The Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College/Jewish Reconstructionist Communities are deeply troubled and disappointed by the Israeli government’s publication of a “blacklist” of organizations whose members will be barred from entering Israel due to their perceived support for the BDS movement.
While the Reconstructionist movement does not support the international BDS movement, we believe that free expression and open political discourse are integral to any democracy. We strive to maintain community with our fellow Jews and all people of good faith, even with those with whom we have profound differences of opinion.
We agree with the CEO of the New Israel Fund (NIF) that “banning political opposition is the policy of autocracies, not democracies.” In an open, democratic society, the appropriate response to those with whom we disagree is more speech, not the suppression of debate.
