The Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) anti-Zionist group has come under fire after it was discovered that JVP instructed members not to pray in Hebrew on Tisha B'Av.
The group's Tisha B’Av guide states, "Hearing Hebrew language can be deeply traumatizing for Palestinians. Therefore, prayers are best said in English or Arabic, rather than Hebrew. It is not our place to redeem our tradition on the backs of Palestinians. Enough has been taken."
The guide also states, "As anti-Zionist Jews, we release any attachment to the Temple and instead, invoke the spiratual power of this day in service of the liberation of Palestine."
The shocking instructions against the Hebrew language went viral this week after the fast of Tisha B'Av on Tuesday, with many ridiculing the instructions.
Aviva Klompas, the former director of speechwriting at the Israeli Mission to the United Nations, wrote in response, "JVP declares Hebrew triggering. To recap: They are anti-Zionist, anti-Jewish, anti-Hebrew and yet call themselves 'Jewish Voice for Peace.'"
Commentary Magazine editor John Podhoretz wrote, "People sometimes wonder how a group called Jewish Voice for Peace can be accurately described as anti-Semitic. Here’s the explanation. It forbids praying IN HEBREW. That’s textbook."
Another Twitter user wrote, "'Jewish Voice for Peace' wants us to pray in Arabic because most of its members only speak Arabic."
Jewish Voice for Peace has been accused of using Jewish identity as a cover for antisemitism. In April, the organization was ridiculed for a Palestinian-themed Passover Seder plate at the University of Southern California on which all of the Hebrew was written backwards.