I announce landmarks every 100 yards, but the news from the Jewish Federations' General Assembly in New Orleans, captured on the amazing video above, is a big one. Several young Jews calling themselves proud Jews took Palestinian solidarity into the Jewish family with an explosive disruption of rightwinger Netanyahu's speech. These Jews were brave and surely inspired by the countless brave Palestinians who have taken far greater risks in the occupied territories. But they said, this is our place to voice our anger, an official Jewish space. We are part of the Jewish community. And the official community responded with rage and violence and incoherence.
These young people are liberators. The Jewish family will never be the same; the fight has begun inside the family and begun openly at last. Now Netanyahu, whose coalition included fascistic elements, has finally been called out to his face inside the Israel lobby, by angry young Jews, as their parents' generation swallowed his ethnic cleansing and landgrabbing.
Last year at J Street, the Palestinian solidarity types were quiet. Rabbi Eric Yoffie attacked noble Richard Goldstone in a keynote speech and some people booed but they swallowed it. The panels were all Zionist. Jonathan Chait attacked this website twice during a panel with Matt Yglesias, and I said nothing about it. Passive. I thought, what is my place here, am I a real Jew?
Two years ago I went to an all-night Nakba seder on Market Street in Philadelphia and at 1 in the morning a lot of young Jews did a workshop on their relationships to their families, how out they are with their parents. There was a lot of soulsearching, including by yours truly, but it wasn't like we were doing it at our families' seders, no we were gathering among ourselves. For years I was afraid of my mother's best friend, who made aliyah to Israel 40 years ago. I never came out to her. She's a Holocaust survivor, I was afraid to declare. She had power over me. I said to myself, If I were on some panel and she walked in the back of the room, I'd go silent. Well this summer I wrote her a letter and then had a conversation with her. Not a very good conversation, but now she knows. She yelled at me, but now she knows.
This is happening all over. There are non-Zionists inside the tent-- the JCC is Manhattan is hosting Gideon Levy next week as part of its "Other Israel" festival, and Tablet says that "many" Jews are for a binational state. These Jews are going to make a revolution in Jewish attitudes; and first they must take on their elders.
thank you phil, it is a landmark. i can feel the earth underneath my feet move and i’m not even jewish.
“These Jews were brave and surely inspired by the countless brave Palestinians who have taken far greater risks in the occupied territories.”
So so smart to mention the Palestinians and others who have taken extreme risk (Rachel Corrie , foreign journalist, Art Gish etc) to bring attention to the crimes being committed by Israel against the Palestinians. Sorry to keep hammering on this idea Phil but have been part of many social justice groups. And have repeatedly seen the ego slip in and for folks to think they are the first and bravest on the firing line. So so important to acknowledge all of the social justice activist who have come before or who have and continue to be on the firing line.
Phil you are so clear about the need to bring the light of justice for Palestinians to the older generation. It makes so much sense the way you are going about it. How to support those who went through the Holocaust, lost family etc with love, ears, eyes, acknowledging the horror and trauma.
But at the same time separating this from the abuse and crimes committed in the name of Israel
This is an earthquake tsunami monsoon hurricane. Not all Jews think exactly the same. Wow.
Anotherwords, you think you can count on the Christian Zionists.
Good luck with that, baby.
Non-sequitor much?
I have always been amazed that this has taken so long for younger Jews to dig their heels in on this justice issue. I do think I understand the road blocks in Jewish families, the guilt, the guilt fueled andmanipulated.
Better late than never
It’s a much better idea, and so much more effective, to make these argument posthumous. That way, they can’t change their will, you inherit the money, and you can power your house off the grave- spinners hooked to a generator.
As soon as the word “Jewish” enters the conversation, any possibility of a reasoned discussion flies out the window.
That, more than anything, is what is so sad about this all. A pretty good religion (well, apart from male infant mutilation) has been reduced to an excuse for land, political and war crimes.
And when Judaism doesn’t provide enough excuses, they can always say “but the Moslems do it!”
I don’t like to think of this as a family squabble, but that’s what it is. The question is how chained down you are by family.
I’m very apprehensive about dealing with my relatives, but I don’t feel the need to pick an unsolicited fight with them. Just do what you gotta do.
the most dangerous position to take is for an outsider to intrude on a family feud.
but the title as well as the top photo on the “Jewish Values vs Israeli policies” thread brought to mind a flitting conversation in the Mondoweiss commentariat a few days ago, that was amplified in Noah Feldman’s remarks in yet another Mondoweiss article.
The first photo displays a beautiful young woman holding a bold pink sign that says, “The Settlements Betray Jewish Values.”
Shouldn’t that be “Judeo-Christian Values?” Isn’t that what zionist leaders have been telling Americans “since the ’50s,” as Feldman noted, that America’s values are “Judeo-Christian?”
In his remarks about his experience in visiting Palestine and the book that emerged from it, Fatal Embrace: Jews and Christians in the Holy Land, Mark Braverman challenged Christians to refrain from offering Jews a “guilt offering” and, instead, demand that Israelis, Jews, and Christians reject notions of “Jewish exceptionalism as well as of Judeo-Christian triumphalism,” because both send the message that “god loves some more than others.”
Instead, Braverman said, “if we can get that what’s wrong with what’s going on in the Middle East is wrong because it gives one people extra priveleges over another people, and they have a right to do that. And if we can figure that out and fix that, we’ll fix the world. . . . Israel has to change. We have to change Israel.”
Jews AND Christians. Together. And Arabs and Iranians too, I might add.
The hopeful note this Jewish family feud sounds is this: Braverman said that no synagogue, no Jewish organization was interested in hearing what he had to say, but plenty of Christian churches welcomed him eagerly. In Braverman’s estimation, changing Israel was going to have to start in the Christian churches, and eventually Jewish institutions would come along.
Five young Jews have jump-started that discussion.
I’m not Jewish so I’m not going to use Jewish or Judaic phrases to praise and encourage their efforts, I will speak with my own tongue: What springs to mind is, Dona nobis pacem: Go in peace. Even onto the field of confrontation, Dona nobis pacem.
Actually, dona nobis pacem means “give us peace”, but close enough. Brave indeed, and necessary, in any language.
Since I attended the GA I can report back on some of the conversations following the protest. Or at least, the most liberal wing of GA participants, as I don’t really know the others.
First, horror at how the protesters were treated. Really shook some folks up. In that sense, the violence committed made it easier to feel sympathy for the activists.
Second, lots of remarks about how reasonable they sounded. Had some idiots come in waving Palestinian flags or talking about Zionism=racism, would have been way less effective.
Third, a sense that the radical tactic (disruption) failed to match the reasonable ideas. Why couldn’t these activists have found a way to leaflet the attendees? Or get a booth in the exhibition hall?
A reply to that last thought is kind of easy: the activists got lots of attention and press. But…. to the extent that there is a conflict inside the Jewish community between folks who utterly reject the Palestinian narrative, and those who seek genuine reconciliation with the Palestinian narrative, this action can be seen as supporting the former, not the latter.
A more pressing issue for that conflict would be – where was J Street? A number of folks asked me that question.
Where was Jewish Voices for Peace?
I think it would have been great for JVP to get a booth. (Everyone understand that JVP’ers are the ones who protested, right?)
How does it work, clencher? Are the organizations invited, or can they ask to attend? Was JVP refused a place, or did they not request one?
But…. to the extent that there is a conflict inside the Jewish community between folks who utterly reject the Palestinian narrative, and those who seek genuine reconciliation with the Palestinian narrative.
Why “narrative”? How about they familiarize themselves with history, instead of the biased and fabricated Zionist spin: A land without a people for a people without a land, We made the desert bloom, We dried the swamps?
I thought you said you lived in Israel. You didn’t fly from Israel to NOLA specifically for this event, did you? $1600 airfare to attend the Federation’s GA, now that’s dedication.
‘Why “narrative”?’
Because “narrative” is part of the currently fashionable intellectual junk-food. There is no reality, just a set of “narratives”.
(Though for Zionists, “tropes” and “San Remo convention” are real.)
Avi, I did live in Israel. But I don’t anymore. Saying I ‘lived’ in Israel is past tense, but English can be strange sometimes.
Two points:
Anyone can attend to the GA just be signing up, though it’s possible someone would be told not to attend based on which organization they represented. An outside event company processed the registrations, so maybe nobody cares.
Everyone has a narrative. The study of history includes both facts and narratives. While a fact is generally true or not, more than one narrative can occupy the same set of facts. Recognizing the narrative of the ‘other’ is an important step forward, as it allows each side to hold on to it’s own version of truth while opening the door for changes, in time.
The Zionist narrative does include falsehoods. But some Zionists are pretty open about the negative aspects of that history; it doesn’t mean that the Zionist narrative has no value.
And the Palestinian narrative sometimes repeats falsehoods as well, such as claiming that ‘all of Palestine is holy Islamic waqf’ etc.
(There is no single ‘Zionist’ or ‘Palestinian’ narrative.)
The two are fundamentally different. One could declare Palestine Islamic Waqf all day long, but that wouldn’t make it so in the eyes of the average Palestinian. Why? Because that Palestinian is right there, on the ground. He sees the reality with his own eyes.
In contrast, the average Zionist in east bum**** Idaho may or may not know that Palestine was actually inhabited by an indigenous population. That gullible Zionist will believe whatever Zionist hasbara wants him to believe.
The mistake I think you make is assuming that the Zionist narrative can only be sustained with false information. That’s simply not true, even if false information has been spread widely by Zionists.
Quite a few Zionists are fully aware of every village expunged, every human rights violation, etc. Assuming that facts are some kind of magic tool in the right hands that can change people’s minds is a Cartesian myth blown up some time ago by George Lakoff and many others.
“Why couldn’t these activists have found a way to leaflet the attendees? Or get a booth in the exhibition hall?”
Simple. What has to be done is that lying war criminals like Netenyahu, who is given countless opportunities to spout his BS unchallenged, need to be put on the spot and made to answer or at least, hear the tough questions no one is prepared to ask them.
What is fundamentally important is that Netehayahu and other Israeli leaders need to be embarrassed and have their propaganda debunked right in front of them so that they can be exposed for what they are.
Handing out leaflets or erecting booths means that Netehayahu can co never have to make eye contact with their accusers.
“But…. to the extent that there is a conflict inside the Jewish community between folks who utterly reject the Palestinian narrative, and those who seek genuine reconciliation with the Palestinian narrative, this action can be seen as supporting the former, not the latter.”
Now you’re sounding exactly like Witty.
Incidentally, did you participate in the disobedience that is the very topic of discussion here or did you attend while maintaining your obedience and conformity with mainstream Zionism?
I was never told of the action in advance! It seems I’m too old for these young Turks.
Too old or to right wing for them?
“Well this summer I wrote her a letter and then had a conversation with her. Not a very good conversation, but now she knows. She yelled at me, but now she knows.”
So what EXACTLY did you say? The vagueness is an insult to your audience.
As Clenchner remarked, there is a great discontinuity in message, you know the “medium is the message”.
Its a bad precedent. Not a precedent, the norm of modern dissent critical of Israel. And, it is dismissed or defended against, NOT listened to as there is no proposal included.
“The vagueness is an insult to your audience.”
Don’t fret Witty. You remain the undisputed king of insulting your audience – what’s left of it.
“And, it is dismissed or defended against, NOT listened to as there is no proposal included.”
The proposal is self evident as it is with any crime like theft, murder etc. Stop doing what you’re doing.
Israel must ends it’s crimes against humanity and it’s violation of international law.
Bibi- flash as a rat with a gold tooth
The importance of what the “Bibi Five did is that it informs the public that there are Jewish Americans who don’t approve of the way Israel is treating Palestinians. Not only don’t approve but speak out in favor of justice for Palestine. The fallout from this is that a significant Jewish presence in the justice for Palestine movement will take the pressure off of those Americans (both Jewish and non-Jewish) who, while sympathetic (or at least open-minded) to the Palestinian cause, have held back from getting involved for fear of being called either antisemites or self-hating Jews. Pressure off, that is, because anyone so accused will now respond with, “How am I antisemitic when so many Jews are here with me protesting Israel’s crimes against humanity?” And as the movement expands and reaches critical mass (and it will), the focus won’t be only on Israel, but also on the U.S. government, without whose support the settler-state (not its people) would be no more. Could we actually force our government to reverse its policy in the Mideast? Isn’t this what our struggle is about? That and changing the world, towards which a free and just Palestine surely would be a giant step.
We could see and hear by the cheers every time Netanyahu responded with a remark to the hecklers that people attending were of like mind with Netanyahu. Passing out pamphlets to such people would have only littered the floor and discredited the effort. Those at that gathering were not expecting to hear Netanyahu’s confession about the evils of the occupation, so like Clencher here, most were not impressed by the disturbance and most probably went away more rabid as a result of it as we saw the Rabbi in the video tearing the heckler’s poster into a hundred pieces. The value of what “Netanyahu’s Five” did will be achieved when more Jews that did not attend see it and maybe this is what their great effort was really about.