NIF UK promotes Danny Rubenstein, despite his “apartheid” comment at EU/UN conference
The New Israel Fund in the UK went ahead with a September 3 appearance by Danny Rubenstein (Ha’aretz columnist), despite his labeling Israel as an “ apartheid state” at the EU/UN “International Conference of Civil Society in Support of Israeli-Palestinian Peace.” (The British Zionist Federation dropped him as a speaker).
NIF has a history of supporting individuals and organizations working to demonize and delegitimize Israel. Back in 2004, Shamai Leibowtiz used his status as an NIF Law Fellow to promote divestment and a single state solution. More recent NIF grantees include Adalah and Mousawa, who have submitted papers to the UN accusing Israel of apartheid, referring to Zionism as racism, and distributing an alternative constitution for Israel that would abolish the concept of a Jewish state.
Many NIF sponsored NGOs are likely to take part in Durban 2009, a follow up to the 2001 UN World Conference Against Racism, which spawned the use of the apartheid analogy to undermine and eliminate Israel. Given this context, NIF executive director, Ellen Goldberg’s commitment to Rubenstein’s “exceptional” “dedication to Israel’s future,” is highly worrying.
I sent the following letter to The Jewish Chronicle newspaper in the UK, which saw fit not to publish it:
“After the New Israel Fund-sponsored talk with Danny Rubinstein, I asked the Israeli journalist if it was true that he had remained silent while his UN co-panelist Clare Short had called for a boycott of Israel. He professed ignorance of Clare Short and of what had been said. So I asked him: “If you were on a panel when a co-panelist called for such a boycott, what would you do?” He grabbed my arm and asserted, “I can tell you now and you can tell whoever you want that I am against a boycott of Israel.” I said, with respect, that is not answering the question, and that as a journalist he should appreciate the importance of factual accuracy. It is easy to say that you are against a boycott when you are in a Jewish gathering. But by then the damage has already been done. Moreover, since Rubinstein had just told this notoriously anti-Israel UN group that Israel was an apartheid state, his silence on the boycott issue would surely have been interpreted as acquiescence.”