Mennonite Company and Israel

B"H

Our local Jewish newspaper's lead story this week was about a store in our community called "Ten Thousand Villages". This store is a franchise (it might be lurking in your community too). It is owned by the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC).

Investigation by the newspaper into the policies of this organization began with a local Jewish resident who went into the store and found out that the store doesn't buy from Israel or China. She understood why they would not want to buy from China (China's record of human rights violations and trade abuses is well known), but why Israel (and why was Israel the only other country included in their ban)? This was especially vexing because this store's policy included Jewish Israel in their ban but not "Palestine".

Without going into the litany of lies and misinformation this group is spreading about Israel (it is extensive and it appears to me in the article that this group is very dangerous -- I did a google for their site and searched "Israel" there and got this list of articles about Israel) but lies and misinformation aside, I'm at a loss to explain something....

I grew up in the 60s -- I was part of the pacifist anti-war generation. I understand the pacifist perspective and, for the most part, agree with it (though I withhold my pacifism when the choice is "fight or be killed", but I digress....). So I am totally floored when a group of people who is supposedly dedicated to pacifism supports a group of people whose only recent "contribution" to society as a whole has been war, killing, destroying and just general mayhem.

This group of people took the Gaza areas of Gush Katif which were thriving with farms and beautiful homes and turned it into a barren area, devoid of vegetation, used it then (and use it now) and a launching pad for missiles (which they use to attack and kill Israeli citizens, including children) and a training area for terrorists. This is what they do with land that was handed over to them on a silver platter. They didn't have to promise (much less keep the promise) to recognize Israel and condemn terrorism.

But the Mennonite Central Committee in its infinite "wisdom" has decided that these warlike people are more deserving of financial (and moral -- boy, is the the wrong word for the Palestinians or what????) support than the peaceful citizens of the State of Israel, a Sovereign state, a member of the United Nations since they've been a nation, a seeker of peace, a defender of its own people, who, I might add, include Jews, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Baha'i (this peaceful religion thinks so highly of Israel that its world headquarters is in the Israeli port city of Haifa), includes people of all racial and national origins, and, while it is a Jewish state (the only Jewish State in the world in an area of land about the size of New Jersey), has pretty much universal suffrage and politicians from all ethnic groups, a country that is a standout in the area of Human Rights in a part of the world where Human Rights violations are so common they aren't even questioned.

By throwing their support behind the evil regimes of the Palestinians, the Mennonite Central Committee places itself squarely in the camp of the liars, the haters, and the war mongers. And, as long as they do that, we have to make sure we never give them a cent of our hard earned money. We can't be sure it won't go to support our enemies and the enemies of the free world.

Check out my other blogs:
Jewish Singles
Strong Jewish Women