This week's column by NY Jewish Week's editor/publisher Gary Rosenblatt, is uncharacteristically bold in defending the Manhattan JCC against an attack by a group that claims the JCC is in league with the anti-Israel BDS movement. The protesters are particularly peeved at the JCC's choices in screening certain films, such as some featured in the Other Israel Film Festival.Rosenblatt begins with a very nuanced reference to Theodore Bikel (Meretz USA's board chair, pictured at left) who supports the boycott by Israeli performers of the new theater in the settlement of Ariel. As Rosenblatt indicates, Bikel is against any boycott of Israel proper. This column is entitled "Advocacy Gone Awry" and includes the following subhead: "Bid against JCC in Manhattan film festival part of disturbing trend."
Coincidentally, reporter Steward Ain, in a long analytical piece, also intelligently discusses BDS and explicitly explores Meretz USA's position in support of boycotting West Bank settlements but not Israel as a whole. This article is entitled "Consensus Seen Taking Shape On Boycotts," with the following descriptive subhead: "In wake of Brandeis Hillel action, a new formulation on who’s in the big tent."
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