Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News: Proud to be Zionist

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Tuesday, April 25, 2023

Proud to be a Zionist - 75th Anniversary Edition

Every year for the past 22 years, even before I started this blog, I've written an essay for Yom HaAtzmaut entitled "Proud to Be a Zionist." Here is the latest edition for 5783.

____________________

There are two Israels.

No, I'm not talking about the religious vs. secular, or the right vs. left, or those who hate Bibi and those who love him.

I am talking about the real Israel and the fictional one that the world sees.

The world sees an Israel filtered through the eyes of the media, so-called "human rights" NGOs, Palestinian and other Arab antisemites, and "progressive" anti-Israel organizations on college campuses.

The real Israel has no resemblance to that other Israel.

The real Israel is messy and beautiful. It has diametrically opposed viewpoints and surprising amounts of consensus. It has passion and cynicism, the heights of joy and the depths of sadness, incredibly serious decisions that affect people's lives and black humor.

I am a proud Zionist and I embrace all of these.

I have infinite respect for those Zionists who live in Israel - secular and haredi, Jew and Arab, Christian and Druze, college professor and bus driver, every shade of skin color, speaking every language under the sun. Their opinions on the important issues of the day are much more important than mine, because they are directly affected by those decisions.

While Israel must never discriminate against its non-Jewish minorities, it is and must remain a Jewish state. That is what makes it special. It is the only place in the world where a Jew can be him or herself without apologetics, without explanation, without fear. I am still tickled when I visit and see so many tiny examples of living in a Jewish state - Talmudic expressions in graffiti, quotes from Tanach on the side of a delivery truck, buses whose electronic signs with everyone a happy holiday in Hebrew, the automatic "Shabbat Shalom" said by cashiers and in emails on Fridays and "Shavua Tov" Israelis say on Saturday night.

There is a reason that the expression "Shver tsu zayn a yid" (It is hard to be a Jew) is in Yiddish and not Hebrew. Because for all the problems in Israel, it is much easier to be a Jew in Hebrew-speaking Israel than it ever was anywhere in the Diaspora.

After a pause of a few decades, antisemitism is becoming mainstream again,, often disguised as "progressivism" or "human rights" or whatever else is trendy. And I am glad to know that no matter what, Israel is there and will welcome me.

Israel is wonderful. Israel is maddening. Israel is glorious. Israel is frustrating. The real Israel is filled with Jews who want to do the right thing, and disagree strongly and passionately on what that is. The reason they can be so earnest, so loud and so argumentative is because they are all family - and people are more comfortable raising their voices at their own family members than at strangers.

There are deep divisions in Israeli society. But there always have been. Debates about the wisdom of "land for peace," about "who is a Jew," socialism vs. capitalism, frictions between Likud and Labor, and between Ashkenaz and Mizrahi, have been no less passionate.

The real Israel is a balagan, but without that constant chaos it wouldn't be Israel.

75 years is an incredible accomplishment. Mazal tov, Israel!

Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism today at Amazon!

Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.

Read all about it here!

Eldertoons - Dueling icons

Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism today at Amazon!

Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.

Read all about it here!

What Jon Stewart gets right - and wrong - in how to respond to antisemitism

Jon Stewart spoke about the recent antisemitism scandals from Black celebrities on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert. He was funny and perceptive, but not entirely right.

Stewart said, "Penalizing somebody for having a thought, I don't think is the way to change their minds or gain understanding. [Kyrie Irving] is a grown ass man and the idea that we say to him that we're going to put you in a time-out - 'you have to sit in the corner and stare at the wall until you no longer believe that Jews control the international banking system' " is not effective.

He's right. It will not change the minds of the antisemites. In fact, it strengthens them, as they just take penalties as proof that the all-powerful Jews really do control the world.

Instead, Stewart said, we have to deal with it in a straightforward manner to gain understanding. Colbert asked exactly what that means. Stewart replies, "I think reflexively naming this antisemitism is as reductive as some of the things they might be saying. It immediately shuts down a conversation."

He then quoted Kanye West saying that "hurt people hurt people," that Jews must realize that Black antisemitism comes from a place of pain even if their facts are incorrect, and that it is more effective to directly deal with and counter the tropes than to shut down the conversation.

I agree that antisemitic tropes must be countered with facts. That's what I do, every day.

When Black celebrities began publicly saying that they are the real Hebrews and Jews are imposters, I did not see a single media outlet actually look at the source of their claims and debunk them. I did. When modern antisemites obsessively attack Israel and claim that they are merely "criticizing" it, I show, from many angles, how anti-Zionism is rooted in antisemitism and how it remains so today.

Contrary to what Stewart claims, however, he wants to pull punches with some kinds of antisemitism. He says that using the word shuts down the conversation, but it doesn't have to. When someone says something that is antisemitic, we shouldn't shy away from calling it out. Not to necessarily call the person an antisemite - one needs more evidence over time that someone is not just mindlessly repeating lies. However, we must point out that statements from Kanye West and his defenders or Ilhan Omar or Nick Cannon or Marjorie Taylor-Greene or Mahmoud Abbas or Roger Waters or David Miller or Joseph Massad are in fact antisemitic, and explain why.

Which is what I do.

Part of being straightforward is to show how "progressives" and Blacks and Muslims sometimes are just as guilty of spreading antisemitism as white supremacists.

Now, Stewart is partially right in saying that there should be a dialogue. Kyrie Irving is probably far more guilty of being ignorant than of being an antisemite, and it is possible that education might help. Unfortunately, that is usually not the case. Someone like Irving is not mentally equipped to watch the "Hebrews to Negroes" movie, to read a debunking, and to figure out which one is correct. The entire reason people are attracted to antisemitism to begin with is not based on facts but on prejudices - it is easier to blame Jews for one's misfortunes than to take responsibility for them. All of the "facts" in the Hebrews to Negroes book and movie are easily disproven, but people believe them because they want to, and no amount of facts will dislodge that desire.

Exposing antisemitic lies is more important for the masses who have not yet been exposed to them than for the people who are already spreading them. And we must not soft-pedal that.

Beyond that, the most effective way to fight antisemitism is not with endless arguments (even though that is what this website is about.) It is for Jews to act as proud Jews. For Jews not to allow ourselves to be put on the defensive. To not apologize for anything other Jews do, whether in Brooklyn or Jerusalem. To not ingratiate ourselves with modern Jew-haters by dividing us up into "good Jews" and "bad Jews."

To fight antisemitism, Jews need to learn and keep learning about our history and heritage. We need to be knowledgeable about, and proud of, the miracle that is Israel. We need to stop acting apologetic and start acting proud, to love the Hasidim as much as Seinfeld, to study the Torah and Jewish philosophy as much as we obsess over the New York Times.

When Jews are apologetic about their Judaism or about Israel, and when we prioritize being progressive over being Jewish, non-Jews will pick up on the idea that we are uncomfortable with ourselves and our place in the world.

When we are proud to be Jews, people will like us and want to be like us.

That is the most effective way to fight antisemitism.

Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism today at Amazon!

Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.

Read all about it here!

Brainwashing young adults to hate Israel with novels (update)

Jewish Voice for Peace is sponsoring an event, "Kindle a Hanukkah Light for Palestinian Children's Books!"

One of the books being featured is Ida in the Middle, by Nora Lester Murad.

Here is a summary of the book:

In this debut novel for Murad, Ida, a bashful Palestinian American teenager, is dreading the final class project: discussing her “passion” with the rest of the class.

Her anxiety skyrockets when the school principal informs her that she will be representing her school in this eighth-grade capstone for the entire region.

She is terrified at the thought that someone in the audience will shout out “terrorist” as she ascends to the stage, just as someone had scribbled that insult on her school desk. Home alone one afternoon, as she worries yet again about that presentation, she reaches for her comfort food, green olives sent by her aunt all the way from Palestine.

Olives, as every Palestinian knows, are not just a savoury snack; they encapsulate our culture in each dense nugget. When they are cured by a favourite aunt, they can have magic powers. As she eats the olives, Ida is transported to her parents’ village, Busala, just outside Jerusalem, where she immediately feels at home.

In this alternate reality, her parents have never left Palestine, and she has grown up with feelings of belonging amid kids who look like her, speak Arabic, and can pronounce her name correctly: ‘Aida, with an ‘ayn.
But life in Busala is also unpredictable, scary, and dangerous because of Israel's occupation. Here, Murad skilfully weaves the narrative between Ida’s fantasy and the all-too-real events of life under occupation, as Ida has to brave Israeli military raids, curfews, and home demolitions.

We get to read about the strong sense of community that sustains Palestinians as they navigate life in these extremely difficult circumstances. We witness the immense courage of Palestinian children - including Ida herself - as they dodge the occupation forces; and we hear discussions about survival and resistance, including the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

There are some exhilarating moments, such as when Ida carries a terrified three-year-old boy to safety, telling him his name, Faris, means “knight,” and that he is their leader, while he explains that her name means “Returning,” and he knows she will not leave him behind, as she scouts their whereabouts for a safe path home.

And there are heartbreaking moments, as when Ida watches Israeli bulldozers demolish her friend Layla’s family home. This experience transforms Ida and, after having eaten more green olives, she is transported back to Boston, where she gives an impassioned presentation about the hardships that Palestinians endure under Israel’s settler colonialism.

This is brainwashing youngsters to hate Israel with lies.

Yes, novels can lie - and they can lie far more effectively than most media.

The town of Busala is fictional. The author wants her audience to believe that it is a typical town where Palestinians live.

The lies aren't in the plot, but in the milieu. Israelis storm Palestinian towns for no reason, they demolish houses for no reason, they attack innocent Palestinian children for no reason, a three year old is in danger of being killed by Israelis for no reason, and most importantly, this is presented as the life of an average Palestinian teen.

Those are all lies. Palestinians in Area A, where most of them live, have little to worry about (this year was a rare exception when towns like Nablus and Jenin were taken over by terror groups that had to be rooted out.) Their houses are never demolished by Israel, and Israel only demolishes houses that were either built illegally or that housed terrorists. The IDF doesn't want or try to kill children. The Palestinian teens in danger are the ones throwing Molotov cocktails and rocks at Israelis.

I'm certain that none of these facts are mentioned in the book.

This isn't an accurate depiction of a Palestinian teen's life; this is propaganda meant to create hate against the unnamed, inhuman Jews who invade and steal lands that they have - according to people like this author - no valid claim to.

The only reason this book was written was to incite hate against Israelis and, indirectly, proud Zionist Jews.

Books about Palestinians do not have to be that way. Another book featured in this webinar, Salim's Soccer Ball, looks to be a very nice children's book that (as far as I can tell) does not try to indoctrinate the young readers into hate.

Propaganda disguised as young adult novels is insidious. And it needs to be called out.

UPDATE: I spoke too soon on Salim's Soccer Ball. Amazon reviews include:

“I also really love how the book focuses on Palestinian resistance.”

“A very good book to teach kids about the conflict in Palestine.“

It also includes a "discussion guide." Now, what could be in there? Do books about Japanese children also require discussion guides?

Yes, they weaponize children's books.

(h/t Irene)

Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism today at Amazon!

Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.

Read all about it here!

Pure hate at Northwestern U

Last week, junior at Northwestern University Lily Cohen wrote an op-ed for the campus newspaper the Daily Northwestern about her pride at being Jewish in the face of antisemitism. It took up a full page in the print edition, with the headline "I am more proud of my Jewish identity than anyone can ever hate me for it."

She described how the slogan "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" is a hateful attack on Jews that hurts her personally:

“From the River to the Sea” is a slogan used by Hamas — a terrorist organization — as a rallying cry to destroy the entire State of Israel and all of its Jewish inhabitants. The phrase originated more than 30 years ago, evolving from language in the 1988 Hamas charter that promoted the destruction of Jews, echoing Adolf Hitler’s messaging on the merits of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

This is where I draw the line.

When that slogan is plastered around the walls of buildings where I study, when it’s hung across The Arch that I walk under every day, when it’s painted over The Rock that I helped paint only five hours earlier — in support of voting for gun safety and reproductive rights — I take offense. I feel hurt. I get angry.

Spewing hate will never end in peace, and tearing down other causes is not a constructive way to promote your own.

When similar situations have taken place on campus in the past, I’ve remained silent, writing down how offended, hurt and angry I am, leaving it in the safety of my Google Drive. But, nothing ever changes, so I’m done staying silent. I’m done being blamed for the actions of the Israeli government. I’m done being told I’m undeserving of a safe, secure Jewish homeland.

I will still go on Birthright. I will still attend Hillel services. I will still don my Hebrew necklace. I will not relinquish my pride in my Jewish identity just because someone doesn’t like all that my identity entails.

In response, antisemitic students decided to directly attack her pain.

They took 42 print copies of her print column and used them as a background to a large poster saying the very words that she said hurt her.

The amount of time and effort it took to make this sign and aim it directly at Lily Cohen shows, with no doubt, that this was an act intended to hurt her and to tell the campus that Cohen's feelings and opinions are to be utterly disregarded and ridiculed.

This is not microaggression. This is aggression against a specific student.

Let's see if Northwestern takes this at all seriously.

(h/t Andrew P)

Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism today at Amazon!

Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.

Read all about it here!

At Berkeley Law, everyone can choose their identity - except Jews. Everyone has free speech - except for nearly all Jews.

At Berkeley Law School, faculty and staff members are encouraged to include their preferred pronouns in email signatures. Students can indicate their preferred pronouns on their law school applications, as well as on their name tags during student orientation.

Clearly, the right to identify oneself as one wishes is important at the law school, and anyone who chooses to ignore those wishes and tell students and staff that they refuse to address them as they self-identify would be marginalized as a bigot, and probably censured.

There is one exception, though.

This fall there has been a controversy at Berkeley Law when nine student organizations will not host events or invite speakers who have expressed views in support of Zionism. Many Jews protested, saying that this effectively discriminated against them as Zionism and Judaism are tightly bound.

The lawyer defending the student organizations, Liz Jackson of Palestine Legal, who is herself an alumnus of the school, defended the discriminatory bylaws in a most curious way:

“Some students say that their Jewish identity is so deeply identified with Zionism that this effectively discriminates against them," Jackson said. "But that’s their subjective view and choice about how they understand their own Jewish identity.”

According to Palestine Legal's lawyer, Jews do not have the right to say that their Judaism includes love of Israel. Self-identification is not a right for Jews, rather, Jewishness is defined by others and Jews must adhere to the definition that anti-Zionists impose on them.

This doesn't sound very progressive. But this is the argument of the Berkeley Law student organizations to defend their blocking any speaker for whom Israel is a central part of their Judaism, which includes the vast majority of Jews.

Jackson herself says she is Jewish. According to her own standards, I can declare that this is only her subjective view and that she is in reality not Jewish. How do you think that argument would go over at Berkeley? Yet that is exactly what she is saying about 95% of all Jews.

Jackson's hypocrisy doesn't end there.

Not only does she deny the right of Jews to define Judaism, she denies the right of Zionists to define Zionism!

In an Oct. 3 statement released by ASUC Senator Shay Cohen addressed to LSJP and student groups that adopted the bylaw, student groups alleged that the bylaw was “a deliberate attempt to exclude Jewish students from the community,” and likened anti-Zionism to antisemitism.

“When we say ‘Zionism,’ we mean the Jewish right to self-determination in their ancestral homeland, which is Israel,” said Amir Grunhaus, campus senior and president of Tikvah, a Zionist student group that signed the statement. “This does not say anything about the self-determination of Palestinians.”

Jackson expressed disagreement with this definition of Zionism, alleging that it was “colonial ideology” and that it is “problematic” to believe that a religious group has a right to a state of their own as it “requires discrimination” against people outside of that group.

This is "1984"-level thought police stuff. This lawyer defines what her political opponents believe.

Note also that Jackson here is defining Jews as a purely religious group, not as a people. According to her words, atheist Jews aren't Jews, either.

Jewish and Zionist identity can only be defined by those who oppose Jewish and Zionist identity.

And this is still not the height of Liz Jackson's hypocrisy.

She wrote an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times against the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act where she falsely claimed that the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism, which is incorporated in the Act, makes criticism of Israel illegal on campus. She's lying - the IHRA definition explicitly says that criticism of Israel similar to criticism of any country is not antisemitic.

Jackson wrote:

The State Department standard is highly controversial because it conflates criticism of Israeli policies with anti-Jewish hatred, shutting down debate by suggesting that anyone who looks critically at Israeli policy is somehow beyond the pale. It has no place on college campuses in particular, where we need students to engage in a vigorous exchange of ideas.

Jackson claims she supports a vigorous exchange of ideas on campus. No Zionist I know of disagrees. But at Berkeley, she has taken the exact opposite stand, and defends organizations making bylaws that ban not only speech that supports Zionism, but they ban Zionist speakers from speaking on any topic whatsoever!

To anti-Zionist hypocrites like Jackson and her organization Palestine Legal, these are the rules:

The right to self-identify is sacred - except for Jews.

The right to define your own beliefs is sacred - except for Zionists.

The right to free speech is sacred - except for nearly all Jews.

And calling out this obvious hypocrisy is anti-Palestinian racism.

(h/t Andrew P)

Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism today at Amazon!

Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.

Read all about it here!

A far higher percentage of Israeli Arabs vote for Zionist parties than there are American Jewish anti-Zionists

We have seen that surveys over the past few years have found that between 3%-6% of American Jews identify themselves as "generally not pro-Israel," a much more general term than "anti-Zionist" which has not been asked as a question of American Jews.

This means that the percentage of American Jews who actively identify as anti-Zionist (a much higher bar than "generally not pro-Israel") is diminishingly small - certainly less than than 6% but probably far less than that number, perhaps as low as 1-2%.

Yet anti-Israel Jews like to present themselves as a large minority with huge influence in the Jewish community. The strenuously argue that they are not fringe, but mainstream - even though they have little evidence of it.

What I'm about to say is definitely comparing apples and oranges, but the comparison is still worthwhile.

In the four most recent Israeli Knesset elections, between 12% and 28% of Israeli Arabs voted for Jewish Zionist parties.

In the last election, 5.2% of the Arab vote went to Likud, and 3.2% to Yisrael Beiteinu. The rest were divided up between Meretz (3.8%) and a remaining 8% divided among other Jewish parties.

In the North, about 25% of Arab voters voted for Jewish parties; in the Jerusalem areas, it was more than one third.

If Arabs have it so bad in Israel, why are so many voting for Jewish Zionist parties?

The Arab vote for Jewish Zionist parties is definitely not fringe. However, it is a phenomenon that is simply not reported in stories about Israel. You would be forgiven for assuming that they are a tiny, anomalous minority.

Other polls show that more than half of Israeli Arabs consider themselves "proud citizens" of the state. (I have not seen a poll on how many identify as Zionist.)

Meanwhile, the Jewish anti-Zionists - who really are fringe compared to American Jewry as a whole - gain a great deal of media attention, as if they have far more adherents than they really do.

As is often the case, media coverage does not reflect the truth, but wishful thinking to make reality closer to what they want it to be.

Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism today at Amazon!

Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.

Read all about it here!

Judaism has always been Zionist (posters)

There is a flip side to saying that anti-Zionism is antisemitism.

It is that Judaism is inherently Zionist.

Some posters I made .... and there are plenty more examples.

Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism today at Amazon!

Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.

Read all about it here!

Proud to be a Zionist - 5782

I wrote the original essay around 2002 and I have been modifying it every year since then. This year's version is largely rewritten.

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To antisemites, Israel can do no right.

It can be more liberal than the US. It can be more tolerant of Muslims than Western Europe. It can be more friendly to gays than New York City. It can send more medical aid to disaster areas than nations that are 50 times larger. It can quietly spend untild amounts of money to ensure that its defenses don't hurt innocent people.

It doesn't matter - not only does it get no credit for this, the haters claim that Israel is doing this in order to whitewash its crimes. Meaning that even its altruism and progressiveness is twisted against it.

A normal reaction to this would be to say, "why bother?" Why do the right thing when the world will still treat you as a criminal?

But Israel doesn't do what it does to gather praise. It does what it does because it is the right thing to do, and what other people say has nothing at all to do with that.

That is a ethical level that most professional ethicists or religious leaders will never reach.

I am a Zionist and I am proud of it.

I know that Israel has the absolute right to exist in peace and security, at least as much as any other country. Given Israel's unique history and the resurgence of antisemitism worldwide, Israel arguably has more moral legitimacy than any other nation on Earth.

As Israel has grown, grown successful and become an economic power, it has been faced with new challenges. Doing the right thing is not so straightforward any more. Its friends are sometimes at odds with each other. Sometimes realpolitik enters the picture. Any decision it makes can be - and is - framed by modern antisemites as immoral, no matter what it is.

Every nation has the same conflicts. Every liberal nation has relations with illiberal nations. But none of them are under the microscope that the world dedicates to Israel.

Even so, with these competing pressures, Israel tries to always do the greater good. And in the end, that is why Israel now has more friends on a national level than ever before. The chattering, nattering antisemites are fuming while Israel goes from strength to strength. In the end, Israel's remaining enemies are the worst human rights abusers on Earth - and Israel's opponents find themselves pretending to be moral while tacitly supporting a rogues' gallery of dictators and despots.

In the past two years we have seen "militant" and "intransigent" Israel is far more interested in peace with its Arab neighbors than any of Israel's many critics, who often belong to groups with "human rights" and "peace" in their names.

There seems to be no limit to what difficult problems Israel can solve. I am proud of how Israel responds to so many seemingly intractable problems. In the early days of the intifada there seemed to be no solution - but the IDF found one, managing to bring deadly suicide attacks from 60 in 2002 down to practically none today. The new wave of attacks is a new challenge, and it is heartbreaking to have so many more innocent lives lost, but we know that Israel is working hard to stop the latest attacks before they happen. For every "successful" attack (if you can use such a term) there have been many failed attempts, and these are truly miraculous. There are always new challenges, but each one is met and solved with brains and creativity.

The Palestinian issue is truly unsolvable today, because the Palestinian leadership was never interested in peace, but in destroying Israel. There can be no compromise with a party whose primary aim is ethnic cleansing their opponent. But even given those facts, Israel does everything possible to make the lives of Palestinians as good as possible without compromising the security of Israelis.

If Israel had a real Palestinian partner for peace, there would be peace.

Israel has succeeded and continues to succeed in its many accomplishments in building up a desert wasteland into a thriving and vibrant modern country, with its countless scientific achievements, incredible leadership in high-tech and the environment, world class universities and culture. Practically every computer and mobile phone being built today includes technology and innovations from a single small Middle Eastern country. A tiny nation, under constant siege, with few natural resources besides breathtaking beauty, has used its smarts and strength to build a modern success story.

Zionists have every reason to be proud of the incredible achievements of the Jewish national movement.

The word "Zionist" is not an epithet - it is a compliment.

Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism today at Amazon!

Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.

Read all about it here!

How to - and how not to - fight antisemitism

This week there were two news stories that do not bode well for the American Jewish community.

The first was the sparsely attended "No Fear" rally against antisemitism in Washington. The second was the release of a survey showing that many American Jews believe that Israel is guilty of apartheid and even genocide.

Both of these events point to a catastrophic failure of the American Jewish community.

Lauri Regan, an experienced organizer, writes a scathing critique of the No Fear rally. While many of its problems were technical, the main reason it was so small was ironically because it wanted to include as many Jews as possible.

To be successful you need a focused message and a theme people can get behind. You need to attract a core of enthusiastic participants. But the organizers were more interested in signing up liberal Jewish organizations who are either apathetic or hostile to the Jewish state and who had demanded that the rally must not be overtly Zionist - organizations who deny the existence of antisemitism from their political allies on the Left.

If the organizations attending cannot even agree on the definition of antisemitism, the event is a failure before it even starts.

What does "No Fear" even mean? It is an empty slogan. Jews are being viciously attacked in the streets and online, and a kumbaya slogan does not blunt these attacks one bit.

When you water down the message to not offend anyone, you end up with a message that attracts no one.

The real reason the rally failed is seen in the Jewish Electorate Institute poll. Together with other polls of American Jews, it shows a community that has decreasing emotional ties to Israel - and few ties to Judaism. Young Jews show the direction that the community is going - less attachment to Israel, and less attachment to Judaism.

This graphic from Pew should frighten anyone who cares about the future of American Jewry:

Nearly half of US Jews have no interest in engaging in any Jewish activities or showing any link to Judaism altogether.

Their apathy about Judaism and about Israel are linked.

More committed Jews tend to be more committed to Israel. Antisemites hate Israel. American Jews who are conflicted about their Judaism as similarly conflicted about Israel. Denying the links between Judaism and Israel today is denying reality.

The solution for both is the same: knowledge and pride.

Most American Jews don't know the first thing about Judaism, and they don't know the first thing about Israel. Similarly, most American Jews have little sense of pride in either their Judaism or in Israel.

This is the root of the failure of the American Jewish community. It is a failure of the leaders, it is a failure of the synagogues, but even more it is a failure of the parents who have the primary responsibility of instilling pride in their children.

It took generations to bring us to where we are today. It is the product of decades of caring more about succeeding in America than in instilling Jewish pride in their children.

If Jews can't get our own act together, how can we expect non-Jews to support us?

Sadly, many of these Jews are already lost. And for too many of them, the only time they invoke their Judaism is to pretend to be heroic in their anti-Zionism.

But it is not too late for American Jewry altogether.

There are some great new groups that aim to educate and instill pride in Judaism, Israel or both. It in not necessary to be Orthodox to be a committed, knowledgeable Jew, and it is not necessary to support settlements to be a proud, enthusiastic Zionist (look at Hen Mazzig or Einat Wilf.)

Just as it took time to get to where we are today, it will take a long time to rebuild Jewish literacy and Jewish pride. It takes real commitment. It starts with your own family.

When Jews know our own history, we are equipped to defend themselves against the lies. When Jews have pride, though, we gain fans.

People are attracted to those who know who they are and who are unapologetic about it. Sure, Jews need to know enough to counter the lies, but that is only a small part of the job. We need to be proud of our Judaism and of Israel. We shouldn't be defensive - we should be enthusiastic. We should treat Jews in America and Israel as our family, whom we love and support even if they drive us crazy sometimes.

This is how to fight antisemitism. And it is critical to raise the next generation to know who we are: that we are Jews, we are proud, we are one people, and we are not going anywhere.

Proud to be a Zionist, 5781

I wrote the original essay around 2002 and I have been modifying it every year since then. Here is this year's version:

========================

I am a Zionist and I am proud of it.

In last year's essay, I wrote:

In a short period of time Israel made itself into a strong yet open nation that its neighbors can only dream of becoming.

And they are indeed starting to dream. Arab nations are waking up to the reality of Israel and the desire to be more like her.. Despite the constant incitement against Israel in their media, ordinary Arabs know that Israel treats its minorities with more respect, and gives them more civil rights, than Arab nations give their own Arab citizens. Miraculously, in recent years, we are seeing some of Israel's enemies now accepting that Israel has the right to exist and seeking to partner with it. This was unthinkable a few years ago, and the reason is because of Israel's strength, both militarily and economically. The biggest (and artificial) dagger that has been used against Israel for 72 years, the Palestinian Arabs, is quickly losing its effectiveness in the Arab world except for lip service. Israel is simply more valuable to the Arab world as a partner than as an enemy, and this is directly due to wise and forward thinking Israeli policies..

Little did I know what amazing changes would happen the following year.

This was the year that Israel signed normalization deals with the UAE and Bahrain, and peace deals with Sudan and Morocco.

Who cannot be proud of such accomplishments?

The Abraham Accords go way beyond the specific treaties, though. They mean that Israel is now truly part of the Middle East, with economic ties as well as growing cultural ties. There was a sea change in the Arab world this year, and we now see articles that are pro-Israel and philosemitic in countries that would never have published those a year ago. Saudi Arabia is no longer an enemy. Qatar cooperates openly with Israel. Jordan and Egypt remain hugely antisemitic, but they are buying natural gas from Israel and there is no foreseeable danger of them becoming enemies again.

Clearly the people who accuse the Jewish state of anti-Arab racism were not prepared for Israel - and Israelis - eagerly embracing their new Emirati friends. It turns out that "militant" and "intransigent" Israel is far more interested in peace with its Arab neighbors than any of Israel's many critics, who often belong to groups with "human rights" and "peace" in their names.

If those had been the only amazing accomplishment for the year, dayenu. But there is so much more.

This has been an annus horribilis for everyone. And yet, under such trying circumstances, Israel one again showed the world how seriously it takes its responsibilities.

Israel spared no expense to become the world's leader in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. It paid a huge premium on vaccines, and bargained with the leading vaccine manufacturer, in order to get them as early as possible - and to save as many Israeli lives as possible. That is the most basic obligation of any state, yet no other nation acted so above and beyond to save their people's lives. It has been a light unto the nations.

We can safely assume and be just as proud that Israel has been equally innovative, creative and effective in fighting Iran's nuclear ambitions as it has been in fighting the coronavirus.

Because of COVID, the number of Palestinian terror attacks went way down this past year. That is one reason the number of Palestinians killed while attacking Jews and the IDF also plummeted. But the other reason there were fewer casualties is because the IDF keeps continuously improving, learning from its mistakes It is truly the most moral army in the world, and I am proud of it.

There seems to be no limit to what difficult problems Israel can solve. I am proud of how Israel responds to so many seemingly intractable problems. In the early days of the intifada there seemed to be no solution - but the IDF found one, managing to bring deadly suicide attacks from 60 in 2002 down to practically none today. For every "successful" attack (if you can use such a term) there have been many failed attempts, and these are truly miraculous. Hamas has been reduced to celebrating attacks that cause only minor injuries because most of their major attacks, thank God, are foiled. Today there are new challenges, but each one is met and solved with brains and creativity.

If Israel had a real Palestinian partner for peace, there would be peace.

Zionists have every reason to be proud of the incredible achievements of the Jewish national movement.

The word "Zionist" is not an epithet - it is a compliment.

Proud to Be a Zionist, 2020 edition

I wrote the original essay around 2002 and I have been modifying it since then. Here is this year's version:
========================

I am a Zionist and I am proud of it.

I know that Israel has the absolute right to exist in peace and security, at least as much as any other country. Given Israel's unique history and the resurgence of antisemitism worldwide, Israel arguably has more moral legitimacy than any other nation on Earth.

I am proud of how the IDF conducts itself during its never ending war on Palestinian terror. There is no other country on the planet that tries to minimize civilian casualties in such a situation where innocent Israelis are being threatened, shot at, mortared, rocketed, stabbed and murdered in cold blood. At times there are discussions whether the IDF's moral standards are too high and end up being counterproductive - and what other army could one even have that conversation about?

I am also proud that Israel investigates any mistakes that happen on the battlefield and keeps trying to improve its methods to maximize damage to the terrorists while minimizing damage to the people that the enemy is hiding behind. This is not done because of pressure from "human rights" organizations - it is done because it is the right thing to do. Even when everyone knows that the world will accuse it of "war crimes," the IDF retains incredibly high moral standards, which can be easily proven for anyone who wants to investigate the situation impartially. (People willing to do that are, regrettably, few and far between.) It would be so easy for Israelis to say that since the world will accuse them of atrocities anyway, then why bother with holding themselves to such standards - but young Israeli soldiers do, day in and day out. The rare exceptions prove the rule.

I am proud that Israel remains a true democracy, with a free press and vigorous opposition parties, while on a constant war footing. One only needs to read the hateful articles in Israel's left-wing publications on Israel's Independence Day to fathom how far press freedom goes in Israel.

I am proud of how Israel responds to seemingly intractable problems. In the early days of the intifada there seemed to be no solution - but the IDF found one, managing to bring deadly suicide attacks from 60 in 2002 down to practically none today. For every "successful" attack (if you can use such a term) there have been many failed attempts, and these are truly miraculous. The 'knife intifada," car rammings, and other violent "innovations" by Israel's enemies have largely died down because of Israeli defensive actions and innovative pro-active work on social media. Hamas has been reduced to celebrating attacks that cause only minor injuries because most of their major attacks, thank God, are foiled. Today there are new challenges, but each one is met and solved with brains and creativity.

The enemy has not stopped trying, and the history of antisemitism shows that it never will. If the Israel haters had their way, Israel would resemble Libya or Afghanistan today with the Jews as frightened as minorities are in every other Middle Eastern country.

Jews know something about being singled out, about being judged with double standards. We have been attacked for being too rich and too poor, too successful and too needy, too capitalist and too socialist, too religious and too secular, too insular and too integrated. These same wildly inconsistent attacks are targeting the Jewish state. Israel will survive and thrive, just as Jews themselves have, despite these attacks.

And the best survival technique is success.

Israel has succeeded and continues to succeed in its many accomplishments in building up a desert wasteland into a thriving and vibrant modern country, with its countless scientific achievements, incredible leadership in high-tech and the environment, world class universities and culture. Practically every computer and mobile phone being built today includes technology and innovations from a single small Middle Eastern country. A tiny nation, under constant siege, with few natural resources besides breathtaking beauty, has used its smarts and strength to build a modern success story. In a short period of time Israel made itself into a strong yet open nation that its neighbors can only dream of becoming.

And they are indeed starting to dream. Arab nations are waking up to the reality of Israel and the desire to be more like her.. Despite the constant incitement against Israel in their media, ordinary Arabs know that Israel treats its minorities with more respect, and gives them more civil rights, than Arab nations give their own Arab citizens. Miraculously, in recent years, we are seeing some of Israel's intractable enemies now accepting that Israel has the right to exist and seeking to partner with it. This was unthinkable a few years ago, and the reason is because of Israel's strength, both militarily and economically. The biggest (and artificial) dagger that has been used against Israel for 72 years, the Palestinian Arabs, is quickly losing its effectiveness in the Arab world except for lip service. Israel is simply more valuable to the Arab world as a partner than as an enemy, and this is directly due to wise and forward thinking Israeli policies..

Zionists have every reason to be proud of the incredible achievements of the Jewish national movement. There is a right and a wrong in this conflict, and I am proud that Israel is in the right.

The word "Zionist" is not an epithet - it is a compliment.

We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.

Proud to be a Zionist, #Israel70 edition

I wrote the original essay around 2002 and I have been modifying it since then. Here is this year's version:

Every year, the State of Israel seems to be up against yet another unsolvable crisis. These have ranged from wars to suicide bombings to terror rockets to facing the prospect of nuclear-armed enemies. Our enemies have come close to succeeding in demonizing Israel at most international forums. Today, even terror organizations are successfully portraying themselves as pledged to non-violence while engaging in violence - and the media is more sympathetic to them than to Israel.

Yet, here she is, 70 years old and more beautiful than she was at birth.

Yes, I am a Zionist and I am proud of it.

I know that Israel has the absolute right to exist in peace and security, at least as much as any other country. Given Israel's unique history and the resurgence of antisemitism worldwide, Israel arguably has more moral legitimacy than any other nation.

I am proud of how the IDF conducts itself during its war on Palestinian terror. There is no other country on the planet that tries to minimize civilian casualties in such a situation where innocent Israelis are being threatened, shot at, mortared, rocketed, stabbed and murdered in cold blood. At times there are discussions whether the IDF's moral standards are too high and end up being counterproductive - and what other army could one even have that conversation about?

I am also proud that Israel investigates any mistakes that happen on the battlefield and keeps trying to improve its methods to maximize damage to the terrorists while minimizing damage to the people that the enemy is hiding behind. This is not done because of pressure from "human rights" organizations - it is done because it is the right thing to do. Even when everyone knows that the world will accuse it of "war crimes," the IDF retains incredibly high moral standards, which can be easily proven for anyone who wants to investigate the situation impartially. (People willing to do that are, regrettably, few and far between.) It would be so easy for Israelis to say that since the world will accuse them of atrocities anyway, then why bother with holding to such standards - but young Israeli soldiers do, day in and day out. The rare exceptions prove the rule.

I am proud that Israel remains a true democracy, with a free press and vigorous opposition parties, while on a constant war footing. One only needs to read the hateful articles in Israel's left-wing publications on Israel's Independence Day to fathom how far press freedom goes in Israel.

I am proud of how Israel responds to seemingly intractable problems. In the early days of the intifada there seemed to be no solution - but the IDF found one, managing to bring deadly suicide attacks from 60 in 2002 down to practically none today. For every "successful" attack (if you can use such a term) there have been many failed attempts, and these are truly miraculous. The 'knife intifada," car rammings, and other violent "innovations" by Israel's enemies have largely died down because of Israeli defensive actions and innovative pro-active work on social media. Today there are new challenges, but each one is met and solved with brains and creativity.

The enemy has not stopped trying, and the history of antisemitism shows that it never will. If the Israel haters had their way, Israel would resemble Iraq or Afghanistan today with the Jews as frightened as minorities are in every other Middle Eastern country.

Jews know something about being singled out, about being judged with double standards. We have been attacked for being too rich and too poor, too successful and too needy, too capitalist and too socialist, too religious and too secular, too insular and too integrated. These same wildly inconsistent attacks are now targeting the Jewish state. Israel will survive and thrive, just as Jews themselves have, despite these attacks.

And the best survival technique is success.

Israel has succeeded and continues to succeed in its many accomplishments in building up a desert wasteland into a thriving and vibrant modern country, with its many scientific achievements, incredible leadership in high-tech and the environment, world class universities and culture. Practically every computer and mobile phone being built today includes technology and innovations from a single small Middle Eastern country. A tiny nation, under constant siege, with almost no natural resources besides breathtaking beauty, has used its smarts and strength to build a modern success story. In a short period of time Israel made itself into a strong yet open nation that its neighbors can only dream of becoming.

And they are indeed starting to dream. Arab nations are waking up to the reality of Israel and the desire to be more like her.. Despite the constant incitement against Israel in their media, ordinary Arabs know that Israel treats its minorities with more respect, and gives them more civil rights, than Arab nations give their own Arab citizens. Amazingly, only in the past year, we are seeing some of Israel's intractable enemies now accepting that Israel has the right to exist and seeking to partner with it. This was unthinkable a few years ago, and the reason is because of Israel's strength, both militarily and economically. The biggest (and artificial) dagger that has been used against Israel for 70 years, the Palestinian Arabs, is quickly losing its effectiveness in the Arab world except for lip service. Israel is simply more valuable to the Arab world as a partner than as an enemy, and this is directly due to wise and forward thinking Israeli policies..

Zionists have every reason to be proud of the incredible achievements of the Jewish national movement. There is a right and a wrong in this conflict, and I am proud that Israel is in the right.

The word "Zionist" is not an epithet - it is a compliment.

We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.

Proud to be a Zionist (5777 edition)

I wrote the original essay around 2002 and I have been modifying it since then. Here is this year's version:

Every year, the State of Israel seems to be up against yet another unsolvable crisis. These have ranged from wars to suicide bombings to terror rockets to facing the prospect of nuclear-armed enemies. Our enemies have come close to succeeding in demonizing Israel at every international forum.

Yet, here she is, 69 years old and more beautiful than she was at birth.

Yes, I am a Zionist and I am proud of it.

I know that Israel has the absolute right to exist in peace and security, just like - and arguably more than - any other country.

I am proud of how the IDF conducts itself during its war on Palestinian terror. There is no other country on the planet, save the US, that would try to minimize civilian casualties in such a situation where innocent Israelis are being threatened, shot at, mortared, rocketed, stabbed and murdered in cold blood. At times there are discussions whether the IDF's moral standards are too high and end up being counterproductive - and what other army could one even have that conversation about?

I am also proud that Israel investigates any mistakes that happen on the battlefield and keeps trying to improve its methods to maximize damage to the terrorists while minimizing damage to the people that the enemy is hiding behind. This is not done because of pressure from "human rights" organizations - it is done because it is the right thing to do. Even when everyone knows that the world will accuse it of "war crimes," the IDF retains incredibly high moral standards, which can be easily proven for anyone who wants to investigate the situation impartially. (People willing to do that are, regrettably, few and far between.) It would be so easy for Israelis to say that since the world will accuse them of atrocities anyway, then why bother with holding to such standards - but young Israeli soldiers do, day in and day out. The rare exceptions prove the rule.

I am proud that Israel remains a true democracy, with a free press and vigorous opposition parties, while in a constant war footing. One only needs to read the hateful articles in Israel's left-wing publications on Israel's Independence Day to fathom how far press freedom goes in Israel.

I am proud of how Israel responds to seemingly intractable problems. In the early days of the intifada there seemed to be no solution - but the IDF found one, managing to bring deadly suicide attacks from 60 in 2002 down to practically none today. For every "successful" attack (if you can use such a term) there have been many failed attempts, and these are truly miraculous. The 'knife intifada," prompted by words by the PA president himself, has largely died down because of Israeli defensive actions and innovative pro-active work on social media. Challenge after challenge is met and solved with brains and creativity.

The enemy has not stopped trying, and the history of antisemitism shows that it never will. If the Israel haters had their way, Israel would resemble Iraq or Afghanistan today with the Jews as frightened as minorities are in every other Middle Eastern country.

There is a right and a wrong in this conflict, and I am proud that Israel is in the right.

Jews know something about being singled out, about being judged with double standards. We have been attacked for being too rich and too poor, too successful and too needy, too capitalist and too socialist, too religious and too secular, too insular and too integrated. These same wildly inconsistent attacks are now targeting the Jewish state. Israel will survive and thrive, just as Jews themselves have, despite these attacks.

And the best survival technique is success.

Israel has succeeded and continues to succeed in its many accomplishments in building up a desert wasteland into a thriving and vibrant modern country, with its many scientific achievements, incredible leadership in high-tech and the environment, world class universities and culture. Practically every computer and mobile phone being built today includes technology and innovations from a single small Middle Eastern country. A tiny nation, under constant siege, with almost no natural resources besides breathtaking beauty, has used its smarts and strength to build a modern success story. In a short period of time Israel made itself into a strong yet open nation that its neighbors can only dream of becoming.

And they are indeed starting to dream. Arab nations are waking up to the reality of Israel and the desire to be more like her.. Despite the constant incitement against Israel in their media, ordinary Arabs know that Israel treats its minorities with more respect, and gives them more civil rights, than Arab nations give their own Arab citizens. One of the many ironies that is emerging is that both the most populous and the richest Arab nations are now openly on Israel's side on many matters, and the charge by their critics that they are "Zionist" - which used to be anathema - has lost its sting.

Zionists have every reason to be proud of the incredible achievements of the Jewish national movement.

The word "Zionist" is not an epithet - it is a compliment.

We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.