OTHER VIEWS Don't Let The Terrorists Win Editor's Note: Zieva Konvisser, recording secretary of Greater Detroit Chapter of Hadassah and a vice president at Congregation Beth Shalom, and her husband, Marc, a self-employed software developer, toured the Jewish state while also taking part in Hadassah's Oct. 13-20 Israel Renaissance Mission. re you crazy?" our friends said. Our mothers told us not to go. One son wished he could go with us; the other was concerned. My husband Marc and I went. Visiting Israel is a big step in these days of terrorist bombings, but it is a vital step in keeping the connection between Israeli Jews and Jews in the diaspora strong. In Israel, we not only were wel- comed by the tourist industry, which has just about dried up (we had to make appointments to shop), but also by all of the Israelis we met. They have the awful feeling that they are bearing the brunt of extremist terror- ism alone. However, without a strong Israel homeland, the world would be a much scarier place for all Jew. Sitting on the sidelines is not a neu- tral policy, but allows the terrorists to ik Zieva and Marc Konvisser live in Orchard Lake. Hadassah's Renaissance Mission II to Israel is scheduled for Dec. 29 through Jan. 5. Call Ann Fucito in the Missions Department, (212) 303- 8031 or e mail, missions@hadassah.org - Visit Israel win. Over 2,000 years of anti- Semitism have not ended and we can't let this latest onslaught defeat us. Supporting Israel by our money and, more importantly, by our pres- ence was the purpose of the Hadassah Israel Renaissance Mission in which we were active participants. The phrase "Next Year in Jerusalem" that we say each Passover reminds us that our freedom is deeply tied to the exis- tence of a thriving.Jewish state. It was wonderful being in a country where we were welcomed both as an American and a Jew. The country has been badly hurt by the suicide bombers — we can only compare it to the Washington, D.C., snipers who terrified the whole country, yet killed fewer people than one average [Palestinian] suicide bomber. The Washington reign of terror lasted sev- eral weeks; the suicide bombers have been terrifying Israeli civilians for many years and there is no end in sight. Most of the Israelis we talked with had resolved to defy the terrorist by living a "normal" life. They, as we found ourselves doing as tourists, choose to avoid areas or circumstances that they deem to be dangerous or risky: public buses, the Arab Quarter, congested open-air markets. Our cousins and their children con- tinue to plan — long and short term — but, as one of them said, "We never know. It's such a small country that you're touched by every incident. political Isolation Increasing For Jews Washington, D. C. f all ose statistics are true about Jews still being one of the most liberal voting blocs in the nation, why are they increasing- ly estranged from the American left? Easy: the left, ranging from the anti- globalism fringes to the Congressional Black Caucus to some segments of the mainstream liberal community, has adopted policies and perspectives that even many progressive Jews regard as , offensive and dangerous. Good causes have been rendered marginal by activists looking for easy- to-grasp heroes and villains. Political correctness has turned Israel from a noble experiment into the ultimate I James D. Besser is the Detroit Jewish T.". Y. 11/8- 2002 38 News' Washington correspondent. E- mail: jbesser@att.net example of vicious colonialism. And a political culture that can't. say "no" to extremists has turned the con- cept of civil rights on its head. It's no longer unusual to see activists ped- dling the Protocols of the Elders of Zion at anti-war and anti-globalism rallies — and for organizers, for all their talk of human rights, to remain silent in the face of this overt anti-Semitism. That's producing a kind of political disenfranchisement for Jewish voters who remain strongly liberal, but increasingly lack partners with whom to pursue those political interests. The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) is in synch with mainstream Jewish voters on a host of important domestic issues. But there also is no other group that is as tolerant of some of the most anti-Israel and anti-Jewish voices. Many have been highly critical of The Israel mission began But we go on. We live as if it with a moving moon-lit doesn't exist. We put up a bar- Shehechiyanu service at the rier." Haas Promenade overlooking In the words of Hadassah Jerusalem. It concluded with College President Nava Ben- an equally moving moon-lit Zion, "We are looking to the Havdalah ceremony on the future — creating a rainbow." terrace of the David Citadel What we have learned and Hotel overlooking David's ZI EVA read about at home were no KONVISSER Tower and the Old City of longer just words. Hadassah projects were internalized and Community Jerusalem. We came away from this brought to life with a deeper Views wonderful week renewed, understanding when we saw excited and refreshed, wanting them in person. to share our experiences, our feelings, Being in Israel, experiencing living our thoughts and our pictures. We with terrorism with the victims, came away with the desire to tell reminded us of becoming second-gen- everyone how safely we traveled even eration witnesses to the Holocaust in in previously unsafe places. We came 1995. We saw, heard and felt the hor- away needing to share the importance rors as we toured Auschwitz-Birkenau of American Jews coming to Israel with survivors. Both experiences we now. ❑ will never forget! Zieva Konvisser, right, presents dolls made by Greater Detroit Chapter of Hadassah's Doll Project volunteers to Dr. Dan Englehart, director of pediatrics at Hadassah Hospital in Ein Kerem. When asked about why she Israel in recent years. That's lost, he angrily spelled out the no sin, since many American reason: "J-E-W-S." Jews and Israelis openly criti- Overt expressions of racial cize Israeli policies. intolerance are no longer accept- But many of these lawmak- able in American life, but if the - ers go further by giving legiti- targets are Jews or Jewish influ- macy to those who criticize ence, many who rally under the the very idea of Israel and civil rights banner are surpris- JAMES D. whose criticism veers off into ingly tolerant of intolerance. outright anti-Semitism. BESSER Other Black Caucus mem- When a United Nations Special conference on racism was Comm entary bers have provided a Capitol Hill platform for Nation of hijacked by anti-Israel forces Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. and turned into a lynch mob When Farrakhan returned from a of open anti-Semitism, adminis'tration recent Mideast "peace mission," it was officials boycotted the conference — CBC founder Rep. John. Conyers, D- but leading CBC members, including Mich., who provided him a forum, as Rep. Cynthia McKinney, D-Ga., if he was a legitimate statesman, not a demanded full U.S. participation. garden-variety bigot. When McKinney and Rep. Earl It's not just the CBC. Hilliard, D-Ala., lost their reelection When anti-globalism, anti- bids, some CBC members complained International Monetary Fund forces about excessive Jewish influence in come to Washington to demonstrate, American democracy. McKinney's father, a defeated state legislator, was blunter: BESSER on page 39