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Monday, July 3, 2017  
 

In this Issue:

• News, Views and Analysis

• Chicago's Dyke March reveals anti-Jewish dimension of intersectionality

• 'This trip has showed me my true connection to Israel'
 

JUF Link presents news and analysis concerning the delegitimization and demonization of Israel and the Jewish people through BDS, anti-normalization and related activities.

Exposing the linkages between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism, JUF Link 
shows JUF/Federation and its partners' impact in defeating anti-Israel and anti-Jewish forces.
 
 

JUF's Israel Education Center has launched the Lexicon, an encyclopedia of Israel-related terminology commonly used on campus and in the community.
Check it out here.
 

News, Views and Analysis

North Carolina became the 22nd state to take action against BDS by passing legislation requiring state institutions to cease all contracts with companies that support BDS. The bill is awaiting Governor Roy Cooper's signature. Ohio's legislature has introduced a resolution condemning boycotts of Israel on college campuses and in academia, as well as anti-Semitism

For the second time in one year, a high court in Spain has struck down a local BDS resolution. Meanwhile, Yair Lapid and the NGO Monitor are both pushing the Spanish government to stop funding NGOs that support BDS

Despite a recent study claiming a substantial loss of support for Israel among Jewish college students,  Len Saxe, the head of Brandeis University's Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies, claims the opposite is true. Saxe has been tracking college students and their attachment to Israel for the past 15 years and says his data, which will be released in the coming weeks, reveals the vast majority of Jewish students feel some connection to Israel, especially those who participate in Birthright trips

Anti-Israel activists protested outside of the Israeli Consulate in Chicago and marched to Daley Plaza to mark Quds Day, the last Friday of Ramadan, on June 23. Quds Day was first initiated in 1979 by the Islamic Republic of Iran

Qatar has become the third country to ban screenings of Wonder Woman because of Gal Gadot's Israeli nationality. Lebanon and Tunisia banned the movie last month

Hillel International publically defended its commitment to LGBT students in response to a letter sent by over 100 LGBT rabbis and rabbinical students who questioned Hillel's support for LGBT studetns and called on the organization to drop its Standards of Partnership. The letter was in response to controversy in March, when Ohio State University's Hillel expelled its LGBT group for co-sponsoring an event with Jewish Voice for Peace, which violated Hillel's Standards of Partnership

The United Church of Christ approved a resolution condeming Israel for its treatment of Palestinian children

Chicago's Dyke March reveals anti-Jewish dimension of intersectionality

When Chicago's Dyke March ejected Jewish participants for carrying Pride flags embossed with the Star of David, many in the Jewish and LGBTQ communities were appalled at the hypocrisy. 

The Chicago Dyke March Collective's mission statement states its goal is to "bridge together communities across race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, age, size, gender identity, gender expression, sexuality, culture, immigrant status, spirituality, and ability."

Why would the Dyke March - a collective founded on the principles of inclusivity and diversity - single out Jewish marchers?

The march is an intersectional movement. "In theory, [intersectionality] is the benign notion that every form of social oppression is linked to every other social oppression... That is, the fight for women's rights is tied up with the fight for gay rights and civil rights and so forth," Bari Weiss writes in The New York Times. 

The march released a statement on June 27 defending its actions and affirming one-dimensional solidarity with the Palestinian cause, claiming the ejected marchers expressed "Zionist views that go directly against the march's anti-racist core values." The statement continues: "Zionism is an inherently white-supremacist ideology." 

The Dyke March and many "progressive" movements believe one oppression cannot be addressed without addressing all oppressions. Because the Dyke March officially stands in solidarity with Palestine, Zionists cannot be welcome in their community, according to intersectional ideology.

The Dyke March is not an isolated incident: from the International Women's Strike to LGBT synagogues to college campuses, Jews who support Israel are finding themselves excluded from progressive causes. 

JUF’s Jewish Community Relations Council, ADL, AJC, Equality Illinois and Lambda Legal are among those who issued condemnations. “The singling out of Jewish marchers for exclusion because of their religious identity, at an event that claims to uphold the value of inclusivity, is truly shocking,” JCRC leaders said.

'This trip has showed me my true connection to Israel'

Twenty-three Write On for Israel Fellows completed a two-week trip to Israel last week, and they returned to the Chicago area filled with stories about the people they met and sites they saw. During the trip, fellows met with politicians, journalists, historians as well as Jewish and Arab peers. 

Sponsored by JUF’s Israel Education Center, Write On for Israel is the premier Israel education and advocacy training program for Chicago-area high school students. Alumni go on to become leaders in campus Israel activities at colleges and universities across the country.

“Throughout the past year of study, my connection to Israel has grown,” said Ethan Teich, a rising senior at Highland Park High School. “I need to do something to protect Israel and fight for her.”

Photo: MK Benny Begin and WOFI Fellow Ethan Teich at the Knesset

Read more about WOFI's trip to Israel »

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