American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) brings their anti-Semitism out of the closet

It seems the American Friends Service Committee has finally come clean, or has it?

 

For the longest time, the holier than thou American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)  has carefully maintained pretence of working for conflict resolution and Quaker pacifist values. It is true that their publication and Web site published at least one ignorant and obnoxious screed supporting "Right" of Return for Palestinian Arab refugees (and their descendants, and foreign spouses, and children of those foreign spouses). But they got around that with a pious disclaimer that the views in their journal are not their own. Why would someone publish a journal with views that are not their own?

 

But now they finally admitted that they are against the Jewish right to self determination. They are not working for conflict resolution and peace, but for destruction of a member state of the UN. It must be a relief to finally admit the truth after all those years of pretending they are for pacifism and nonviolence and rights for everyone. Hypocrisy is a great burden on the psyche.

 

As reported by Bluetruth, AFSC and JVP participated in a demonstration and distributed a flyer proclaiming they are against Zionism:

 

At a pro-Hamas demonstration in San Francisco last week, Jewish Voice for Peace and the American Friends Service Committee finally dropped all pretense about their position on Israel. While both of these groups had been vigorously involved in anti-Israel activities for years (and joined together to co-present the now-notorious showing of "Rachel" last summer at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival), each had maintained the pretense that they didn't oppose the existence of a Jewish state per se. They have now decided to admit what we knew all along-- that they are fully and completely aligned with groups that openly call for the elimination of Israel, and that they share the agenda of groups such as al-Awda, International ANSWER, and, in the end, Hamas.

This flyer was handed out at the event; the sponsoring organizations listed include JVP and the Pacific Mountain Region of the American Friends Service Committee. The website of the Bay Area Campaign to End Israeli Apartheid not only endorses the Palestinian BDS movement (which calls for the elimination of Jewish statehood through the so-called "right" of return), but in case anyone misses the subtlety, it also states "We are opposed to imperialism, sectarianism, and Zionism."

 

AFSC is opposed to sectarianism, and that is why they are opposed to Zionism (and Christianity? How about Quakerism - aren't Quakers a sect?). The Jews, according to the PLO, are not a people, only a religion. Therefore Zionism is sectarianism (whereas Islamism is presumably universal, since everyone will be converted).

 

But do not rejoice too quickly at the revelation of the truth. The pious denials will perhaps soon be forthcoming. "It was a local initiative." "Does not necessarily represent." "Local branches have freedom of action." But of course, it will happen again and again. AFSC will keep on appearing at pro-Hamas events, keep on publishing and distributing incitement against Israel and the Jewish people and maintain an increasingly transparent pretence of pacifism and devotion to reconciliation and dialogue.  And of course, the Pacific Mountain Region of the AFSC will not even get a rap on the knuckles, because they in fact DO represent faithfully the policy of the AFSC. The policy of the AFSC is to be anti-Semitic and to deny it.

 

AFSC will of course ignore what I write. It's sectarian Zionist propaganda, right?

 

Ami Isseroff