Torture Banner Raised at Beth Israel
The torture banner - actually it's the banner that *opposes* torture, the one from the National Religious Campaign Against Torture - was raised in front of Beth Israel Congregation by members of Jewish Witnesses for Peace and Friends. The good congregation of Beth Israel appears to be so flummoxed about where they stand on the issue, they can't bring themselves to fly a banner of their own. Actually, there is good evidence that the Congregation actually supports torture, gathered for us by PeaceMonger, who writes that "according to a scientific poll conducted for the BBC last year [2006] in 25 countries, citizens of the Jewish state had the highest level of agreement with the statement: 'Terrorists pose such an extreme threat that governments should now be allowed to use some degree of torture if it may gain information that saves innocent lives'". It seems likely, given Beth Israel's refusal to fly the banner, that Jews in this community also share the feeling of their overseas brethren. See also "Jews and Torture Update" on PeaceMonger's blog...
Slippery Truth at ICPJ
The Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice meets monthly in this town. At a recent meeting this writer raised the issue that no local synagogue was supporting NRCAT's call to end torture by flying the "Torture is Wrong" banner. "Not so", corrected ICPJ Director Chuck Warpehoski, and he pointed out that a banner was flying on at Temple Beth Emeth (TBE) and St. Clare's Episcopal Church (they share a building).
The issue persists, however, because a search for the word "torture" on TBE's website "did not match any documents" according to Google-speak. Also, when the list of Participating Members, Endorsing Members, and Adjunct Members from NRCAT member list is consulted, there appears no entry for "Temple Beth Emeth". A recent email request to ICPJ offices in search of "some supporting evidence that you can share which would support the claim that TBE endorses 'Torture is Wrong'?" has not been returned. We will share with our readers any response from Chuck or ICPJ.
The Cincinnati Kid
Our presence was supported by a return of Cincinnati vigiller A, who pushed our attendance to seven. Always a pleasure to share public sidewalk with this native of Palestine, and we thank him for his efforts to get here.
Quotable
From an article in Al-Jazeera this week, a message from Hamas' Khaled Meshaal explaining Hamas' commitment to continue armed struggle to liberate Palestinian land after decades of Israel flouting international resolutions to withdraw...
"Peaceful resistance works for a civil rights struggle, not in front of an occupation armed to the teeth."
Henry Herskovitz
Boycott Apartheid Israel
Jewish Witnesses for Peace and Friends
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