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Talking To Ourselves

O

why Israel merits wide support.
nce again, events in Israel
That’s a tall mission and talking
have intensified and, once
just to ourselves is not going to
again, many in the Jewish
cut it.
community are frantically sending
I recently went to lunch with
flurries of emails and articles to
a few friends at a local Middle
each other. “You must read this
Eastern restaurant. On the
one” we write to each other, “This
way out, I saw a complimen-
writer says it best!” For many of us
tary copy of the Arab American
— myself included — we are like
Mark Jacobs
News, which I picked up and
literary traffic cops, constantly
took home out of curiosity. The
re-directing the massive inflow
cover depicted a graphic and
of Israel-related information that
shocking scene from Gaza — a
comes our way, all in the hopes of
full-page color photograph of an
influencing someone else’s opin-
angry legless man in a wheelchair, twirl-
ion.
ing a slingshot toward Israeli soldiers in
But invariably, the person on the other
the midst of black, billowing smoke. The
end of our email is someone who feels
caption underneath stated that the man
pretty much just as we do, or at least
was “killed by the Israelis while fight-
that is our hope. Be it a friend, a family
member or someone else, we’re essentially ing for freedom.” Another front-page
headline referred to the “Gaza Massacre”
pushing a position to a like-minded per-
and another cited an editorial within the
son who, not surprisingly, often responds
paper titled “America spits on the graves
with a satisfying “You’re right!” or maybe
of people dying for freedom.”
another article that you just happen to
Emotions among Arabs and Jews are
find wonderfully persuasive. And so on,
particularly raw at this time. But the
and so on, and so on.
words in the Arab American News are not
Let’s face it; we spend a lot of time
from Ramallah or Tehran. They’re from
preaching to our own choir.
Dearborn, our neighbors, and contained
But are we getting anything accom-
within a newspaper in a popular res-
plished here? What purpose is served by
taurant in a Jewish suburb. We’re Jewish
sharing pro-Israel information with peo-
ple who are already pro-Israel? Are we just Americans and Arab Americans, literally
chasing a quick rush of validation? Are we living side by side within this community.
I have no doubt that just as the Jewish
getting anything done? Our emails might
community is sending a flurry of passion-
momentarily stir up the passion of a sup-
ate emails, the local Arab community is
porter, but then what? Does that turn the
needle one bit for a safer and more secure doing the same, each touting how mor-
ally correct their side is. Meanwhile, we’re
Israel?
There are approximately 15 million Jews each getting more ingrained in our dif-
ferences, perhaps intractably so for many
in a world of about 7 billion people. The
people. Are we at least attempting a civil
Jewish people are, as is often said, “just a
dialogue with them? Shouldn’t we be?
fragment” of what we once were. Clearly,
Isn’t talking — however fruitless it may
we need allies. Israel’s brand is badly tar-
nished around the world, and it is up to us seem during this emotionally charged
time — still our best alternative to other
to logically and factually lay out the case

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S. Cohen, Shelli Liebman Dorfman, Adam
Finkel, Stacy Gittleman, Stacy Goldberg, Judy
Greenwald, Ronelle Grier, Esther Allweiss
Ingber, Allison Jacobs, Barbara Lewis, Jennifer
Lovy, Rabbi Jason Miller, Alan Muskovitz,
David Sachs, Karen Schwartz, Robin Schwartz,
Steve Stein, Joyce Wiswell

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options that are far worse?
There are some local Jewish groups
that actively seek communication and
relationships outside of the community.
They are composed of many talented and
committed people, but the number of
active supporters is paltry compared to
the overall number of some 65,000 Jews in
the Metropolitan Detroit community.
The Jewish Community Relations
Council-AJC is a local fixture in represent-
ing Detroit’s Jewish community and Israel
in establishing relationships with other
ethnic and religious groups. It doesn’t shy
away from difficult conversations; it leans
into them. Lately, it has been working
with the local Muslim community, which
is sometimes (like these days) a bit of a
challenge. But it has found that relation-
ship-building is its best hope.
“Our relationship with the Muslim com-
munity,” says David Kurzmann, executive
director of the JCRC/AJC, “was never
built around Israel. We stick to things
that unite us. And we’ve been at this long
enough that we have friendships.”
The Coalition for Black and Jewish
Unity, a newer group that is a partnership
between the JCRC/AJC and the Council of
Baptist Pastors of Detroit and Vicinity, is
tackling difficult issues head on between
both communities. The coalition is com-
mitted to promoting solidarity and speak-
ing out against racism and anti-Semitism.
It publishes a regular newsletter and has
participated in or hosted a number of
events, including a joint Passover seder,
a Shabbat dinner with young profession-
als from each community and a field trip
for Detroit middle school students to the
Holocaust Museum in West Bloomfield. It
is now planning a series of “Lunch, Listen
and Learn” sessions so that members of
each community can spend time discuss-
ing a host of difficult and sensitive topics,
from Louis Farrakhan to Jewish racism.
Similarly, AIPAC (nationally and in
Michigan) has a robust outreach pro-

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gram to non-Jews, specifically Christians,
blacks and Hispanics. AIPAC is singularly
focused on promoting the U.S.-Israel rela-
tionship in ways that enhance the security
of the United States and Israel. It has been
enormously successful in promoting pro-
Israel advocacy among non-Jews, and it
is always working on educating others
— especially a mostly Christian Congress
and staff members — on issues vital to
Israel. AIPAC does not and cannot talk to
just Jews. Its mission, by definition, pro-
scribes that.
By taking affirmative action to have a
dialogue, form relationships and advance
joint programming, these groups and oth-
ers do an invaluable service to the Jewish
community. They take their knowledge
and their passion and convert it into
action for the benefit of Jews within and
without our community. They succeed
by having people active in community
outreach, and they are always looking
for additional help (each group can be
located by a simple Google search, or one
can contact the JCRC/AJC for additional
information and opportunities).
Sharing emails and articles among
ourselves are important ways to keep
us sharp, educated and more adept at
countering an anti-Jewish agenda. But it’s
not an end in and of itself. All the flurry of
internet sharing — however captivating,
persuasive and time-consuming — is just
the preparatory class for the real work
that needs to be done. The real work is
in doing something with all that gained
knowledge. The real work is in being a
knowledgeable, credible and effective
advocate to those outside our community.
Are you ready to start preaching outside
of our choir? •

Mark Jacobs is the AIPAC Michigan director for
African American Outreach, a co-director of the
Coalition for Black and Jewish Unity, a board mem-
ber of the Jewish Community Relations Council/AJC
and the director of Jewish Family Service’s Legal
Referral Committee.

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June 7 • 2018

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