THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT COLUMN FROM 1977 AS WE CONTINUE TO EXPLORE THE RADICAL INFLUENCE ON MIDDLE EAST POLICIES…..
Many have commented on the influence upon Obama of Saul Alinsky, Bill Ayres, Rashid Khalidi, etc. and they are right to do so. But Bret Stephens (drawing on Peter Beinart biography of Obama) points out the influence of Arnold Jacob Wolf and the coterie around him in shaping Obama’s views on the Middle East. Wolf was a Chicago rabbi who served for a time as Hillel rabbi at Yale. He was the chairman of Breira, the first in what would become a series of Jewish anti-Israel organizations pretending to attack the state out of concern for its welfare. Although Breira as an organization did not last long, its influence on American policy has been great. Tom Friedman, who still spills anti-Israel bile from his perch as the New York Times’ chief columnist and deep thinker, was an early Breira acolyte and Sandy Berger was active in one of its lineal descendants, Americans for Peace Now. Jeremy Ben Ami, genetically alas, the son of a great Zionist, Yitzhak Ben Ami, is spiritually the son of Breira. And Breira, most especially its rabbis, have largely taken over Jewish communal organizations (which indeed they set out to do). There is no better example than John Ruskay who started out in the vicious CONAME, went on to become one of Breira’s two initial paid staff. went on to become president of Jewish Theological Seminary and now serves as executive vice president and CEO of the United Jewish Appeal–Federation of Jewish Philanthropies of New York. The funding of left wing radical groups (including ones spouting anti-Semitism) by Jewish communal organizations has become such a scandal that watchdog groups have sprung up around the country to protest their actions. If you read this article you will understand the roots of the problem.
MIDSTREAM April 1977 The Rabbis of Breira
We, the whole Jewish people preach the destruction of America (Arthur Waskow, Executive Board, Breira)
From one point of view Breira (the Hebrew word for “alternative”) is the current success story of American Jewish organizations. In the three years since it held its first public meeting in a Manhattan synagogue, Breira has burgeoned into a national membership organization, held its first national conference in Washington D.C.. established a series of local chapters, inaugurated a monthly journal, interChange, won substantial funding, assembled a glittering roster of intellectuals and well known rabbis for its letterhead, and attracted national and indeed international attention. It has succeeded,. in the words of Alan Mintz, one of its founders, “beyond any of our expectations.”