To the Editor.
On December 4th, the Bethlehem Library called for a Special Library Trustees Meeting about an event that was planned on December 5th by a group called Bethlehem Neighbors for Peace.
Critics told the board that Israeli soldier-turned peace activist Miko Peled, who was invited to speak by Bethlehem Neighbors for Peace, has made inflammatory posts on X and statements that amount to hate speech against Jews.
After hearing from dozens of community members at a three-hour meeting , the board members decided against canceling the event.
Bethlehem Chabad’s Rabbi Zalman Simon and Rabbi Greg D. Weitzman of Temple Beth Emeth, a Slingerlands resident, were among those who pressed library officials to consider the hyper-charged political climate that has prompted synagogues and Jewish schools to take extra security precautions.
Several speakers at the board meeting selectively quoted by Peled, which read in full: “Then they’re (sic) surprised Jews have reputation 4being sleazy thieves. #apartheidisrael doesn’t need or deserve these $$,” referencing a memorandum of understanding stating the U.S. will give Israel a historic $38 billion in military assistance over 10 years.
Many supporters of Israel object to casting Israel’s treatment of Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank as “apartheid,” which recalls the South African government’s systematic oppression of Black residents, a crime against humanity under international law. Peled has also accused Israel of ethnic cleansing and genocide.
The day after the board meeting, the room was full of Hamas and terror supporters who came to listen to a well-paid, ignorant speaker spread lies about the Israeli history and current events. Here are some of his statements:
“Israel is a terrorist state, apartheid regime;” Israel has “a supremacist ideology;” “As a movement, Zionists and then the state born from this movement declared war on the Palestinian people. In this war, we saw ethnic cleansing, genocide policies and a racist apartheid regime;” “When I started the journey, I realized that the country I thought was mine was someone else’s country. I was living in a kind of colony, a superficial, artificial reality that was not real. It did not rely on reality. It was based on an apartheid state built on lies, and these lies legitimized the existence of the Israeli state;” “Zionism contradicts Jewish law;” “Israel established a state in an Arab country;” and “The Israeli pilots are war criminals.”
Miko Peled in his speech spread hate, antisemitic lies, and ignorance under the umbrella of the Bethlehem Library. They can’t hide under the excuse of the first amendment when it comes to Hate speech. The freedom of speech has limitations when it comes to supporting terror. For example, on Thursday Dec. 7, a person came in front of Temple Israel calling “free Palestine” and opened fire. Luckily nobody got hurt.
Unfortunately, the group, so-called “Neighbors for Peace,” are no more then “neighbors for WAR.” They have no clue of the real facts and are being educated by the lies of terror supporters and by Miko Peled, Israeli-Jew hater, that I would call the modern Nazi Kapo.
Our town of Betlehem is no more the safe town that I loved. Synagogues, as well as other places of worship, are guarded by Police.
Our Library, that attracted our children and community will make parents think twice before bringing the children to the library activities and is time to act fast to bring back our town to what it used to be before is too late.
I suggest you watch the Miko Peled speech at the library on Youtube to see for yourself.
Haim Ben-Eliezer
Delmar