Will there be aggressive intimidators
overwhelming the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s General Assembly? Since 2004
the PC (U.S.A.) has voted on divestment from companies doing business with
Israel. In 2004, commissioners voted yes, in 2006 the GA apologized to the Jewish Community and voted against divestment. Once again we are voting on
divestment but some things have changed. The Boycott, Divestment Sanctions
(BDS) movement has recently invaded many of America’s universities. And while
some student councils have given an emphatic no, there have been those among
the BDS movement who have manipulated, intimidated and threatened those who
declined the invitation to divest.
One newspaper, the Washington Free Beacon on March the 21st published an article, “Palestinian
Activists Violently Threaten Pro-Israel Students, with the subtitle, “Cops
called in after Palestinian activists threaten BDS opponents.” This was at the
University of Michigan where the student government refused to back divestment
of companies doing business in Israel. While the student reported threats from
those staging a sit-in, there were other reports one given by Dumisani Washington, director of The Institute for Black Solidarity
with Israel. In a Facebook report he wrote:
"I received disturbing news from a friend,
and am speaking out (before I turn in).
Apparently
there is an African American young man who is being ridiculed, shunned and even
receiving death threats for voting against BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions)
measures against Israel. He is also being kicked out of the schools BSU (Black Student
Union) in retaliation.”
And from a wider view, and
an intimidating one, Philip Weiss, of Mondoweiss
wrote of the aggressiveness of activist at Vassar. “Over 200 students and
faculty jammed a large room of the College Center, and torrents of anger ripped
through the gathering. Most of them were directed at Israel or its supporters.”
Weiss, in fact, in his article, “Ululating
at Vassar: the Israel/Palestine conflict comes to America,” encourages such
actions and attitudes as shouting, bullying, and belligerence. He writes about
the conflict at Vassar in which some students and professors were traveling to
Israel and Palestine to study water issues. The protest was over whether the itinerary
was too Israel focused. After writing about the conflict Weiss writes:
But the meeting shows where the
Israel/Palestine conflict is headed: to the United States. The battles we’ve
seen so far on campus are just preliminaries. The ugly and intractable
Israel-Palestine conflict is set to become a raging conflict inside the American
progressive community and spread from there to the broader discourse. And given
the liberal establishment’s marriage to Israel (from Pelosi to de Blasio to
Jerry Brown to Vassar) things are going to get much more belligerent before
there is any understanding.
In fact, that belligerence may
be necessary to the resolution.
One particular university, Northeastern University, has
banned the Students for Justice in Palestine, a group connected to the BDS
movement, from campus and from funds. According to an NBC news report:
The
administration cited several violations of campus policies and procedures, most
recently when SJP failed to get university approval to distribute 600 fliers on
February 23.
The
fliers were designed as mock eviction notices to symbolize the Palestinian
experience in occupied territory, where homes have been razed for Israeli
settlements. It warned the reader that their dorm was “scheduled for demolition
in three days,” followed by statistics on displaced Palestinian families. The
flier was punctuated by a disclaimer at the bottom: “This is not a real
eviction notice. #BostonMockEviction.”
There is a dispute about
whether the group has been unfairly targeted—and it is a fair dispute—and yet
if one scrolls down toward the bottom of the article there is a very telling
picture which makes a statement that really defines the whole BDS movement and
is itself intimidating. It is a picture of pro-Palestinian demonstrators with a
sign that states: “From the River to the
Sea: Palestine.” That means no more
Jewish State of Israel, in fact, no more Israel at all. How should Jewish
students feel, if not intimidated? The SJP organization, which, as I have
stated, is a part of the BDS movement, is asking for an end to the solid ground
of the Jewish student’s world, the end of their safety net. (*)
General Assembly
leadership, take note, the Israel/Palestine Mission Network has already set the
tone for this GA with their awful ZionismUnsettled, and they are part of the BDS movement. They constantly use and
even write for Mondoweiss. They
linked to the article on Vassar on their twitter page. They also read that
quote that “belligerence may be necessary to the resolution,” and still thought
it was a good article.
In a movie I am especially fond
of, “To Sleep with Anger,”
a character representing Satan, played by Danny Glover, visits a family who
believe he is an old friend. Alongside him, eventually, comes a long string of
other ‘old friends’ with various ugly character flaws who almost destroy every
relationship in the family.[1] (One
will notice in this case the mother in the family becomes the Christ figure.)
But the point is one opens the door to evil and the host of hell follows.
The danger is far greater than we
might imagine. Scripture reminds us that we are not struggling with flesh and
blood, but we are struggling against “the rulers, against the powers, against
the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness
in the heavenly places.” That means that our souls are in danger because of our
own anger and frustrations. And our concerns for both the Israelis and the
Palestinians can be destroyed in the fray. We must remember, we are not
struggling against people, but for the will of the Lord to be done. I believe
we must be committed to His purpose and His peace.
2 comments:
Viola,
It certainly would not surprise me. These sorts of tactics are typical of a segment of the Left (it does not matter what the particular cause is.). I saw them first hand at college and things have not changed since then.
John Erthein
DeFuniak Springs, FL
This thought occurred to me. I find it unlikely, but similar things have happened in the history of American Presbyterianism.
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