Media Activism
Both Joe Eigner and Nancy Murray had letters to the editor published in the New Mexican on Friday, August 24, 2018. They are reprinted below along with the letters to which they are responding.
Bravo Joe
When he saw that an organization he supports, New Energy Economy, allied with anti-Zionist organizations that had nothing to do with the organizing protest (Jewish Voice for Peace ABQ, Friends of Sabeel ABQ, Santa Feans for Justice in Palestine, ABQ Peace and Justice Center, and Vets for Peace SF) at the National Governors Association Conference in Santa Fe last month, Joe Eigner did what any self-enterprising SFMEW activist would do: he protested. He let them know they were doing wrong.
The “Banner” under which these anti-Semitic/anti-Zionist organizations joined was related to this bullet point of protest: “Free speech rights, including right to support Palestinian human rights through boycotts.” The irony, of course, is that the BDS (boycott, divestment, sanction) movement has no interest in promoting peace, and indeed makes life harder for Palestinians while having little-to-no effect on Israelis. An organization can put “peace” and “justice” in its name all it wants, but if it doesn’t actually promote peace, or indeed takes actions or allies itself with organizations that oppose peace, then their purpose is hollow, or worse, hypocritical.
So Joe did the right thing. First he wrote to NEE’s Executive Director, Mariel Nanasi, who was also one of the organizers of the protest:
Why list the controversial Palestinian boycott movement? The stated goal of the BDS movement leaders is the destruction of Israel, not the creation of a Palestinian state living in peace side-by-side with Israel. How does this help to promote all of the worthwhile issues listed in the program announcement?Sorry, but you have been taken in by the local pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel faction here in Santa Fe.
Then he followed-up with another note to NEE’s Miles Conway:
I support 100% the work of NEE, and will continue to do so.But when you have coalition partners with destructive agendas it’s important to confront them, and if needed disengage from them. No tent should be big enough to include them!
And then he wrote to the New Mexican, which covered the demonstration (see here and here) without mentioning the organizations that had signed onto the protest alliance:
The July 20 protest march at the National Governors Association 2018 summer conference was a good idea (“Protesters demand action from governors” New Mexican, July 21). As a progressive Democrat, a Jew, and a supporter of Israel I was saddened that one of the goals of the march according to an email distributed by several participating organizations, was to “protect free speech rights to support Palestinians through boycotts” of Israel.
Omar Bargouti, a Palestinian founder of the boycott movement, has made it clear that its mission is the destruction of the Jewish state. Anti-boycott bills passed by half the states in the U.S are based on well-settled law that commercial speech can be regulated. The laws do not abridge individual free speech.
We should not weaken our solidarity by spreading false facts about free speech and the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement.
Bravo, Joe. Keep up the strong activism.
Yasher Koach Nancy
Nancy Jane Murray replied to an unsubstantiated (fact-free) letter to the editor by Brian O’Keefe (New Mexican August 16, 2018) about a July 30 article about Creativity for Peace.
O’Keefe claims that Creativity for Peace 
isn’t honest because it doesn’t create a polemic against Israel: “Remotely considering the camp provides a neutral, level playing field to work on being heard and speak without judgment is delusional, avoiding a real grasp of truth.” He goes on to reveal his “objective assessment of the facts”: “Jewish Israelis have lives of privilege…Israel is the oppressor of the Palestinians…” and we should “Teach the ladies the truth [of Israel oppression]…not just assuage some of our own guilty conscience.” Where, again, are those “objective…facts” Brian?
Murray responds in the printed August 24 edition of the New Mexican:
In response to Brian O’Keefe’s “Teaching Moment” (August 17) commenting on the story “Summer camp with a purpose” (July 30), let’s provide context. Hats off to Israel for creating a thriving, vibrant country, in a barren land given to the Jews as a homeland by the United Nations in 1948. Can you blame Israel, which is the size of New Jersey, for hesitating to give over control of lands (taken in wars defending itself) and have a contiguous border with a country led by Hamas (currently attacking her) that is likely to create an unstable, undemocratic government with terrorist leanings and an ally of those who even today publicly call for Israel’s obliteration? It is truly sad that the Palestinian people are so restricted and limited, but they are their own oppressors.
Talk about oppression, the Palestinians oppress even the participants in a peace-oriented camp like Creativity for Peace. This is reported in the third and fourth paragraphs of the July 29 article cited above (emphasis added) in the New Mexican:
Ameera, now a teacher from the West Bank town of Ramallah who asked that only her first name be published because she fears retribution back home, is the Palestinian coordinator for Creativity for Peace, a Santa Fe-based nonprofit that has offered a summer camp for Middle Eastern teenage girls for the past 20 years.
In 2005, Ameera was one of those girls. She has been actively involved with Creativity for Peace ever since, though it hasn’t been easy. Many fellow Palestinians don’t agree with the efforts of such groups, she said. “They think I’m betraying my country.”
Does dialogue lead to peace? While we’d hope so, in this case we’d like to see real data to prove it. In the meantime any “understanding” that may come from Creativity for Peace’s activities seems to be oppressed by the Palestinians themselves.
We need you to volunteer for SFMEW
It’s been a while since we posted. Not because there haven’t been reasons to, but because we need more hands/volunteers to get involved so we can stay current. We need you to help us advance the mission of SFMEW. We especially need editors and writers, as well as organizers and media/political activists. Tell us you’ll be active; send an email to info@sfmew.org. If you are willing to take on some responsibility as a volunteer and can attend a meeting on Thursday, August 30 at 7:30 send an email to info@sfmew.org and we’ll send you the details.
Lannan Again…
On January 23, 2019, the Lannan Foundation is bringing to the Lensic Ilan Pappé, a “historian” who believes ideology is more important than facts in depicting the Arab-Israeli history (see CAMERA’s expose on Pappe: “Backgrounder on Professor Ilan Pappe: When Ideology Trumps Scholarship”).
Indeed it’s established fact that Pappe makes up quotes from David Ben-Gurion and others (see CAMERA’s 2012 article, “Did Pappe Invent Another Quote?“). In these 
days of ridicule of the notion of “false facts” and “alternative truth” why would the Lannan Foundation give voice to a speaker who fraudulently depicts history? We’ll have more to say about this in a future blog posting. But if you are as disturbed by Lannan’s perpetuation of false facts as we are, consider weeding out propaganda by writing your own op-ed now – perhaps they’ll change their line-up of speakers?
BTW, Pappe will be “moderated” by less-than-moderate Dima Khalidi, who is “the founder and director of Palestine Legal and Cooperating Counsel with the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR). Her work includes providing legal advice to activists, engaging in advocacy to protect their rights to speak out for Palestinian rights, and educating activists and the public about the repression of Palestine advocates.” In other words, she advocates for the BDS movement (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions), carrying on work of her father, Rashid Khalidi, a Columbia University professor who uses propaganda, lies, and falsehoods to advance his work. See our previous posting on Khalidi’s propaganda as reported by CAMERA here.
Santa Fe Jewish Film Festival 
The Santa Fe Jewish Film Festival line-up for the fall is impressive. They continue with very creative programming, like the chamber music concert they produced on Sunday, August 26 after screening Joe’s Violin. Go to their website for details.
Finally, we wish you, your family, and friends a L’Shanah Tovah U’metukah – a sweet and happy new year!
SFMEW is a beneficiary of the Jewish Federation of New Mexico, which we thank for supporting us in this 2017-2018 fiscal year, and we appreciate its ongoing
financial allocation in the forthcoming 2018-2019 year. If you haven’t donated to the Federation this fiscal year, make JFNM the recipient of your charitable contribution for Rosh Hashanah.