000 survivors responded that they often had to forgo food and 35,000 said that they had to skip medications. More than 50% of the survivors said that were unsatisfied with the government’s treatment of them. And every month 1000 survivors die. read more

On the Hamas-Fatah Reconciliation
Yonathan Shapir

The big news in the Middle East yesterday was the agreement between Fatah and Hamas to constitute a common government of experts, leading to new elections in six months. This reunification happened after very short negotiations and surprised everybody in Israel (apparently including

the Intelligence services).

Israeli experts were quick point out that there have been many such unification ceremonies in the last nine years and, as they all failed on in a short time. But this time is different since one cannot look at this “reunification” out of its context. One reason mentioned by many is the relative weakness of Hamas which is treated as an enemy organization by the present (and probably future) leadership in Egypt. read more

Finding Light in the Darkness – A People’s Hope for a Better Ukraine
Ryan Broser
Peace Corps Volunteer
April 2014

After living and working in Ukraine for nearly 18 months, it’s easy to say that the experience was exhilarating and eye-opening. What’s difficult is looking back and deciding which part of the experience was the best. Do I talk about how a small stuffed animal that I used for lessons became so popular that it gathered a small following among my younger students? Or, do I describe the sunny Saturday mornings when I’d go to the local bazaar to buy fresh fruit and vegetables? read more

THE FESTIVAL OF FREEDOM
Alik Ron
[Retired Commander]
Jerusalem
April 11, 2014

On Monday we will sit at the Seder table and our children will ask the questions. I will anticipate them and ask here today: Freedom? The Festival of Freedom? Freedom for whom? Are we really free? Not exactly. The conqueror is never free. Not when he faces the defeated, not when he faces the whole world and mostly not when the conqueror faces himself.

This week we launched Ofek 10, a reconnaissance satellite built with the best of Jewish ingenuity, capable of distinguishing objects the size of a soccer ball from the edge of the sky, from hundreds of kilometers above the earth. But this magical Golem will not be able to discern the suffering of hundreds of thousands of Israelis and their empty refrigerators that force them to stand in long lines in food pantries. This satellite Golem will not see the misery of our Palestinian neighbors at the checkpoints, nor will it detect the frustration and confusion of our young soldiers, our children, who we put in charge of these checkpoints. read more