OTHER VIEWS
LIPTON from page 38
Rumplestiltskin
S.
e Vitale Band
e • Vizitor
Nightline
igher Ground
n • LIMA
intrigue
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Sun Messengers
Teen Angels
minority opinions represented. In
civil affairs, democracy is civic dia-
logue governed by law. As Americans,
we are citizens of the world's most
successful democracy. As members of
the Jewish community and the
Zionist movement, we are grounded
in a strong tradition of democracy
and dialogue. We proudly point to
Israel, our Jewish homeland,
as the only democratic state
in a region rife with dicta-
tors and demagogues who
use boycotts to destroy our
Zionist dreams.
Boycotts — which by
their very nature rule out
dialogue — are not demo-
cratic tools. In this age of
instant communication,
most boycotts derive from that most
ungoverned of democracies, the
Worldwide Web. With its promise of
reaching thousands of people with the
click of a mouse, the Internet has
given anyone, anywhere, with a beef
and a computer the ability to organize
a boycott. In fact, we are living
through the wild, wild, west of the
Internet age. Facts are rarely checked;
Boycotts — which by
their very nature rule out
dialogue — are not
democratic tools.
FALBAUM from page 38
Jerry Ross-Michael Brock Band
Call for a free
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Lorio Ross
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40
targets are chosen at will; damage is
done at lightening speed -. Rather than
fostering democracy, employing the
Web to engage in boycotts is to
encourage herd mentality at its worst.
The Hadassah National Board
recently passed a policy statement
rejecting all calls for boycotts from
the Jewish community. We urge our
members to resist the nearly endless
and seductive invitations to join boy-
responsive to ending the violence.
Frankly, it is the threat of an oil boy-
cott by Saudi Arabia that forces the
U.S. to be so compliant to Arab
demands.
It's strange that even those Jewish
organizations that are
engaging in boycotts are
afraid to admit to it.
The American Jewish
Congress, which has sus-
pended its travel program to
France (read: boycott)
denies that its action is a
boycott because it only
affects AJCongress mem-
bers. (Why, then, does the
AJCongress publish ads in
the New York Times touting
its non-boycott effort?)
Similarly, those who have proposed
canceling subscriptions to the New
York Times, also deny they are engag-
ing in boycotts, stating their actions
are targeting a "faulty product." (Isn't
that a boycott of a faulty product?)
Let's get over our aversion to boy-
cotts. We urge the same of our col-
leagues in the Jewish community at
large. We urge everyone to keep the
paths of communication open, to dis-
cuss, to argue and to settle conflicts
through open negotiations and not
the unilateral actions of a boycott. As
in the case of the Norwegian
researcher, the cost of doing otherwise
is simply too great. ❑
cotts. There is nothing treifinot
kosher] about them.
Properly used and implemented
boycotts are effective — very effec-
tive. Indeed, they are probably the
most effective of political tactics
because nothing moves many of our
adversaries except economic pressure.
Let's get over our
aversion to boycotts.
There is nothing treif
[not kosher] about them.
Southern racists did not change their
minds about African Americans
because of principle; they succumbed
to economic and political pressure.
So let's boycott. And we might
begin by boycotting those organiza-
tions that refuse to engage in boy-
cotts. ❑
STEINBERG from page 39
Israel, Israelis and Jewish students
from overseas intensely debated the
direction that this renaissan € e
should take, and how 4,000 -years of
very rich learning, tradition and
debates on the key questions of life
should be applied to molding the
future of the Jewish people,„
From our vantage point ab
Jerusalem, we looked out on our
history every day. With the Temple
Mount and the Old City on one
side, and the Judean desert on the
other, we were constantly reminded
of our personal obligation to ensure
Jewish survival. In this atmosphere,
Palestinian terrorism was always a
danger and part of the precarious
environment, but far from a domi:-
nating factor.
During the year that I spent as an
overseas student at Hebrew U, there
were airplane hijackings (Sabena);
an airport massacre conducted by
hired killers from the Japanese Red
Army; numerous bombings in
downtown Jerusalem; the massacre
at the Munich Olympics; and other
attacks. But the choice then, as now,
was clear: If we wanted to survive as
a people, we had to continue with
our mission, regardless of the
attacks.
Tens of thousands of students
have participated in similar pro-
grams on other Israeli campuses,
and many stayed to become part of
the Jewish renaissance and con-
tribute to the triumphs of Zionism.
We have become fully integrated
and have assumed leadership posi-
tions in the Israel Defense Forces, in
the high-tech industries, and every-
where else.
The graduates of these programs
are now teaching at the newer uni-
versities — Tel Aviv, Bar-Ilan,
Haifa, and Ben-Gurion — match-
ing, and often overtaking, Hebrew
U's academic achievements and con-
tributions to Jewish learning. And
along with other Israelis, some of us
have paid with our lives, including
some of the latest victims of
Palestinian hatred and brutality who
were murdered in Hebrew U's Frank
Sinatra cafeteria.
But three decades of experience
have also demonstrated that the
commitment to Israel and Jewish
survival will not be shaken by ter-
rorism. Now, as was the case 30
years ago, students will continue to
come, regardless of the risks, to
make their contribution. ❑