I

World

Fighting Back

Federations, JCPA teaming to battle delegitimization of Israel.

Jacob Berkman
Jewish Telegraphic Agency

New York

T

he Jewish Federations of North
America and the Jewish Council
for Public Affairs are launching a
multimillion-dollar joint initiative to com-
bat anti-Israel boycott, divestment and
sanctions campaigns.
The JFNA and the rest of the Jewish
federation system have agreed to invest
$6 million over the next three years in the
new initiative, which is being called the
Israel Action Network. The federations will
be working in conjunction with JCPA, an
umbrella organization bringing together
local Jewish community relations councils
across North America.
The network is expected to serve as a
rapid-response team charged with coun-
tering the growing campaign to isolate
Israel as a rogue state akin to apartheid-
era South Africa — a campaign that the
Israeli government and Jewish groups see
as an existential threat to the Jewish state.
In fighting back against anti-Israel
forces, the network will seek to capital-
ize on the reach of North America's 157
federations, 125 local Jewish community
relations councils and nearly 400 commu-
nities under the federation system.
Scott Kaufman, chief
executive officer of the
Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit,
likes the idea. "The
severity of the issue of
the boycott, divestment
and sanction movement
Scott
[BDS] struck home for
me a month ago as I was
Kaufman
getting on a plane and
saw on the newsstand a Time Magazine
cover with a big Star of David with the
headline 'Why Israel Doesn't Care About
Peace.'
"This was not some fringe publication,
this was Time magazine, and it is a very
slippery slope from that cover to the dele-
gitimization of Israel;' Kaufman said. "The
idea that we can fight the BDS movement
on a local level with all of the resources
and expertise of a national initiative will
be an effective and economical use of
resources!'

24 November 11 • 2010

Priority Issue
JFNAs president and CEO, Jerry Silverman,
told JT.Ns Fundermentalist,"There is
a very, very high sense of urgency in
[fighting] the delegitimizing of the State
of Israel. There is no question that it is
among the most critical challenges facing
the state today!'
In fact, Silverman added, Israeli leaders
identify this as the second most danger-
ous threat to Israel, after Iran's pursuit of
nuclear weapons.
Robert Cohen, executive director of the
Jewish Community Relations Council of
Metropolitan Detroit, said, "Unfortunately,
the need for effective, expanded resources
to correct the lies and distortions about
Israel will only grow in the months and
years ahead.
"The new JCPA-JFNA partnership will
enhance our JCRC's ability to respond
quickly and effectively here in Metro
Detroit while the partnership addresses
the delegitimization campaign nationally
and globally"
Under a plan approved in late
September during a special conference
call of the JFNAs board of trustees, the
JCPAs senior vice president, Martin Raffel,
will oversee the new network. He will be
working in concert with the head of the
JFNAs Washington office, William Daroff.
Over the next several months, Raffel will
be putting together his team, including six
people in New York, one in Israel and one
in Washington.
The network will monitor the delegiti-
mization movement worldwide and create
a strategic plan to counter it wherever it
crops up. It will work with local federa-
tions and community relations councils to
enlist the help of key leaders at churches,
labor unions and cultural institutions to
fight anti-Israel boycott, divestment and
sanctions campaigns.
Organizers of the network are looking
at the response to an attempted boycott of
the Toronto International Film Festival last
year as a model for how the system could
potentially work.
When the festival organizers decided to
focus on filmmakers from Tel Aviv, more
than 1,000 prominent actors and film-
makers signed a statement saying that
the organizers had become part of Israel's
propaganda machine, and they threatened
to boycott the event.

"Unfortunately, the need for effective,
expanded resources to correct the lies
and distortions about Israel will only
grow in the months and years ahead."

In response, the UJA Federation of
Greater Toronto and the Jewish Federation
of Greater Los Angeles worked together
to come up with a counter statement sup-
porting the festival. The counter statement
won the signatures of even more promi-
nent Hollywood figures, including Jerry
Seinfeld, Natalie Portman, Sacha Baron
Cohen, Lisa Kudrow, Jason Alexander and
Lenny Kravitz.
Ted Sokolslcy, president of the Toronto
federation, said, "We jointly produced
an ad saying that we don't need another
blacklist.
"I spoke to Jay [Sanderson, the CEO
of the Jewish Federation of Greater Los
Angeles] and said, 'Here, there are a lot of
prominent Hollywood types on the dele-
gitimization protest. Can you reach out to
the Hollywood community and find some
pro-Israel leadership?'
"He reached out to some key leadership
in Hollywood. And it was like waking up a
sleeping giant. Then we realized we can't
all fight this alone!"
Sokolsky added, "It was a great lesson
and set a template on how to respond
because, clearly, the other side is running
a linked campaign with international
funding and global strategy but local
implementation!'

Quick Action
When similar delegitimizing attempts
erupt, leaders of the new network plan to
respond early, according to Silverman.
"If the community in Chattanooga all
of a sudden is faced with [a boycott of]
Israeli products in the mall, they should
be able to call the [Israel] Action Network
and have response and implementation
within 12 hours, and not spend time
thinking about how to do it:' he said. "We
should be able to do that in every com-
munity!'
Steven Nasatir, president of the Jewish
United Fund/Jewish Federation of

Robert Cohen

Metropolitan Chicago, said that federa-
tions and their local partners are uniquely
positioned to take on delegitimization
campaigns against Israel.
"A top-down approach cannot fully
comprehend or appreciate local nuance,
and after each and every incident, when
the headlines recede, it is the local com-
munity that is in the best position to
strengthen the community for the future
Nasatir said.
"Over the past few years, active local
federations have countered the boycott of
Israeli products by buyout of those same
products. They have demanded that uni-
versity institutions require civility from
anti-Israel protestors trying to drown out
Israeli speakers.
And, through ongoing contact with
local elected leaders, they have sensitized
public officials and institutions to the
need for fairness, civility and appropriate
monitoring of anti-Israel thuggery"

❑

IN Associate Editor Alan Hitsky
contributed to this report.

Combating Homophobia

The Farmington Hills-based Society for
Humanistic Judaism board is encourag-
ing its members and communities to
speak out to prevent homophobic bullying
"whenever we become aware of individu-
als being demeaned for their actual or
perceived sexual orientation!'
"As Humanistic Jews:" said Executive
Director Bonnie Cousens,"we believe that
all people are deserving of dignity and
security. Gays, lesbians, bisexuals and
transgenders should not be persecuted
because of their sexual orientation. Nor
should our youth be subject to the homo-
phobic harassment or bullying that has
become so prevalent on social networks
because of their actual or perceived sexual
orientation!'