TUG Of WAR

A generation gap was clearly visible
at the first American Zionist Assembly

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Giora Carmi

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will be held in May. Whoever makes it
to the Assembly will be in a position to
DAVID HOLZEL
help decide the disbursement of the
Staff Writer
World Zionist Organization's budget.
Elections were last held in December
he American Zionist move-
1977.
ment seems to be fighting a
The Assembly, a "convention of
tug of war on two fronts:
conventions," according to American
against the magshimim, the
Zionist Federation Executive Director
movement's activist youth,
Karen Rubinstein, was the first at-
and against the veteran American
tempt to bring all the forces of Ameri-
Jewish philanthropic establishment.
can Zionism together under one roof. It
Both threaten the American Zionist
almost succeeded. Instead of all the
leadership — now age 60 and over —
groups meeting simultaneously, due
and its claim to be in the forefront of
to scheduling problems the 12 con-
pro-Israel activity.
stituent organizations convened over a
The youth are aliyah oriented and
five-day period, often overlapping
say a Zionist is one who lives in Israel
with one another.
or intends to settle there; the philan-
The Assembly's centerpiece was
thropic takes a longer view and defines
the ninth biennial AZF convention,
a Zionist as one who supports Israel.
where 1,000 members of the AZF's 16
This struggle was evident at the
organizations gathered to renew old
first-ever American Zionist Assembly,
ties, fight old fights, learn of current
held last week in Philadelphia. The
conditions in Israel and vote on resolu-
gathering often resembled a carnival
tions to determine the direction of the
as youth group members, dressed in
American Zionist movement. It was
uniforms and jeans, mixed with adults
also an opportunity to "recharge our
in dresses, suits and ties. There were
batteries," as Detroit Zionist Federa-
photo and video exhibits, awards
tion President Norman Naimark put
ceremonies, big-name speakers from
it. Naimark was one of three De-
Israel, after-dinner sing-alongs, in-
troiters who attended the Assembly. A
formational workshops, political
fourth was a delegate to the conference
haggling and ideological arguments.
convened by the American Sephardi
At stake is American representa-
Federation.
tion at the World Zionist Assembly, to
Other groups at the Assembly in-
be held in Jerusalem in December.
cluded the Kibbutz Aliyah Desk,
American elections to the Assembly

T

whose Zionist Activist Seminar with
the theme "Humanistic Zionism" at-
tracted 350 kids, according to Rubins-
tein. Also participating were grass
roots aliyah organizations such as
Naam, Telem, Tehilla and Tagar; the
American Zionist Youth Association
— USA; and Histadruth Ivrith, which
sponsored programs in Hebrew on
Zionist themes in Hebrew literature.
According to Rubinstein, nearly
1,600 participated in the Assembly.
She said she regretted that there was
not more time for the youth and adults
to be together, a critique repeated by
others. The youth convention ended
just as the adult one began. Greater
contact between the two groups might
have deepened understanding be-
tween them.
The meeting ground between the
two camps came at the Assembly's
opening and aliyah plenaries, which
were held back-to-back. The youth —
who applauded effusively each time a
speaker called for a greater commit-
ment to aliyah — openly challenged
the AZF slogan that "real Zionists pay
dues" — that they are dues-paying
members of a Zionist organization.
The slogan, an apparent rebuttal to
pro-Israel Jews from the Jewish
philanthropies who call themselves
"New Zionists," was taken up as a
gauntlet by the aliyah activists.
At a question and answer session

via satellite with Israel's President
Chaim Herzog, one activist asked, "I
am not a member of a Zionist organiza-
tion, but I am making aliyah. Does
that mean I'm not a Zionist?"
Sam Shube, national chairman of
Telem, the Movement for Zionist Ful-
fillment, asked the president: "What
kind of dues do you want from Ameri-
can Zionists?"
Herzog replied, "The dues I want
from the American Zionists are the
American Jews. We need your in-
volvement in Israel today." He
stressed that Israel is short of man-
power, especially in the high technol-
ogy fields.
"I would say that while paying
dues is very important in the Ameri-
can Zionist Federation and
everywhere else . . . the most impor-
tant task of world Jewry and Ameri-
can Jewry has is to come as far as they
can to Israel . . . and in particular to
encourage the youth to come to Israel."
Herzog, who answered questions
from the delegates over the phone,
quipped: "The fact that your opening
plenary session is devoted entirely to
aliyah is no less than a landmark in
American Zionist history. I would
even dare to suggest that the
Shehechiyanu blessing would be
appropriate." Herzog reminded the as-
sembly that not long ago, the subject of

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