When being anti-Israel is your religion

This past week marked the Jewish observance of Passover.  At the beginning of the observance, Jews from all around the world gathered at the dinner tables to recount the Biblical story of the Jewish people’s Exodus from Egypt at the Passover Seder (ritual meal).

However, that was not the story being read by the activists of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP).

JVP is an extreme-left group of Jews who’s stated platform is to “support the aspirations of Israelis and Palestinians for security and self-determination.”  While they claim to support the aspirations of both the Israelis and Palestinians, their extreme rhetoric, affiliations, and demagoguery against Israel prove this statement false.

JVP routinely teams up with organizations with blatantly anti-Jewish views. The JVP, in the not-to-distant past has teamed up with the group Al-Awda – Palestinian Right to Return Coalition.  Al-Awda’s co-founder and Hezbollah fangirl, Abbas Hamideh, spends most of his time perpetuating the mythical Deir Yassin massacre of 1948, while at the same time calling for a massive ethnic cleansing of the regions Jews, mirroring actions taken by the Nazis (all in the name of ‘justice’ of course).

Additionally, despite claims that they have cut ties, JVP still enjoys the company of anti-Jewish conspiracy theorist Alison Weir.  This includes hosting her at events co-sponsored by Al-Awda.

Not only do they hold very anti-Israel viewpoints, they’re trying to turn Israel hatred into a religion of its own.  The JVP who claim to be “inspired by Jewish tradition” decided to go ahead and create their own Passover Haggadah.

However, unlike the original Exodus story which discusses the suffering of the Jewish people at the hands of Pharaoh; and there ultimate redemption by the hand of God, this Hagadah is filled with social justice diatribes and anti-Israel rhetoric.  Every aspect of the JVP Seder talks about why Israel is bad.

Amongst the numerous rewrites of the Haggadah, the JVP, interprets the act of breaking of the middle piece of Matzah (Unleavened bread) as a symbol for the “break that occurred in Palestinian life culture” at the hands of Israel. Rather than discuss the plagues brought down on the ancient Egyptians, they write about plagues the Palestinian people are suffering from, at the hands of Israel. And what JVP Seder isn’t complete without a “L’chayim” to the BDS movement?

Anti-Israel groups often point to JVP members (as well as the extremist Neturei Karta) at their rallies as “real Jews.”  However, members of the JVP do not care about Judaism.  To them, Judaism is nothing more than a social justice campaign.

While the members of JVP are Jewish, it is clear from their Haggadah that their true religion is leftist Israel-hatred.

JVP is nothing more than a group of radical leftists who only connect to their Jewish identity in order to utilize it as leverage to criticize Israel.  JVP’s Judaism is nothing more than a shield from legitimate criticism that they like to hide behind, the same role the group plays for their anti-Jewish coalition partners.