Michael's Mitzvah
Washington, D.C.
ight now, a lot of Jews who
disagree with almost every-
thing he says should be
rooting for Michael Lerner.
The Tikkun magazine editor and
longtime anti-war activist frequently
enrages mainstream pro-Israel groups
with his harsh criticisms of Israel; his
" Tikkun Community" sometimes
seems politically correct to the point
of self-parody.
But now Lerner is engaged
in a fight over the soul of an
anti-war movement that
could burgeon if the U.S.-led
war against Iraq turns sour.
And that has big implications
for the Jewish community,
which could face a major
community-relations crisis if
the wrong side wins. •
Lerner, while not forsaking
his longstanding criticisms of
Israeli policy, wants a peace movement
not led by groups intent on using it to
advance the anti-Israel, anti-Semitic
cause. He also demands that it take a
more realistic look at some of the
R
world's crisis areas, and not swallow
the idea that just because the United
States is sometimes wrong, despots
like Saddam Hussein are automatically
right.
Last week, Lerner was blackballed
from the speakers platform at a major
anti-war rally in San Francisco organ-
ized by International ANSWER — a
group that has emerged as the driving
force of the new anti-war movement.
But ANSWER, which organized
Lerner is fighting for the
soul of an anti-war move-
ment that could burgeon
if the Iraq war turns sour.
James D. Besser is Washington
correspondent for the Detroit Jewish News.
His e-mail address is jbesser@attnet
several major demonstrations in
Washington in the past year, is any-
thing but centrist; its vehement anti-
Israel ideology is only one of its
extreme positions.
There's nothing new about an anti-
Israel bias in the American left, a par-
ticularly interesting paradox because so
many Jews identify themselves with
labels Israel's creation as "a ter-
that part of the political spec-
rible act of anti-Semitism, as
trum.
well as a violent racist crime
In the late 1960s, promi-
against the Palestinian peo-
nent Jewish leftists were harsh-
ple."
ly critical of the anti-Vietnam
In other words, Israel is by
war movement because of
definition
a criminal, oppres-
what they rightly saw as anti-
sive state, just like the United
Israel bias. That bias, skillfully
States. North Korea, on the
nurtured by Palestinian and
JAM ES D.
other hand, is merely a victim
Arab activists who portray
BES SER
of decades of U.S. aggression,
Israel as an imperialistic mon-
Spe cial
strosity, could become a core
Comm entary according to the WWP.
That is the ideology of the
belief of the new anti-war and
group that created_ANSWER
anti-globalization movements,
as the vehicle for a broader mass
if ANSWER and other radicals have
movement based on opposition to any
their way.
U.S. attack against Iraq.
ANSWER thrust itself into the fore-
Under normal circumstances,
front of those emerging movements by
ANSWER and its sponsoring group
virtue of its early demonstration per-
would be more comic relief than
mits and its aggressive Internet cam-
threat.
paigns. It has mobilized many activists
But widespread anxiety about the
who know nothing of its ideological
underpinnings or its harshly anti-Israel impending war with Iraq, and the fact
that ANSWER has shrewdly posi-
views.
tioned itself to capitalize on that feel-
ANSWER'S Web site gives a hint of
ing means that their over-the-edge
its leanings,-pitching an international
views could gain undeserved legitima-.
tribunal to "indict" Israel and the
cy and plenty of attention.
United States for war crimes against
It also means a crisis for the many
the Palestinian people.
Jews who believe an Iraq war now
The group is actually an offshoot of
would be a catastrophic mistake, but
the Workers World Party (WWP),
won't work with groups that oppose
whose Web site describes Zionist lead-
ers as "colonial shock troops" and
BESSER on page 26
The Clock Is Ticking
Haifa
n the surface, all is quiet and
normal. Schools are in session;
weddings and b'nai mitzvah
take place on schedule; traffic
moves on the highways; much of the
talk is about internal politics.
But the undercurrent is also obvi-
ous. Every home in Israel has received
a 52-page brochure containing
detailed instructions on what to do
and how to behave in case the alarm
siren sounds. All are aware of the tick-
ing clock.
Not all parts of the country are
affected equally. There is a feeling that
any missiles sent this way by Sadam
Hussein will carefully avoid Jerusalem
lest they damage Muslim holy sites.
Eilat is also thought to be a relatively
0
Carl Alpert is a U.S. native who made
aliyah in 1952. He is former head of the
Zionist Organization of America's edu-
cation department. His e-mail address is
alpert@techunix.technion.ac.il
safe haven because there are few strate-
gic targets there. The most vulnerable
area is greater Tel Aviv and all its adja-
cent cities and towns. It was here that
most of the 39 Iraqi Scuds landed dur-
ing the Gulf War. Some of the munici-
palities have announced arrangements
for mass evacuation of population to
safer areas if bombs wreck many
homes. Space has been measured in
schools, community centers and sports
facilities should they be needed for
emergency shelter.
Little is said about it now, but some
time ago the rabbinical authorities
approved designation of large public
parks in the center of the country to
serve as emergency cemeteries in the
event of massive casualties.
Israelis who went through the Gulf
War a dozen years ago know what is
expected of them. If their buildings do
not possess impervious built-in air-raid
shelters, each family is expected to seal
off the one room with the least win-
dows. Plastic sheeting is put up over all
For one thing, they say, the
openings to prevent penetration
chances of their being struck
of any gas or fumes, and when
by _a bomb are about equal to
the alarm sounds, the family
their chances of winning the
will at once take shelter.
grand prize in the national
Everyone has been urged to
lottery — very, very low.
check or renew his personal
Furthermore, since Saddam
gas mask, to be donned on sig-
Hussein has sworn that he has
nal and retained in place until
no biological or chemical
the all-clear is sounded. Special
CARL
weapons of mass destruction,
gas masks are available for chil-
ALPERT
he would hesitate to do any-
dren, for the elderly and for
Special
men with beards.
Commentary thing that would reveal him as
a liar.
Supplies for the sealed room
must obviously include a bat-
tery-operated radio, drinking water
Taking No Chances
and whatever else may be deemed nec-
The defense establishment is taking no
essary for a stay that may last for some
chances. Anti-missile batteries have been
time.
set up at various locations, and it is
The other day, belatedly, we report-
claimed that from four to six minutes
ed to our local gas mask distribution
advance notice of missiles en route is suf-
center here in Haifa since our equip-
ficient to enable interception of the flying
ment needed updating. We found
bombs and their destruction in midair.
more than a hundred fellow citizens
Israelis who can afford it have made
lined up ahead of us, and a similar
their own plans. The moment
long line formed behind us. Some
ALPERT on page 26
Israelis shrug off the danger.
2/21
2003
25