The David Project Center for Jewish Leadership

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The David Project Center for Jewish Leadership is a non-profit corporation located in Boston, Massachusetts, with satellite offices in New York and in Israel. The David Project's stated aim is "to promote a fair and honest understanding of the Arab-Israeli conflict."[1] It was founded in 2002 by Charles Jacobs, who serves as its president.[2] Previously, Jacobs served as Deputy Director of the Boston Chapter of the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America [1] and founded the American Anti-Slavery Group.

According to its website, The David Project is "committed to building Jewish leadership; increasing the support for Israel on campus; strengthening the pro-Israel and pro-Jewish sentiments and friendships within churches; and working in partnership with Jewish day schools and synagogue after-school programs to incorporate Israel advocacy and leadership skills into their core curricula."


Contents

[edit] Mission statement

(From official website of The David Project:)

The David Project works to "develop educated, skilled and courageous leaders to defeat the ideological assault on Israel that is taking place on campuses, in high schools, in churches and in the general community."

This statement has been updated recently to reflect the viewpoint of The David Project that this is "a new time" for the Jewish people: "Israel is depicted as the cruelest among nations, and falsely singled out as the primary cause of conflict in the Middle East and in the world. The ideological onslaught against the Jewish State – in the media, mainstream churches, and on campus – masquerades as legitimate criticism but is in reality an unfair and dishonest discourse which vilifies and delegitimizes Israel – and her supporters. This is, in effect, a new form of hatred."[3]

A description of Columbia Unbecoming, a film produced by The David Project and featured on its official website, states: "We believe in Jewish political self-determination in the Middle East, and are proud to be called Zionists."[4]

[edit] Activities

(From official website of The David Project:)

  • Four-day intensive Israel-advocacy and leadership seminars for college students.
  • Four-day teacher training institutes, featuring an "Israel Advocacy Curriculum for Jewish High Schools."
  • Short advocacy workshops: "The David Project helps students and adults become more effective advocates for Israel. Our educational workshops can be delivered as a 90-minute lecture or as a three-hour interactive session."
  • Christian Outreach program: "Through a combination of research, grassroots lobbying and consulting, the David Project’s Christian Outreach program hold church leaders accountable for their statements and policies about the Arab/Israeli conflict."
  • Documentary productions ("Our Films"): Columbia Unbecoming (see Controversy) and The Forgotten Refugees.

[edit] "Columbia Unbecoming"

The David Project Center for Jewish Leadership has sparked controversy at academic institutions and in the media, particularly about its film Columbia Unbecoming ("A David Project documentary") about Columbia University.[5] Journalists provide background for the continuing controversy when, "[i]n December [2005], with the approval of Columbia University president Lee Bollinger and Provost Alan Brinkley, Nicholas Dirks, vice president for Arts and Sciences, appointed a committee, composed of members from his faculty, to investigate charges by a number of students in the Middle East studies department that certain of its professors bullied and humiliated students who wanted to question in class those professors' insistently biased views of the state of Israel" (Hentoff).[6] The makeup and process of that Columbia University committee further stimulated one of many heated debates among supporters and detractors of The David Project and its film.[7]

A 2005 article in The Nation on Columbia Unbecoming described the film as "propaganda film: one that portrays Jewish students as "silenced" by professors who "criticize Israel and...question its legitimacy"; in which vague and anonymous accusations are tossed about by students whose faces are sometimes blurred and whose voices are sometimes masked; which deliberately conflates what instructors say in the classroom with what they publish and do outside the classroom; and which attributes sinister motives to Columbia administrators and faculty, not one of whom is given the opportunity to respond to the allegations."[8]

[edit] Boston mosque controversy

In 2005, The David Project and its director of education were named as defendants in a lawsuit against 17 individuals and entities, including the Boston Herald and Fox Television's Channel 25, in which the Islamic Society of Boston (ISB) alleges that they "conspired to publish and broadcast false and defamatory information about mosque leaders in part to halt development of [a] project ... [p]lanned as the largest mosque in New England." In 2006, The David Project sued the Boston Redevelopment Authority to obtain documents regarding the authority's sale of land to the Islamic Society of Boston for construction of a mosque, and uncovered evidence that some funding for the mosque had come from the Islamic Development Bank of Saudi Arabia.[9][10]. On May 29th, 2007, the ISB dropped its lawsuit against all defendants. [11][12][13] After the lawsuit was dropped, Charles Jacobs of the David Project continued opposition to the building of the mosque, saying "We are more concerned now than we have ever been about a Saudi influence of local mosques."[14]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ "Our Mission", The David Project, accessed July 29, 2006.
  2. ^ Non-profit corporation "Summary Sheet" for The David Project, Inc. n.d., The Commonwealth of Massachusetts: Corporations Division (copyright 2001-2006), accessed July 27, 2006; cf. "A New Team for a New Time with a Strong Sense of Mission," The David Project (copyright 2006), accessed July 31, 2006.
  3. ^ "The David Project Responds to a New Time,", The David Project, accessed July 29, 2006. Cf. New anti-Semitism.
  4. ^ Qtd. from item number 8 of The David Projects "Key Points about the Columbia Unbecoming video."
  5. ^ See Columbia Unbecoming - A David Project documentary, n.d. (copyright 2006), accessed July 28, 2006; video clip featured in website section called "Our Films". Cf. "Key Points about the Columbia Unbecoming video" and Columbia University President Lee C. Bollinger, "Statement on the David Project Film", press release, October 27, 2004, accessed August 6, 2006.
  6. ^ Cf. "David Project Reacts to Columbia Report on Student Harassment," Campus Watch, March 31, 2005, accessed July 29, 2006; Nat Hentoff, "Columbia Still Unbecoming," The Village Voice, March 4, 2005; Scott Sherman, "The Mideast Comes to Columbia," The Nation, April 4, 2005, both accessed July 28, 2006; selection of "press coverage of the film" provided by The David Project with hyperlinks.
  7. ^ See item 7 of "Key Points about the Columbia Unbecoming video"; cf. Some examples of commentary and critique relating to CAMERA, the media watchdog organization co-founded by Charles Jacobs.
  8. ^ Sherman, Scott. "The Mideast Comes to Columbia", The Nation, April 2, 2005. 
  9. ^ Radin, Charles. "Group opposed to Roxbury mosque sues BRA for documents", Boston Globe, October6, 2006. 
  10. ^ Jacoby, Jeff. "The Boston mosque's Saudi connection", Boston Globe, January 10, 2007. 
  11. ^ Abraham, Yvonne. "Islamic Society of Boston suit moves forward", Boston Globe, September 30, 2006. 
  12. ^ "Exchange of letters between Jessica Masse of The Islamic Society and Charles Jacobs of The David Project", Boston: Boston Globe, December 20, 2006. 
  13. ^ Slack, Donovan. "Islamic Society drops lawsuit", Boston: Boston Globe. 
  14. ^ Rakowsky, Judy. "Lawsuits Dropped, But Battles Over Boston Mosque Continue", New York: The Forward, June 27, 2007. 

[edit] See also

[edit] External links