Gilad Atzmon considers the support of the Board of Deputies of British Jews for Israel and and argues that the support of world Jewry for Israel “affirms to us all that Israeli war crimes are indeed committed in the name of the Jewish people and with their support”.
Yesterday evening I was informed about an email notification from the most rabid Zionist institute operating in Britain, the Board of Deputies of British Jews (BOD). The email suggested that the BOD had cancelled Sunday's [11 January] solidarity rally with Israel
According to the “official email” the BOD had decided to cancel its solidarity rally because it grasped that it would be very unwise for the British Jewish community to associate itself voluntarily with the inhuman crimes committed by Israel in Gaza. I have to admit that this would be the most clever thing a Jewish institution could do.
Read the text and judge for yourself:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Board of Deputies of British Jews Cancels Sunday's Solidarity Rally
The Board of Deputies and the Jewish Leadership Council, in consultation with a coalition of prominent organizations in the Anglo-Jewish community, have decided to cancel the planned Israel Solidarity Rally, due to occur on Sunday 11 January.
This decision has been taken after intense discussions within the community, due to a feeling that such a demonstration would not be in accordance with the Board's wish to bring the conflict to an immediate conclusion. It was thought that the demonstration might be perceived as the community taking one side in the tragic war in Gaza and Israel, and might be seen as supporting Israel's military campaign.
The Board calls for an immediate ceasefire, immediate negotiations between Israel and Hamas, and for lifting the economic blockade of Gaza, in order to allow the Gazan and Israeli people to live together in peace. There is no military solution, only a political one.
The Jewish community does not wish to be seen as a participant in the conflict, and in taking this stand we hope to be a part of the solution. The Board stands in solidarity with the besieged and injured people of Gaza, as well as the victims of terrorism in Israel, and we oppose all violence as contrary to the tenets of the Jewish religion. We would like to reach out to the British Muslim community, as well as those of no religion who have demonstrated against Israel's military campaign-we share your anguish at the destruction and loss of life caused, and hope that our action in calling off our demonstration will be a small step towards peace.
Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership Council
For all enquiries contact:
The Board of Deputies of British Jews 6 Bloomsbury Square London WC1A 2LP Tel: +44 (0)20 7543 5400 Fax: +44 (0)20 7543 0010 Email: info@boardofdeputies.org
According to the press release, the BOD was concerned that the coming rally “might be perceived as the community taking one side in the tragic war in Gaza and Israel, and might be seen as supporting Israel's military campaign”. Moreover, “The Board stands in solidarity with the besieged and injured people of Gaza,” and “oppose all violence as contrary to the tenets of the Jewish religion”.
Life is wonderful, I thought to myself. Even the BOD, a racist Zionist organization, has managed to understand that "enough is enough". The text perhaps suggests that global Zionism is starting to crack after all. I thought to myself that the BOD has managed to sense the growing resentment towards Israel and Jews who blindly support its genocidal tactics. Naively, I thought for a few seconds that, for the first time, we were seeing an Jewish institution acknowledging Palestinian misery. For the first time, we saw a significant move of “Jews against Zionism”.
But then I woke up. I thought that, just before I vindicate the entire institutional world Jewry as represented here in the UK, I had better check out the BOD’s website. The bitter truth appeared on my computer screen immediately. The BOD, the representative body of British Jews, does
the Israeli war. Nothing really changed. The email was a hoax. Yet it was a very clever and significant one. It outlined exactly what Jewish institutions should have done if they want to join humanity!
At that stage, I still wanted to believe that the BOD may be slightly more clever than what appears on its official website, I thought that perhaps they just failed to update their website due to the Sabbath. I called my three informers within the British Zionist community and they confirmed to me that the rally is indeed going on as planned; they were also aware of the “hoax letter”.
I must admit that by then nothing could take me by surprise. The nature of the conflict is fully determined. There is nothing world Jewry can do to save their beloved Israel.
If world Jewry continues to support Israel, as they momentarily do, it affirms to us all that Israeli war crimes are indeed committed in the name of the Jewish people and with their support. This would be enough to explain (rather than justify) the rapid increase in anti Jewish resentment that these communities claim is happening.
If Jewish institutions were clever enough to withdraw their support of Israel, this would be more than welcome. It wouldn’t save Israel but it would mean that Israel is committing all these crimes in the name of the Jewish people but without the Jewish people's consent. This is the most reasonable thing Jews can do to save themselves. For some reason, so far thet have failed to do so.
Gilad Atzmon is an Israeli-born musician, writer and anti-racism campaigner. This article originally appeared in Palestine Think Tank.
