Palestinian Flag Flies over Camp Solomon Schechter
For over six decades Camp Solomon Schechter alongside the Placid shores of Lake Joshua Stamper has been the gateway to Judaism and love of Israel for generations of young Jewish campers in the Pacific Northwest. For some Schechterites though, their blissful camp experience was jarred late last week by the raising of the Palestinian flag over the storied campgrounds.
An email sent to camp families by the Schechter administration (link here) acknowledged the incident this past Friday, describing it as one designed to “help develop empathy” and a “teachable moment”. Whatever the intent, the raising of the Palestinian flag over the camp was unexpected and disturbing for some campers, who according to the email expressed “sadness and anger” at the sight. The email sent by the camp noted that this feeling of “uncertainty” was especially true for some of the Israeli campers and staff.
Solomon Schechter administration indicated in their email that they raised the flag as a sign of “friendship and acceptance” for a group of visiting Palestinian Muslims and Christians. The Palestinian delegation, which also included some Israeli children under the auspices of Kids4Peace have joined the camp for the first five days of the new session.
Elena Alberstone told TMR that this is not the Schechter where she once sent her son. “It’s sad how much things have changed” said Alberstone, “my son – currently serving in the IDF – loved Schechter when he was young. Very Zionist, with Israeli scouts, gaga, Hebrew, Israeli food, the whole package. I would never send a child of mine there now.”
David Jacoby, a lifetime Seattleite and longtime member of the Jewish community expressed disappointment at the actions of the camp. “Solomon Shechter flying the Palestinian flag is a feel-good bromide that creates the illusion of problem-solving” said Jacoby. “It’s well intentioned, but it misses the point. Two decades of peace negotiations between Israel and Palestinians have failed primarily because of the Palestinian’s refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish state.” Jacoby’s wife, Beth concurs, adding that “the time to raise the Palestinian flag over our summer camps is when they stop burning the Israeli flag at theirs”.
The camp administration maintained in their email communication that despite their actions, they remain “unabashedly pro-Israel” and “we are celebrating Israel alongside our new friends”.
Acknowledging the strong emotional reaction some of the ‘Shechterites’ expressed at the sight of the Palestinian flag fluttering over their camp, the administration announced that they would take down the Palestinian flag for Shabbat… along with the Israeli flag.
UPDATE: Camp Solomon Schechter issued the following statement in response to the controversy – more here.
UPDATE: Sam Perlin, the Executive Director and Andy Kaplowitz, the Co-Board President of Camp Solomon Schechter have issued the following statement.
Camp Solomon Schechter regrets raising the Palestinian flag alongside the US, Canadian, and Israeli flags on Thursday and Friday mornings and it is a long standing CSS custom to lower flags for Shabbat and raise them again Sunday morning. We neglected to foresee in such actions the serious political implications and for that lapse in judgment, we are deeply sorry.
RELATED ARTICLES:
- JNS: In Raising Palestinian Flag, Camp Disrupts Safe Space for Zionism
- IsraellyCool: Thank you Camp Solomon Schechter
- Tablet: Jewish Camp Teaches Kids a Lesson
- JPost: The Problem With Flying the Palestinian Flag
- Times of Israel: Reaction to Flag Raising the Real Tragedy
- Times of Israel: When Color War is a Prelude to Holy War
- Arutz 7: Grovelling does not make our enemies like us.
- JTA: Camp Critics Holier than the Pope?
- Kids4Peace: Our Visit to Camp Solomon Schechter.
- Link to email from Solomon Schechter administration about Palestinian flag incident
- Camp Solomon Schechter response to Palestinian flag controversy.
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There is more ISM subversion behind this flag incident that people know nothing about. To read and understand what the Camp Director pulled and why visit my article at Arutz Sheva in the OpEd section or my blog at kaplanwatch.blogspot.com. Be sure to read the hyperlinks.Kids4 Peace has a brochure they distribute with a known terrorist on the cover.
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hay check out the Palestinian day camp…they welcome Israel
http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/kids4peace-and-the-gesture-of-raising-a-palestinian-flag/
Tablet Magazine published a thoughtful article on the controversy. Worth a read, here is the link. http://www.tabletmag.com/scroll/242044/jewish-summer-camp-flies-palestinian-flag-teaches-kids-bad-lesson-in-politics
The following piece in the Jewish press by Stephen Flatow is an elegant response to those who deserve a cogent answer as to what fuels the feelings of many who have participated in this discussion: http://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/opinions/seven-lessons-from-the-halamish-massacre/2017/07/28/
My daughter attended this camp, and now is serving in the IDF. I am aghast at the outrageous decision to raise a Palestinian flag, as it shows complete ignorance of the situation. I am disgusted at the politically correct movement that sees moral equivalence in violence in defending oneself/country versus violence to destroy another. The people responsible should no longer work in a Jewish camp, organization, or represent any cause that is affiliated with Israel.
Please tell your daughter how proud we all are of her and how much we appreciate her dedication to Am Yisrael.
I can’t delete the above,
What I want to say is כל הכבוד
Carrie, I agree with you 100%. Those responsible for raising that terrorist-fakestinian flag should be fired. They should never have any influence over Jewish children again.
Money talks. Cut funds, and replace the leadership.
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The camp administration can’t tell right from wrong, and they need to be replaced ASAP, preferably before the end of the summer so that the kids can learn from this terrible mistake, and know that Conservative Judaism hasn’t lost the plot of Jewish history.
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I was a senior counselor for two years at CSS on Whidbey Island. My wife was also a counselorthere but at a different time. We had a most lovely experience with staff and with Rabbi Stamper. We supported Camp by sending our own three children and some grandkids too for many times and years.
One of our grandchildren attended last year.
We frankly cannot see how we can sing the CSS praises anymore. Unfortunately this attitude by the admin is pervasive and reprehensible and no apology can be sincere since this decision was promulgated by a true palestinian lover, we believe.
Perhaps admin should change Rabbi Stamper Lake name to Palestine Lake? This way Palestinians can also wash their bloody hands there. Might as well.
Dr Tony David and Ruth David
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On a positive note, here’s what a REAL Jewish camp looks like: https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fcampramahdarom%2Fvideos%2F1216388061806380%2F&show_text=0&width=560
Shame. Frauds.
I happen to know the people in question, and they are deeply devout jews with serous credibility and a love of Israel.
Your flippant suggestion to “get rid of them” is completely off base and without any value.
I fully support this camp and my kids attend it. You? I don’t support.
What a bunch of bloody fools! Time to disabuse yourselves of these self-righteous Dudley Do-Rights filled with their misguided virtue. Get rid of the people immediately in your movement who were behind this stupidity.
I was a counselor at Solomon Schechter from 1989-1992. The camp used to be incredibly Zionist. What SJW kool-aid has the administration been drinking? The Palestinian flag stands for the murder of Jews and the PA’s payout for terrorists. No wonder the Israeli staff felt ‘uncomfortable’.
Camp Solomon Schechter is the ONLY Jewish content that some children in the Northwest receive all year… they come excitedly from small towns, ready to filled with ruach, yiddishkeit and positivity for everything Jewish. This visit of ‘kids4peace’ ruined the purity of camp. (Don’t they kids4peace have their own flag? Like with flowers and unicorns?)
Don’t give me that crap that the ‘parents were informed via email’….. you told them AFTER it happened, not in January or February when they were registering their child for camp. The camp pulled a dictatorial bait-and-switch.
Time for Northwesterners to shake up the board at camp, and get someone in place with better judgement, who truly loves Judaism and Israel, and doesn’t come with their own political/SJW agenda.
Even worse than flying the Palestinian flag was the decision to take down all flags-including the Israeli flag-as a “solution.” The administrators stated by their action that the flag of a peaceful, sovereign state, Israel, was morally equivalent to the flag of an entity whose sovereignty is not recognized by most of the world and whose chief export is death.
I totally agree with the comments here, notably the one about an overabundance of chesed without sechel, by Shoshana S., and those by Sandy Wasserman, Scott Siegel, Mirek Goldberg, Ari Hoffman, and Jake Solomon, Helen Oster, and the one showing the Palestinian 4-year-old girl wearing the same flag, who said she will only marry someone who is willing to “kill Jews”, certainly an example of what she is learning, being taught under the shadow of that flag! Time to replace the camp administration with people who are not victims of Stockholm Syndrome. If they have Muslim and Christian children in the camp that is fine, but let them come into your world; don’t give up your world so that Jewish children no longer have a pro-Israeli camp! Because this flag is NOT pro-Israel!
So this is some random outlier incident which doesn’t reflect the true views of those in charge?
Yes. That’s correct. the camp administrators are devout jews an definitely Zionists.
They are Liberal..that you n it self qualified for selfrighteous self destruct
so is J Street claims to be
They are Trojan horses
Everybody calm down. The camp should not be utterly discredited by one instance of stupidity.
The left has influenced society so much that it is impossible to understand the concept between ‘right and wrong’. No doubt the camp as well as the Solomon Schecter schools have lost a much needed following, whether as students or donations.
I live within a very short distance of places where Palestinians stab innocent people weekly. Aside from the fact that the Schecter administration’s move here was misguided, the use of children for promoting that misguided purpose is beyond disgusting. Any parent who has even the smallest amount of love for Israel and the Jewish people should vote here – with their wallets. This is no longer a place for true Jewish learning.
Bunk. Shame on you Jeffrey Oshin. You know nothing about it, but some headline. This a fantastic Jewish camp and your comments are off base.
No Max…you’re off base and by a long shot …your comments show your complete ignorance of the gravity of what just happened. Many of the people here understand that..you don’t.
My email to the camp “leadership”:
You raised a “Palestinian” flag over the heads of your campers, as a gesture of “peace” and “understanding”. We all get WHY you did it. What YOU don’t get is that you didn’t need to raise that flag to accomplish your purpose. NO “Palestinian” Camp or Muslim Camp would EVER allow an Israeli flag to be displayed, regardless of whether they were allowing Jews onto their grounds. Only the directors of Salam Al-Schechter could be so stupid and naive.
The PLO flag (that’s what it is) is the flag regularly waved in celebration whenever Jewish children are murdered, is waved in the faces of Jewish college students trying to go to class (to remind them that Jews/Zios/Israelis have no place in civil society), is waved when mobs of Jew-hating students come out to shut down debates and silence Jewish and Israeli speakers. The Israeli flag is never used to celebrate Arab deaths (unless by a deluded few on the far fringes of our community).
For you to hoist that bloody flag over the heads of innocent Jewish children is nothing less than barbaric. The blood of the most recent murders of Jews in Israel is barely dry, and you fools want to create a “teachable moment” right around the 9th of Av. Well, you HAVE created a teachable moment. We learn from this that there will always be Jews who will willingly, selflessly, endanger the lives of other Jews … to demonstrate their political “integrity”, to save their own skins, to show others that they’re not like THOSE Jews, etc.
The Bolsheviks had their Jewish turncoats. The Nazis had their Jewish turncoats. And the bloodthirsty Palestinians have theirs. We just need to make sure that the present day turncoats aren’t allowed near impressionable Jewish children. And for this reason, Salam Al-Schechter Camp will need to change its leadership, stop being a Jewish camp, or (ultimately) close its doors.
Well said. Stop being a Jew hating Jew or we will close the camp
Wasn’t Rabbi Solomon Shecter a proponent of a Jewish Israel?
Schechter was a Zionist, but he died in 1915 before the Balfour Declaration and the establishment of the State
Its so sad that this camp doesn’t understand the difference between good and evil
Looking for peace , great
But look at current events and the reality of a death culture
No one is that stupid not to know the facts on the ground
They aren’t a Zionist camp for sure !
Canada isn’t trying to destroy either America or Israel; the PLO is. It’s one thing to raise the flag of a friend; it’s another to raise the flag of an enemy pledged to your destruction.
I am appalled by their actions. Adults who possess so little common sense, should not be given the responsibility of caring for children.
Please do not give them a penny of support. They deserve to fail.
again Rivka, you are mistaken. I know these people personally and your snap judgement is deeply wrong.
Rivkah’s comments are NOT wrong. The camp’s administrators should be fired immediately. It is not a “snap judgement” to feel that the raising of that terrorist flag was an act of self-hatred and viciousness. Those responsible for this outrage should never be in a position of authority over Jewish children again!
It’s not like this was a spontaneous action, like the kids4peace bus broke down and the camp put them up for the night…. this was a PLANNED event, covering 5 days. There was a lot of thought put into this. So it really does show poor judgement by administrators.
There are children who come from small towns all over the Pacific Northwest, and this camp is their true BURST of Judaism, and this year, it was diluted by allowing an outside group in, who had another agenda.
We should make it happen
All involved in making this decision should be fired immediately, clean house; camp board must assert control– unless of course, they are the instigators of this policy. In that case- do NOT support this camp in any way again- do not give any funds, money or fundraising, and do not send kids there again. They are a shande, a disgrace and betrayers of the Jewish People, cavorting with our sworn enemies who only want to see us dead and Islam to reign supreme. Acting like dhimmis will only make you weaker in their eyes, and they are laughing all the way to the mosque. Allahu Akbar !!
The Eman, Who said, Kill all the Jews. Did not apologies; He made up excuses for his behavior. This is not taking responsibility for one’s actions. When we say Sorry, We say sorry for our actions or sorry for what we said. A real apology is just, Sorry.
This is how our children learn to apologies. They first make excuses then they learn to take full responsibility for their actions.
Who did he “apologies to? His congregation or us or everyone, It looks like he only “Apologies to us, leaving the, Kill all the Jews. Is still in effect with his congregation. Meaning, the Jewish community is still at risk for terrorist’s attacks.
Respectfully yours,
Robin Rosenblatt, M.Sc. Animal Science, former Israeli Soldier and past Anti Terrorist Agent
The Israel Longhorn Project
7777 Bodega Ave. S-107
Sebastopol, CA 95472
Tele: 650.631.9270 / 650.339.0269 / 03-722-6108
robin@longhornproject.org
http://longhornproject.org
SHAME ON YOU!!!!!!
Sad, sad times. I had once thought to send my daughter there when she is older. Will never do so now.
It’s a fantastic camp, and both my kids have gone and will continue to go. You should not be so quick to Judge.
Realize that Max want to premote his liberal selfrighteous sanctimonious Camp at all costs …even if Israel stand in the way… He should approach George Soros for funds….he is like one of his orgenazations J Street very “pro Israel” just like most demojews are…
This is so wrong
I can understand being hospitable. But the response was “they requested it”.
Why??
Also, they are not oppressed except by their own people like Hamas. I think the camp now understands what they’ve do e and won’t do it in the future.
Nothing less than pure stupidity by the camp administration or whomever agreed to this or thought about this idea!
I only see Israeli flags burning and Arab mothers praising their kids for killing Israelis. What a joke.
Not surprised really, this is symptomatic of the direction American Jewry is heading in. This one act will garner, encourage the support from the next generation of American Jews for those who would happily see Israel destroyed and Jews murdered.
Why not boycott the camp until they pull it down
welcome with chesed…ditch the flag…stay prayerful and alert
Do not support this camp. Pull your kids out now! They are anti Israel, especially after the murder of the Solomon family. No more funds for this camp.
I will make a donation in the name of your ignorance.
Something went seriously wrong with the understanding of definition of right and wrong with this camp administration.They need some reality check.
That Camp administration needs to be fired NOW
Hashem forbid! They are awesome, and run a fantastic Jewish camp which promotes Israel.
Not if they allow the PLO flag
How can that be if they allow the enemy to fly there flag.
It is called liberal morality…has no grasp on reality…they will sacrifice the nation on thier selfrighteous alter… Conveniently forgetting that your house poor take precedence over your town poor
This attitude is what continues to fuel the never-ending cycle of distrust and hatred. Any sign of welcome, any token handshake towards people of Palestine (both Muslim and Christian) and the intolerance and hatred and even-growing vociferousness of those who will extract blood from their brethren because of a perhaps ill-conceived welcome rears its ugly head. Very sad indeed.
How can you trust a people who are happy to kill you
? Reality is not a lie but for some it’s ignored ,
Unfortunately . We as Zionists and Jews don’t have the luxury of pretending the other is really a good person , just misunderstood . Chessed synthesizes well with gevurrah
you can feel the love if you move to Ramallah and decide to buy a house there …then ask yourself one fundamental question why wont they sell you (I assume you are Jewish…or even Jew-lite) a house or property in Judea and Sumeria or any areas under thier control.
We need more REAL PEOPLE/Organizations and groups like these with positive attitudes/energy for the better of the children of tomorrow and a better future. In life we need to accept when we are wrong. We cannot always be right! We need always to stand with equality, and stand against illeagel occupation and oppression.
We are all people, we must all be united specially if we live in the same country. Im sure that you know at one point in life that when no country in the world accepted Jews, the Palestinians accepted them with open arms. When Israel was burning the first people to help was Palestinians. And they are the Oppressed people. This is the least we can do. To learn to accept wrongness is the first step towards positive energy. We need not to forget where we came from, where we arrived, and where will our great great grand children will go in the future. We need Peace! We are not all innocent im sure like them but if we can both teach our children LOVE AND RESPECT FOR EVERYONE, THE REST LEAVE IT IN GODS HANDS. IM SURE THERE IS CRIMES WITHIN EVERY ETHNICITIES THROUGH OUT THE WORLD. WE CANNOT KEEP DWELLING ON THE PAST WE NEED TO MOVE FORWARD FOR A BETTER AND PEACEFUL FUTURE FOR ALL CHILDREN MOTHERS/ADULTS.
@dasource The only ‘illegal occupation’ in Israel is that of the Muslims occupying Temple Mount, Hevron and Judea. The so-called ‘Palestinians’ as a nation of Muslims were a creation of Yasser Arafat in 1967, so where you are getting your flawed view of history from, is beyond me. “learn to accept wrongness’? Like being stabbed to death while praying or eating Friday night dinner? ‘Love & respect’ a system which rewards people financially for EVER when their kids maim & murder? Are you completely certifiably insane? ‘Dwelling on the past’….right; so I can tell my daughter she can come home from the army because the murder of Israelis by Muslims is all in the past? I can tell you for sure, if I had kids in that camp I’d be taking them out and demanding my money back. There is no ‘Palestinian flag’ because there is no country called ‘Palestine”. It’s a made-up place.
Karen Smith, from one Smith to another (presumably unrelated!) you are absolutely right on! I agree with you wholeheartedly.
Please listen to Prof Eugene Kantorovich, an Int’l Law Expert, present a 45 minute YouTube Video making the case for Israel, based strictly on Int’l law
No we need to stay. Strong-and realize that the goy will always hate us
Keep in mind the British governments direct violation of the Balfour Declaration, as part of the San Remo Resolution of April 25, 1920 that specifically created a “Home Land for the Jewish People in all of Mandated Palestine”, with final signatures attached by 1922 from 51 League of Nation members and recognized by today’s United Nations Security Council.
Every parent should pull their child out// this is a disgrace// How does one raise a flag of one’s enemy, one who is intent on your destruction? Their is simply no logic to this travesty!
Karen Smith, from one Smith to another (presumably unrelated!) you are absolutely right on! I agree with you wholeheartedly.
The commentators and critics have truly covered the ground with respects to this issue…I will just add that I truly pity the children who are receiving a delusional impression; and they will not be able to face any future catastrophe that may occur, G-d forbid!
Exposing this matter to the fullest degree cannot be emphasized enough.
It’s time for Israel to make their own camp and not let anyone make excuses no matter how diplomatic they try to be. The Palestine flag is an affront to people who just want to live life.
Rabbi Solomon Schechter is spinning in his grave.
We are a sick nation. 81% of them will marry non Jews and this is just an expression of their ultimate desire to Do so without shame.
This is horrendous and shameful.
Unfortunately Steve, the real world doesn’t operate in a vacuum. Good and evil cannot occupy the same space. Showing Hachnasat Orchim to christian and muslim Palestinian children by raising the flag of a movement and a people that, on a daily basis, celebrates the death and murder of Israeli’s and Jews, is misguided and self-deprecatory. Should we reach out and welcome these children, possibly as future ambassadors of peace, certainly! But to do so, by even suggesting that their flag represents legitimacy at this moment in time, is reprehensible.
The camp must change this absurdity. Until then boycott it
And by “love to Israel” you refer to flying a flag of terrorists sworn to kill Israelis and Jews? Those whose “educational” textbok call for destroying Israel?
If that is the love they teach in camp, maybe we ought to try hate. Your “simplistic” view seems a bit up-side-down to me!
Actually the attacks against a great institution and camp staff here are much more reprehensible than the flying of a piece of cloth.
Conveniently “piece of cloth” to you for Israel and American Patriot the Flag is way more than your Liberal “definition” of it… And consequently so for the Arabs quarter’s AKA “Palestinian”…. people died and continue to die for whatever that “piece of cloth” symbolizes.
I am troubled by the tone of the many comments in response to this article. Most comments jump to simplistic vilification rather than further inquiry and context. Camp Schechter has been and continues to be a place where our youth develop a strong Jewish identity, a love for Israel, leadership abilities, and lifelong bonds to other Jewish peers and mentors.
All of this is fine. But to equate our flag with the enemy’s is foolish, dangerous and not going to enhance our mission.
“Most comments jump to simplistic vilification” next time you sit for Shabbt dinner and Arab squatter aka “Palestinian” jump in with a knife for some blood please ask him if he “jump to simplistic vilification” of Jews….
True and well said. It’s a shonda
There is simply no adequate response. What is unfortunate is that the camp administration is so blinded by ideology that they unwittingly undermine and endanger the entire Jewish nation and Israel.
Every day there are terror acts committed by Palestinians against Israeli citizens and soldiers. Last week there was a massacre committed by a 17 yr old Palestinian killing three members of a Jewish family sitting at the Shabbath table. The Palestinian Authority is at war with Israel. What gave you the idea to fly the murderous flag over your camp? Stating you still side with Israel means nothing! You cannot support Israel, and support those who want to annihilate her at the same time.
I would go there right now pull my kid out in demand my money back!
you go Bilha…Seattle Jews start to forget and deny who they are
I am the son of two holocaust survivors whose kids attend this camp and who FULLY supports the administration and staff. Maybe you should study up on being a jew!
Well good luck to you and I wish you success with your suicide as long as it makes your selfrighteous sanctimonious self happy… I won’t stad in your way….but it becomes my business when you taking all of us down your rabbit hole with you
American Jews are the most dangerous. They think by us being reasonable the animals that hate us will change.fools-Catholics turn the other cheek.
I don’t care how welcoming you wanted to be, there are lines that just can’t be crossed, sympathetic as you may be, they will never be sympathetic to you.
I agree with you. Stop the liberal jews from this stupidity.
There are almost no words to describe the moral perversion and perverseness and stupidity of the administrators of this camp. This camp is not a fit place for Jewish children. The parents should bring their children home and then the camp should be closed….and good riddance.
The desire for peace in the Holy Land does not justify this outrageous act of Jewish self loathing.
The enemies of Israel laugh at Jews who act in such a pathetic manner. The directors who made this appalling decision should resign.
The Camp page blocked me ….
I am so shocked. It was a terrible decision. Worse than that it seems that those who decided to have the palestinian flag raised in honor of some visitors are jews who hate themselves and in my opinion the directors who allowed that and did that must resign.
With friends like this and other liberal sympathizers, Israel will destroy itself by its own hands and will not need the help of hateful, terrorist states like Iran, Syria, Hezbollah, Hamas and those inciteful Palestinians.
Like the liberal left in the US eating it’s own in order to be seen as PC, so will the Jewish liberals eat themselves alive.
we flying flags and they do this
Lol Saudi Arabia, Jordan and few other Muslim countries represent Israel, dont bad mouth what this camp is doing. You know the truth. Dont lie to yourself. You should promote positive attitude if not then you are a racist. Anyone in business should welcome everyone not discriminate against any group of people. Even if your not business should be, but i cant tell you how to be in your own homes, im sure you can tell PALESTINIANS WHAT THEY CAN DO AND NOT DO IN THEIR OWN HOMES. NOT ALL PEOPLE ARE LIKE YOU. DO NOT PROMOTE HATE. IF THIS JEW WANTS TO PROMOTE LOVE LET BE AND SAVE YOUR COMMENTS FOR A ROOM FULL OF HATE.
@dasource When the British were in control of mandated Palestine, 78.2% of the land was given to the Palestinian Muslims for a homeland; 20.8% was given to the Palestinian Jews for a homeland.
The Palestinian Jews renamed their piece of the land ‘Israel’ & renamed themselves Israelis – and set to work to build a country. The Palestinian Muslims decided to scream & cry. Then because they couldn’t get ALL the land, they continued with the murdering spree that the land division was intended to put an end to.
do you know any muslim/Palestinian who want to promote peace. cut the bs.
like I said show me a robust Palestinian peace movement (that hold their peer accountable and prosecute them to the full extend of the law) a partner to pursuit of peace and I will be on board with that. the correct Palestinian mindset is Nazi. annihilation of every jew definitely not peace. so you cut your delusional liberal BS and face the facts as you sacrificing more Israeli and Jews on your acrimonious alter of liberal self righteousness as you are “progressive” on the account of Jewish bodies
So well said they make me sick
Note- at the end of the article, both flags were taken down for Shabbat? WHY?? WHY the flag of Israel taken down?… If it’s a Zionist camp?… Something is very much out of kilter here, an an effort to be either fair minded, or peace seeking. First and foremost it’s a Zionist camp. That’s it. That should be IT! Unequivocally. … Wondering too, in an effort to be welcoming into this tent of many, were the flags of other nations hoisted too? [Even though there is no state of Palestine, then at least it would have been just one of them, one of many others.] I think it’s great that there are Palestinian children at the camp, but that should not change the nature of the camp’s ideology, its raison d’être… I know Jewish children who attend Lutheran camps for the summer or YMCA camps – because of the location, some program or other. While I don’t agree with this for Jewish children, I do add that I could bet a small fortune on this: Those camps do not take down crosses posted at the camp because a few Jewish children might have enrolled for the summer.
show me one Muslim camp that flying the Israeli flag…the Jewry of the world are on mass suicide by liberalism and PC trajectory…
Lol Saudi Arabia, Jordan and few other Muslim countries represent Israel, dont bad mouth what this camp is doing. You know the truth. Dont lie to yourself. You should promote positive attitude if not then you are a racist. Anyone in business should welcome everyone not discriminate against any group of people. Even if your not business should be, but i cant tell you how to be in your own homes, im sure you can tell PALESTINIANS WHAT THEY CAN DO AND NOT DO IN THEIR OWN HOMES. NOT ALL PEOPLE ARE LIKE YOU. DO NOT PROMOTE HATE. IF THIS JEW WANTS TO PROMOTE LOVE LET BE AND SAVE YOUR COMMENTS FOR A ROOM FULL OF HATE.
this is what they think about Israel..hey look she is WEARING the Palestinian flag
Fine but pull the flag down-or close your doors. We can force that by boycotting.
I realized you liberals made Utube pull the video so Back in popular demand
http://vidmax.com/video/160713-BRAINWASHED-4-year-old-Palestinian-Girl-Says-She-Won-t-Marry-Anybody-Who-Won-t-Kill-Jews
Has the camp administration lost their mind? To fly a Palestinian flag this summer with what is going on now in Israel? Jewish camps are supposed to be safe spaces for those who support Israel. This policy should have been discussed with the parents before camp so the parents would have had enough time to find another camp for their kids this summer. Taking down the Israeli flag with the Palestinian was an act of self hating Jews and cruel to the Jewish campers. Shame on camp Solomon Schechter.
Wow, if only Jewish camps in Germany had flown the swastika, history might’ve been changed! Kumbaya!
For David Katz: Is there any way to talk to our fellow Jews about this? It says before the brothers sold Yosef, they could not speak– and if they were to speak enough, they wouldn’t have sold him. How do we speak to Ref/Conserv. etc when they are very committed to their views not even realizing (or willing to see?) where those views come from and what they really mean?
It is in the hard wiring of a Jew to want to make the world a better place. That is a fact. However, historically when that desire is coupled with a lack of a true understanding of the Jew’s mission vis a vie his obligation to G-d and His Torah, you end up having Jews at the forefront of the founding of Communism (70+ years of Jewish isolation inside the USSR) and offshoots of Judaism which ultimately grow to be in harsh opposition to the Torah,& Israel as a Jewish homeland i.e. Reform and United synagogue threatening to pull support from Israel. The fakestinians don’t want peace with a Jewish state period! Stop trying to placate them!!
This is Disgusting! Liberal left Jews are going to be the fall of the Jewish State. It sickens me to think of all the Jewish victims of terror caused by Arab “Palestinians” who died in vain, with total disregard for the IDF who lost their lives protecting Jewish and Christians living in Israel.
These progressive liberal movements are so brainwashed by the PLO propaganda to the point of mental disorder, with self destruction tendencies. They will all regret it soon enough!
Appalling, but not surprising given that the Synagogues that send campers there have been headed in an anti Israel direction for years. I am curious what sponsoring agencies think about this I I recommend people contact them immediately to let them know about it http://www.campschechter.org/aboutus/ Also parents should consider if this is the environment they want their children in. If the camp staff has poor judgment on an issue like this, what else are they teaching the campers? Pic an option where your kids will always have a pro Israel camp experience: Sleep away options: http://www.sephardicadventurecamp.org/ https://www.moshavacalifornia.org/about Day camp options: http://campyavnehseattle.com/ https://www.seattlekollel.com/camp-seed
Stockholm syndrome
I would have torn it down.
Well, the Camp Solomon Schechter must be boycotted by real Jews and real friends. The sources of money that sponsor this abomination must be investigated and possibly revealed, put to shame and cut off.
Self-Hating-Jews, Anti-Israelism and Antisemitism are all mental disorders that make no rational sense, and cannot be cured by the Jewish people trying to be a nicer more generous people in the eyes of the world. For example, every time the Jewish State of Israel has given up land for peace it has only proven the definition of insanity, (doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result) to be absolutely true.
So I would like this message to strongly resonate not only in the minds of my fellow Jewish brethren, but all the diverse people and Nations of the world. As I believe the anti-Israel and antisemitic double standard Israel experiences stems from not taking a strong stand on who we the Jewish people are as a Nation, and all the land of Israel that belongs to the Jewish people. When we are strong the world leaves us alone, but when we compromise our very legitimate existence, especially with the Arab Nations, the Jewish people dilute their own National integrity amongst the Nations of the world.
I believe the weakness of Self-Hating-Jews and the Anti-Israel crowd have once again allowed the social acceptance of anti-Israelism and antisemitism to show there ugly heads, fueling the double standard that exists against the Jewish people of the world, especially the Jewish State of Israel, in the media and the United Nations and many countries around the world. I want the Jewish people to jump way in front of the media and all the Jew and Israel hating entities and take a strong National stand amongst the Nations of the world and self actuate the Jewish State of Israel’s true narrative and stop trying to please the Arab’s and others who want to wipe us out as a people.
I would rather be hated by the world then loved by a world who tries to save us (G-D for bid) from another holocaust. I DO NOT want the world to love the Jewish State of Israel, but to “RESPECT” it and the Jewish people collectively. This can only begin to happen when a ONE JEWISH STATE OF ISRAEL solution is established with secure defensible borders, including its language and culture preserved in perpetuity via implementing national laws similar to the democratically run countries of Japan and Switzerland.
Once we as a collective Jewish Nation stand up and say in unison, ISRAEL is L.E.G.I.T., then and only then will antisemitism and the double standard begin to disappear and the “TRUE JEWISH NATIONAL NARRATIVE” rise up throughout the Community of Nations around the world!
J-Street also describes itself as unabashedly “pro-Israel.”
Well said!
For Shoshana S. : Excellent points re balance of chesed v’gevurah. Question is how to balance it in these situations? Certainly we have to work for our own balance; but how to communicate in a way that fosters more balance in their perspective? Is that even possible? Maybe one-on-one there is a chance….maybe. But for large groups like Ref/Conserv? How to “mend the divides”?
There’s a spiritual way to reframe the problem, without demonizing our brethren: The problem is excess of chessed, unbalanced with gevurah. Our brethren are full of lovingkindness (chessed) but without restraints, discipline, strength (gevurah). (Ok, and with lack of seichel, too.) Finding any sadness or harm to people whose masses want to kill yours, they find intolerable and want to support their cause. How can we help them get back in balance? And if we are all gevurah and outrage against our brethren, we too are out of balance. Torah learning and perspective would provide the antidote, but somehow gets neglected in the dialogue. It’s almost Tisha B’av, now is not the time to hate on our own, but look to mend our divides and our brokenness, and fix what we got wrong back when we lost our Land the first two times…..lest it happen again, G-d forbid.
So horribly disappointing, Solomon Schecter! How especially insensitive to do this days after an Israeli was slaughtered while sitting at their Shabbat dinner table.
No explanation can justify this ignorant act by the administration of this camp. I hope the people behind this poorly thought out act will be relieved of their positions.
If the camp were to host a group from Germany would the camp administrators hoist a flag with a Nazi symbol, or perhaps a flag from the time of East Germany? Hoisting a flag of the Palestinian Authority in front of patriotic Israelis would enrage those Israelis.
This is a travesty . How is it possible that a Jewish camp is flying the flag of terrorists who are killing Israelis in their homes, schools and streets. Would they have raised the Nazi flag there too when Jews were being slaughtered in Europe? Have they no shame? If my child was at the camp they would have been out of there in a minute. There is no place for a flag of a made up country whose leaders are inciting hate and murder of our people. SHAME on the person who authorized this, Shame, SHAME SHAME. I am disgusted.
Tova, I’m with you. We hear so many today claiming to be “pro-Israel” that it has absolutely no meaning. Many who side with our enemies, or who think they can support both sides, say they are Pro-Israel. So we have to wonder what is meant by “Israel” – the Israel of G-d, the Israel of the left, the Israel of the modern state, or the Israel that encompasses the Jewish people? The leaders of the US may state they are pro-Israel but they advocate strategies that would be the death of the Jewish state if they were implemented. Israel has many “friends” of the kind about which is said,”with such friends who needs enemies?” Also, I am still puzzling over what is meant by a delegation of “Palestinian” Muslims and Christians and Israeli kids, who call themselves Kids4peace. Just how old are these “kids”?.
The director and leaders of this camp have lost perspective. They are so intent on sympathizing with the Arabs who reside in Judea and Samaria they are willing to overlook the Arabs’ never-ending murderous objective against the Jews.
The camp administrators need to be fired.
They should absolutely be fired.
They made the biggest mistake of their lives by doing that!! BIG!!! HUGE!!!! BOYCOTT THE CAMP IMMEDIATELY!!!U. R. A SHAME!!! DISGRACE TO THE JEW. PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Fired immediately!!!!!! Their “apology” is a joke: “Sorry we offended you, but F you”
I used to go to a Solomon Schecter school as a kid and I was proud to be Jewish and zionist and frum. I am still this proud but I am totally shocked and horrified at what it has turned into. My people are being butchered by the so-called “palestinians”, when “Palestine” has neither been a religion, culture, nor people! The only reference to the word Palestine is the name of the Jewish state under the British mandate. What has happened to the world-how can a zionist institution behave this way under the guise of ‘education and hachnassas orchim”, when the brutal wicked deny us our own holy sites and chop our people up without shame nor remorse, rather as a job and for pay! Yes, shame on you, camp Solomon Schechter! You unite with Nazi collaberators and should be embarrassed by your digression! !!
O
I never attended the camp as a teen but as a jew this is not good, its terrible! fire them all