views community view Censorship Vaad F rom 2007-2009, I had the cott movement has arrived in the privilege of representing the Jewish community of Metro Detroit. State of Israel on behalf of the The Israeli artist Achinoam Nini Jewish Agency for Israel as a shaliach (Noa) was invited to perform at my (Israeli emissary) at one of the most synagogue, Adat Shalom. But some notoriously anti-Israel campus in the local Detroit Jews, many of whom nation — University of California at are themselves Israeli, decided that Irvine. Achinoam Nini should not One of the “premier” meth- be allowed to perform at ods of the anti-Israeli move- Adat Shalom because of ments is to boycott Israel, her left-wing views and prevent people from buying participation in coexistence Israeli goods, using Israeli and dialogue programs with technology, and listening to Palestinians. After review- Israeli speakers and artists. ing their efforts and tactics At Irvine, the anti-Israel (racist Facebook postings, Tzvi Raviv movement protested and spamming Adat Shalom’s tried to disrupt many of website and rankings, the events we organized. threats to Noa personally Sometimes they would and calls to disrupt the con- attend and ask anti-Israel cert), it is clear what it is questions. Sometimes they would — they are using tactics of the anti- protest loudly to drown out the Israel movement. speaker’s voice. In Jewish communities, there is a In one notable instance, they were Vaad Hakashrut, a community group so disruptive, Michael Oren (who whose mission is the maintenance was the Israeli Ambassador to the of a kosher quality supervision. U.S. at the time) could not finish The anti-Noa movement created a his remarks. As the adviser to the Censorship Vaad. This Censorship pro-Israeli activists, the pro-Israel Vaad has chosen not to join Adat students and I decided to take the Shalom, nor did they approach Adat high road. Shalom in the spirit of dialogue. We, the pro-Israel voice, never Rather, the Censorship Vaad decided disrupted a speaker from the “other they have the right to tell the rest side.” We protested, we showed up of the Jewish community who is with signs, but we never drowned allowed to play and perform, and out their speakers’ voices. Especially who is not. on a college campus, where a phi- Adat Shalom was forced to cancel losophy of critical thinking perme- the event after conversations with ates the landscape, we believed we local police and security experts. The would be able to sway opinions and Censorship Vaad created an atmo- become a more inclusive and stron- sphere so toxic that Adat Shalom ger pro-Israel network if we stood for could not guarantee the safety of the freedom of speech and not against it. performer or audience. No matter Fast-forward to today, the boy- that Adat Shalom has had a long his- tory of supporting Israel. No matter that Adat Shalom just wanted to offer a fun evening of Israeli music and culture open to everyone. Achinoam Nini is an artist and private citizen. Noa lives in Israel, is a veteran of the IDF, will be the par- ent of an IDF soldier in a few years. Noa has represented Israel in the Eurovision contests, and has per- formed internationally for decades, spreading joy, Israeli music and Israeli culture to thousands. She is a private citizen; she represents Israeli culture, not the Israeli government. Now that the Censorship Vaad took the liberty to decide who is allowed to perform and who is not, I wonder what will be the process in the future to get an artist or speaker approved by the Censorship Vaad? Let’s say Israeli author David Grossman will be invited to speak in the West Bloomfield JCC at the Book Fair. Mr. Grossman is a vocal critic of the Israeli presence in Judea and Samaria. Will the Vaad approve his event? Will the fact that he lost his son in the second Lebanon war give him the right to speak with a local audience? What if Ariel Sharon were still alive? He orchestrated the removal of settlements in the Gaza Strip (Gush Katif). Could he speak from a synagogue bimah? Yes, we have the right to protest against different ideas, but the idea of a Censorship Vaad is nonsense. In America (like Israel), no one group has the right to decide for another American what he will read, listen to or say. • Yiddish Limericks SHAVUOT Mir hob alle in Sinai gevayn Un Moishe rabeinu mir hobn gezayn. Un na’seh v’nishma as one we did say. We say it, mein kind, to this very day. But now is Shavuos, tzu shul mir vel gayn. Mir hob alle: we all Gevayn: have been Moishe rabeinu: Moses our rabbi Mir hobn gezayn: we have seen Un na’aseh v’nishma: we’ll do and we’ll hear mankind Mein kind: my child Tzu shul: to synagogue Mir vel gayn: we will go Tzvi Raviv lives in Farmington Hills. MEMORIAL DAY community view continued from page 5 express their views, while the com- munity continued to benefit from a diverse range of programming. Yet now, the Adat Shalom Board’s decision gives a big victory to a vocal few, while the rest of us are left on the losing end. What’s worse, the board’s act sets a dangerous precedent that will encourage more censorship of what Detroit Jewish community members wish to cel- 8 May 25 • 2017 jn ebrate, express and participate in. For example, how should the Jewish Book Fair react if there are similar attempts to disinvite an author or prevent the sale of certain books? What if extremists from any side don’t like certain movies that the Jewish Film Festival wishes to fea- ture? When the leadership of a promi- nent local Jewish institution can be so easily intimidated, we are all made more vulnerable to further attacks on our freedoms. I’m sorely disappointed that the Adat Shalom Board of Directors failed to under- stand this when they cancelled the concert. • Richard Nodel lives in Southfield. They hobn gegaybn their life, azay tayer, And gave us the laybn mir alle desire. A dahnk we will say On this tog in May, To folks we salute with respect and admire. Hobn gegaybn: gave Azay tayer: so precious laybn mir alle: life we all A dhank: a thank you Tog: day — Rachel Kapen