The Balfour Declaration: Support for a Jewish Homeland or Jewish State? Is there a difference?
Thursday, October 26, at 7:00 PM
This event is free an open to the public
**NEW LOCATION**
Unitarian Church of All Souls
1157 Lexington Avenue, NYC (between 79th and 80th Streets)
Venue is wheelchair accessible
Transportation: 6 train to 79th St., 4,5,6 trains to 86th St., or M101, M102, and M103 to Third or Lexington Avenues/E 79th St.
Palestinian and Jewish human rights lawyers take a look at the Balfour Declaration and its historical context and discuss its ramifications for Palestinians and Jews living in Israel Palestine today.
SPEAKERS
Jonathan Kuttab is a leading human rights lawyer in Israel and Palestine. He grew up in East Jerusalem and Bethlehem, but after the Six Day War, his family moved to the United States. After practicing with a Wall Street law firm for several years, he returned home to co-found the Palestinian Center for the Study of Nonviolence, Al-Haq (lawyers and others who assists with human rights issues), and the Mandela Institute of Political Prisoners. He is licensed to practice law in Palestine, Israel, and New York and serves on the board of the Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center in Jerusalem.
Robert Herbst is a human rights lawyer who has been trying civil and criminal cases for more than 40 years. On the civil side, he focuses on civil rights cases involving police, corrections and other governmental misconduct, employment and housing discrimination, and retaliation against whistleblowers in both federal and state courts. A graduate of Princeton and Yale Law School, he was a federal prosecutor in Chicago and Philadelphia, and Executive Assistant District Attorney in Brooklyn, prior to starting his private practice. Mr Herbst has also served as an Independent Council to the Social Court for Sierra Leone, and as coordinator of the Westchester chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace.
*Information on Change in Location
Under pressure from right-wing Zionist groups, the American Jewish Historical Society in New York City recently abruptly canceled two events challenging Zionism: a program on the 1917 Balfour Declaration, and a reading of a new play, “Rubble, Rubble.”
The Society’s newfound claim that these programs “do not align with the mission of the AJHS” contradicts both the organization's earlier decision to host the events, and its stated mission of “expanding the conversations on American Jewish history, cultures, identities, and the arts.”
In reality, this censorship reflects an all-too familiar pattern: a cultural or academic institution attempts to engage in a critical discussion of Zionism, and then caves to an increasingly desperate witch-hunt to silence the growing movement for justice in Palestine -- many of whose supporters are Jewish.
But we will not be silenced. Please join us in calling on the AJHS to immediately reinstate these two important events.
For more background:
- Caving To Pressure, Jewish Group Cancels Play By Critic Of Israel (The Forward)
- Jewish Center Faces Backlash After Canceling Play Criticized as Anti-Israel (New York Times)
- Speakers censored by Jewish Historical Society vow to stage events elsewhere (Mondoweiss)