Showing posts with label IfNotNow. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 08, 2018

Surprise! IfNotNow Birthright disrupters lied to the media

This important Haaretz article is behind a paywall, so here are the important excerpts (update: Jerusalem Post has it for free).

IfNotNow Hijacked Our Birthright Trip

Our trip was shattered by premeditated walk-out in which we, unwillingly, became part of the media spectacle that their activists had sought from the start. This is our side of the story.

The activists said that their questions about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict had not been answered during the first few days of the trip, and they were appalled at the way Birthright had hidden the truth from them and presented a biased, right-wing agenda.

This is not an accurate portrayal of our trip. Their speech gave them the media attention they were seeking, but it was filled with misrepresentation and distortion. We, the remaining participants of Taglit Israel Outdoors Bus 428, are here to set the record straight.

Throughout their abbreviated participation, these protesters used every opportunity to vocalize their viewpoints, using group discussions, evening relaxation time, bus rides, and hiking rest stops to share their emotionally-charged rhetoric about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with the group.

At first, most of us were receptive to their questions – we considered them an important dialogue to include in a trip well-known to be heavily funded by right-wing American donors and the Israeli government.

When one activist stressed the need to include conversations about the conflict in our trip, our group leaders generously allowed her to lead a dialogue on the evening of our first full day, during which we discussed and debated the topic for hours. From the first day, the trip schedule had been altered to make space for their ideas.

Many of us, like the activists, had come to Israel intending to ask difficult questions as a meaningful and integral part of our experience. After the first night, one of us even volunteered to lead an effort to pen a group letter to Birthright expressing our disappointment at the lack of importance given to the Palestinian crisis on the trip.

The rhetoric flowing from select group members, however, quickly became unreasonably aggressive and directed at our tour guide, who never avoided the topic, silenced their speech, or seemed to take offense at their disregard for his perspective. He answered each question calmly, patiently, and to the best of his ability, providing an extraordinarily neutral view of the conflict and acknowledging his bias as a former IDF soldier when necessary.

When questions became incessant and repetitive, our guide repeatedly reminded the group that our schedule included a geopolitical discussion with a professor of Middle Eastern history later in the week, and that the professor would be better equipped to answer some of their specific questions. In fact, during that lecture, the professor answered questions in an open and honest way and encouraged us to do our own research and fact-checking on the information he presented us with.

However, the activists did not stick around long enough to attend that discussion. Nor did they make any effort to connect with or ask questions of the seven Israelis who accompanied our trip, having lived in the midst of the conflict throughout their entire lives.

The narrative being portrayed in the media, and the carefully selected scenes from a particularly frustrating bus ride, do not fully capture our group’s willingness, even eagerness, to discuss the conflict.

It became apparent only after the walk-off that everything had been premeditated. Four of the six protesters had already been working prior to the trip with IfNotNow, an activist group with the goal of changing how Birthright presents the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

These activists took advantage of the trip and took spots away from others in order to stage a political stunt, and then pretended that the structure of the trip surprised them.

The activists had many options to see the other side of the conflict and to promote change. They could have, as our own tour guide encouraged them to do, extended their trip to visit the West Bank and hear from Palestinians. This would have allowed them to remain on the trip for its entire duration and calmly encourage further dialogue and education about the conflict within our group. They could have written a letter to Birthright, as our group had planned, to express their discomfort with the program’s omission of the Palestinian perspective.

They were not interested in seeing both sides of the conflict, as they claimed. They came on the trip with clear "right and wrong" sides in their heads and refused to hear anything that might contradict their ironclad opinions. Instead of responsibly hearing from both sides, they chose to hear a one-sided narrative from the Palestinian perspective.

(The article is signed by 20 people who were in the group.)

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IfNotNow's dishonesty (Noah Phillips)

As a cohort, Jewish millennials have acquiesced to the half-baked scenarios presented by the radical left-wing group IfNotNow. They've strategically branded themselves as ardent advocates for social justice and human rights in Israel, "to see the full picture," a description in this case synonymous with anti-Israel—and by extension, anti-democratic—sentiment. It’s unfathomable to me how effective their campaigns to band young Jews against Israel has proven, and it’s frightening to consider that millennials are the impending leadership of of American Jewry.

Despite being highly biased against Israel’s existence (IfNotNow refuses to recognize the legitimacy of Zionism), it’s elementary to comprehend why IfNotNow has grown so rapidly and their message believed by so many of my generation. Their leaders present the Israeli-Palestinian conflicts in the most oversimplified, cut-and-dry terms, allowing American Jews to easily grasp the Palestinian narrative without delving into the Israeli perspective and grappling with the reality that each side possesses legitimate concerns. IfNotNow continually employs broad and generalized rhetoric to depict the ‘Palestinian struggle,’ spouting fallacies like "Israel denies Palestinians freedom and dignity by depriving them of civil, political and economic rights" and making generalized claims like "the out-of-touch establishment to continue leading us down a path of isolation and fear that is wreaking havoc on the lives of millions of Palestinians and alienating a generation of young American Jews." Without question, the vast majority of the group's statements have no genuine basis in fact, but it’s the much simpler stance to adopt in the matter: no one ever supports the reigning champ, they invariably stand with the underdog, no matter how illegitimate or reckless a choice that may be.

And compared with the host of prominent pro-Israel organizations, IfNotNow is composed of a far more savvy leadership. They know how to systematically reach and interact with young Jews, utilizing emotional and loosely-factual stories of despair in addition to coordinating high-profile and disruptive protests—-in effect speaking the ‘millennial language’ of taking to the streets in opposition. "Will we unite to fight the occupation, and in doing so, resist the burden and bonds of a victim narrative and make Judaism relevant and meaningful to our generation?" These are fighting words for millennials, tackling an establishment--Israel--head-on in order to restore some perceived justice is what politically-charged young people have done in recent years. IfNotNow banks on this fighting spirit of millennials to garner support and combat Israel in swathes. Their rhetoric coupled with a robust social media presence, far outclassing many pro-Israel groups, has piqued the attention of the millennial cohort unlike any Israel-centric organization to date.

Last week IfNotNow furthered their agenda to "end American youth support for the occupation " when five of their activists sabotaged a Birthright trip in order to visit Hebron and, in true IfNotNow fashion, to grab a few headlines and incite internal conflict among Jews.

Reservists on Duty noted that this infiltration and deliberate disruption of a consensus organization, Birthright, is a new low connived by IfNotNow’s leadership, and a blatant attempt to disrespect Birthright, Israel, and the Jewish faith. They took to politicizing the trip by dispatching undercover operatives, an extremely unethical act reflective of the malicious intent of IfNotNow as an organization.

Since it’s inception, Birthright has prevailed as a cultural and religious multi-day experience to tens of thousands of young American Jews who travel throughout Israel and foster their connection to Judaism and their religious and cultural connection to the land--a land which IfNotNow—a Jewish-led movement—continuously refutes and rejects vehemently. And the assertions made by IfNotNow against Birthright are largely unfounded, as Benji Davis, a Birthright tour guide of seven years, writes that Birthright participants do learn the Palestinian story, of settlements, and of the dilemma of collective security against collective rights, presenting matters from a bipartisan standpoint and sharing all accounts with attendees, contrasting the accusations lobbed at Birthright from IfNotNow. Whereas Birthright daily attempts to bridge the divide between American Jews and their Israeli heritage, IfNotNow burns those bridges to indoctrinate and mobilize the next generations of Diaspora Jews against Israel.

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Deconstructing IfNotNow (Noah Phillips)

As the millennial cohort swings left, a group of young Jewish activists, IfNotNow (INN), is appealing to a wide swath of Jewry with proclamations of social justice and progressive ideals. But the seemingly-open and inclusive stance is a soft veneer for Israel bashing rhetoric. Worse, INN’s public agitations at times fuel anti-Semitic sentiments.

The group seeks to influence public institutional change in Jewish organizations that support the State of Israel, yet doing so fractures the relatively small American Jewish community. The most recent target of the group’s efforts was the National Ramah Commission, responsible for providing over 11,000 kids--including myself some years ago--with a fun, Jewish summer experience and instilling a love for Israeli culture and Jewish traditions. During my days at the camp, I recall the ‘promotion’ of Zionism manifested through eating Israeli food, singing Israeli songs, and immersing in Israeli cultural life. INN must take umbrage at these aspects of camp life for young American Jews since they recently attempted unsuccessfully to politicize the camp experience by imploring Ramah leadership to instruct about Israel’s “occupation” policies and practices. Wouldn’t an inclusive stance encourage a measured analysis of complex Israeli politics and a love for the Jewish homeland instead of absolute condemnation?

A good window into the motives of an organization involves looking at its leadership. Founder of INN Simone Zimmerman served a brief stint as coordinator of Jewish outreach for the Bernie Sanders presidential bid, but was let go after her vitriolic and unwaveringly anti-Israel Facebook posts were exposed. Zimmerman was too left wing and anti-Zionist for Bernie Sanders’ liking, something extremely telling about the founding principles and doctrines of the INN movement. Moreover, the co-founder of INN, Max Berger, regularly makes egregious assertions via Twitter. “The GOP is a white nationalist party,” Berger tweeted on June 12, later stating that Trump’s cabinet is “full of the dumbest Nazis” on June 15. On June 9 Berger retweeted Sarah Silverman, who compared ICE immigration officers to Nazis, and on June 7 retweeted Linda Sarsour, the controversial figure who maintains that feminists cannot be Zionists. These Tweets took place in the span of a week and are prime examples of the biased beliefs of an INN co-founder, and by extension, the partisan organization.

As INN gains an increasing base of followers, it undermines the loyalty of American Jews towards Israel with skewed information and damaging rhetoric. Ramah’s interactions, along with countless other reputable Conservative-Jewish and Reform-Jewish organizations, proves how INN has permeated into the mainstream for American Jews, and along with them, a lopsided anti-Israel agenda. Per their website, INN’s indoctrination has reached members of key Jewish youth organizations in America: Union for Reform Judaism, United Synagogue Youth, Solomon Schechter (my alma mater), Ramah, BBYO, North American Federation of Temple Youth, and more.

INN has created a “Liberation Syllabus” (#LiberationSyllabus), a compilation of learning materials, much of which unjustly slanders Israel. The syllabus features Michael Chabon, a Pulitzer Prize winning writer, and many other people and organizations that maintain a harsh and aggressive stance towards Israel. Chabon, a known anti-Israel activist gained notoriety--or apparent clout among IfNotNow followers--during his commencement address at the Hebrew Union College in California when he condemned Jewish in-marriage and professed his distaste for religion. Also prominent on the list was B’Tselem (The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories), the organization which offers a pro-Palestinian advocacy without acknowledgement of Israeli concerns and perspectives. Like INN, B’Tselem is an ardently partisan organization pushing an inherently flawed agenda.

INN does “not take a unified stance on… Zionism or the question of statehood,” yet purportedly supports a two-state solution. What this intentionally ambiguous verbiage accomplishes is reserving the right for the institution to allege support for the State of Israel, while accommodating the sizable sect of their supporters who denounce Israel’s existence altogether.

It’s very troubling that IfNotNow (INN) has gained traction and credibility among American Jews, especially millennials. INN is virtually silent on the ills surrounding Israel--including civil war and chemical warfare in Syria--but focuses exclusively on Israel’s continued control of pre-1967 border land with no acknowledgement of why or how. No democracy is immune from criticism, certainly including Israel, but INN does nothing to advance or deepen understanding of multiple perspectives in this complex region of the world. #YouNeverToldMe

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