Barry Shrage, President of Boston’s Combined Jewish Philanthropies, sent a letter to his Board of Directors and Past Board Members harshly condemning the coverage of Harvard Israel Trek 2014’s visit to Yasser Arafat’s grave. Instead of speaking out against the visit, Shrage elected to attack and bully members of the pro-Israel community who were outraged by the photo, labeling them “ideologically motivated bloggers” and “at the extreme edge of the Jewish community.”
TO: Board of Directors, Past Board Members
FROM: Barry Shrage
DATE: March 20, 2014
SUBJECT: A response to recent attacks on CJP and our Harvard Student “Trek” to Israel
Yesterday CJP and a group of deeply committed student leaders were the subject of vicious attacks by ideologically motivated bloggers from across the country. The bloggers took one photo out of context to smear our Federation and a group of students whose only motivation was to tell Israel’s story and connect their fellow students to Israel in all its beauty and complexity.
The students who led the mission are among the brightest and most deeply committed I know. They have consistently fought for Israel and against the forces of BDS at Harvard. They created a huge and highly effective symposium at Harvard http://www.timesofisrael.com/harvard-conference-to-present-the-real-story-on-israel/ to counter the infamous “One State” anti-Israel conference that preceded it at the University. The organizers include four IDF veterans who fought for Israel as soldiers and continue to fight on behalf of Israel on their campus.
The blog that you may have seen attacking the “trek” is a good example of the terrible polarization within the American Jewish community where a few bloggers at the extreme edge of the Jewish community can demonize those who try to deal honestly with the complexities of life in Israel.
We at CJP are committed to continuing to work to bring both Jews and non-Jews to Israel, to help structure and fund missions that can capture and reveal the amazing achievements of Israel in technology, business, the arts and society and also to examine the complexities and challenges facing Israel today. We believe that understanding those challenges and opportunities from a first-hand perspective is the best way to create knowledgeable and informed supporters of Israel and to strengthen the bonds between the American and Israeli people.
Shrage then provided a link to a student response that was posted on The Times of Israel under the title “Photo Distorts Purpose and Impact of Harvard Israel ‘Trek.’ The original title of the article was “No apologies for visiting Arafat’s grave” though it was later changed to “Yes, we visited Arafat’s grave.” The URL of the website still reads http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/no-apologies-for-visiting-arafats-grave/
Missing from the statement is a condemnation of the group visit and photo by Arafat's tombstone. Arafat was responsible for the murder of thousands of people, with a special focus on Jews.
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