ZOA & ZOA Pres. Morton Klein Respectfully Requests Apology from Those who Falsely Accused ZOA of “Racism” Because We Condemned BLM/M4BL’s Vicious Antisemitism & Anti-Israelism

Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) President Morton A. Klein and ZOA Chair Mark Levenson, Esq. released the following statement:

During the past week, Hamas launched 4,000 missiles at innocent Jews and Israel’s major population centers and while Israeli Arab citizens perpetrated pogroms on their Jewish neighbors—including beating up Jews on the streets, and burning synagogues, Jewish schools, apartment buildings, cars, and homes throughout Israel. Meanwhile, the Black Lives Matter organization (BLM), and BLM’s parent organization, the Movement 4 Black Lives (M4BL) once again engaged in horrific defamation of the Jewish state and people; advocated for severe antisemitic anti-Israel actions; called Jews living in the Jewish homeland “settler colonialists,” and stood in “solidarity” with Palestinian Arab and Hamas terrorists. For instance:

• On May 17, 2021, BLM tweetedthat BLM “stands in solidarity with Palestinians” and is a movement “committed to ending settler colonialism in all forms and will continue to advocate for Palestinian liberation. ( always have. And always will be ). #freepalestine.”

• On May 10, 2021, BLM retweetedsquad members Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib and Andre Carson’s hateful statement falsely accusing Israel of violently assaulting Palestinian people on the Al-Aqsa mosque during Ramadan; falsely claiming that the lawful eviction of a few non-rent-paying Arabs living in Jewish homes in Jerusalem was a “direct violation of international law, the Geneva Convention, and basic human rights”; falsely accusing Israel of “wanton human rights abuses”; and more.

• M4BL now has posted on its website a new vicious antisemitic statemententitled “End U.S. Complicity in Israel’s Abuses of Palestinians.” M4BL’s website statement grotesquely and falsely accuses Israel and “settlers” (Jews) of “violent and ruthless escalation of repression and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians,” “apartheid,” and “bombing civilians”; and demands “an end to “Israeli occupation, settler colonialism and violence.” (When they say occupation, they mean all of Israel as they support “Palestine from the river to the sea.”) In addition, M4BL’s statement called on people everywhere to “rise up” against Israel, and “end U.S. complicity in Israel’s abuses”—and included a link to tell Congress to sanction Israel and end all aid to Israel, sponsored by major U.S. anti-Israel BDS groups including: JVP; MPowerChange; Adalah; USPCN (U.S. Palestine Community Network); Arab Resource and Organizing Center (AROC); Eyewitness Palestine; and Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA—a vicious group that tries to turn Christians against Jews and Israel).

ZOA’s The BLM Organization Files documents the BLM/M4BL organizations’ previous horrific antisemitic and anti-Israel statements and activities, including BLM/M4BL antisemitic social media posts; M4BL’s platform (which among other things, falsely accused Israel of committing “genocide”); BLM’s posts of the PFLP terror group front groups’ anti-Israel demands; BLM’s violent pogrom against Los Angeles Jews, incited by BLM-Los Angeles leaders; BLM’s antisemitic “days of rage” in U.S. cities; BLM/M4BL’s advocacy for antisemitic BDS, etc.  

The latest BLM/M4BL attacks on the Jewish people make it clear that it’s long past time for ZOA and Morton Klein to be given a public apology from those who falsely accused ZOA and ZOA President Morton Klein of “racism” because we condemned BLM/M4BL’s outrageous antisemitism and anti-Israelism.

Thus far, only one group’s leader (Stuart Applebaum, President of the Jewish Labor Committee) had the integrity and decency to personally apologize to ZOA President Morton Klein.  

ZOA previously demanded an apology from the following groups’ leaders, who still need to apologize (See “ZOA Demands Apology from URJ’s Rick Jacobs & Others for Denouncing ZOA’s Condemnation of BLM Org’s Antisemitic Israel-Hating Platform,” June 29, 2020):

• Kenneth Bob, President, Ameinu (Bob also serves as the anti-Israel group J Street’s Treasurer); 
• Hadar Susskind, President and CEO, Americans for Peace Now (APN also openly promotes partial anti-Israel BDS); 
• Rabbi Bennett Miller, National Chair, Association of Reform Zionists of America (ARZA); 
• Rabbi Hara Person, Chief Executive, Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR);
• Robert Aronson, Chair, HIAS;
• Meredith Jacobs, CEO, Jewish Women International; 
• Janet Gurvitch, President, Na’amat USA; 
• Marilyn Wind, President, MERCAZ USA;
• Sheila Katz, CEO, National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW);
• Rabbi Jacob Blumenthal, Chief Executive, Rabbinical Assembly;
• Rabbi Rick Jacobs, President, Union of Reform Judaism (URJ); 
• Ann Toback, CEO, The Workers Circle; 
• Leslie Lichter, Interim CEO, United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism;
• Rabbi Marla Feldman, Executive Director, Women of Reform Judaism; and
• Rabbi Ellen S. Wolintz-Fields, Executive Director, Women’s League for Conservative Judaism

Likewise, the anonymous petitioners who unsuccessfully tried to oust us from the JCRC-Boston owe us an apology for their false “racist” accusations against us. The petitioners whose names we learned were:

• Stephane Acel-Greene, Deputy Vice President, New Israel Fund(NIF, which funds numerous groups that demonize and promote boycotts of Israel);
• Idit Klein, Co-founder, Keshet, and former employee of New Israel Fund/Shatil
• Janette Hillis-Jaffe, New England Regional Director, J Street
• Barbara Penzner, NE Chapter Co-Chair, Jewish Labor Committee

(The other anonymous petitioners indicated that they were affiliated with: Boston Workers’ Circle; Hillel Council of New England; Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action (JALSA); and Women of Reform Judaism.)