In advance of the national membership conference in Baltimore of Jewish Voice for Peace from May 1-4, the Baltimore Jewish Council issued a statement today, Apr. 23, calling on community members to mobilize against the Berkeley, California-based, anti-Zionist group.
“The JVP is an extremist group that weaponizes the Jewish identify of some of its members to call for ‘death to Israel’ and tout a ‘Free Palestine by any means necessary,’” the statement read. “A significant portion of JVP’s membership is not Jewish, and a significant portion of its funding comes from non-Jewish sources.
“Ahead of the conference, join the BJC, members of our community, and our partners at The Jewish Majority in signing a public letter saying that JVP does not represent Baltimore’s Jewish community.”
More than 300 members of the community have already signed the letter.
The BJC is the political and community relations arm of The Associated: Jewish Federation of Baltimore and its constituent agencies. (The Baltimore Zionist District has also publicly condemned the JVP and its upcoming gathering.)
The statement reiterated the BJC’s support for the State of Israel as the national homeland of the Jewish people.
“We reject the anti-Zionist rhetoric of JVP, which calls for the elimination of Israel as Jewish state and represents a fringe view. Our Baltimore Jewish community affirms that JVP does not represent us. Their agenda is the fringe of the fringe, and we, as a community, are clear that this ideology carries no weight in Baltimore. Join us in signing the community letter and standing up for Israel as this extremist conference comes to our city.”
Among the scheduled speakers at the JVP convention are Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Michigan), Palestinian-American political activist Linda Sarsour, Omar Barghouti, a leader of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, and former Rep. Cori Bush (D-Missouri).
The JVP conference will be held shortly before JPro25, which will take place May 5-7 in Baltimore. Held in partnership with the Jewish Federations of North America, JPro25 is a signature gathering for Jewish communal professionals from around the nation.
For information about the public letter, visit docs.google.com/document/d/1hVhwYEvS9bk-o75fQZlongyIVWMtRNyOT1VLZT-OSc8/edit?tab=t.0.
The remaining 6,000 members of the community are expected to immigrate by 2030.
The Columbia resident worked on the Gemini and Apollo space missions.
Israel is increasingly reliant on foreign workers, hundreds of whom moved into the dilapidated building during the Iran war.
A St. Louis native, Edelman served as ambassador to the central African nation from 1987 to 1989.