Rabbis raise funds for Iraq peace ad

A group of rabbis is raising money to run an anti-Iraq war ad calling for an “exodus” of U.S. troops timed for Passover. “This Exodus should begin by Passover and be completed by 9/11,” says the ad, which the rabbis hope to run in The New York Times. “For just as Passover celebrates freedom from ancient slavery and the Pharaoh’s military mindset, so today we seek freedom for both Americans and Iraqis from the death and destruction imposed by stubborn attachment to a destructive occupation.” Signatories include Rabbi Arthur Waskow of Philadelphia’s Shalom Center and rabbis associated with the Jewish Fund for Justice and Rabbis for Human Rights “Our grief on 9/11 calls us to move beyond violence, not to escalate it,” the proposed ad says. “And upon the heels of 9/11 comes the wisdom of Rosh Hashanah and Ramadan, also calling us to turn toward peace in our world as well as in our hearts.”