Breira (organization)

Last updated

Contents

Breira (full name "Breira: A Project of Concern in Diaspora-Israel Relations") was an organization founded to express a left-wing position on Israel. Formed in 1973, it lasted until 1977.

History

Breira dissented from what it saw as the hard line Jewish organizational perspective that said there is no alternative in the aftermath of the Yom Kippur War. The group took the Hebrew name Breira—meaning "alternative"—in response to the cry of ein breira, or "there is no alternative."

In 1973, Rabbi Arnold Jacob Wolf served as founding chair of the movement. In its first public statement, Breira called for Israel to make territorial concessions and recognize the legitimacy of the national aspirations of the Palestinian people in order to achieve lasting peace. David Tulin was the vice-president, Inge Gibel was the treasurer. Rabbi Gerald Serotta was an active member. As its national chairman, Wolf stated that the name signified, "our desire for an alternative to the intransigence of both the PLO and the several governments of Israel." The group proposed a two state solution. [1]

That year, Breira became a national membership organization of over one hundred Reform and Conservative rabbis and a number of important American Jewish writers and intellectuals, including Steven M. Cohen, Paul Cowan, Arthur Green, Irving Howe, Paula Hyman, Jack Nusan Porter, Henry Schwarzschild, John S. Ruskay, and Milton Viorst. Jewish counter-culture youths also helped to found Breira. [2]

Michael E. Staub states, "Breira survived four tumultuous years. Its proposals on Israeli-Diaspora Jewish relations and Palestinian nationalism generated fierce international debate over the limits of public dissent and conflict in Jewish communal life, and virtually every major American Jewish organization took a public stand on the group and what it advocated." [1]

There was an overlap of leadership with Americans for Progressive Israel. A full list of members was published in The National Jewish Post & Opinion, August 9, 1974. [3] They published a journal called Interchange.

Controversy

In July 1976, Spiro Agnew's organization, Education for Democracy, labeled them dangerous and "anti-Israel", [4] even as Agnew himself was being accused of antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment. [5]

In December 1976, they agreed to meet with the PLO. Wolf stipulated that they meet as private individuals and that it be understood that they were not involved in any political negotiations. The initiative was supported by Jewish intellectuals Nathan Glazer and Irving Howe. Meeting representatives included Rabbi Max Ticktin and Arthur Waskow representing Breira, and the American Jewish Congress, B'nai B'rith, and the National Council of Jewish Women. Waskow wrote a widely circulated opinion piece about speaking to the PLO. [6]

Also in December 1976, The Jerusalem Post ran a story portraying the organization as supporting terrorists, whereupon many members left the group. On February 20, 1977, when Breira held its first national membership conference in Chevy Chase, Maryland, the convention was attacked by Jewish Defense League members. [7]

In May 1977, the Rabbinical Assembly of Conservative Judaism blocked two members of Breira, Wolf and Rabbi Everett Gendler, from membership in the organization's executive council. The RA felt that the organization was giving aid to Israel's enemies. At that time, according to The New York Times article, Breira had 1500 members. [8]

Isaiah L. Kenen, the former American Israel Public Affairs Committee executive director, while still serving as the editor of its Near East Report, helped to label the group as "anti-Israel", "pro-PLO", and "self-hating Jews". Kenen charged that Breira "undermined U.S. support for Israel". Rabbi Alexander Schindler, president of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, was the only major leader of a Jewish organization to defend Breira. He called the attack on Breira a "witch hunt". [9] In his book, The Lobby: Jewish Political Power and American Foreign Policy, Edward Tivnan observed, "By attacking Breira, Jewish leaders had turned over much of their power to AIPAC, Israel's most loyal agent in the U.S. and a proved enemy of dissent from Israeli policies, among Jews as well as gentiles." [10]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AIPAC</span> Pro-Israel lobby group in the United States

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee is a pro-Israel lobbying group that advocates its policies to the legislative and executive branches of the United States. One of several pro-Israel lobbying organizations in the country, it has been called one of its most powerful lobbying groups.

The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations is the umbrella organization for the American Jewish community. Comprising 50 national Jewish organizations, it was founded in 1956 to develop a consensus voice among Jewish organizations, especially to the U.S. government.

Brit Tzedek v'Shalom, also known as Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace, was an organization of American Jews and describes its members as "deeply committed to Israel's well-being through the achievement of a negotiated settlement to the long-standing Israeli–Palestinian conflict". They describe this as "necessitating an end to Israel's occupation of land acquired during the 1967 war and an end to Palestinian terrorism". The group endorses a two-state solution to the conflict. The founding president of this organization is Marcia Freedman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jewish Voice for Peace</span> American Jewish anti-Zionist advocacy group

Jewish Voice for Peace is an American Jewish anti-Zionist and left-wing advocacy organization. It is critical of Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories, and supports the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arthur Waskow</span> American author, political activist, and rabbi

Arthur Ocean Waskow is an American author, political activist, and rabbi associated with the Jewish Renewal movement.

New Jewish Agenda (NJA) was a multi-issue membership organization active in the United States between 1980 and 1992, consisting of approximately 50 local chapters. Its slogan was "a Jewish voice among progressives and a progressive voice among Jews." The organization emphasized participatory democracy and advocated for civil rights, particularly for groups marginalized within the broader Jewish community. NJA was notable for its positions on Palestinian rights and the inclusion of queer Jews, which were considered controversial at the time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jewish Virtual Library</span> Online encyclopedia

The Jewish Virtual Library is an online encyclopedia published by the American foreign policy analyst Mitchell Bard's non-profit organization American–Israeli Cooperative Enterprise (AICE). It is a website covering topics about Israel–United States relations, Jewish history, Israel, the Holocaust, antisemitism and Judaism.

Isaiah Leo "Si" Kenen was a Canadian-born American journalist, lawyer and philanthropist. He was the founder of the American Zionist Committee for Public Affairs (AZCPA), the forerunner of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Israel lobby in the United States</span> Entities aiming to influence U.S. policy

The Israel lobby in the United States comprises individuals and groups who seek to influence the U.S. federal government to better serve the interests of Israel. The largest American pro-Israel lobbying group is Christians United for Israel, which has over seven million members. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is a leading organization within the lobby, speaking on behalf of a coalition of pro-Israel American Jewish groups.

The Jewish lobby are individuals and groups predominantly in the Jewish diaspora that advocate for the interests of Jews and Jewish values. The lobby references the involvement and influence of Jews in politics and the political process, and includes organized groups such as the American Jewish Committee, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, B'nai B'rith, and the Anti-Defamation League.

Morris J. Amitay was an American lobbyist who was the executive director of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) (1974–1980), vice chairman of the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA), and the founder and treasurer of the Washington Political Action Committee. He was credited for turning AIPAC "into one of the most effective advocacy organizations in Washington" by The Washington Post.

American Jewish Conference was an ad hoc organization

J Street is a nonprofit liberal Zionist advocacy group based in the United States whose stated aim is to promote American leadership to end the Arab–Israeli and Israeli–Palestinian conflicts peacefully and diplomatically. J Street was incorporated on November 29, 2007.

Rabbi Arnold Jacob Wolf was an American Reform Rabbi, and a longtime champion of peace and progressive politics.

The American Zionist Council (AZC) was a pro-Israeli lobby group in the United States founded in 1949. It represented nine nationwide Zionist organizations in matters related specifically to Zionism, following the establishment of Israel. It was founded as a tax-exempt umbrella organization of American Jewish groups, which focused on Israel and included the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), Hadassah, and other Zionist organizations active in the United States. It acted as an umbrella group for public relations, outreach, and lobbying on Capitol Hill. Between 1951 and 1953, its Washington representative was Isaiah L. Kenen.

In United States politics, the trends of Jews have changed political positions multiple times. Many early American German-Jewish immigrants to the United States tended to be politically conservative, but the wave of Eastern European Jews, starting in the early 1880s, were generally more liberal or left-wing, and eventually became the political majority. Many of the latter moved to America having had experience in the socialist, anarchist, and communist movements as well as the Labor Bund emanating from Eastern Europe. Many Jews rose to leadership positions in the early 20th century American labor movement, and founded unions that played a major role in left-wing politics and, after 1936, inside the Democratic Party politics. For most of the 20th century since 1936, the vast majority of Jews in the United States have been aligned with the Democratic Party. During the 20th and 21st centuries, the Republican Party has launched initiatives to persuade American Jews to support their political policies, with relatively little success.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Progressive Jewish Thought and the New Anti-Semitism</span> Essay

" 'Progressive' Jewish Thought and the New Anti-Semitism" is a 2006 essay written by Alvin Hirsch Rosenfeld, director of Indiana University's Center for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism and professor of English and Jewish Studies. It was published by the American Jewish Committee (AJC) with an introduction by AJC executive director David A. Harris. The essay claims that a "number of Jews, through their speaking and writing, are feeding a rise in virulent antisemitism by questioning whether Israel should even exist".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IfNotNow</span> American Jewish advocacy group

IfNotNow is an American Jewish activist group that opposes the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Its membership demonstrates against politicians, United States policies, and institutions that support Israel's occupation, usually seeking to apply pressure through direct action and media appearances. It has been characterized variously as progressive or far-left.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerome Segal</span> American philosopher and activist (born 1943)

Jerome Michael Segal is an American philosopher, political activist, and perennial candidate who resides in Silver Spring, Maryland. He was the founder of the socialist, progressive, and somewhat libertarian Bread and Roses Party, which achieved ballot access in Maryland in January 2019, and which Segal ran from 2018 to 2021.

Nathan "Nate" Perlmutter was the American executive director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) from 1979 to 1987. Perlmutter joined the ADL in 1949, serving as regional director in Detroit, Miami, and New York until 1964. He became associate national director of the American Jewish Committee from 1965 to 1969. After that, he rejoined the ADL as assistant national director from 1973 to 1979, at which point he became national director. He served as ADL national director until his death in 1987. From 1969 to 1973 Perlmutter was vice president of Brandeis University.

References

  1. 1 2 Staub, Michael E. (2002). Torn at the Roots: the Crisis of Jewish Liberalism in Postwar America. New York [u.a.]: Columbia Univ. Press. pp. 280–281, 290. ISBN   0231123744.
  2. ↑ Glantz, David (1977). "An Interpretation of the Jewish Counterculture". Jewish Social Studies. 39 (1/2): 117–128. JSTOR   4466953.
  3. ↑ "Why Breira?". April 1977.
  4. ↑ Breasted, Mary (July 30, 1976). "AGNEW-LED GROUP SCORED BY RABBI; A Second Jewish Leader Also Assails Newsletter". The New York Times.
  5. ↑ Safire, William (May 24, 1976). "Spiro Agnew and the Jews; ESSAY". The New York Times.
  6. ↑ Gwertzman, Bernard (December 30, 1976). "American Jewish Leaders Are Split Over Issue of Meeting With P.L.O.; American Jewish Leaders Split On Issue of Meeting With P.L.O." The New York Times.
  7. ↑ "The Breira Conference". Journal of Palestine Studies. 6 (4): 147–149. 1977. doi:10.2307/2535786. JSTOR   2535786.
  8. ↑ Vescey, George (May 6, 1977). "RABBINICAL MEETING REJECTS 2 NOMINEES; Unusual Action by Assembly Comes in Wake of a Harsh Debate Over Alternate Israel Policies". The New York Times.
  9. ↑ Paul Foer, The War against Breira, Jewish Spectator, Summer, 1983, p.21. Article based on author's unpublished undergraduate thesis at Hampshire College, The Attack on Breira: Dissent and Repression in the Jewish Community, from interviews with former Breira leaders Arthur Samuelson, Rabbi Balfour Brickner, and Rabbi Arnold Wolf, who confirm many of Foer’s facts. Cited in Edward Tivnan, The Lobby: Jewish Political Power and American Foreign Policy, p.93 ff
  10. ↑ Slabodkin, Gregory D. (July 1992). "The AIPAC Politics of Smear: The Secret Section in Israel's U.S. Lobby That Stifles American Debate". Washington Report on Middle East Affairs . Retrieved December 20, 2012.

Additional sources

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.