JVP ad campaign: Sheldon Adelson and Bill Kristol, We Say No Jewish McCarthyism

Print Ad Campaign:
Rabbis to Sheldon Adelson and Bill Kristol: Stop Trying to Play Thought-Police for Jewish Community

www. jvp.org/ads to download PDF of print ad and view past media coverage.

[September 27, 2012. Oakland ] Jewish Voice for Peace announced that it is running ads this week in Jewish papers in New York, Cleveland and Philadelphia criticizing Sheldon Adelson and Bill Kristol for fomenting McCarthyism in the Jewish community in order to win the presidential election.

The ads, signed by over 40 rabbis and other Jewish leaders, with additional endorsements from nearly 7,000 supporters (5,000 at the time of printing). Jewish Voice for Peace Deputy Director Cecilie Surasky said,"These ads are in response to efforts by the Emergency Committee for Israel chair Bill Kristol and the Sheldon- Adelson-backed Republican Jewish Coalition to demonize rabbis who oppose Israel's occupation and who are members of Rabbis for Obama.   Both the ECI and RJC pressured the Obama campaign to purge these rabbis, most of them members of the Jewish Voice for Peace Rabbinical Council, but we're pleased that the rabbis stoo and the campaign stood strong."   

Jewish leaders representing a range of political perspectives chose to speak out after the Republican Jewish Coalition stepped up their efforts with a "Buyers Remorse" ad campaign targeting peace educator Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb as a "radical rabbi for Obama". Ads featuring Rabbi Gottlieb appeared in Jewish newspapers in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida. In their press statement announcing the ads, the Republican Jewish Coalition also attacked co-chair of Rabbis for Obama Rabbi Sam Gordon for defending Rabbi Gottlieb and others from the smear campaign.

Rabbi Gottlieb, a member of the Jewish Voice for Peace Rabbinical Council, is one of the first woman rabbis in the United States and is a widely recognized leader in the nonviolence movement. She has led several interfaith trips to meet with Iran's Jewish population and publicly castigated Iranian President Ahmadinejad for Holocaust denial and for his comments that Israel would disappear from history.

Ad copy:

A message to Sheldon Adelson & Bill Kristol: No to McCarthyism in the Jewish Community

Right-wing extremists are attempting to play the role of thought-police in the Jewish community when they are the ones who are out of touch with the values of most American Jews.

The Sheldon Adelson-backed Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC), the Emergency Committee for Israel (ECI), and Iraq war architect Bill Kristol are waging a campaign of demonization against rabbis who are critical of the Israeli occupation in a cynical effort to win the presidential race.

These groups do not represent the values of the majority of American Jews–they stand for more settlements, and war at any human cost.

Out-of-touch or not, they have the ability to push those views into our communities: Far right businessman and RJC-funder Adelson has vowed to spend as much as $100 million to defeat President Obama in pursuit of his pro-Occupation agenda. In this and other Jewish newspapers, Adelson helped pay for anti-Obama ads that viciously bully rabbis who are critics of Israeli settlements.

Though we may all have different ideas about the best ways to achieve peace, as leaders in the Jewish community, we universally oppose unethical smear campaigns that label some of our community members “unkosher” for challenging Israel’s Occupation of the Palestinian Territories, or for seeking peace over war.

We also stand with Jews and people of conscience around the world who value justice, equality, and peace, and who affirm that the Occupation must end.

The ads started running September 20 and 21 in the Philadelphia Exponent, the Cleveland Jewish News and NY Jewish Week.

Jewish Voice for Peace is a national grassroots peace organization dedicated to promoting a US foreign policy in the Middle East based on peace, democracy, human rights and respect for international law.

JVP has offices in NY and CA, 35 chapters, a Rabbi's Council, and a youth branch Young, Jewish and Proud.

http://jewishvoiceforpeace.org/    

 
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