An update on the Dobriches
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thoth_moon)
A week or two back I posted an entry containing an article found on the website jewsonfirst.org about a Jewish family who were basically ran out of town by an uber-Christianist our-pointy-white-hoods-are-still-being-o
The Indian River School District Religious Persecution Case - Chapter Two
JewsOnFirst report on persecuted Delaware families sparks big response
Sympathy expressed for families' ordeal; harassers exposed
by JewsOnFirst.org, July 11, 2006
Links to articles and documents cited in our report appear immediately below it or below our June 30th report.
Our June 30th report about the Jewish family forced to flee a southern Delaware community -- and the "Doe" family who did not flee but hid in anonymity -- because of religious persecution by the school district became an Internet sensation.
Today JewsOnFirst is reporting that the familes' lawsuit could become a Supreme Court test case for school board prayer policies. The Rutherford Institute, a religious right legal group, has been encouraging the Indian River School District board to take assertive religious stances. (See accompanying story)
The June 30th report, drawn largely from the Dobrich and "Doe" families' lawsuit against the Indian River School District's aggressive imposition of Christianity, was picked up and amplified by bloggers -- to the extent that a local paper reported that bloggers were writing about the district's treatment of the families.
As a result of the bloggers' work: we learned of a website encouraging harassment of the Jewish family; there was an outpouring of sympathy for the families, some of which came to us as emails from readers); and we learned of an absolutely appalling case of religious persecution in Oklahoma, (which you can read about here).
We were very pleased to get credit for our work, especially from Troutfishing, who posted on the Daily Kos that "Jews On First was the group that did the original reporting that laid the key groundwork that has enabled the wider blogoshpere to develop this emergent scandal..."
One of the bloggers writing about our story discovered that a religious right website, StopTheACLU.org, had posted the home address and phone number of the Dobriches, the Jewish family who fled Sussex County because of threats and harassment after it filed suit against the school district. The group was encouraging visitors to its site to harass the Dobriches because they believed (erroneously) that they were represented by the ACLU.
Richard Bartholomew, who writes the Salon-hosted blog Bartholomew's Notes on Religion broke this aspect of the story.
On July 3rd he wrote that the group, "Stop the ACLU," was bragging on its website that it had posted the Dobrich family's home address and phone number in order to "expose" them as ACLU plaintiffs. Habitues of the site were encouraged to call or write the Dobriches and express their anger over its interference with Christians' prerogatives.
Subsequent bloggers apparently attributed the departure of some members of the Dobrich family for the safety of Wilmington to StopTheACLU's attack. It is not clear that this is so. The complaint the family filed in their lawsuit against the school district does cite threatening encounters and phone calls as a cause of their move. But the StopTheACLU threat was posted in 2006, after the Dobriches fled Sussex County.
Nevertheless, we need to comment before continuing. Whether or not the StopTheACLU group was responsible for orchestrating the harassment leading to the family's move is not as significant as its intent. Imagine: terrorizing vicims of persecution to deter them from pursuing justice and judicial remedies! We also note that this tactic was used, to horrific effect, by anti-abortion zealots. And yes, we connect the dots: both the anti-abortion zealots and the Stop ACLU group are acting in defense of their versions of "Christianity."
We note that StopTheACLU has included in its instructions not to harass, threaten or use profane language, but, in these circumstances this is merely a legal disclaimer.
On the page targeting the Dobriches that, as of July 9th, remains up despite all the recent attention it's gotten, StopTheACLU states:
This case is a good time to introduce our "Expose the ACLU Plaintiff" project and here'is how it goes. When an individual, group or even church (yes, there are churches that support the ACLU) is using the ACLU (or similar groups like Americans United, People for the (Anti) American Way, Freedom from Religion Foundation and American Atheists) to facilitate removal of a cross, the 10 Commandments or other religious symbols or the ceasing of prayer from a school or government entity, we want the community to know about it. We will start with the Dobrich family which is largely responsible for this case being taken. We are offended that the Dobrich's want to impose their atheism at the expense of the vast majority of community members who aren't offended. We will let all of Delaware know who used the ACLU to sue this school district.
They (assuming there's more of them than Nedd kareiva, whom Bartholomew and other bloggers identified) got it wrong, of course. The Dobriches are Jewish and the ACLU isn't representing them. Their attorney said the ACLU referred the case to his firm. As we noted in our June 30th piece, a raucous crowd at a 2004 meeting of the Indian River District's school board shouted down an ACLU representative who tried to speak.
A group identified as a "sister" organization to StopTheACLU.org, StopTheACLU.com, perpetuated the erroneous ACLU connection to the case in its report last March. The report noted approvingly that religious groups sang and prayed while the school board decided in executive session to reject an offer to settle the Dobrich's lawsuit. (Click here)
Bartholomew wrote that both Concerned Women for America and the Center for Reclaiming America for Christ, based at D. James Kennedy's Coral Ridge Ministries, also celebrated the board's rejection of the settlement.
After Jesus' General engaged the the dot-org anti-ACLU group, Jay Stephenson of its dot-com sister had a go-round with Bartholomew, posted on Talk2Action, in which he wrote:
Assuming the original reports (http://www.jewsonfirst.org/06b/indianri
To that, the best thing we can add is Bartholemew's comment:
I must confess that it had not occurred to me that kareiva might have been so incompetent as to post an outdated and therefore incorrect address (although in fact the exact date from which the family was allegedly split up cannot be discerned from the article), but in fact I never claimed that the posting of the address had led to the family’s alleged flight; it just seemed to me to be a significant bit of context worth including in an overview. kareiva became a central issue only when he expressed his pleasure at having "had an effect" when told about the family's predicament. We can draw significant conclusions about him and his movement from that, whether or not he actually managed to get the address right.
kareiva also insists that he is in no way anti-Semitic, being himself part Jewish. Stephenson, meanwhile, treats us to some rambling anti-Palestinian rhetoric in order to prove his own pro-Jewish credentials. Again, such an allegation was never made by me, although kareiva's lack of concern about the family having been allegedly subjected to anti-Semitic abuse is telling. There does seem to be some surprising anti-Semitism in the USA (currently being dredged to the surface by Sacha Baron Cohen), but in this case kareiva was simply unlucky that his target was Jewish. Had an atheist family been run out of town, no doubt it could be "justified" (to some) on the grounds that atheists are either Communists or extreme moral relativists. Pagans could be dismissed as devil worshippers, Muslims as America-haters, Hindus and Buddhists as stroppy immigrants. Christians who prefer private devotion over officially-decreed piety would simply be baffling. But, for obvious historical reasons, picking on a Jewish family throws the unpleasantness of certain actions into sharp relief; hence the popularity of the term "Judeo-Christian" on the US right.
Writing on Talk2Action and Political Cortex, Bruce Wilson provides additional interesting details on the StopTheACLU groups. He also posted a "Shaming Project" on Talk2Action.
The goal is to get bloggers who support the "Stop the ACLU Coalition" to state whether they support the impact of that coalition's efforts in Indian River (or the possible impact) or not.
The method is simple : email those members and ask them. Be direct, and be polite.
Blogger Jesus' General, who signs himself as JC Christian, posts his revealing exchanges with the anti-ACLU group and screen shots of its exposure of the Dobriches. A sample:
Nedd Kareiva
Scrabble Champion
Director, Stop the ACLU Coalition
Dear Mr. Kareiva,
Please allow me to be the first to thank you and the staff of Stop The ACLU for all you did to make the Indian River Pogrom such a resounding success. It isn't easy to run a Jewish family out of town in these politically correct times. Usually, they just hunker down, hiding behind antiquated interpretations of the Constitution and the good will of those who wrongly believe that non-Christians are entitled to all of the benefits of citizenship.
But this time, the family fled, and I think you deserve partial credit for making that happen. After all, you did publish their name, address, and phone number on your web site (see screen cap below) as part of your "Expose ACLU Plaintiffs" project. It certainly wouldn't be much of a stretch to say that such information gave people the tools they needed to drive the Dobrich family from their home.
Of course, you didn't do it all by yourself. The good god-fearing Christians of the Indian River School District deserve most of the credit. They took to the task of ethnic cleansing with a vengeance , not sparing anyone discomfort, not even the Dobrich children...
Kareiva wrote JC Christian:
Pogrom? I'm not sure I want to call it that. That is not an appropriate term, however, I am pleased that we had an effect in this case. We have others we want to put up on the site to shame them but have not gotten around to it. And I'm not so sure I can take credit for it. However, if an ACLU speaker was booed, that's music to my ears.
Daily Kos blogger Matthew Krell, at Street Prophets, took issue with the use of the term "pogrom" (and erroneously accused JewsOnFirst of using it). In the Tsarist days where the word had its source, it implied a violent government-inspired or -sanctioned attack on Jews. Krell suggests the more descriptive Hebrew term Sitnah, which he defines as harassment. To illustrate he relates a story from Genesis about the herdsmen of Gerar denying Isaac access to water wells, harassing him rather than offering customary desert hospitality.
Some of the other blogs that discussed our report include:
Prof. Howard M. Friedman's Religion Clause.
Ed Brayton at Dispatches from the Culture Wars ()In an earlier post, Richard Bartholomew credits Dispatches from the Culture Wars for alerting him to the anti-ACLU groups.)
John Amato posting on Crooks and Liars
Spero News mentions some of the major blogs that picked up the story and encourages searching at Technorati for a full list.
BC Skeptics
From terrance's posting about the Indian River case on Republic of T, we learned about the terrible experience the Smalkowski family had in Guymon, Oklahoma.
An outpouring of sympathy
Many people wrote to JewsOnFirst asking us to pass on their sympathy to the Dobrich and Doe families.
Christians were especially pained over the families' situation. One correspndent wrote:
I am so sorry to hear about the treatment of a little boy, Alexander Dobrich and his family by the school district in Delaware. I am not Jewish, nor do I need to be, to be appalled that anyone who claims to be an American citizen can be this ignorant of the right to practice your religion of choice, and that they would humiliate that little boy. God help us all in the face of such blatant ignorance as that displayed by the pastor, Jerry Fike as well as the members of the school board.
We have contacted the families' attorneys and hope to have information soon on how you can wish them well. We will post this information and also send it out in our weekly emails (which you can receive by clicking here.)
School Prayer at Commencement/Graduation and Baccalaureate Ceremonies
The Indian River School District's policy, posted June 2006. Click here for the PDF file.
Board Prayer At Regular Board Meetings
The Indian River School District's policy, posted in late June 2006, but dated October 19, 2004. Click here for the PDF file.
Indian River prayer debate stirs up blogs
By Sean O'Sullivan, The News Journal (Delaware Online), July 8, 2006
Several national Web sites this week -- including the popular Daily Kos -- began chattering about school prayer at the Indian River School District, an issue that's been on the U.S. District Court docket in Delaware for more than a year. Continue
Dobrich and Doe vs. Indian River School District
Plaintiff's First Amended Complaint
Caution. This PDF file is very large. Please click here.
Dobrich and Doe vs. Indian River School District
Plaintiff's First Amended Complaint
Caution. This PDF file is very large. Please click here.
JewsOnFirst report on persecuted Delaware families sparks big response
Sympathy expressed for families' ordeal; harassers exposed
by JewsOnFirst.org, July 11, 2006
Links to articles and documents cited in our report appear immediately below it or below our June 30th report.
Our June 30th report about the Jewish family forced to flee a southern Delaware community -- and the "Doe" family who did not flee but hid in anonymity -- because of religious persecution by the school district became an Internet sensation.
Today JewsOnFirst is reporting that the familes' lawsuit could become a Supreme Court test case for school board prayer policies. The Rutherford Institute, a religious right legal group, has been encouraging the Indian River School District board to take assertive religious stances. (See accompanying story)
The June 30th report, drawn largely from the Dobrich and "Doe" families' lawsuit against the Indian River School District's aggressive imposition of Christianity, was picked up and amplified by bloggers -- to the extent that a local paper reported that bloggers were writing about the district's treatment of the families.
As a result of the bloggers' work: we learned of a website encouraging harassment of the Jewish family; there was an outpouring of sympathy for the families, some of which came to us as emails from readers); and we learned of an absolutely appalling case of religious persecution in Oklahoma, (which you can read about here).
We were very pleased to get credit for our work, especially from Troutfishing, who posted on the Daily Kos that "Jews On First was the group that did the original reporting that laid the key groundwork that has enabled the wider blogoshpere to develop this emergent scandal..."
One of the bloggers writing about our story discovered that a religious right website, StopTheACLU.org, had posted the home address and phone number of the Dobriches, the Jewish family who fled Sussex County because of threats and harassment after it filed suit against the school district. The group was encouraging visitors to its site to harass the Dobriches because they believed (erroneously) that they were represented by the ACLU.
Richard Bartholomew, who writes the Salon-hosted blog Bartholomew's Notes on Religion broke this aspect of the story.
On July 3rd he wrote that the group, "Stop the ACLU," was bragging on its website that it had posted the Dobrich family's home address and phone number in order to "expose" them as ACLU plaintiffs. Habitues of the site were encouraged to call or write the Dobriches and express their anger over its interference with Christians' prerogatives.
Subsequent bloggers apparently attributed the departure of some members of the Dobrich family for the safety of Wilmington to StopTheACLU's attack. It is not clear that this is so. The complaint the family filed in their lawsuit against the school district does cite threatening encounters and phone calls as a cause of their move. But the StopTheACLU threat was posted in 2006, after the Dobriches fled Sussex County.
Nevertheless, we need to comment before continuing. Whether or not the StopTheACLU group was responsible for orchestrating the harassment leading to the family's move is not as significant as its intent. Imagine: terrorizing vicims of persecution to deter them from pursuing justice and judicial remedies! We also note that this tactic was used, to horrific effect, by anti-abortion zealots. And yes, we connect the dots: both the anti-abortion zealots and the Stop ACLU group are acting in defense of their versions of "Christianity."
We note that StopTheACLU has included in its instructions not to harass, threaten or use profane language, but, in these circumstances this is merely a legal disclaimer.
On the page targeting the Dobriches that, as of July 9th, remains up despite all the recent attention it's gotten, StopTheACLU states:
This case is a good time to introduce our "Expose the ACLU Plaintiff" project and here'is how it goes. When an individual, group or even church (yes, there are churches that support the ACLU) is using the ACLU (or similar groups like Americans United, People for the (Anti) American Way, Freedom from Religion Foundation and American Atheists) to facilitate removal of a cross, the 10 Commandments or other religious symbols or the ceasing of prayer from a school or government entity, we want the community to know about it. We will start with the Dobrich family which is largely responsible for this case being taken. We are offended that the Dobrich's want to impose their atheism at the expense of the vast majority of community members who aren't offended. We will let all of Delaware know who used the ACLU to sue this school district.
They (assuming there's more of them than Nedd kareiva, whom Bartholomew and other bloggers identified) got it wrong, of course. The Dobriches are Jewish and the ACLU isn't representing them. Their attorney said the ACLU referred the case to his firm. As we noted in our June 30th piece, a raucous crowd at a 2004 meeting of the Indian River District's school board shouted down an ACLU representative who tried to speak.
A group identified as a "sister" organization to StopTheACLU.org, StopTheACLU.com, perpetuated the erroneous ACLU connection to the case in its report last March. The report noted approvingly that religious groups sang and prayed while the school board decided in executive session to reject an offer to settle the Dobrich's lawsuit. (Click here)
Bartholomew wrote that both Concerned Women for America and the Center for Reclaiming America for Christ, based at D. James Kennedy's Coral Ridge Ministries, also celebrated the board's rejection of the settlement.
After Jesus' General engaged the the dot-org anti-ACLU group, Jay Stephenson of its dot-com sister had a go-round with Bartholomew, posted on Talk2Action, in which he wrote:
Assuming the original reports (http://www.jewsonfirst.org/06b/indianri
To that, the best thing we can add is Bartholemew's comment:
I must confess that it had not occurred to me that kareiva might have been so incompetent as to post an outdated and therefore incorrect address (although in fact the exact date from which the family was allegedly split up cannot be discerned from the article), but in fact I never claimed that the posting of the address had led to the family’s alleged flight; it just seemed to me to be a significant bit of context worth including in an overview. kareiva became a central issue only when he expressed his pleasure at having "had an effect" when told about the family's predicament. We can draw significant conclusions about him and his movement from that, whether or not he actually managed to get the address right.
kareiva also insists that he is in no way anti-Semitic, being himself part Jewish. Stephenson, meanwhile, treats us to some rambling anti-Palestinian rhetoric in order to prove his own pro-Jewish credentials. Again, such an allegation was never made by me, although kareiva's lack of concern about the family having been allegedly subjected to anti-Semitic abuse is telling. There does seem to be some surprising anti-Semitism in the USA (currently being dredged to the surface by Sacha Baron Cohen), but in this case kareiva was simply unlucky that his target was Jewish. Had an atheist family been run out of town, no doubt it could be "justified" (to some) on the grounds that atheists are either Communists or extreme moral relativists. Pagans could be dismissed as devil worshippers, Muslims as America-haters, Hindus and Buddhists as stroppy immigrants. Christians who prefer private devotion over officially-decreed piety would simply be baffling. But, for obvious historical reasons, picking on a Jewish family throws the unpleasantness of certain actions into sharp relief; hence the popularity of the term "Judeo-Christian" on the US right.
Writing on Talk2Action and Political Cortex, Bruce Wilson provides additional interesting details on the StopTheACLU groups. He also posted a "Shaming Project" on Talk2Action.
The goal is to get bloggers who support the "Stop the ACLU Coalition" to state whether they support the impact of that coalition's efforts in Indian River (or the possible impact) or not.
The method is simple : email those members and ask them. Be direct, and be polite.
Blogger Jesus' General, who signs himself as JC Christian, posts his revealing exchanges with the anti-ACLU group and screen shots of its exposure of the Dobriches. A sample:
Nedd Kareiva
Scrabble Champion
Director, Stop the ACLU Coalition
Dear Mr. Kareiva,
Please allow me to be the first to thank you and the staff of Stop The ACLU for all you did to make the Indian River Pogrom such a resounding success. It isn't easy to run a Jewish family out of town in these politically correct times. Usually, they just hunker down, hiding behind antiquated interpretations of the Constitution and the good will of those who wrongly believe that non-Christians are entitled to all of the benefits of citizenship.
But this time, the family fled, and I think you deserve partial credit for making that happen. After all, you did publish their name, address, and phone number on your web site (see screen cap below) as part of your "Expose ACLU Plaintiffs" project. It certainly wouldn't be much of a stretch to say that such information gave people the tools they needed to drive the Dobrich family from their home.
Of course, you didn't do it all by yourself. The good god-fearing Christians of the Indian River School District deserve most of the credit. They took to the task of ethnic cleansing with a vengeance , not sparing anyone discomfort, not even the Dobrich children...
Kareiva wrote JC Christian:
Pogrom? I'm not sure I want to call it that. That is not an appropriate term, however, I am pleased that we had an effect in this case. We have others we want to put up on the site to shame them but have not gotten around to it. And I'm not so sure I can take credit for it. However, if an ACLU speaker was booed, that's music to my ears.
Daily Kos blogger Matthew Krell, at Street Prophets, took issue with the use of the term "pogrom" (and erroneously accused JewsOnFirst of using it). In the Tsarist days where the word had its source, it implied a violent government-inspired or -sanctioned attack on Jews. Krell suggests the more descriptive Hebrew term Sitnah, which he defines as harassment. To illustrate he relates a story from Genesis about the herdsmen of Gerar denying Isaac access to water wells, harassing him rather than offering customary desert hospitality.
Some of the other blogs that discussed our report include:
Prof. Howard M. Friedman's Religion Clause.
Ed Brayton at Dispatches from the Culture Wars ()In an earlier post, Richard Bartholomew credits Dispatches from the Culture Wars for alerting him to the anti-ACLU groups.)
John Amato posting on Crooks and Liars
Spero News mentions some of the major blogs that picked up the story and encourages searching at Technorati for a full list.
BC Skeptics
From terrance's posting about the Indian River case on Republic of T, we learned about the terrible experience the Smalkowski family had in Guymon, Oklahoma.
An outpouring of sympathy
Many people wrote to JewsOnFirst asking us to pass on their sympathy to the Dobrich and Doe families.
Christians were especially pained over the families' situation. One correspndent wrote:
I am so sorry to hear about the treatment of a little boy, Alexander Dobrich and his family by the school district in Delaware. I am not Jewish, nor do I need to be, to be appalled that anyone who claims to be an American citizen can be this ignorant of the right to practice your religion of choice, and that they would humiliate that little boy. God help us all in the face of such blatant ignorance as that displayed by the pastor, Jerry Fike as well as the members of the school board.
We have contacted the families' attorneys and hope to have information soon on how you can wish them well. We will post this information and also send it out in our weekly emails (which you can receive by clicking here.)
School Prayer at Commencement/Graduation and Baccalaureate Ceremonies
The Indian River School District's policy, posted June 2006. Click here for the PDF file.
Board Prayer At Regular Board Meetings
The Indian River School District's policy, posted in late June 2006, but dated October 19, 2004. Click here for the PDF file.
Indian River prayer debate stirs up blogs
By Sean O'Sullivan, The News Journal (Delaware Online), July 8, 2006
Several national Web sites this week -- including the popular Daily Kos -- began chattering about school prayer at the Indian River School District, an issue that's been on the U.S. District Court docket in Delaware for more than a year. Continue
Dobrich and Doe vs. Indian River School District
Plaintiff's First Amended Complaint
Caution. This PDF file is very large. Please click here.
Dobrich and Doe vs. Indian River School District
Plaintiff's First Amended Complaint
Caution. This PDF file is very large. Please click here.
Damn, some people are fucking nuts. One dickwad in there appears to think he's Jesus Christ Himself. Though, knowing that, it does bring me some slight satisfaction seeing the names of a few groups I wouldn't mind suddenly waking up in a country where they stone you for wearing a cross were mentioned on the KKK-ish side. They might not realize how stupid they are, but if someone of a virtually neutral persuasion saw them linked to shit like this, wouldn't you think it might make them leary of anything else the morons back in the future?