Sunday, January 27, 2013

LET'S GIVE "JEWISH LEADERS" A BREAK

In tense times like these, many of us activists lament that the so-called “Jewish leaders” repeatedly fail to switch from advocacy to activism at a time when their position publicly could make a meaningful difference for Israel and for all Jews. The truth is that it is unfair to criticize them for not taking a leadership position on the fight with Hagel.

Despite the media’s (liberal and conservative) need to have their “go to” Jewish “leaders” when covering an event or an issue, we owe it to these individuals to relieve them of a responsibility that is not theirs. They are not leaders of any Jews other than their own members, donors, or congregants who have expressly granted them the right to speak on their behalf. They are merely officials of a non-profit organization. Nothing more. We need to make sure that the world is made aware of the difference… with crystal clarity.

This not to pick a fight with them or to denigrate or destroy them. This is an act of mercy to remove them from unwarranted harsh criticism. In other times when Jewish communities were isolated, heads of Jewish organizations, media, and institutions were traditionally viewed as the leaders of their enclaves, so-called Jewish communities. Sometimes it worked, sometimes not so much. Many think it made little sense then, and it makes even less sense now in an Internet world where every Jew has an equal voice.

Reading Denise Tamir’s article* describing some American Jewish “leaders” ignoring Peter Bergson’s pleas to lobby the US Government on behalf of European Jews being slaughtered is sickening. And that we still have some who are willing unwilling to protest against the nomination of Chuck Hegel for Secretary of Defense is beyond disappointing. But, WE CAN DO THIS OURSELVES, yes we can!

Final comment, for those who are interested, Rabbi Steven Wise was singled out by Tamir as one who strongly opposed Bergson and failed European Jews. As you may know, I like to compare large scale events to a Rubik’s cube. When you think you have the complete picture, keep turning the cube AND the individual cublets on each side. You’ll be amazed at what you will find! I strongly recommend the more complete and balanced version from the US Holocaust Museum, Rabbi Stephen Wise
www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007309 .

Here is the concluding paragraph from that version to stimulate your interest:

Wise's role as the leading American Jewish leader during the 1933–1945 period made him a natural target for criticism. He was unable to change congressional opposition to the 1924 Immigration Act. He could not change British policy in Palestine. Ultimately, he could not persuade the Roosevelt administration or Great Britain to build rescue missions to save Jews into their strategy to win the war. There is no doubt, however, that Stephen Wise was a pivotal religious, Zionist, civic, and civil rights figure, and one of the most important Jewish leaders of the twentieth century





Tuesday, January 15, 2013

It's all about the Arab-Israeli Conflict, stupid!

One might conclude that all of the reporting and analysis from media, pundits, Jewish Organizations, and Hagel and his “explainers/defenders” has as many different faces as all of the sidelets on all of the cubelets on a Rubik’s cube. But they all share a common core misconception. All of these people buy into/promote the false narrative of a “Palestinian-Israeli Conflict”  with Israel as Goliath and “Palestinians” as David. It is and ALWAYS has been an Arab-Israeli Conflict. That Israel has been a miracle of agriculture, science, self defense, and democracy doesn’t alter the Arab-Israeli Conflict. Israel is David., and the giant Goliath has grown like Jack’s bean stalk.

It is, and ALWAYS has been, about genocidal anti-Semitism. That some Israeli’s …citizens, government representatives, and IDF officers … buy into the PIC fable doesn’t make it so. And all of the liquefied dinosaurs under the Earth’s surface don’t either. Here’s the test question. If all Jews left Israel, would 15 million Jews who so far have survived several thousand years of genocidal anti-Semitism be then free from genocidal anti-Semites? Here’s another … If the “Palestinians” had every speck of Israel’s land, would the Islamists and Islamist terrorists put an end to their march from one believer to 1.5 billion believers to convert all non-believers? Those who continue to be distracted by the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict will never solve the Arab-Israeli Conflict., and in the end will have blood on their hands.