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Edited from FB by SMS

SEATTLE RABBI PROMOTES BOYCOTT OF ISRAELI PRODUCTS

This is a bizarre attack on David Basior. He is very much a Zionist, as am I. BUT, David opposes the settlers, the tea party mentality of Israel’s ruling majority and the antisemitism WITHIN ISRAEL directed toward those of us who do conform to the narrow views of the ultra orthodox fanatics. . As for antisemitism, I have met few people and no rabbi as devoted to keeping the Jewish people and spirit alive. Yes, Kadimah doe shave a lot of BDS memebers,  Ad yes, many of these have extreme view directed not only towards the real needs of the Palestinians but toward the survival of Israel itself.  Often these “BDSers “.. like many who unthinkingly suport Israel ..are ignorant of modern Jewish history, our role since the destruction fo the Temple, and the development of the Jewish idealism that underlied the establishment of Zionism itself.  David bridges those views together in an amazing way,   He is my rabbi.

(TheMikeReport Blog) With his ready smile and gentle demeanor Rabbi David Basior’s disarming personality has earned him a loyal following as spiritual leader of the Kadima Reconstructionist Community. This past Shavuot the congregation based in the Madrona neighborhood of Seattle hosted an all night learning session, an ancient tradition associated with the giving of the Torah on Sinai. Innocuously ensconced within the jam packed program of Klezmer, astronomy, baking and even some Judaics was a session titled “Go & Learn: Jews Study & Discuss Boycott“. The class as described in Kadima’s promotional materials promised to “explore the history of boycott, study the Palestinian call for boycott divestment and sanctions (BDS), and discuss our role as progressive Jews in the BDS movement.” The BDS study session was led by local leaders of Jewish Voice for Peace, a group that has earned it’s place on ADL’s list of the top ten anti-Israel organizations.

The association with groups that promote BDS, a movement described by Seattle Jewish leaders as anti-Semitic is not at all unusual for Basior, himself a longtime member of the Jewish Voice for Peace “Rabbinical Council”. Basior has repeatedly signed on to anti-Israel boycott efforts going as far back as 2012 with a petition urging the Presbyterian church to divest from Israeli companies; doing the same again in 2014. In February of 2012 Basior lent his name to an open letter goading the United Methodist Church to divest from Israeli companies, referencing what the letter writers called “the oppression of Palestinian Christians under Israeli occupation” as an incentive.

In his zeal, Basior has no compunction about placing his name alongside anti-Zionist and blatantly anti-Semitic groups like Students for Justice in Palestine. He has even joined together with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) in calling for a boycott of Israeli beauty products. According to the ADL, the ISM, has ties to violent terror groups.

In 2015 Basior joined the Open Hillel Rabbinical Council, a group fiercely intent on introducing anti-Israel and Anti-Zionist programming into the hundreds strong chain of Hillel Houses on our college campuses.

Basior has most recently made a concerted effort to reach out to the well established Jewish community of South Seattle, holding several events at The Collaboratory, a rented hall on the corner of Rainier Avenue S. and S. Orcas St, just a stone’s throw away from several Seattle congregations.

Displaying a Torah at a Kadima event at the South Seattle Collaboratory. Photo Credit: Kadima Reconstructionist Community via Facebook
Displaying a Torah at a Kadima event at the South Seattle Collaboratory. Photo Credit: Kadima Reconstructionist Community via Facebook
While one might think that the propagating of such extreme perspectives would earn Basior pariah status in the organized Jewish community, this has not been the case. In November of 2015 Basior was invited to join prominent local Rabbis and community leaders as a lecturer at Torahthon, the Seattle area’s most prestigious communal torah learning event held annually at Herzl Ner Tamid congregation. At his session titled ” The Sacred Art of Tochecha”, Basior promised to “delve into interpersonal human communication on tense issues we find hard to talk about”. Sadly, the one issue Basior has no trouble talking about is his anathema for the Jewish state.