A recent email from the misguided "People of Faith" group brought a strong but well-deserved response from Rabbi Stephen Fuchs of Congregation Beth Israel in West Hartford, Connecticut.
With his permission, we post his response along with the section of the misguided email which provoked it.
With his permission, we post his response along with the section of the misguided email which provoked it.
From: Stephen Fuchs
To: justice@faithct.org
Subject: RE: Immigrant Rights | Re-Opening Libraries | Get Out The Vote! | Free Gaza
People of Faith has turned itself into a morally bankrupt joke! Free Gaza indeed!
Israel evacuated Gaza, uprooting many of its citizens for only one reason: to make an overture for a lasting peace with people who have proven over and over again by their words and their actions that the only peace they will accept is a peace where there in no Jewish State of Israel on the map of the Middle East.
When she left Gaza, Israel left behind a thriving greenhouse industry. The Gazans bulldozed it.
The Palestinians in Gaza had the opportunity to build an infrastructure, to build schools and hospitals; they had the opportunity to turn Gaza into a seacoast showplace of modern urban planning.
The Palestinians eschewed all of these opportunities that Israel afforded them and chose instead to use Gaza as a launching pad and hiding place for terrorist activities. The children of Sderot have been traumatized by these activities. Ashkelon has been under attack (Funny to think of People of Faith raising a voice on behalf of the children of Sderot, isn't it?)
And then when Israel does what it must to protect its citizens from Gaza's bombs and bullets, People of Faith rises up on its hind legs to condemn Israel.
For rational thinking people, People of Faith has lost all credibility.
Sadly,
Rabbi Stephen Fuchs
Congregation Beth Israel
West Hartford, Connecticut
From: People of Faith justice@faithCT.org
Sent: Saturday, August 09, 2008 6:00 AM
Subject: Immigrant Rights | Re-Opening Libraries | Get Out The Vote! | Free Gaza
People of Faith Progressive Politics & Activism!
Immigrant Rights | Re-Opening Libraries | Get Out The Vote! | Free Gaza
People of Faith e-newsletter August 9, 2008
CONTENTS
1. Rally for Immigrant Rights, Re-Opening Libraries, Hartford, 8/11
2. Nonprofits, Voting & Elections, Hartford, 8/14
3. Primary Election Endorsements by LMF PAC
4. Free Gaza: Break the Siege
5. Talking Points for Immigrant Rights and Re-Opening Hartford Libraries
…
4.
Free Gaza
The situation of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip is deteriorating.
Gaza Cannot Wait Any Longer.
And Neither Will We.
Palestinians, Israelis, including a Holocaust survivor, and Internationals from 15 countries will sail to Gaza during this, the 60th-year anniversary of the Nakba.
Break the Siege of Gaza!
The message contains a link to www.FreeGaza.org, put together by a group of people who pretend to be unaware that the people living in Gaza are imprisoned by Hamas, the very terror group they voted into office.
The "Nakba" is the self-inflicted tragedy resulting from the Arab refusal to live in peace with Israel, the encouragement they gave to their brethren living in Palestine to leave their homes and their forcing those same people and their descendants to live in refugee camps for six decades.
The "Nakba" is the self-inflicted tragedy resulting from the Arab refusal to live in peace with Israel, the encouragement they gave to their brethren living in Palestine to leave their homes and their forcing those same people and their descendants to live in refugee camps for six decades.
No comments:
Post a Comment