Menachem Rosensaft, who was born to Holocaust survivors in the Bergen-Belsen camp in 1948, demanded today that Jewish organizations ostracize Rabbi Meir Kahane.
Kahane, who is a member of the Knesset, “is a disgrace to the entire Jewish people and a grim reminder of the fact that we are also susceptible to evil,” he told the some 800 delegates from about 60 countries attending the eighth plenary assembly of the World Jewish Congress at the Jerusalem Hilton.
“Thus Meir Kahane has to be unconditionally and unambiguously repudiated once and for all by the international Jewish community and we must demand that all Jewish organizations and institutions cease to provide him with a platform and any type of support.”
Rosensaft, founding chairman of the International Network of Children of Jewish Holocaust Survivors, said Kahane “has spent more than a decade proving that it is indeed possible for a Jew to be both a racist and a fascist.” Noting that Kahane claims Zionism and democracy are incompatible, Rosensaft declared that “it is Kahanism that is incompatible with both Zionism and the prophetic tradition of Judaism.”
Rosensaft said Jews must continue to fight against anti-Semitism which continues in many places. “It is not enough for us to be concerned with us alone,” he stressed. “Rather, if we are to prevent a recurrence of Auschwitz, Treblinka and Bergen-Belsen, we must both speak out and act on behalf of all–Jews and non-Jews alike–who are oppressed and persecuted anywhere in the world.”
BLACK-JEWISH RELATIONS IN THE U.S.
The state of Black-Jewish relations in the United States was described to the assembly, marking the 50th anniversary of the WJC’s founding, by Rep. Julian Dixon (D. Cal.), a former chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus.
“We do not need new directions,” he said, “but rather a renewed commitment to repair ties where they are frayed, and to ensure that our younger generations will have the opportunity for contact and exchange which we were afforded by a generation of social change.”
Dixon said the problem during the 1984 Presidential campaign and since was that attention was focused on extremists on both sides rather than discussing “honest disagreements about affirmative action and Israel.”
He noted that in Congress, “on diverse issues including sanctions against apartheid, aid to Israel, civil rights and maintaining the separation between church and state, Blacks and Jews have always been in the progressive alliance.”
Dixon noted that he serves on the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Foreign Operations with another Black and two Jews and it is a “model of Blacks and Jews in cooperation.”
He said the subcommittee shows “a strong alliance that has worked together to secure economic and security aid for Israel, development assistance and relief for Africa, and sanctions against the immoral and inhumane apartheid system in South Africa.”
Dixon noted that every member of the Black Caucus voted against the sale of AWACS to Saudi Arabia. He said that he believes the Reagan Administration’s proposed arms package for Jordan, should come after King Hussein negotiates a peace agreement with Israel, and not be “a sweetner to induce Hussein to resume negotiations.”
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.
