Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), an organization that supports Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS), has come under fire for a since-deleted tweet that appears to glorify the First Intifada.
The December 8 tweet featured a poster from a JVP member stating “where there is oppression, may there thrive resistance” and “L’Chaim Intifada.” JVP described the First Intifada in the tweet as “a series of mass protests against Israeli settler-colonialism and occupation.”
277 Israelis were murdered during the first intifada.
Today, the repulsive "Jewish Voice for Peace" is celebrating every one of those deaths. pic.twitter.com/AbbmUIa6u3
— Elder of Ziyon 🇮🇱 (@elderofziyon) December 9, 2020
Various pro-Israel users on Twitter condemned JVP’s tweet.
“277 Israelis, mostly civilians, were murdered during the First Intifada,” Avi Mayer, director of global communications for the American Jewish Committee, tweeted. “What do you call a group that celebrates the deaths of Jews?”
He added in a subsequent tweet that the poster in the JVP tweet “equates Palestinian rioters with partisans during World War II, suggesting that Israel is akin to Nazi Germany. As a reminder, this is defined as a form of antisemitism by the [International] Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.”
The Orwellian-named "Jewish Voice for Peace" has issued a tweet celebrating the Palestinian campaign of violence known as the First Intifada.
277 Israelis, mostly civilians, were murdered during the First Intifada.
What do you call a group that celebrates the deaths of Jews? pic.twitter.com/EprwAxBDNG
— Avi Mayer (@AviMayer) December 9, 2020
As has been noted, the poster on the right equates Palestinian rioters with partisans during World War II, suggesting that Israel is akin to Nazi Germany. As a reminder, this is defined as a form of antisemitism by the Int'l Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. https://t.co/bc4Zn168uC
— Avi Mayer (@AviMayer) December 9, 2020
The Israel Advocacy Movement, a pro-Israel group in Britain, similarly tweeted: “This utterly repulsive antisemitic tweet from JVP will shock you. In it they compare the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade terror group and [Leila] Khaled (a terrorist who hijacked a plane) to Jews who resisted the Nazi genocide. This is disgusting, even by their standard.”
This utterly repulsive antisemitic tweet from JVP will shock you.
In it they compare the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade terror group and Laila Khaled (a terrorist who hijacked a plane) to Jews who resisted the Nazi genocide.
This is disgusting, even by their standard. https://t.co/Z8jeiAoLZg
— Israel Advocacy Movement (@israel_advocacy) December 8, 2020
International human rights lawyer Arsen Ostrovsky also tweeted, “[The] 1st Intifada was a brutal and violent Palestinian uprising. But trust [JVP] to stand up and glorify the terrorists.”
Actually, 1st Intifada was a brutal and violent Palestinian uprising. But trust @jvplive to stand up and glorify the terrorists. https://t.co/rsemzCfxhr
— Arsen Ostrovsky (@Ostrov_A) December 9, 2020
JVP did not respond to the Journal’s request for comment.
According to Jewish Virtual Library, the First Intifada in 1987 was sparked by rumors that Israelis killed four Palestinians in a refugee camp in the Gaza Strip and that Israeli soldiers poisoned a Gaza water reservoir. The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) “played a lead role in orchestrating the insurrection,” according to Jewish Virtual Library, and Palestinian death squads killed around 1,000 Palestinians for “collaborating with Israel” from 1987-1993. This was known as the intrafada.