Four Zionist organizations have scored the recent “campaign launched within the Jewish community to stifle if not destroy open discussion.” They expressed concern that the campaign, whose immediate target is Breira, “is only a prologue to a more concerted move to stifle all dissent, all disputation and all legitimate differences in the Jewish and Zionist community which seek to formulate viable ways to achieve peace in the Middle East.”
The four organizations which signed a statement on “The Right to Dissent” are the Socialist Zionist Union, Hashomer Hatzair, Habonim Labor Zionist Youth and Americans for Progressive Israel. Stating that they “differ ideologically and tactically with Breira,” the four groups denounced the attack on this group by various Jewish organizations and newspapers, saying that it utilizes “guilt by association, outright distortion and witch-hunting.”
The statement called upon all Jews committed to a democratic Israel and a vibrant Jewish community to “vigorously oppose those who seek to stifle dissent,” which, they said, is “contrary to the diversity which has been a part of Jewish history.” The statement called attention to the fact that while the campaign is in the guise of the demand for a united front, the demand is “one-sided” because it is directed only at criticism from the left and not from the right, particularly those American supporters of Israeli groups which defy Israeli law by establishing illegal settlements on the West Bank and thereby challenge “the very sovereignty of the Israeli government.”
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
