By Donald H. Harrison

The Simon Wiesenthal Center and the Anti-Defamation League are both urging the U.S. Green Party to rescind its resolution favoring a boycott of Israel products, and a leading candidate for the Green party's gubernatorial nomination in Oregon says he also believes the national party made a serious mistake and should reverse course.

The three developments were reported today by Gary Acheatel, Advocates for Israel president, in a widely disseminated e-mail, in which he also urged pro-Israel Democrats to follow his lead and temporarily join the Green party to have a voice in the intra-party debate. 

Acheatel released a copy of a Feb. 28 letter written by Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles.  It read:

The Simon Wiesenthal Center urges the Green Party of the US to rescind its discriminatory anti-Israel Resolution 190.  Against the backdrop of Iran’s genocidal threats to the Jewish state and the ascendancy of power of Hamas, a terrorist organization bent on Israel’s destruction, Resolution 190 sends the wrong message at the wrong time.

We urge the delegates of the Green Party to rescind Resolution 190 that does not improve the life of a single Palestinian, but only further emboldens and empowers the most extreme anti-peace elements in the Middle East.

Rather than singling out Israel, a democracy struggling to balance her democratic values with her right and obligation to safeguard her citizens from continued suicide bombings, the Green Party should instead support environmentally-sound pro-active initiatives that would benefit both the economically disadvantaged in Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

Acheatel also thanked Rob Jacobs, ADL's director in the Northwest region of the United States, for authoring the following letter, which Acheatel said will be sent to Green party candidates in the upcoming elections:

Last fall your party adopted resolution 190 calling for a boycott of all firms doing business with Israel and divestment of all financial interests in the state of Israel. As a candidate for public office this coming November, you are probably aware that that this resolution will receive attention in the press and by your opponents in the two major parties.

Our organization was, frankly, shocked to see the US Green Party, which advertises itself as a progressive party dedicated to nonviolent solutions to international disputes, approving a resolution which made no mention of the repugnant acts of violence committed by the Palestinians.

We had expected that the Green Party would propose and/or support constructive solutions to this complex situation, that are not only even-handed but which would decrease the tensions and ill will on all sides. Instead, in supporting divestment, the Green Party resolution solely focuses on, and discriminates against, Israel. Moreover, we found it inexplicable that the Green Party failed to consult with your sister organization, the Israel Green Party, as was the formulation of the  resolution without the participation of dissenters.

We therefore respectfully request your support in rescinding this discriminatory and destructive resolution. 

We look forward to your early reply. 

Ed Winslow, who is seeking the Green party nomination in Oregon for governor, made the following statement on the anti-Israel Resolution, known by its number, Resolution 190:

This proposition publicly calls for divestment from and boycott of the State of Israel until such time as the full individual and collective rights of the Palestinian people are realized. 

I urge the National Committee to revoke this resolution.  The substance and text of the resolution violates our own 10 key values by failing to condemn the violence on both sides of the issue. With the surprise victory of Hamas, an organization that calls for the complete destruction of the Jewish state, our party’s position is completely out of touch with reality.

This is not an apartheid situation that mirrors the reasoning behind the disinvestment from South Africa in the past. It is an extremely complex state of affairs with thousands of years of history behind it. It is absolutely wrong for the Green Party, a party of peace, to effectively take sides on this subject.
 
Even though I am a candidate for governor, I have been questioned about this matter more than any particular issue relating to our state.

Thank you for considering my opinion.

Acheatel said pro-Israel advocates met on Saturday with Winslow and other high ranking members of the Pacific Green Party of Oregon in an effort to persuade the state party to initiate proceedings for a national vote on rescinding Resolution 190.

Besides Acheatel, Oregonians who pressed for the repeal to be placed on the next agenda of the Pacific Green Coordinating Committee included Ashland Municipal Court Judge Allen Drescher; Margot Helphand, Jewish Community Relations Council director for Eugene; and Brendan Good, a University of Oregon freshman who recently attended the national AIPAC conference.