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Michael Rabb, the person who has been leading unsuccessful efforts to get the University of Colorado to divest investments from companies who do business in Israel, is inciting more mayhem in Boulder. He wrote a despicable letter to the editor of the Daily Camera that was published on Saturday. Mr. Rabb is inviting people to attend a “vigil” next Saturday morning at Boulder’s Congregation Bonai Shalom to protest the “ethnic cleansing of the indigenous population of Palestine.” You can read a copy of his letter to the editor here.
We felt that his invective could not go unanswered. As a result, we submitted the following letter to the editor this morning:
To Editor:
Michael Rabb’s proposal (Letters, 11/10) to protest at a Jewish place of worship in Boulder is despicable and offensive. Rabb seeks to demonize worshipers simply because they share a religion with political leaders he opposes half a world away in Israel. Rabb’s allegations of ethnic cleansing are so far over the top, that we are confident readers will easily recognize his one-sided, distorted, unfair narrative for what it is: a blatant attempt to blame all Boulder Jews based on his misrepresentations of actions of Israelis. Rather than deal in facts and the reality of a very complicated situation, Rabb resorts to the shameful tactics of extremists and bigots everywhere when he distorts facts and then applies those “facts” to generate stereotypes about an entire religion.
Like all people in this country, the Jews of Boulder are entitled to go to their houses of worship so they may pray free from intimidation. Mr. Rabb owes an apology to the Jewish people for his bigoted, insensitive tactics, and the Daily Camera should be ashamed to have given him a platform to promote them.
Scott L. Levin
Regional Director, Mountain States Region
Anti-Defamation League
I would like to thank Sara-Jane and Bill Cohen, Jerry Pinsker and Tom Trager of our Boulder Steering Committee for bringing this matter to our attention.
Scott L. Levin
Regional Director
Mountain States Region
Anti-Defamation League
1120 Lincoln Street, Suite 1301
Denver, CO 80203-2140
303-830-7177 ext. 215 (phone)
Kudos. I'm looking forward to seeing this appear in the Camera.
There was a very good letter in today's Camera rebutting Rabb's letter, but the more rebuttals, the better.
i think i first saw the letter from Mr Rabb and called SaraJane. Funny thing, isnt mr Rabb Jewish? A self-hating Jew is the worst.
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While I think it is important to challenge actions that are discriminatory, I find that the use of strong and judgement language (e.g. despicable), do little to support legitimate allegations of wrongdoing.
Here is the real letter I sent to the Editor of the Daily Camera – without their edits. Why they thought they needed to edit my words, my thoughts, is yet another insult from our local newspaper:
"No Thanks for another "Anti-Israel Diatribe"
I am saddened and frustrated when a fellow area resident, and in turn,
the Daily Camera, choose to write and publish a one-sided, fact-starved
diatribe against Jews and Israel (Michael Rabb, November 10) without the
teensiest effort of balance or fairness. But what really motivates me to
write this letter is his call for intimidation of fellow citizens who
will merely be going about their business on a typical Saturday morning,
attending the Sabbath worship service of their synagogue.
Mr. Rabb’s letter – and his choices of words – intend to
inflame and misinform the reader. In his plea for readers to understand
the plight of Palestinians, he forgets that there are two sides of every
deep conflict on this earth. He forgets that “Arab” countries
in which Jews lived and maintained communities for hundreds and even
thousands of years, at the same time “expelled”
their Jewish citizens; those Jewish communities experienced “home
destruction”. they experienced “ethnically cleansed”
villages; they were not “allowed to return”; and they
experienced “fear inducing propaganda”; (oh wait – he’s
describing his own letter!).
And Mr. Rabb’s implications that the 1967 war was just another
opportunity for that small nation to continue “ethnic
cleansing”; into the lands of neighboring nations which, by the way,
all had troops amassed readying a massive and deadly set of attacks from
all of Israel’s borders is just laughable if it weren’t so evil
in thought.
Mr. Rabb – take your anger and proposal of intimidation of fellow
Boulder neighbors who happen to attend a local synagogue somewhere else.
Work to build peace, as many Jews do (even though you would not likely
recognize it as that). And people of Boulder: Please do not take
this person’s bait, anger, and blind-rage.