https://www.tikkun.org
> Hi!
>
> I thought you might want to hear a bit of update about
> what has been happening this past week.
>
> Because of the ongoing generosity and moral seriousness
> of people in The TIKKUN COMMUNITY and others who share
> this direction, we were able to raise enough money to
> print a second full-page ad in the Washington Post on
> Wednesday, April 10th. The ad said “NO” to both Ariel
> Sharon’s violent rampage against the Palestinian people
> and “NO” to acts of Palestinian terror against Israeli
> civilians. It then went on to call upon President Bush
> to play a leadership role in creating a UN-sponsored
> military intervention to separate and protect the
> Palestinian people and the Israeli people from each other,
> and to convene an international conference, along the
> lines proposed by the Saudis, and starting from proposals
> made at Taba between Israel and Palestine in January 2001,
> and aiming to achieve a) An End to the Occupation, b)
> Reparations for the Palestinian refugees, and c) An
> end to terror and security for Israel.
>
> No sooner had the ad appeared on Wednesday than the White
> House floated a trial balloon saying that, “it would not
> rule out the use of US troops in a peacekeeping force.”
> The implication was that someone there was paying serious
> attention to what The TIKKUN COMMUNITY was saying.
>
> That night, Rabbi Lerner appeared on MSNBC and debated
> Alan Dershowitz. The next morning, Rabbi Lerner was given
> a full half hour to present the ideas of the Tikkun Community
> on C-SPANS’s Washington Journal. What was amazing was
> that most of the callers from around the country were
> very very positive about the Tikkun message!!
>
> Nevertheless, it also seemed clear that the message needed
> to be reinforced by showing that someone stood behind
> it in a serious way.
>
> So, on Thursday, April 11th, the TIKKUN COMMUNITY convened
> a rally in front of the State Department with hundreds of
> people. The message was strong: we support Bush and
> Powell’s first steps in the direction of pressuring Israel
> but realize that even if they were serious about pressure,
> they are asking for something that is of only momentary
> significance–the withdrawal of troops from the Palestinian
> towns. Why momentary? Because they are only being withdrawn
> to the outskirts of the towns, and that means that they
> would be in position to immediately return the moment
> violence resumed. Both Rabbi Michael Lerner and TIKKUN
> COMMUNITY co-chair Cornel West explained that the need at
> this moment is for full Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank
> and Gaza, or at the very least for an international force to
> separate the two sides and immediately stop the killing.
> Without that, the inevitable next acts of Palestinian terror
> (after what may be three weeks of Israeli state terror which
> has certainly sowed the seed for generations of new
> terrorists) would lead those only partially withdrawn forces
> to resume their rampage. Only a full and enforced separation
> would in fact stop the killings.
>
> After the rally, covered by some of the national media, Rabbi
> Lerner, Cornel West and 18 others sat down in protest of the
> Bush Administration’s policies so far and were arrested. They
> were handcuffed with plastic cuffs, which cut many of their
> skins, and turned many fingers blue. After two hours of pain,
> the cuffs were removed, and they were put in to a holding
> cell. Rabbi Lerner and Cornel West were the last to be
> released after posting funds for a fine ($100 each) — at 11
> p.m. that evening. As a result, Rabbi Lerner was unable to
> attend the meeting of the New York TIKKUN COMMUNITY scheduled
> for that evening.
>
> That same day, a rally in support of the D.C. action and in
> opposition to the Occupation was convened by The Tikkun
> Community in San Francisco. Both Peter Gabel and Deborah Kory
> were among the speakers to the over 100 people who assembled
> at the Israeli consulate. Similar actions took place in NY
> that day.
>
> After being released, Rabbi Lerner traveled to Boston where
> he and Cornel West spoke at the New England conference of
> The TIKKUN COMMUNITY, co-sponsored by Call to Action, a
> cooperating progressive Catholic organization, to a crowd
> of over 300 people — on Sunday. The New England branch of
> The TIKKUN COMMUNITY then held a planning meeting for their
> future activity — and they appear to be the first region that
> is actually building a solid infrastructure. We are still
> hoping that others in other areas of the country will follow
> suit.
>
> I thought this report might be helpful to you.
>
> We are still waiting to hear from you about what role you
> might want to play in helping us build the project of the
> TIKKUN COMMUNITY (e.g. rapid response to challenge media
> distortions, organizing a local TIKKUN Leadership Group, or
> salon, or anything else that you might be willing to do to
> help make TIKKUN, among other things, an effective counter
> to the AIPAC — one-dimensional support for Israel (we
> are the progressive pro-Israel group that supports Israel
> but opposes Ariel Sharon’s policies).
>
> We are also trying to raise money (we need large donations,
> but whatever you can give will be appreciated) to buy more
> advertisements letting people know that there is another
> voice. We hope to advertise a gathering April 28th in Los
> Angeles — and to further let people know that they
> can be pro-Israel without being pro-Sharon’s policies. So
> let us know what you can contribute in way of time, money,
> energy, and ideas.
>
> Warm greetings,
> Liat Weingart
> Tikkun Community Coordinator
>
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