From: Caren May <drivewithcaren@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Aug 24, 2018, 9:06 AM
Subject: It's not Birthright that's in need of repair, it's American Judaism --------------US Jewry's silence as Trump prepares to squeeze ISRAEL
From: Gary Erlbaum <gee770@gtreeprop.com>
Date: August 24, 2018 at 8:42:35 AM EDT
To: Gary Erlbaum <gee770@aol.com>
Subject: It's not Birthright that's in need of repair, it's American Judaism --------------US Jewry's silence as Trump prepares to squeeze Israel
gee note : most jews have been silent on the trump pronouncement because we believe there is no chance that abbas will accept any deal no matter the tems. but, flatow makes some compelling points.
It's not Birthright that's in need of repair, it's American Judaism
August 22, 2018, 11:56 am
In recent days and weeks, much ink has been used and many electrons have been generated to bemoan the status of Taglit-Birthright Israel trips. The current kerfuffle is the result of the walkout from their Birthright trip of students affiliated with the group IfNotNow (a horrible play on the wise words of the rabbinical sage Hillel) who are opposed to the "occupation." They left their group early to meet with Palestinians because Birthright doesn't offer a better explanation or allow a discussion of the "Palestinian narrative."
Concerned about the return of Jewish college students to their campuses, Martin Raffel wonders if participants in Birthright trips to Israel will be prepared to confront Israel's detractors ("What's the story with Birthright?" Aug. 16). While disagreeing with the methods employed by the IfNotNow students, Raffel believes they make a good point. I do not.
Conceived as a program to provide young Jewish adults the gift of an educational trip to Israel, Birthright has come under attack because it doesn't "equip young Jews with a nuanced understanding of the complex Israel-Palestine conflict," Raffel writes of his conversation with Rachel Zaurov of Cliffside Park, a member of the Israel Policy Forum. But Birthright trips are designed to introduce young adults to Israel as the home of the Jewish people, to instill a sense of pride in being part of the Jewish people, and to increase awareness of who they are in the mosaic of Jewish life. It was not designed to, in a period of 10 days, give an understanding of the "complex Israel-Palestine conflict," which is something Israelis and those who care about Israel have been trying to comprehend for 70 years.
Reading all of the hand-wringing commentaries, you may be tempted to think that Birthright Israel is broken. It's not. To the contrary, it is our American brand of Judaism that is broken. My baby boomer generation has sadly produced a generation of young Jewish adults (not your children, of course) who believe that all of Judaism can be summed up in "tikkun olam," a phrase not found in traditional texts, and the idea that to be Jewish, all you have to do is be a nice person.
We have raised a generation of young adults and college-aged students who may, and I do mean "may," know there are holidays called Purim and Chanukah, but they don't know why there is a Purim or why there is a Chanukah. They have been raised not in the joys of Yiddishkeit — a meaningful Shabbat, celebrating the chagim, etc. — but in the oys of Yiddishkeit — dietary and work restrictions that "are not for us but for the folks who live in Lakewood."
We have raised a generation of young adults who, along with their parents, left the synagogue immediately after their bar or bat mitzvahs. We have excused the intermarriage of our offspring on the basis of "as long as he's happy." Their generation is giving us children named Jennifer Cohen, who is not halachically Jewish, and Jennifer Napolitano, who is. Why are we surprised when our kishkes are tied into a knot when we are asked, "Who do you want to invite to the baptism?"
When it comes to the modern State of Israel, we have raised a generation that doesn't know what led to the Balfour Declaration, of the whereabouts of the blue and white pushka (charity box) in our grandmothers' kitchens, and the distinctions between the political philosophies of David Ben-Gurion and Menachem Begin (assuming they even know who these men were).
As for Birthright teaching about the so-called "Palestinian narrative," a phrase I hate almost as much as the phrase "tikkun olam," let me tell you what that narrative is:
"Our lands were taken from us by Jews sent to Palestine because of the murders committed in Europe. The Jews have no ties to the country. No such thing as a Jewish Temple ever existed on the Haram al-Sharif. Every inch of Palestine is ours." And "it is desirable to die while killing Jews."
Don't believe me? For starters, look at the coat of arms of Fatah, the largest political party in the PLO and whose leader, Mahmoud Abbas, is in the 13th year of his four-year term as president of the Palestinian Authority. Crossed in front of a green representation of Israel are two automatic rifles and a grenade. Below it is the slogan, al-`Asifa ("the Storm"), a reference to Fatah's armed wing. The message is clear: Liberate the stolen homeland. Want more? Visit the Palestinian Media Watch website to read and see what the Palestinians teach their children.
As for the 600-700,000 original Palestinian "refugees" whose descendants live in squalor in camps set up in Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan in 1947-1948, why did they refuse to return to their homes in the West Bank, or settle themselves there, between 1948 and 1967? Why were they not accepted into the societies in which they found themselves? Why are there refugee camps in the cities of Nablus and Jenin, both under the control of the Palestinian Authority for the past 20 years? It's for the simple reason that Palestinian society worldwide, abetted by the United Nations, thrives on victimhood; it's reinforced by all who refuse to accept the fact that 98 percent of the Palestinian population in the West Bank lives under the rule of the Palestinian Authority.
But there's no mention of the same number of Jews from Iran, Iraq, and Yemen, who were booted out of their countries after a presence of 2,000 years. They are Jews who have been accepted and integrated, admittedly with many bumps along the way, into the State of Israel. That would not fit the Palestinian narrative, would it?
As for Israel's Arab citizens, I don't have to defend the rights they enjoy in Israel. While the country has now faced up to the fact that Arab communities do not necessarily share equally with Jewish communities in government and municipal programs, it's being addressed. But how do you explain the recent rallies in Tel Aviv where Israeli Arabs protesting the nation-state law carried Palestinian flags?
From my perspective, Birthright Israel has been an overwhelming success. It has given thousands of young Jewish adults their first real look at Israel. Like all educational programs, it continually fine tunes its objectives, but it's not broken. It has never been Birthright's responsibility to give college-aged students and young adults the tools they need when they encounter Jew-hatred on campus and in society. We are their parents and it is first and foremost our responsibility to begin to do so when our children began to walk and talk by giving them a Jewish education, to show them the joys of Yiddishkeit. We have failed to date, but it's never too late to turn back the tide of ignorance.
Stephen M. Flatow of Long Branch is a vice president of the Religious Zionists of America, an attorney in New Jersey, and the father of Alisa Flatow, who was murdered in an Iranian-sponsored Palestinian terrorist attack in 1995. His book, "A Father's Story: My Fight for Justice Against Iranian Terror," will be published later this year.
US Jewry's silence as Trump prepares to squeeze Israel
American Jews must stop biting their tongues and hoping those troubling statements are not indicative of actual U.S. policy.
Att'y Stephen M. Flatow (צילום:)
The writer, a New Jersey attorney, is vice president of the Religious Zionists of America and the father of Alisa Flatow, who was murdered by Palestinian terrorists in 1995 on a study trip to Israel when the bus she was on exploded on her way to the beach in Gush Katif. When Alisa succumbed to fatal head wounds at Soroka Medical Center, the family donated her organs to save the lives of others.
The American Jewish community should be up in arms over President Trump's declaration that Israel now has to pay a "high price" because it's the Palestinians' "turn" to "get something very good," following the relocation of the US embassy to Jerusalem earlier this year.
Trump's disturbing remark, made in a speech in West Virginia on Tuesday, followed several previous hints along the same lines. In a tweet on January 2, 2018, he wrote: "We have taken Jerusalem, the toughest part of the negotiation, off the table, but Israel, for that, would have had to pay more."
Similarly, Trump told reporters in Davos on January 25: "I helped it because by taking it off the table—that was the toughest issue—and Israel will pay for that. You won one point and you'll give up some points later on in negotiations if it ever takes place."
But President Trump's latest statement is the most troubling articulation of the president's mindset regarding Israel and the Palestinian Authority. He now has made it clear that he does not really grasp the nature of the Palestinian war against Israel, and does not understand that the Palestinian leadership is irrevocably committed to terrorism and hatred.
Instead, Mr. Trump views the entire Israeli-Palestinian situation as a matter for horse-trading. Israel "got" something in the embassy move, so now it's the Palestinians' "turn" to get something. Not because the Palestinians made some concession. Not because their behavior demonstrates they are moderate and peaceful and trustworthy. No, simply because it's all a matter of "taking turns."
No matter how much the PA incites violence, no matter how many terrorists its harbors, no matter how many Hamas weapons factories flourish under PA rule—still, it's their "turn" to "get something."
And not just any old "something"—it's going to be "something very good." Meaning, in all likelihood, that the concession Trump has in mind won't be just symbolic, like the kind Israel "got." Rather, it will be something concrete and probably irreversible. Because that's how it always goes—Israel's gains are almost always symbolic, while the Palestinians almost always receive concrete concessions such as Jewish construction being halted or terrorists being set free.
During the past year, pro-Israel organizations have focused on the Trump administration's pro-Israel gestures, while looking the other way when he took steps to the contrary.
We all cheered Niki Haley's great speeches at the United Nations, the US withdrawal from the UN Human Rights Commission, and of course the moving of the embassy.
But there was no hue and cry from Jewish organizations when the Trump administration pressured Israel to remove metal detectors from the Temple Mount following the murder of two Israeli police officers.
There were no protest rallies when Trump publicly pressured Israel to halt Jewish construction in the territories, declaring at his press conference with Prime Minister Netanyahu on February 15, 2017, that "I would like you to hold back on settlements for a little bit"—as if Jews living in their historical homeland are somehow an obstacle to peace.
No Jewish leaders were marching in the streets when President Trump told Israel Hayom on Feb. 9, 2017 that "the settlements are something that very much complicates and always have complicated making peace, so I think Israel has to be very careful with the settlements."
I didn't hear any Jewish organizations shouting when U.S. officials said of Trump's forthcoming Mideast peace plan that "both sides are going to love some of it, and hate some of it" and "the plan won't be loved by either side, and it won't be hated by either side" — thus treating democratic Israel and the terrorist PA as if they are morally equivalent.
American Jews bit their tongues and hoped those statements and actions were not indicative of actual U.S. policy. But now we know better. Trump's demand that Israel pay a "high price" and his promise to give the PA "something very good" should be a game changer.
Jewish leaders need to speak out, loudly and clearly and repeatedly. They need to make it clear to the president and his team that Israel has spent 70 years paying high prices—surrendering land, releasing terrorists, freezing construction—and has received no peace in return.
The time for squeezing Israel, and making concessions to the Palestinians, is over.
Stephen M. Flatow is a vice president of the Religious Zionists of America, an attorney in New Jersey and the father of Alisa Flatow, who was murdered in an Iranian-sponsored Palestinian terrorist attack in 1995. His book, "A Father's Story: My Fight for Justice Against Iranian Terror," will be published later this year
