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[Excerpts:]

Officers of JVP, which is headquartered in Oakland, refused to talk to j. about the report, but the organization did issue a stern response in which it called itself “a home and a voice for those who share our values of working toward a truly just peace for all the people of Israel and Palestine.”

Yitzhak Santis, chief programs officer at Jerusalem-based NGO Monitor and author of the report, told j. by phone from Israel, “JVP has grown from a tiny group to now having national reach. We’re concerned that JVP is showing up with influence in different arenas: on campus, within mainline churches as well as the corporate stockholder meetings.”

Santis, who used to work for the S.F.-based Jewish Community Relations Council, said pro-BDS and anti-Zionist activists use JVP as a “Jewish shield” to deflect suspicions of anti-Semitism and as a way of “deflecting the overwhelming majority of the Jewish community that strongly supports Israel.” “They present a Jewish face and give permission,” he said. “They try to convince Christians [JVP is] part of the mainstream Jewish community and should be listened to. They reach out to college-age Jews in the process of forming identities to present a simplistic picture of the Israel-Palestinian conflict, taking advantage of their idealism.”

Santis cited JVP’s “lack of transparency” but said he saw nothing illegal or improper in its donor/financial dealings. He said he hopes the report will alert Jews and non-Jews alike to JVP’s agenda. JVP is “part of the anti-Israel network in the United States, an NGO network that produces nothing but anti-Israel, anti-Zionist speakers, movies and media,” he said. “Does JVP ever sponsor a program calling for two-state solution? No. They call for right of return, which is a euphemism for ending Israel as a Jewish state. When you add up all their statements, actions and alliances, it’s clear JVP is anti-Israel and anti-Zionist.”