[P2P-F] Hate Crime Against Rabbi Lerner: 3rd Attack on His Home

[Michel Bauwens]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Tikkun <magazine at tikkun.org>
Date: Thu, Mar 17, 2011 at 12:20 AM
Subject: Zionist Extremist Hate Crime Against Rabbi Lerner: 3rd Attack on
His Home
To: Michelsub2004 at gmail.com


   *Zionist Extremist Hate Crime Against Rabbi Lerner: 3rd Attack on His
Home and the limits of "freedom of the press"*

3/17/2011, Berkeley, California

Only one day after Rabbi Lerner presented the Tikkun Award to South African
Justice Richard Goldstone, at a celebration of Tikkun's 25th Anniversary
attended by over 600 people at the University of California, Berkeley, Rabbi
Lerner's home was again assaulted by extremist Zionist haters who plastered
posters over his home once again. This is the 3rd assault on his home since
Lerner announced the award to Justice Goldstone whose report on Israel's
human rights violations during the Israeli assault on Gaza in Dec. 2008 and
Jan.2009 was denounced by the State of Israel and by the AIPAC-dominated
House of Representatives last year. You would not have known about the 2nd
attack, which was reported to the police but not to the media because Lerner
had been advised that not giving the attackers attention might make future
attacks less likely. That strategy failed.

Each time the posters have sought to display Lerner as either a tool of an
evil Goldstone trying to hurt Israel. The current posters were done more
professionally than the previous ones, and present a picture of Nazi
officers carrying away a Jew. Lerner's name is put on one of the Nazis and
"Islamic extremists" is written on the other Nazi, and the innocent Jew is
identified as the State of Israel. The perspective of the attackers is
clear: "Rabbi Lerner is a Nazi assaulting Israel." That is why the police
have labeled this a "hate crime."

What "freedom of the press" is there if an editor is subject to this kind of
personal harrassment for expressing his views in his editorials and in the
gatherings sponsored by the magazine? Anyone concerned about civil liberties
should be concerned about this pattern of attacks on the private home of a
magazine editor.  And for those who believe that there is a new tone of
civility in the Jewish world, well....it obviously has not impacted on right
wing Zionist extremists. Please note, however, that we do not want to imply
in any way that all Zionists are responsible directly or indirectly for this
attack. The Zionist community in the U.S., while often demeaning Rabbi
Lerner, has not shown any tendency toward violence or physical assaults on
his person or property, and in our view would not likely do so. These have
been the acts of a small group of extremists, and while the demeaning of
Rabbi Lerner and Tikkun may have contributed to the climate in which these
extremists believed they could get away with these assaults, there is no
reason to believe, and we do not believe, that American Zionists as a whole
either intended or approve of this kind of activity. And the Board of Rabbis
of Northern California publicly critiqued the last attack on Rabbi Lerner's
home as did other Jewish leaders.

Assaults on free speech are best met by encouraging more speech. The obvious
goal of these attacks is to intimidate and  silence Tikkun, and since Tikkun
is the largest circulation liberal/progressive Jewish magazine on-line and
in print in the entire world, silencing Tikkun would be a huge victory for
these extremists. People can assure that Tikkun stays alive by subscribing
to Tikkun at www.tikkun.org<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=UCFa1XQl11DhCafjTyJHhYuaFCmQcEmf>,
joining Tikkun's interfaith education and social action organization The
Network of Spiritual Progressives at
www.spiritualprogressives.org<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=SLsdPXsiWj84n7OM%2FD2Jn4uaFCmQcEmf>,
making a tax-deductible contribution to Tikkun (checks can be sent to
Tikkun, 2342 Shattuck Ave #1200, Berkeley, Ca. 94704--our mailbox, not the
actual address of the magazine's office), and/or creating a local study
group to read and discuss Tikkun articles every week, every two weeks, or
once a month. You can also read Tikkun-on-line by going to our new web
magazine each week to read the latest articles. You can also support us by
joining other organizations that seek peace and reconciliation between
Israel and Palestine, including J. Street, Jewish Voices for Peace,
Americans for Peace Now, The New Israel Fund and B'tselem.

Thank you for your support.

Tikkun Magazine

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