San Francisco Jewish Federation and San Francisco Jewish Community Center to be Hosting Anti Israel Event

Apparently the San Francisco Jewish Community Center will holding an anti-Israel – pro BDS - event which will be presented and directed by IDF -demonizing groups.

(Link to event HERE)

This course of action is in clear violation of San Francisco Jewish Federation previous commitment to federation donors and the greater Federation community. Their commitment, was to refrain from conducting and sponsoring such events in the future on the request of the above-mentioned parties.

Ignoring previous commitments such as the one above, is a slippery slope that must be stopped as it is a clear case of donor fraud, and indeed warrants a class action lawsuit against the SFJCC and the SFJF.

In lieu of this information we ask that you please write to:

• SF Jewish Federation Chair Richard Fiedotin and SF Jewish Federation CEO/President Danny Grossman:

Phone: 415.777.0411

Email: info@sfjcf.org 

• SFJCC chair Susan Lowenberg:

Phone: 415.292.1200
Fax: 415.276.1550
Email: info@jccsf.org

Tell these individuals that their current course of action is not only a clear violation of Federation policy, which was not to fund or host groups which demonize Israel. Let them know that this event clearly violates their previous commitments to present in the San Francisco community events and groups that demonize Israel. Due to thier violation, demand that the Israel bashing event be cancelled, and such an error not occur again.

Furthermore, let these individuals know that by holding this Israel-libeling event their organization could be subject to class action lawsuits for donors’ fraud.

Please send a BCC of your email to those individuals to natannestel@gmail.com so we can keep a record of your activism…

The Fight for San Francisco 

By Natan Nestel

In 2009 the San Francisco Jewish Federation, under the leadership of Daniel Sokatch, funded the Israel-bashing Rachel Corrie event, co-sponsored by two BDS, anti-Israel hate groups, the Jewish Voice for Peace and American Friends Service Committee (you can see the two part video expose HERE). As expected, the event created a huge rift in the Jewish community.

After an intense seven month, lash back campaign – valiantly led by the pro-Israel community, including communitywide mass protest, international media coverage and the withholding of many contributions - the Federation board decided to adopt a policy which prevents Federation grantees from demonizing and defaming Israel and/or collaborating with groups that try to delegitimize Israel.

Another result of the above-mentioned campaign was the resignation of Daniel Sokatch, as the CEO/President of the San Francisco Jewish Federation, resigned and then emerged as the CEO and President of the George Soros supported New Israel Fund - an organization whose been one of the major sources of funding for Israel-demonizing groups including, but not limited to, Breaking the Silence, B’Tselem, Rabbis for Human Rights.

Alarmingly, the international media covered the whole affair, in collaboration with extreme anti-Israel groups such Jewish Voice for Peace, as a prime example of the abandonment of Israel by American Jews (see the highlighted section in Dr. Daniel Gordis article below).

In any evert, as presented in the above call to action, the San Francisco Jewish Federation allowing its beneficiary the SFJCC to partner on June 7 with groups that demonize Israel is a violation of prior federation commitments to its donors and greater San Francisco Jewish community - Ironically, the Chair of the SFJCC, Susan Lowenberg is the daughter of Bill Lowenberg Z”L. An individual who was very active in the campaign to get the SF Federation to adopt a policy against funding groups that demonize Israel.

It should also be noted that one of the groups participating in the current SFJCC duplicity is none other than Breaking the Silence, BTS a George Soros supported, fringe group, who continuously poses as a "human rights" organization. BTS, travels to campuses and audiences across the world, using anonymous “testimonies” that libel the IDF, claiming that the IDF has been “committing war crimes.” As expected, BDS groups such as Students for Justice in Palestine, SJP, (on the ADL list of the top 10 anti-Israel groups in the US), promotes Breaking the Silence as an advocacy group. Unfortunately, the now defunct Goldstone report falsely accused Israel of “war crimes” and “crimes against humanity” based on the testimonials of the BTS group 27 times.

Breaking the Silence leader, Avner Gvaryahu - who will be participate in the SFJCC affair - has testified at the UN that “the IDF frequently kills Palestinians for trivial reasons.” In a tour of foreign diplomats, Gvaryahu lied that Israeli “soldier with a machine gun [were] shooting on innocent people.” In a similar vain, another member, Yehuda Shaul has libeled Israel claiming it has been poisoning Palestinian’s water system.

Alan Dershowitz has noted that Breaking The Silence is the “single worst offender in making the case against Israel” and is “acting incredibly irresponsibly by refusing to name sources and by making false allegations. According to Dershowitz, “they are doing tremendous damage to Israel because they are not telling the truth.”

To top it all off, the actual moderator of the Israel-libeling event, is none other than CEO/President of New Israel Fund, Daniel Sokatch, who as mentioned was the previous CEO/President of the San Francisco Jewish Federation (!), whose organization, NIF will be partnering with Breaking the Silence, on sponsoring the Israel-bashing event.

Enclosed: Daniel Gordis’ article


A growing segment of the American Jewish community is abandoning Israel.

By DANIEL GORDIS
The Jerusalem Post, Oct 15, 2009

In San Francisco, Jewish communal funds were used to support the SF Jewish Film Festival's screening of Rachel, an Israel-bashing "documentary" about Rachel Corrie of International Solidarity Movement fame.

Noting that the SFJFF was now effectively in partnership with Jewish Voices for Peace, a well known anti-Israel, pro-boycott organization, many prominent Jews vehemently protested.

(To read the whole article please click HERE)