It's definitely the rabbis who are the problem, here. You are completely right.

Having just met directly with Bassem Eid myself this afternoon in a meeting specifically set up to promote turning Arab Palestinians towards peace and taking responsibility for themselves, I can report that the anti-Israel propaganda will come exclusively from the Rabbi's themselves, not Eid. He is the real deal, and hopefully will become known in larger circles in times to come. Eid understands the main problem -- violence and corruption on the Palestinian end. We need to support him. He is very frustrated with the level of b.s. that goes on which perpetuates this war. I encouraged him to make it clear to these rabbis that they are not ultimately helping Palestinians by vilifying Israel. He agreed, and remarked that helping someone with their olives is not the only way to save someone.

Here they go again......
Shabbat shalom to all...

So here are several opportunities to assist Bassam Eid in assigning appropriate responsibility for the Palestinian condition:

Brit Tzedek v'Shalom: The Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace brings you this exceptional opportunity to hear about human rights in Israel/Palestine from two renowned and respected human rights activists.

Rabbi Arik Ascherman, Executive Director
Rabbis for Human Rights-Israel
and
Bassem Eid, Executive Director
Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group

Moderated by Rabbi Brian Walt, Director, Rabbis for Human Rights-North America

Tuesday, December 12, 2006
7 PM
Congregation Shaare Zedek
212 West 93rd Street (B'way/Amsterdam), Manhattan

$10 donation requested.

Rabbis for Human Rights is the rabbinic voice of conscience in Israel, giving voice to the Jewish tradition of human rights. Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group documents human rights violations committed against Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, regardless of who is responsible.

Rabbi Ascherman and Bassem Eid have worked tirelessly and put their lives on the line to protect the rights of Jews and Arabs in Israel and the Occupied Territories, protesting against illegal settlements, blocking house demolitions, aiding Palestinian farmers in bringing in the olive harvest, presenting a humane face to Israelis, Palestinians and the world.

Also hold these dates:
Weds. Jan.10 and Thurs. Jan.11, 2007 in New York for Israeli and Palestinian Combatants for Peace on a tour of the U.S. sponsored by Brit Tzedek v' Shalom.

Oh joy. Israeli and Palestinian Combatants for Peace were the group sharing the stage with Rachel Corrie's parents at the theater last month.

Do you get the feeling that RHR exists mainly to provide its leaders with careers as celebrity activists, and if the people they ostensibly exist to help ever get their act together, RHR will have to get real jobs?

I got to be part of a potluck seminar thingy with Rabbi Ascherman when I still lived in Austin. Unless he has changed a lot in 5 years, he is the very model of a postmodern bleeding heart useful idiot. Very nice guy, very earnest, a living example of the first half of the Talmudic dictum that if one is kind to the cruel, one will end up being cruel to the kind. Sounds like Bassam Eid understands the second half of that aphorism. I hope he is vocal and adamant about his understanding on Tuesday.

But it will be as dangerous as facing down the corrupt gangs which terrorize his nascent nation. Because if he does not let himself be used as a prop for the do-gooders' self-agrandizement, they will drop him for someone who will. And if he finds out who his real friends are, people who think personal responsibility is crucial to changing a victim culture, who are often called "conservatives," and if he begins to solicit these friends who offer more real support than the "social activist" leeches, he will find himself called a "neocon," he will be told he has been brainwashed, that he has sold out. Nothing enrages a social activist more than when the inhabitants of his designated cause don't speak the lines he has taught them.

No, there is one thing more enraging: when you point out that he (or she) is being a condescending racist who can't stand it when people think for themselves and refuse to act out the stereotypes he assigns to them. Because, you know, only middle American rightwingers do that.

PS Brit Tzedek v'Shalom thinks the James Baker ISG recommendations on Israel are wonderful. They also had a petition up on their site urging Bush to "send envoys." Nothing about what those envoys are actually supposed to accomplish. I guess you just wave an envoy in the general direction of the combatants and it's like a magic wand spreading oil on troubled waters. That's how arthritic these people's thinking is. These are the same people who think the way you stop genocide in the Sudan is by having a rally on the Mall. Everything is symbolic. You put the right people in the right place with the right thoughts, and prosperity and harmony just happen. You never have to do anything yucky like kill people.