 |
photo/courtesy of rabbi michael lerner In a caricature left at his residence, Rabbi Michael Lerner (right) is wearing an “I love Gaza” button and telling Judge Richard Goldstone “ any enemy of Israel is a friend of mine.” photo/courtesy of rabbi michael lerner via jweekly.com |
Five other recipients will share the award with Goldstone: Arizona Democrat Rep. Raul Grijalva (one of Israel’s leading critics in Congress), Jewish theater founder Naomi Newman, Rabbi Marcia Prager, C.K. Williams, and Sheikh Hamza Yusuf (whose unsavory ties once made him the subject of a Weekly Standard take-down).
But forget the official award recipients for a second. Apparently, those who truly deserve this recognition are Tikkun and its editor, Rabbi Michael Lerner. Here’s the publication’s press release:
When Tikkun editor Rabbi Michael Lerner announced that Tikkun would be extending this honor to Justice Goldstone in Berkeley, his house was attacked by right-wing Zionists. On March 14th, some of these people may picket or even disrupt the event when Tikkun acknowledges Goldstone for the good he did for humanity in his UN reports on Rwanda, Bosnia and Gaza.Tikkun needs and deserves support from those of us who recognize that, in giving this award, Tikkun has once again distinguished itself as one of the most courageous progressive voices in the U.S. And that is one major reason why YOU should be coming to this celebration to honor Tikkun, Rabbi Lerner, and Justice Richard Goldstone in person.So if you were thinking that it’s absurd for a Jewish group to give an award to someone like Goldstone, who has done everything in his power to attempt to delegitimize the Jewish state, you need to ask yourself a few questions. Why would you try to undercut Tikkun’s courageous decision to give this award? And why would you seek to ruin Tikkun’s moment of glory and recognition?
With characteristic courage, Tikkun has even courageously written a press release about its courageous decision. So let’s commend Tikkun and Rabbi Lerner, and acknowledge that it’s not easy to criticize Israel from 3,000 miles away, knowing that somewhere on the Internet, Neoconservatives might criticize your criticism.
