Opinion OT-1ER VIEWS Answering Israel's Critics A s I approach the fifth anni- versary of writing a weekly feature for the Detroit Jewish News called "Answering Israel's Critics:' it struck me how, each and every week, I almost never have difficulty coming across some individual or organizational statement that is unfairly critical of Israel. It seems that, most weeks, declared enemies of Israel like Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran and Syria use their access to the news media to criticize Israel. And in this country, well-established Israel bash- ers like Jimmy Carter, Stephen Walt and Alison Weir rarely miss an opportunity to have their views quoted. But should I be surprised to find the Egyptians — at peace with Israel since 1978 — claiming an Israeli con- spiracy exists to rob them of Nile River water? Or that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez — who has no national or strategic interest in Israel — compares the Jewish state to Nazis? We even find the United Nations, which, let's not forget, voted to create Israel in 1947, now hosting the blatantly anti-Israel "Human Rights Council" and promot- ing its biased Goldstone Report on Israel's actions in Gaza. That body is often joined by the Human Rights Watch organization, which recent- ly criticized Israel 87 times in a certain time period while only criticizing the Palestinian Authority eight times and the terrorist Hezbollah four times in that same time period! (Human Rights Watch's Jewish founder, Robert L. Bernstein, distanced himself from the organization this year, openly questioning the organization's anti-Israel focus.) Former Detroiter Hannah Rosenthal, the newly appointed U.S. Department of State special envoy to monitor and combat anti-Semitism, says, "Some of the criticism Israel sees, and its isolation in the United Nations, clearly comes from a place of anti- Semitism." And Dr. Charles Asher Small, the founder of the Yale University Institute for the Interdisciplinary Study of Anti- Semitism, said recently that when it comes to anti-Semitism, "Israel is the new Jew." Dr. Small says anti-Semitism is now pervasively abundant in the world under the guise of anti-Zionism and is mainly framed as the de-legitimization of Israel and/or the dehumanization of Israelis. I work toward the day when it won't be so easy to find unjust criticism of Israel and I can then happily retire the Answering Israel's Critics feature. Unfortunately, I don't see that day coming any time soon. Allan Gale is associate director of the Bloomfield Township-based Jewish Community Relations Council of Metropolitan Detroit. For more answers to unfair criticisms of Israel, please visit this JCRC Web page: detroitjcrc.oreisrael/extra2.php?page=10208. The Best Chanukah Gift H ave you ever spent hours look- ing for just the right gift for your child or grandchild? You finally decide on a shirt or toy or electronic gadget and then, after you've given it, you turn to witness the look in your child's eyes. This is what his or her imaginary thought balloon says to you: "What is this chazurai?" Joel Waldfogel, Wharton School economist and author of Scroogenomics: Why You Shouldn't Buy Presents for the Holidays, says that, according to his sur- veys, gifts are worth about 20 percent less to the recipient than what they actu- ally cost, amounting in the U.S. to "$13 billion a year" in what he calls "dead- weight loss" (Money, December 2009, page 22). He suggests cash, gift cards or gifts to charity instead. If you think about it, giving a Mazel Tov Israel Bond is better than all three. Its value is worth 114 percent of your investment, it is a life-giving donation to the State of Israel and yet, when it comes due, the cash can be used for enjoyment or college or even giving gifts. Just think: Instead of that gnaw- ing, lousy, awful feeling that you have wasted your money on something your child, niece or nephew cares less about, you will have invested in them for their futures and for the future of the Jewish 36 December 10 9 2009 people. millions of people who want I know many people are this tiny country destroyed. strapped with little money You probably can't answer and that the Detroit area is in this: What will your future an economic downturn that be if Israel is blemished with we have never seen before. more rockets and bombs? Obviously, so many charities What will be your children's and synagogues are hurting chances of survival if Israel is and also need your money. devastated or defeated in war? But think about this. You There is still so much apa- can actually give a "double Arnie thy that exists in the Jewish mitzvah" if you buy an Israel Goldman community today, especially Bond and give it to your Community in my generation and in my favorite charity or organiza- View children's generation. Who tion. You can donate it to your cares about Israel today except synagogue and get a tax write-off. You those who experience the Birthright tour can give it to JARC, Hillel, Federation, or those lucky enough to travel on teen Hadassah, Michigan State University, missions or with their families or syna- the University of Michigan, ORT, the gogues? Holocaust Memorial Museum or many So many young people take their others that accept Israel Bonds in pay- freedoms for granted and don't feel the ment of a pledge. Yes, they need the slightest pride that there is a country money today, but don't you think they'll founded by a small group of young also need it in three years or five years? Jewish people like them and made into We have to think about today, but one of the most extraordinary capitalis- maybe more importantly, we must save tic democracies in the world. for tomorrow, for ourselves, our families In the book, Start Up Nation, Saul and for Israel. Singer asks how a "community of penni- Who knows what the future will be in less refugees" transformed this "embat- the Detroit area and what the future will tled sliver of a country — home to just bring to our children looking for jobs? one one-thousandth of the world's popu- And no one can predict what the future lation" into the thriving entrepreneurial will look like for Israel, surrounded by economy that Israel is today. The same men and women who risked their lives for Israel as young soldiers helped solve extraordinary problems while improving the world's cutting-edge technologies, all while surrounded by sworn enemies. Much of the success of Israel could not have happened without the incred- ible spiritual and financial support from American Jews. And much of the support over the last 60 years has come from the gift of Israel bonds. Israel bonds have never defaulted. They are safe, pay much higher returns than American money market funds and help Israel with critical infrastructure projects such as developing the Galilee and reclaiming the Negev. A safe, secure investment helps the State of Israel build a safe and secure nation that any Jew can feel good about. For information about purchasing an Israel Bond for Chanukah gifts, or giv- ing to your favorite charity/organization with Israel Bonds, call Paula Lebowitz at (888) 352-6556 or contact her at paula.lebowitz@israelbonds.com . I can't think of anything better than celebrating Chanukah while saving money for the future and helping to strengthen Israel, all at the same time. It doesn't get any better than that. E Arnie Goldman is a Farmington Hills resident.