Jewish American Youth, Israel, and J Street EXCLUSIVE FOR SHALOM MAGAZINE BOSTON It is tough being a young Jewish American these days! Under the present conditions on college campuses, where Zionism is often appallingly equated with racism, and the accusation that Israel is an apartheid state is casually tossed around, it is difficult for a young student to nourish and maintain a strong attachment to Israel. At the same time, many young Jewish Americans who grew up loving Israel, the nation, might themselves have serious problems with specific policies of the government of Israel toward the Palestinians. About five years ago I attended a talk in Newton by one of the most respected figures in the Boston Jewish community, Leonard (Leibel) Fein. Fein is well-known for his human rights activism, advocacy for supplying the basic necessities to the needy, and fighting for justice for the Palestinians while maintaining Israel as a secure, democratic and Jewish state. During the Q and A session an audience member rose and asked, “what is the main thing that we can do to hasten the goal of peace in the Middle East?” Fein answered with a rhetorical question, something like: “Look around you. Do you see anyone who doesn’t have gray hair? Go out and get young Jewish Bostonians involved!” Well, it has taken five years, but Fein’s challenge has finally been met. I was privileged to attend the 4th J Street National Conference that took place in Washington D.C. at the end of September. To my delight, the large throng of 2800 attendees included 900 students, many from the Boston area, including a contingent of 50 from Brandeis. This enormous turnout of young Jews at the conference was not a fluke - J Street has active chapters on 15 campuses in New England, including three in Greater Boston - Harvard, Tufts and Brandeis. For an answer to the question of “why have young Jews flocked to J Street?” we might start with a cogent and influential article written in 2010 by Peter Beinart, an associate professor of journalism and political science at the City University of New York. He famously wrote, “For several decades, the Jewish establishment has asked American Jews to check their liberalism at Zionism’s door, and now, to their horror, they are finding that many young Jews have checked their Zionism instead.” The major mainstream Jewish organizations, as Beinart put it, “have refused to foster - and indeed have actively opposed - a Zionism that challenges Israel’s behavior in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and toward its own Arab citizens.” It’s hard for young Jews who grew up with the liberal values, taught to them by their parents, for racial equality and justice for minority groups here in America, to accept what they perceive as oppression of “the other” in the Palestinian territories, not to mention confronting their peers on college campuses who dismiss Zionism as racism. Well, no longer need American Jewish youth (not to mention gray-heads like me) feel alienated; they have clearly finally found a home in J Street. J Street provides an alternate voice in the Jewish community and allows American Jews to love and care about Israel while still being critical of specific policies, and addressing the unfair treatment of Palestinians. As a grandparent, I have been concerned that my grandsons may grow up with no attachment to Israel. Now I have hope that through the efforts of groups like J Street, when they grow up they may inherit an Israel that they can be proud of. J Street has its finger on the pulse of American Jewry. Its long-standing positions on Israel - made concrete by its advocacy work within the Jewish community and in Washington in support of a two-state resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - are in line with the recently-released “2013 Pew Survey of American Jews.” This survey shows that the majority of American Jews (60%) support President Obama’s handling the nation’s policy toward Israel at a significantly higher rate than the US population as a whole, and 54% believe that current support for Israel is “about right”.The survey also finds that 61% of American Jews believe that there “is a way for Israel and an independent Palestinian state to coexist”. Of particular interest concerning the questioning of Israeli policy, 89% of American Jews think that “a person can be Jewish, and strongly critical of Israel’s policy.” A statistic from the Pew study that should be worrisome to those concerned about continued Jewish American attachment and support for Israel is that 53% of those 65 and older say caring about Israel is essential to being Jewish, whereas only 32% under age 30 express this view. Clearly, we have to show young Jews a way to positively engage with Israel while not abandoning their liberal values. But, the 900 students who rallied at the J Street National Conference have demonstrated that J Street has pointed the way. Stan Fleischman - Newton Highlands (The writer is a member of the J Street Boston Executive Committee) facebook/shalommagazine
Posted on: Sun, 15 Dec 2013 04:36:27 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015