On 8th July, PJJIP wrote to the PJJIP leadership:
Dear Josh and Charley
PJJIP has responded to the Board of Deputies’ action in disciplining the 36 Deputies who signed the letter to the Financial Times. Our analysis shows that the Board’s basis for the disciplinary action has no foundation in fact.
PJJIP, as an organisation with members in 30% of Reform and 70% of Liberal communities, is deeply concerned by the silence of Progressive Judaism in this affair, in two respects:
- One of the main motivations for the merger was that it would increase the weight of progressive Judaism, both within the Jewish community and externally. Most of the 36 are deputies from Progressive congregations, and you must know that many in Progressive Judaism would strongly support the letter’s criticisms of Israeli conduct in Gaza and the West Bank. Yet the Board of Deputies has been able to discipline the 36, and the Chief Rabbi to pose as the authoritative voice of British Jewry, with no visible opposition from PJ to these sectarian positions.
- More fundamentally, the Board’s action is clearly intended to chill Jewish opposition to the Gaza war. It is now beyond reasonable doubt that Gaza is the scene of numerous war crimes committed by the IDF and forces under its control. Many Jews feel that they cannot stay silent in the face of these crimes, especially while the Israeli government continues to insist that it is acting in the interests of Jews everywhere. Yet our communal bodies cannot even admit to the existence of such widespread opposition to Israel’s actions, let alone give voice to them. To stay silent while dissent is repressed, as the Board has done, is to support, albeit passively, an enormous injustice. There will be a moral price to pay for this silence.
PJJIP urges you to speak out. Defend the right of dissent, and accept publicly that Jews are deeply divided over the war on Gaza and the occupation of the West Bank. This is your duty to your membership, and to the honourable tradition of Jewish dissent and of speaking truth to power.