A Time to Speak Out
March 16, 2009 by Bernard Gowers
Independent Jewish Voices on Israel, Zionism and Jewish Identity
By Anne Karpf, Brian Klug, Jacqueline Rose, Barbara Rosenbaum (eds.)
Yale University Press, 2008, £30
When Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) announced its existence in February 2007, with an article in The Guardian by Brian Klug and the publication of a founding declaration with one hundred signatories, it created a stir of controversy in the British Jewish world and beyond. They were described as ‘Jews for Genocide’ by the Jewish Chronicle’s columnist Melanie Phillips, who accused them on a Newsnight debate of straying ‘into the realm of demonisation’ of Israel. Even the vastly more thoughtful Howard Jacobson characterised IJV’s position as ‘self-indulgent fantasy’ and ‘gesture politics’. But the new group also received enthusiastic praise, and the initial signatories were soon joined by hundreds more. Read more
