Community Views
Editor's Notebook
Staying Ahead
Of The Curve
Continuity May Not
Really Be The Goal
GARY ROSENBLATT EDITOR
American Jews,
and particularly
ardent Zionists,
are behind the
curve in their
long-standing as-
sumptions about
the Israeli gov-
ernment's politi-
cal, diplomatic and military
interests.
We have been conditioned
over the years to believe, for in-
stance, that the Palestine Lib-
eration Organization is Israel's
most dangerous enemy, that it
would be unthinkable to give up
land on the Golan Heights to
Syria, that a preferred solution
to the Palestinian problem
would be to have them go to Jor-
dan, and that the United Na-
ions is a body that should be
spurned.
But we need to realize that
realities change, that the Wash-
ington of the Clinton adminis-
tration and the Jerusalem of the
Rabin government are not the
same as even the recent past,
and that Israel has different
goals and strategies today than
it did a few years ago.
Talk to officials of the gov-
ernment in Israel and you may
be surprised to learn that they
are more worried about militant
Islamic fundamentalists, like
-lamas, than the PLO, which is
still committed to the destruc-
tion of the Jewish state but
more reasonable to deal with on
a practical level.
The PLO is motivated by po-
litical goals, namely to create an
independent Palestinian state.
Hamas, though, believes it is a
religious imperative to destroy
Israel, and all Jews. As a result,
Israeli leaders are deeply con-
cerned about the growth of Is-
lamic fundamentalism
throughout the Mideast.
That's where Syria comes
into the picture. We have been
conditioned to believe, for good
reason, that Syria is an in-
tractable enemy of Israel and
that President Assad is a cun-
ning, brutal leader committed
to destroying the Jewish state.
Then how is it possible that
Israel is making more progress
in the peace process with Syr-
ia than with the less dangerous
Jordanians, Palestinians and
Lebanese?
The fact is that Israel is seri-
ously considering giving up at
least part of the strategically vi-
tal Golan Heights in return for
some form of peace treaty. It's
not that the Israelis are gullible,
it's that they are struggling
mightily to be practical. And the
practical reality is that with the
collapse of the Soviet Union,
Syria has lost its greatest bene-
factor, and feels the need to
draw closer to the United States
in hopes of financial aid. Mak-
HARLEM WINNER APPELMAN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
ferent points in their lives,
In the near fut-
ure, the Acad-
there's no need to belong.
emy Awards for
Going to the synagogue or
the best movies
temple serves many pur-
and all the ac-
poses both spiritual and so-
couterments
cial. It is essential to have
that accompany
moments when our souls are
such awesome
reawakened, but if that's not
endeavors will
working that day, then there
be presented. It is interesting
had better be a community
that in shooting films the stu-
there that is inviting, in-
dios employ people called "con-
volved and that cares about
tinuity girls (or guys)" whose
Jewish survival, not just
job it is to make certain that
continuity.
everything on the stage set is
We sometimes criticize
left exactly as it was the day
folks who become involved
before so that shooting can
with the Jewish community
continue. The purpose of the
for purely social purposes,
continuity girl is to make cer-
but why? Humans are social
tain that no change has oc-
animals whose nature it is
curred. That's what's so
to be social.
troubling about the new "hot
The trick is to help folks
phrase" continuity in light of
who are social Jews make
the Jewish people: no change
other connections. When a
— just like the day before.
Jewish community invests
it
ing peace with Israel would cer-
tainly pave the road to such aid.
In addition, Israel believes
that making an accommodation
with Syria would preclude the
Damascus government from
drawing closer to Iran, a pow-
erful enemy of the Jewish state
on the eastern front.
Another long-held American
Jewish belief whose credibility
has passed for Israeli officials is
the notion that a Palestinian
state already exists and it is Jor-
dan. While this public relations-
style thesis has its appeal, there
are those who argue that its em-
Israel today is looking for
more, rather than less, involve-
ment in the world body.
Perhaps the most dramatic
example of how the level of dis-
course on Israeli policy has
changed involves Prime Minis-
ter Rabin himself. Some Amer-
ican Zionist leaders are seeking
to prevent the American
Friends of Peace Now, a dovish
group, from joining the Confer-
ence of Presidents of Major
American Jewish Organiza-
tions, arguing that Peace Now
is more pro-Arab than pro-Is-
rael. But Prime Minister Rabin
*s essential t
oments when
our souls are reawakened,
but if that% not corkin
that day, then there had
better be a community there
that is inviting, involved
and that cares about
Jewish survhfa 9
t
have m
Rabin: Not the same as the past.
phasis almost scared King Hus-
sein off as a tacit ally of Israel.
After all, both Iraq and Syr-
ia have historical, territorial
claims on Jordan, whose most
reliable supporter in the region
is the Jewish state. (It was Is-
rael that warned King Hussein
of internal threats and poten-
tial coups in the past.) So when
Israel started promoting the no-
tion that Jordan is the place
where all the Palestinians •
should live, the king, fearful of
the threat to his monarchy,
drew closer to the dangerous
Saddam Hussein of Iraq.
In the wake of the Persian
Gulf war, though, and with his
health an issue, King Hussein
has returned to the bosom of the
West, where he no longer fears
that Israel is out to overthrow
him.
Then there is the United Na-
tions, whose biased treatment
of Israel over the years culmi-
nated in the 1975 resolution
equating Zionism with racism.
While the world body is still
viewed with contempt by many
American Jews, Israel recog-
nizes that the UN has taken on
greater importance; especially
since its role leading up to the
allies' invasion of Iraq.
last week appointed the former
president of Americans for
Peace Now to direct a new or-
ganization in this country to
promote the Labor Party.
The truth is that some of the
policies labeled as suspect by
these Zionist critics happen to
be the views of cabinet minis-
ters in the current Israeli gov-
ernment. Whether or not Israel
should negotiate with the PLO,
for example, is a serious topic
for debate in Israel. But in this
country, anyone who might sug-
gest the validity of such a posi-
tion is still considered outside of
the Zionist pale.
The point here is not to dis-
cuss whether Israeli policy re-
garding the PLO or the Golan
or Jordan is proper, but simply
to caution American Jewry to
the new realities of Israel.
Whether or not we approve, we
must be knowledgeable of the
issues.
Old slogans and policies have
changed, and it is time for us to
recognize that fact. The gov-
ernment in Jerusalem today is
not focusing on settlements but
on rebuilding from within and
absorbing the hundreds of thou-
sands of recent immigrants
STAYING AHEAD page 8
Commissions on continuity
have sprung up nationally.
The General Assembly spent
almost a week obsessing over
continuity. Other folks in town
are on a quest for a better de-
scriptor to adequately identi-
fy what we need to do: but it
seems obvious that just "con-
tinuing" will not ensure sur-
vival of a people that is
confronted with disaffected
young people and a disillu-
sioned middle-aged popula-
tion.
Unless people view the Jew-
ish community as a communi-
ty that truly meets its creature
needs for warmth, spirituali-
ty, and a sense of purpose as
well as food and shelter at dif-
Harlene Winnik Appelman
is director of field studies for the
Shirley and Arthur Whizin In-
stitute for Jewish Family Life.
g
millions of dollars in insti-
tutions that are available for
the social and recreational
needs of Jews, then it be-
hooves the community to
make sure that at the same
time those institutions in-
fuse their programs with is-
sues and activities that are
profoundly Jewish. We can-
not afford the luxury of con-
tinuity of business as usual.
We need to bring in the Jew-
ish national guard armed
with passion that views
every contact with a Jew as
one more chance to connect
with our disenfranchised,
disaffected population.
Semantics and rhetoric
can be mental games, but
in this case, I hope that
those who are not comfort-
able with the word, conti-
nuity, business as usual, will
continue the quest. 0