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DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
theJEWISHNEWS.com
commentary
Arthur M. Horwitz
Publisher / Executive Editor
ahorwitz@renmedia.us
Principles vs. Reality
W
e are in for a vigorous and
heated debate between diaspora
Jews in the U.S. — particularly
those who identify as liberals — and Israelis
given a March poll that revealed that almost
half (48 percent) of Israelis would favor the
expulsion or transfer of Arabs from Israel.
The poll results will surely bring condem-
nation, particularly from
those who believe Israel’s
intransigence is blocking
the peace process and
have a vision of Arabs and
Jews living in peace side-
by-side — someday.
Indeed, the condemna-
tion has already started in
Berl Falbaum
the New York City-based
Forward where its editor,
Jane Eisner, wrote an editorial in the paper’s
March 18 edition under the headline, “When
Israeli Opinion Makes Me Cringe.”
Here is some of what Eisner wrote: “…
I had to face up to the disturbing fact that
many Jews in Israel simply do not share my
pluralistic American values, nor my lived
experience. They do not appreciate the mix
of races, ethnicities, religion and nationali-
ties that I bump up against every day on
the street and in the subway that color my
friendships and enrich my life.
“Instead, those Israelis support something
I find abhorrent and at odds with Judaism …
we are supposed to share.”
Her views and that of others of her
political persuasion are commendable. Who
would not favor living in a diverse popula-
tion with the enrichment and rewards it
brings?
The problem is this pie-in-the-sky view as
it relates to Israel is naive; it lacks historical
context.
The results of the poll, if accurate, did not
develop overnight but came after living in
a state of war — daily — since the birth of
Israel in 1948. This is stated not to defend
what may be defined as “extremism” but
to understand it. The real question is why
Israelis did not adopt this attitude much
earlier.
Those who blame the “settlements” or the
“occupation” for the ongoing crisis between
Israel and the Palestinians need to answer
some serious historical questions:
• What was the cause of almost daily ter-
rorism between 1948-67, before Israel won
the Six-Day War? After all, the Palestinian
Liberation Organization (PLO) was founded
in 1964 by Yasser Arafat, and it defined only
one objective in its charter — the destruc-
tion of Israel.
• Or, what was the reason that five Arab
nations attacked Israel the very day it
became a nation?
• Or, what was the reason for the violence
against Jews before 1948, dating back to the
Hebron Massacre in 1929?
True, Eisner included a paragraph or two
recognizing the dangers Israel faces, but she
quickly returned to her theme that somehow
Israelis lack the sophistication to understand
the benefits of diversity. In enumerating the
advantages she has derived from living in a
pluralistic society, she fails to understand she
has not “bumped up” against terrorism for
even one day, let alone her entire life.
She might have stopped to read her own
paper, which also published a story about
how this will further the divide between
American Jews and Israelis. In one story,
Steven M. Cohen, a research professor
of Jewish social policy at Hebrew Union
College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New
York and adviser on the Pew study, summa-
rized it fairly well when he said:
“The main difference is that Americans
live among non-Jews who love them and
Israelis live among non-Jews they think want
to kill them.”
Inevitably, someone will make a com-
parison to proposals made in the presiden-
tial campaign to deport 11 million illegal
immigrants from the U.S. But the analogy is
flawed in that those immigrants, while here
illegally, are basically law-abiding citizens
not planning terrorist attacks on Americans.
Indeed, even those who oppose deportation
make exceptions for those who have engaged
in criminal activities. There are other differ-
ences, not the least of which is that the U.S.
does not face an existential threat.
Yes, diversity is a desired goal and
undoubtedly Israelis, as a matter of prin-
ciple, share that view. But they also deserve
understanding for being forced to separate
principle from reality even if it makes the left
“cringe.”
silence in the face of the administration’s
racist position that Jews should be denied
civil rights beyond the 1949 armistice lines
[in Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem] makes
it difficult for me to take a sympathetic or
understanding view of its leaders’ assault on
their own supporters and donors.”
AIPAC tries to be diplomatic and
not appear to side with Democrats or
Republicans but AIPAC CEO Howard Kohr
spoke to appease liberals, insisting that
Israel’s supporters believe in the possibility
of an Israel “living with security alongside a
demilitarized Palestinian state.”
I and so many others have stopped believ-
ing in the possibility of a two-state solution
as AIPAC still does.
I agree with Glick when she asks, “Why?
Why is it the job of American Jews or
American politicians to try to force Israel to
give its land to people who want to annihilate
it?”
B’nai Moshe’s
Special Employee
*
A veteran West Bloomfield journalist and author of
eight books, Berl Falbaum, was an adjunct journalism
faculty member at Wayne State University for 45 years.
letters
AIPAC’s Rebuke Of
Trump Questioned
I’ve always believed that AIPAC (American
Israel Public Affairs Committee) was one
of the most staunch defenders of Israel but
after AIPAC President Lillian Pinkus told the
AIPAC crowd in Washington, D.C., that “we
do not countenance ad hominem attacks,
and we take great offense against those that
are levied against the president of the United
States of America from our stage,” I began to
wonder.
Was it so terrible when Donald Trump
said that President Obama “may be the worst
thing that happened to Israel?” I’m no fan of
Trump but like many other Jews, I agree with
Caroline Glick of the Jerusalem Post when
she wrote on her Facebook page (March 23)
that “Obama is the most anti-Israel president
in U.S. history.”
Glick questions AIPAC’s tacit acceptance
of the administration’s policy: “Why should
[AIPAC] ignore the rights of Jews? AIPAC’s
6 March 31 • 2016
Arnie Goldman
Farmington Hills
The article “Part Of The Family” (March
17, page 10) recognizing long-term non-
Jewish synagogue employees was very
nice. I was disappointed, however, that no
one contacted Congregation B’nai Moshe
to give us the opportunity to tell you about
our Michael Taylor, a 22-year employee
who we don’t know what we would do
without.
Michael not only maintains our build-
ing, but sometimes knows that we need
help before we do. He is not only a syna-
gogue employee, but a most dependable,
kind and helpful friend.
We want our extended community to
know about this special man.
F. Kevin Browett
Chief Operating Officer
kbrowett@renmedia.us
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