New Anti-War Jewish Coalition Launches

Is Nicholas over at Ezra Klien's psychic or is he just well informed but decided to keep us in suspense a little longer?

Yesterday he asked "Why is there not even a remotely sizeable lobbying outfit devoted to less-hawkish methods of guaranteeing Israel's security?"

Hey Presto! Here's a press release from today:

Coalition Announces Launch of 'Jews Against the War' to Give Voice to Growing Anti-War Jewish Majority - New Gallup Poll Shows 77% of American Jews Oppose War

LOS ANGELES, March 19 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On the fourth anniversary of the war on Iraq, a coalition of Jewish leaders announced the launch of "Jews Against the War" (JAW), an organization dedicated to ending the Iraq war and preventing one with Iran. The group will also focus on mobilizing the overwhelming majority of Jewish Americans opposed to the war -- demonstrated by a new Gallup poll showing 77% of Jews believe the Iraq War was a mistake, compared with 52% of the general American public.

"We couldn't continue to remain silent on one of the most catastrophic, immoral and tragic foreign policy decisions in the history of our country," said Aryeh Cohen, Asst. Prof. of Rabbinic Literature at the University of Judaism in Los Angeles. "The Talmud teaches that silence is akin to assent. Jews that oppose this administration's illegal war must come together, speak in one voice, and say loudly and clearly: Bring the troops home and stop the endless cycle of violence."

Already, 3,100 Americans have lost their lives, hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians have died, more than 2 million refugees have been forced to flee their own country, and terrorist attacks have increased by 600 percent around the world since the war began.

"The Talmud Bavli Tractate Shabbat states, 'One who is able to protest against a wrong that is being done in his family, his city, his nation or the world and doesn't do so is held accountable for that wrong being done," said Adam Rubin, Asst. Prof. of Jewish History, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles. "Our choice then is a clear one: we either try to stop this war or we're complicit in its continuation."

JAW goals include: building a nationwide coalition of hundreds of Rabbis and Jewish leaders to lobby Congress and the Presidential candidates to end the war and creating a sign on letter urging Congress to support legitimate plans to withdraw from Iraq, ones that will utilize the power of the purse.

I would like to wish this new coalition every success. May they rapidly transplant AIPAC as the Jewish lobby group of choice.

As a pagan, I've always been a bit awestruck by the ability of the Peoples of The Book (Christians, Jews and Moslems) to kill each other over which way they bend their heads to the One God they all agree is the only True God.

However, there's a lot to be admired in the writings of the three-for-one religion and its various cults (Catholic, Protestant, Shiite, Sunni etc.) Some of their scholars and priests, their prophets and messiahs have been great thinkers worth listening to. (Unfortunately others have been rabid and violent bigots with not a shred of true spirituality between them.)

I heartily concur with the sentiments of the Professor expressed above. "Our choice then is a clear one: we either try to stop this war or we're complicit in its continuation.".

Are you listening, Democrats?