The New York Times has run the story of a Jewish teacher fired just for criticizing Israel:
Reading this, my first thought is “wow, that sounds unjust.” Sure, I am pro-Israel, but I would never suggest someone be fired just for criticizing Israel.
But if you read the actual story, you’ll see she wasn’t fired for merely criticizing Israel.
In the blog post, published on May 20 during last year’s conflict between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza, Ms. Sander and a co-author, Elana Lipkin, wrote that they embraced a position that “rejects the Zionist claim to the land of Palestine.”
The post continued, “Zionism is not equivalent to, or a necessary component of, Jewish identity.”
They also described Israeli actions against the Palestinians as genocide and accused Jewish institutions in the United States of spreading “one-sided narratives and propaganda” about the conflict.
In other words, Sander opposes Israel’s very existence. It is understandable why a synagogue, which believes – per the report – in “the religious principle of Clal Yisrael, which calls for strengthening our commitment to Israel and the Jewish people of all lands and working to establish understanding and commonality among the various expressions of Judaism” – would not want a person openly opposing this to work for them as a teacher.
Actually, her blog post is worse than Liam Stack, the author of this absurd piece, would have you believe; it includes this statement:
As co-founders of an American Jewish organization seeking to confront the Jewish community’s racist practices and beliefs, we must speak out against israel’s most recent attack on Gaza.
which seems to be attacking actual religious practices and beliefs of American Jews. And if Sander would argue she was just referring to “Zionism”, well, guess what. Zionism is an integral part of the Torah.
And all throughout the piece, Israel is spelled with a small “i”.
Stack definitely seems to have an agenda with this dishonest piece, and his problem is he isn’t even subtle about it:
The firing of Ms. Sander drew rebukes from left-wing Jewish groups and highlighted a generational divide over Israel among American Jews that is driving some of Judaism’s most delicate internal debates: What is the relationship between Zionism and Jewish identity?
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Ms. Sander’s views on Zionism reflect a growing shift among younger Jewish Americans. According to a major survey published last year by the Pew Research Center, slightly less than half of American Jews under the age of 29 described themselves as feeling an emotional attachment to Israel, compared with more than two-thirds of Jews over 65.
The survey also found that 27 percent of young American Jews said caring about Israel was not an important part of what being Jewish meant to them, a belief shared by only 8 percent of those over 65.
And I am sure it is no coincidence this piece came out just days after Amnesty International’s dishonest “Apartheid Israel” report, which also makes clear the only good Israel is a dead Israel.
