Friday, April 21, 2023
Report on Beth Israel vigil 04-15-23
(k) Subject to subparagraphs (ix) and (x), discriminationbecause of ethnicity includes, but is not limited to,discriminatory conduct or communication motivated in whole or inpart by antisemitism, which means a perception of Jewishindividuals that may be expressed in any of the ways described insubparagraphs (i) to (viii), as follows:(i) Hatred of Jewish individuals.(ii) Severe disparagement of Jewish individuals or theirculture.(iii) Rhetorical, violent, or physical anti-Jewishmanifestations directed against Jewish individuals or theirproperty or Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.(iv) Aiding, encouraging, supporting, or justifying thekilling, harming, or defaming of anyone simply for practicingJudaism or exhibiting a Jewish heritage.(v) Making false and mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing,demeaning, or stereotypical allegations about Jewish individuals assuch or the power of Jewish individuals as a collective, includingallegations such as the myth about a world Jewish conspiracy or ofJewish individuals controlling the media, economy, government, orother societal institutions.(vi) Accusing those practicing Judaism, or exhibiting a Jewishheritage, whether singularly or collectively, as being whollyresponsible for any real or imagined wrongdoing committed by asingle Jewish individual or group.(vii) Accusing those practicing Judaism, or exhibiting a Jewishheritage, whether singularly or collectively, as being whollyresponsible for any real or imagined wrongdoing committed by theState of Israel.(viii) Accusing those practicing Judaism, or exhibiting a Jewishheritage, whether singularly or collectively, as being more loyalto Israel, or the alleged priorities of Jewish persons worldwide,than to the interests of the people of this state, or to theinterests of the people of the United States.(ix) Discrimination because of ethnicity in the form ofantisemitism does not include criticism of Israel similar to thatleveled against any other country.(x) A finding of discrimination because of ethnicity in theform of antisemitism does not preclude a finding of discriminationon another basis such as religion, race, color, or national origin.
After Public Commentary, the Council members are allowed to give their remarks on any issue. Three CM’s took issue with my remarks* and resorted to name-calling, but the best was reserved for last. The Mayor took to the microphone and said:
Speaking of violence, we have not had physical violence here at the table, but we have had rhetorical violence in our chambers yet again with anti-Semitism and Holocaust denialism. Although it does not affect an immediate and proximate physical harm, it does create harm in the community and of course leads to physical harm over the course of time, time and time again. It is entirely and without reservation beneath contempt.
We look forward to addressing these comments at the next Council meeting on May 1. Please stay tuned.
Date/For-Against
8-Apr 14-10
15-Apr 20-9
Henry Herskovitz
Witness for Peace
95 Palestinians killed this year by “Israel”
ALL SO THAT JEWS CAN HAVE A “HOMELAND”
* Councilwoman Linh Song: “I was just thinking that whenever we have someone who tries to present - basically deny the holocaust, I am re-doubling my commitment as board member of Jewish Family Services and making sure I donate a thousand dollars for every comment, and I encourage folks to take a look at our Jewish community and think of the good work they're doing"
Councilwoman Erica Briggs: "Finally I guess I would also like to just note that it's pretty horrifying to hear a holocaust denier here in the council chambers"
Councilwoman Ayesha Ghazi Edwin: "I also want to express my disgust about the holocaust denialism that's happened here tonight. I think it's abhorrent and I just want you to know, again, that I stand by the Jewish community ..."
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Public Commentary Remarks at April 12 Ann Arbor School Board meeting:
I once again want to thank the Board for allowing me to address you tonight. As you know I’ve been interested in what Ann Arbor students are being taught about the Holocaust, and how we are molding them to become independent thinkers. The information that the Board has provided me will be the basis of my remarks.
From page 936 of World History – Patterns of Interaction, our students read “The Nazis proclaimed that the Germanic peoples were a -quote – master race – end quote”. I think we’re all accustomed to that claim. But I note that there’s no attribution to that quote, no reference. Which Nazi leader said those words? There’s no way for the student to know. If the student were equipped with books that challenge that claim – such as Benton Bradberry’s The Myth of German Villainy – he could read that no Nazi ever said those words. And if the student were encouraged to do so, he could download a copy of Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler and could scan for “master race”. He won’t find it, and he may be puzzled by the claim. He may even conclude that “master race” was merely wartime propaganda, in which all sides took part.
On the same page, students read that the beginning of the Holocaust targeted Jews due to German failures. “Some Germans even blamed Jews for their country’s defeat in World War I”. As if nothing could be further from the truth.
But Alison Weir’s book “Against Our Better Judgment” documents clearly that during that war, when Germany was about to defeat Britain and had actually offered a negotiated peace, Zionist Jews engaged in the process of getting the US into the war on Britain’s side. Prominent American Jews like Louis Brandeis and Felix Frankfurter worked behind the scenes to accomplish this task, and were in fact successful at getting the Americans into the war, which ensured Germany’s defeat. So, what is ridiculed in the text our students read, is actually the true historic accounting of events.
And again, on the same page, the student is introduced to Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass. He reads “Nazi storm troopers attacked Jewish homes, businesses and synagogues across Germany and murdered close to 100 Jews”. But our student will not be introduced to authors David Irving and Ingrid Weckert, who dispute this claim. They take pains to point out that Nazi officials, up to and including Hitler, were at odds with the gangs who committed these crimes against German Jews. In fact, Weckert writes “Hitler was furious and immediately ordered the chief of police of Munich to come see him.” He ordered the chief to stop the fire and ensure that no other violence took place. The work of these authors and others depict the violence against Jews on Kristallnacht as being locally inspired and not the result of Nazi policy. For our students to decide critically what actually happened, he must be informed from an array of sources, not just one.
I hope the Board takes notice of these corrections of history and implements a more comprehensive sourcing of information for Ann Arbor Students.
Thank you
Public Commentary Remarks at City Council meeting April 17, 2023
Good evening,
Last October I addressed Council about the Ann Arbor School’s compliance with Public Act 170, which mandates teaching of the Holocaust. Since then, the School Board was kind enough to provide me with the requested information. I addressed the Board last week and hoped that we were molding Ann Arbor students to become independent thinkers. I address Council tonight with the same concern.
The textbook used in our schools is World History – Patterns of Interaction. In the section on the Holocaust, our student first reads, “The Nazis proclaimed that the Germanic peoples were a -quote – master race – end quote”. I think we’re all accustomed to that claim. But I note that there’s no attribution to that quote, no reference. Which Nazi leader said those words? There’s no way for the student to know. If the student were equipped with books that challenge that claim – such as Benton Bradberry’s The Myth of German Villainy – he could read that no Nazi ever said those words. And if the student were encouraged to do so, he could download a copy of Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler and could scan for “master race”. He won’t find it, and he may be puzzled by the claim. He may even conclude that “master race” was merely wartime propaganda, in which all sides took part.
On the same page, our student reads that the beginning of the Holocaust targeted Jews due to German failures. “Some Germans even blamed Jews for their country’s defeat in World War I”. As if nothing could be further from the truth.
But Alison Weir’s book “Against Our Better Judgment” documents clearly that during that war, when Germany was about to defeat Britain and had actually offered a negotiated peace, Zionist Jews engaged in the process of getting the US into the war on Britain’s side. Prominent American Jews like Louis Brandeis and Felix Frankfurter worked behind the scenes to accomplish this task, and were in fact successful at getting the Americans into the war, which ensured Germany’s defeat. So, what is ridiculed in the text our student reads, is actually the true historic accounting of events.
I encouraged the Board, as I do Council tonight, to provide our student enough information to make up his mind independently, and critically, about historical events, and that he be provided with an array of viewpoints, not just one.
Thank you
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Monday, April 03, 2023
Report on Beth Israel vigil 04-01-23
A Learning Moment
A friendly discussion grew heated last month when a Jewish Marxist friend said some of my comments about Jewish domination of media and banking were “anti-Semitic”. He remarked that “America First” was problematic, but that the rest of my sign, “Not Israel”, was something he could support because “[he’s] never been a Zionist”. It seemed like he was admitting to “anti-Zionism”, but held strongly to protecting the tribe. He authored a middle school reference book, Understanding the Holocaust, a fact that speaks volumes about his tribal allegiance. So our takeaway from this heated argument gave birth to our latest sign, below:
Getting Close to the Target?
There were two unsuccessful attempts to steal/destroy our signs this Saturday, and both sets of vandals chose the “Gas Chambers? Really?” sign to go after. See two women in an Audi stop and get caught in the act here. The other group was two young men one of which asked me where I worked. Is this how (((they))) operate? Rather than debate the issue, or produce a single wartime photograph of a homicidal gas chamber, these 20-year-olds (they told us their age) went straight for the jugular: silence our voices by eliminating our source of income. Unbelievable? Not really …
Witness for Peace feels even more strongly now that deconstructing the “Holocaust” and challenging its propaganda is key to Palestine Liberation. It remains the sole remnant of the Jewish “faith”, and readers are once again reminded of Paul Eisen’s observations twenty years ago:
“The Holocaust resolves the great dilemma of modern Jewish life - how to be a Jew when you no longer believe in the Jewish God. Secular Jews have found many gods to replace the one they reject – Marx and Trotsky, atheism, psychoanalysis, multiculturalism, human rights, money and success, and of course, Zionism – there’s lots to choose from but only one that serves as a catch-all for everyone. And if you don’t believe it, try this - go find the most educated, secular, progressive, enlightened, perceptive, sensitive Jew you know - deny the Holocaust and then stand back.”
Abortion appears to be a Jewish Value
See the photo below, taken in the Jewish area of Pittsburgh (Squirrel Hill) on March 31. Whatever one thinks of abortion, it appears certain that it terminates the human life process. “Reproductive Freedom” is the “right” to choose to terminate this life process, and Jews themselves are claiming it’s a Jewish “value”. We thought only God possessed this right, but since Jews feel their souls are part God, maybe that’s the claim behind this banner. From chabad.org we read, “We have learned that Jews are functionally different from non-Jews in that they have a neshomah, a part of God himself”. We could be wrong about claiming that only Jews posses this religious “value” and ask our readers to provide a similar banner proclaiming that reproductive “rights” are a Christian or Muslim value.
Apologies to the Ann Arbor School Board
A few days after our last report hit the stands, Dr. Jeanice Swift, Superintendent of the Ann Arbor School Board did indeed respond to our February 8 request to supply course information on the Holocaust. As readers may remember, the State of Michigan Public Act 170 mandates the teaching of the Holocaust to secondary students in all public schools. True to her word, Dr. Swift connected me to Dr. Jared Aumen, District Chair for Secondary Social Studies, who provided me with much of the requested material. We plan to evaluate the information provided at the Board’s April 12 meeting.
Scorecard
25-Feb 9-2
4-Mar 12-6
11-Mar 24-7
18-Mar 8-4
25-Mar 22-3
1-Apr 19-12
Henry Herskovitz
Witness for Peace
87 Palestinians killed this year by “Israel”
ALL SO THAT JEWS CAN HAVE A “HOMELAND”
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