Maryland rabbis, local Jews reject Jewish Voice for Peace convention in Baltimore

US Jewish community leaders in Maryland pushed back Wednesday against a national conference the anti-Zionist Jewish Voice for Peace activist group is holding this week in the state’s largest city, Baltimore.

Thirty Maryland rabbis signed a letter expressing “deep concern” about the conference and saying the group undermines Jewish identity. The event begins on Thursday and ends on Sunday.

JVP says its largest-ever National Member Meeting aims to help activists connect with each other and organize “to keep making our strongest possible contribution to the movement for Palestinian liberation, as well as the fight against fascism at home.”

Speakers at the conference include US Rep. Rashida Tlaib, activist Linda Sarsour and former US Rep. Cori Bush, according to JVP’s website. The group expects more than 2,000 attendees.

“JVP claims to represent the Jewish community and to support peace. We believe it is important to make clear that JVP is a fringe movement that does not speak for the majority of Jews, reflect Jewish values, or seek peace,” the rabbis’ letter says. “Rather, JVP demonstrates support for terror, disrupts public life and actively undermines the very essence of Jewish identity, faith and tradition.”

The letter cites statements from JVP chapters that supported Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught in its immediate aftermath; backed Palestinian “resistance”; called for the “death of Israel”; and demanded an end to US defense aid to Israel on the day of the Hamas attack.

“By promoting a version of Judaism that minimizes or even erases the Jewish connection to Israel, the organization effectively seeks to undermine one of the most central tenets of our faith and identity,” the letter says. “JVP’s stance is a rejection of compromise and coexistence in favor of radical zealotry.”

“By misrepresenting who it is, who it speaks for, and what it believes, Jewish Voice for Peace undermines the Jewish people, principles of the Jewish religion, and our deep connection to Israel. We call upon the people of Maryland to be clear-eyed about what this group is,” the letter says.

In a separate letter, more than 400 Jewish community members from Maryland also rejected the JVP conference.

“JVP is an extremist group that weaponizes the Jewish identity of some of their members,” the letter says.

“JVP’s relentless anti-Zionist rhetoric, which calls for the elimination of Israel as a Jewish state, represents a fringe view that is rejected by the community,” the letter says, citing polling that shows the vast majority of American Jews believe that denying Israel’s right to exist is antisemitic.

“We, the undersigned members of the Baltimore Jewish community, affirm that JVP does not represent us. Their agenda is the fringe of the fringe, and we, as a community, are clear that this ideology carries no weight in Baltimore,” the petition says.

Signatories include Maryland state lawmakers Dalya Attar and Dana Stein, chair of the Jewish Federation of Baltimore Bruce Hoffberger, and Baltimore Jewish Council director Howard Libit.

Jonathan Schulman, the head of the Jewish Majority advocacy group, said he helped organize the letters starting around two weeks ago when he was contacted by frustrated local community members.

“It’s not right for an organization to come into this community and say this is what the Jewish community stands for when in fact the Jewish community stands for the direct opposite,” Schulman said. “There’s a real imperative in the community to shine a light on people pretending to speak for the community who are actually focused on undermining the community’s values.

JVP did not respond to a request for comment about the letters or about how many of the attendees are expected to be Jewish.

JVP is the leading anti-Zionist Jewish activist group in the US. The national group and its affiliated chapters have been involved in harsh anti-Israel protests on and off campuses around the US.