Madison — A planned protest demonstration against the Madison “Night to Honor Israel” Sunday will be one of the first public appearances of a new, though small, chapter of a growing national Jewish group.
Jewish Voice for Peace began in 1996 in the San Francisco Bay area. It presently has full chapters in seven cities. Until now the nearest chapter to Wisconsin was in Chicago.
Tsela Barr, a freelance graphic designer who came to Madison from Berkeley, Calif., seven years ago, decided to push for a chapter there for several reasons.
She had been a member of a previous Madison organization, Jews for Equal Justice. But that one dissolved around 2003.
“Part of the issue I found with progressive Jews willing to criticize Israel is that there is a spectrum and people get tied up on some key issues, like the right of return [of Palestinians to pre-1967 Israel] or the fate of east Jerusalem,” she said. “There tends to be division among progressive Jews.”
Barr instead became active in the Madison-Rafah Sister City Project. But after Israel’s “invasion of Lebanon” this past summer, “I felt there needed to be a progressive Jewish voice in Madison again.”
And she thought forming a chapter of the national group would avert some of the past problems. “It is reputable, it has a mission statement,” she said. “If you feel comfortable with the mission statement, you can join our group. I was hoping that by doing that, we wouldn’t have to debate all these issues and just get down to work.”
(The mission statement is posted on the JVP Web site, www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org.)
Moreover, “I liked the idea of coordinating with people in other chapters and other cities,” Barr said.
However, the Madison group, which has about 12 members so far, is officially known at present as Madison Friends of Jewish Voice for Peace. Barr said the national leaders “want us to get used to the guidelines of the organization” and wait “about a year or so” before becoming a full chapter.
Barr, 45, grew up in a Conservative synagogue in the Washington, D.C., area, and participated in a United Synagogue Youth trip to Israel when she was 15. “I did all the things a good Jewish girl does.”
Then in the 1980s, as she became involved in “leftist causes,” a boyfriend told her she would “have to deal” with Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians. “I was avoiding it, uncomfortable with it. Whenever I would say something critical of Israel, I became nauseous.”
Eventually, she did take steps to “allow myself to hear” the Palestinian point of view, particularly from Palestinian individuals.
“I came to the realization that I really care about Israel, and that it is on the path of self-destruction,” and that “it is a moral imperative to speak against Israeli government atrocities committed in our name,” she said.
She insisted that JVP does not take a stand on the ultimate solution to the conflict. “We’re careful to avoid” advocating either the two-state or one-state solutions.
“Individuals may have different opinions,” she said. “We would like to see the end of [Israel’s] occupation [of the West Bank and east Jerusalem] and a just peace without saying what that will entail. It is up to the Israelis and Palestinians to figure that out.”
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