By Jon Bridge and Carol Gown, Special to The Jewish Sound
This summer was hard for any supporter of Israel. As members of New Israel Fund’s local leadership, we shared in the turmoil of Israel under fire and its terribly destructive response. Some of us watched from afar, while some of us spent time in bomb shelters with loved ones. It was also painful to witness increased ultra-nationalist extremism in Israel and heightened incivility here in Seattle. This month is a fitting one to take stock of our hopes for Israel and each other.
During the war, already gaping societal divides in Israel were widened. When it was learned that some bomb shelters were being gender-segregated by religious extremists and that others barred Arab citizens at the door, New Israel Fund’s civil society grantees mobilized. Some Bedouin citizens who serve proudly in the Israeli Defense Forces but live in unrecognized villages lacked shelters entirely. NGOs representing the best of Israeli society quickly sought legal action to remedy this, cleaned away racist graffiti, and strove with municipal leaders to protect all lives under fire.
Of particular concern to us are heightened ultra-nationalism and religious extremism. We were all shocked when three Jewish teens were kidnapped and murdered. And our horror increased when six Jewish vigilantes murdered a Palestinian teenager in revenge. Anti-Arab and anti-Jewish mobs and other acts of intolerance, including some by sitting members of Israel’s security cabinet, prompted newly elected President Ruby Rivlin to declare after the war that Israeli society must combat a “volcano of incitement.” These social divides persist and we wonder how Israel will move forward more committed, not less, to equality and fairness for all citizens.
Here in Seattle, incivility has also been on parade. Anti-Semitic posters appeared in rallies at Westlake. Meanwhile, a campaign of intimidation targeted Seattle Jews perceived as out of lockstep with Israel’s government. Individuals recently went so far as to announce on social media that New Israel Fund leaders are a “horrible, frightening” threat to Seattle Jewry even bigger than anti-Israel hate groups. While these voices are a shrill minority, they do our community outsized harm. We aspire for a better communal conversation.
We joined New Israel Fund’s local leadership because we care about both Israel’s sustainability and American Jewry’s participation in that work. Ari Shavit said to an audience of nearly a thousand in Seattle this past May that the two most important audiences for building Israel support are progressives and the next generation, for whom New Israel Fund commands unique appeal. We must be able to work together despite our differing views because we all have a role to play in the pro-Israel movement.
Though Iron Dome can intercept rockets fired at civilians, no machine can protect Israeli democracy. The forces of equality and tolerance in Israel are human: Israelis with liberal values. They face an uphill battle, but one that is not hopeless if we come to their aid.
Recently we’ve heard some commentators say liberal Zionism is in crisis; we disagree. We are asking those who share our values to join us to work for a better Israel…and refuse to give up on its possibilities.
Jon Bridge and Carol Gown are members of the Pacific Northwest regional council of the New Israel Fund, which is committed to equality and democracy for all Israelis.
Typical boomers. The undercurrent of what they are saying is, really, that it is all about them, and, that the causes and issues we should really be talking about are the ones that interest them. In the same article where they talk about Israel being attacked, they make sure to spend time criticizing the country and whining about what is going on there while also managing to complain about how persecuted and picked on they feel in Seattle. Because, you know, they can’t speak in complete paragraphs without including some kind of criticism of Israel and some device attempted to put the focus on their own minor owie.
Very strange thing, the fringe left people who claim to be Jewish, claim to care about Israel, yet 99% of their criticism seems directed at Israel, and maybe 1% is directed at antisemites, terrorist groups that attack Israel, neo-nazis, people who wish harm on Jews, etc.
No other nationalism, race, religion, etc. seems to have this. I’ve never heard of, say, Italians who direct 99% of their hate against Italy. Or Arabs who direct 99% of their hate at Arab countries. Why do we have extreme-left Jews, some of which seem to be associated with the NIF, whose full-time existence on this planet appears to be to either criticize Israel or promote actions that make Israel weaker and more vulnerable to attack?
Why don’t NIF work to fix injustices in the Middle East in regard to stopping anti-Jewish hate, stopping wars against Israel, etc?
Why does the New Israel Fund seem to hate passionate Israeli citizens and seem to hate the Israeli government, and seem to hate the concept of the world’s only Jewish state being a Jewish state a thousand times more than it attacks antisemites, Islamic terrorist groups, etc?
Am I seeing this wrong?
Jews are being attacked all around the world right now, yet we have leftist “Jewish” groups that seem to ignore that and just bash Israel.