Organizers and Sponsors of Bassem Tamimis September-October, 2015 U.S. Speaking Tour
Introduction
Bassem Tamimi, a Palestinian from the village of Nabi Saleh, is schedule to lead a speaking tour in the United States from September 7, 2015- October 7, 2015. Tamimi was convicted in 2012 of encouraging Palestinian youths to throw stones at Israeli soldiers. He organizes weekly protests against the IDF. The following are the organizations that have sponsored his speaking tour.
Sponsors
- Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP)– Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) views itself as the “Jewish wing” of the Palestinian solidarity movement and seeks to “end the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem.” JVP’s strategy, as stated by the organization’s executive director Rebecca Vilkomerson, is to create “a wedge” within the American Jewish community over support for Israel, while working toward the goal of eliminating U.S. economic, military, and political aid. The group is involved in BDS campaigns.
- Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA)– According to its mission statement, Sabeel is an “ecumenical grassroots liberation theology movement among Palestinian Christians,” which “encourages Christians from around the world to work for justice and to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people.” Sabeel’s “Vision for the Future” states: “The ideal and best solution has always been to envisage ultimately a bi-national state in Palestine-Israel…One state for two nations and three religions.” (emphasis added). Promoting “liberation theology,” the group claims that Palestinians represent a modern-day version of Jesus’ suffering. This includes deicide imagery, and supercessionist rhetoric used to demonize Israel and Judaism.
- Interfaith Peace-Builders– The group’s mission statement states: “Interfaith Peace-Builders fosters a network of informed and active individuals who understand the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the United States’ political, military, and economic role in it. To build and nurture such a network, we lead delegations of people from diverse backgrounds to Israel/Palestine.” According to organization, these delegations meet with groups such as Parents Circle- Families Forum, Holy Land Trust, Coalition of Women for Peace (CWP), Zochrot, Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) and many others with similarly anti-Israel agendas. Interfaith Peace-Builders is an active supporter of BDS campaigns.
- Amnesty International– Amnesty International describes itself as a “worldwide movement of people who campaign for internationally recognized human rights for all.” The organization disproportionately singles out Israel for condemnation, focusing solely on the conflict with the Palestinians, misrepresenting the complexity of the conflict, and ignoring more severe human rights violations in the region. It also distorts international law, misusing terms like “collective punishment,” “occupying power,” and “disproportionate” in its condemnations of Israel’s Gaza policy.
- U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation– A major proponent of BDS, U.S. Campaign bills itself as “A national coalition of more than 400 groups,” working “to end U.S. support for Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem.” U.S. Campaign works to coordinate BDS campaigns across the United States.
- Ithaca Committee for Justice in Palestine (ICJP)– Formed in 2014, ithacacjp.com/about/ICJP campaigns in favor of the Palestinian “right of return.” The group is lobbying for a boycott of Israeli products in supermarkets.
- Palestinian American Congress Southern California– The Palestinian American Congress (PAC) does not maintain a regular website. Its Facebook account is openly hostile towards Israel and includes comparisons between Israel and ISIS. The account also includes calls for anti-Israel boycotts.
- Veterans for Peace– Veterans for Peace is an organization that protests against all U.S. military operations and interventions, and sees its mission as “educating the public, advocating for a dismantling of the war economy, providing services that assist veterans and victims of war, and most significantly, working to end all wars.”
- Fellowship of Reconciliation–The organization sees its mission as promoting reconciliation between different ethnic, national and religious groups. Its website features posts that support boycotts of Israeli products.
- Dorothy Cotton Institute– The organization seeks to train leaders for “a global human rights movement.” Descriptions of their delegations to Israel include “apartheid” rhetoric and support for BDS.
- Community of Sant’Egidio– The Community of Sant’Egidio describes itself as “a movement of 60,000 Christian people spread in all the five continents. The members of the Community gather regularly for common prayer and befriend the poor of the cities where they live. At international level the Community is involved in inter-religious dialogue and commitment to peace.” Based on their website and Twitter account, it does not appear that the group focuses on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
- Episcopal Peace Fellowship– Episcopalian organization “that brings Episcopalians together to do justice, dismantle violence, and strive to be peacemakers.” The group supports BDS as part of its strategy to work for “a just peace for the people of Palestine and Israel.”
- Vegans Against the Occupation– The organization is not transparent and it is not clear how many people are members of the group or the extent of their activity. A significant portion of the group’s website is devoted to vegan recipes.
- Massachusetts Peace Action– Describes itself as “a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization working to develop the sustained political power to foster a more just and peaceful U.S. foreign policy.” Promoted “Introduction to Israel/Palestine: 5 week course,” developed by JVP’s Boston chapter. The group supports BDS.
- The Alliance for a Secular and Democratic South Asia– This organization has “sought to spread awareness about the challenges against secularism and democracy in South Asia.” The group supports BDS and refers to Operation Protective Edge as “a campaign of territorial expansion on the pretext of self-defense” and “the most recent phase of the decades-long campaign to ethnically-cleanse Palestine.
- Boston Coalition for Palestinian Rights– This organization supports BDS and has collaborated with groups like Sabeel and Palestinian Right of Return Coalition (Al-Awda).
- Palestinian House of New England– This organization has no active website and its Facebook group is not public.
- Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) Tufts– Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) is the organization most directly responsible for creating a hostile environment on college campuses across the United States, saturated with anti-Israel events and speakers, and BDS (boycott, divestment & sanctions) initiatives. BDS campaigns on campuses delegitimize Israel and are seen by many as “a contemporary manifestation of antisemitism” (Brandies University Report, 2015).
- Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA)– The group’s stated goal is to “educate North Americans about children in the region and the brutal impact of US foreign policy on their lives.” According to the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) website, “[t]he Middle East Children’s Alliance is the fiscal sponsor for ISM-USA.” Donations for ISM’s campaign to “interfere with the construction of the annexation barrier” can be made to “MECA (ISM-USA Fund).”
- Arab Resource and Organizing Center (AROC)– The organization’s stated vision is to see “powerful and liberated Arab communities living with dignity from here to our homelands. AROC sees the liberation of Arab people inextricably tied to the liberation of all people of color.” They list the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network as a partner.
- Christian Peacebuilding Network– The organization states that “Catholic peacebuilding employs the theology, institutional relationships, and spiritual strength provided through the Catholic Church to bring greater justice and peace in the world.” It seeks to “increase knowledge of and understanding about the unique role of the Catholic Church in being a force of justice and peace in our troubled world.”
In the Media
- Why is Amnesty International Sponsoring a U.S. Tour for a Palestinian Promoter of the Blood Libel? Tablet Magazine, Yair Rosenberg