Mondoweiss, April 1, 2012, by Rae Abileah
I was scheduled to be a panelist on an event in May at the Jewish Library in San Francisco– “Reclaiming Jewish Activism.” After a library funder, the Bureau of Jewish Education, found out I was on the panel, the news traveled up to the Jewish Federation which put pressure on the Library to cancel the event because I was too controversial–apparently because of the Jewish Community Relations Council of San Francisco guidelines re Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS).
The whole audacious narrative is described in the eloquent detail in the letter posted online (link below). The team of event planners and panelists (including me) sent the letter to the Jewish Library this week as well as to the Federation and other partners.
Today we are making this letter public. I want to share this with the hope that people will expose this blatant censorship and silencing of dissent. This follows on the heels of the Peter Beinart event being cancelled here in the Bay Area. Reut Institute was right – the Bay Area is on the frontlines for this issue!
Luckily we found an alternate Jewish location in SF to host the event – synagogue Sha’ar Zahav.