Arguments
rage between those who are considered "right wing" and those
who are considered “left wing”. There is never an agreement or understanding of
the others point of view with such entrenched positions.
It
comes as a welcome relief therefore, when a self confessed “leftist” meets
other "leftists" overseas and realizes the damage they are potentially causing
Israel with their “liberal” policies.
Below
is the report of one such Israeli who is defined as “leftist” when there was a
meeting with a representative of J Street
by Hen Mazzig, Sept. 20, 2016
Last year I traveled to campuses across North America to share
my experiences as an officer in the IDF – a role which entailed helping
Palestinian civilians in the West Bank and Gaza with humanitarian aid. My
experiences as a speaker were overwhelmingly positive as I was able to find
common ground with many young people of diverse backgrounds and political
viewpoints, but there were some unfortunate exceptions.
During one of my speaking events, a student raised her hand to
ask a question. The young woman wanted to know what I thought about J-Street
and other “left-wing” Jewish groups which criticize Israel, given that I myself
am a leftist Israeli.
Assuming she was seeking an honest answer, I told her the truth;
“I am very uneasy about their work…” I started, but she interrupted: “Well, I’m
the head of the J Street club on my campus and what you don’t understand is
that we see Israel as our younger sister. We want our younger sister to be
better — we love her and care about her.”
Disappointed by her lack of interest in dialogue, and offended
by her analogy, I replied: “So according to you, if I love my younger sister, I
need to go around the United States and tell everyone how bad she is? How she
doesn’t know what’s good for her? How we must collectively pressure her? And if
I truly love my sister, I should tell my parents to cut her off financially? I
should publicize her every mistake and defame her on every platform I can? Or
if I really care, should I instead work together with her?”
Unfortunately, this verbal exchange is symptomatic of a greater
illness among some who identify with the American Jewish left, and this illness
has at its core the delusion that Israel is American Jewry’s younger sister.
While the woman who asked me that question would like to believe that Israelis
don’t know what’s best for their future, it is actually people like her who do
not fully comprehend the problems that Israel faces.
As an Israeli who has aligned myself for years with Zionist-left
parties like Meretz and supported every peace process, I am extremely upset
with groups like J Street for perpetrating a faux-progressive approach to the
Middle East that mimics the paternalism of 20th century imperialists. They feel
that they are entitled to tell us, Israelis, what to do. When we think
differently, they will arrogantly dismiss us as people who do not know what is
best for our own welfare. Why is it that we, the people who have suffered
through wars, served in the military, supported peace agreements, and protested
on the streets to effect change – why on earth would we be seen as less capable
than those living across the world in the relative safety and comfort of
America?
This patronizing approach of some self-proclaimed “progressive”
Jewish groups is truly astonishing. They claim that they are “pro-Israel,” yet
they consistently echo the opinions of pro-BDS pundits, and regurgitate talking
points based on anything but progressive values. Is that pro-Israel or
progressive? Just read the statements on their website and social media
platforms.
The most recent and prominent example of this twisted reality
has surfaced in the debate surrounding the Iran Nuclear Deal. The vast majority
of Israelis, from left to right, agree that this is a non-partisan issue: the
world should not be giving $150 billion (10 times the size of Israel’s defense
budget) to the world’s worst violator of human rights, the world’s leading
sponsor of terrorism – a regime which leads chants at government rallies of
“Death to America! Death to England! Death to Israel!”.
Yet J Street ferociously promotes the deal, in opposition to
numerous Democratic members of Congress and Israel’s Zionist Camp (whom J
Street regularly invites to speak at their conferences). When faced with this
dissonance, J Street attempts to justify its position by pointing to a minority
of Israeli security officials who have criticized Israel’s policy on the issue.
But most of these officials also agree that the deal itself is deeply flawed. J
Street is manipulative even in the way it portrays Israelis who supposedly
support J Street’s views.
Like all Israelis, I am the product of a miracle. A miracle
happened to my family in 1951 when they were in the middle of a life-changing
crisis; they were expelled from Arab countries (North Africa and Iraq) because
they were Jews. The miracle was that for the first time in 2000 years, there
was a Jewish state to take them home. This is the same miracle that is
happening today to French Jews escaping antisemitism – and it is the same
miracle that will save many other Jews in the future. It should be clear that
Israel is not only here to serve American Jews. I was in the army for five
years defending Israel and working side by side with Palestinians. Today I
speak up in the public arena because I want to see a better future for Israel
and its neighbors. Every day I breathe this country. I feel this country in
every bone of my body and with every fiber of my soul.
My message to J Street is this: if you are truly pro-Israel, stop
patronizing us. Stop lecturing us, publicly defaming us, and using a foreign
government to pressure our democratically elected government from thousands of
miles away. If you love us and want to support us – then listen to our voices
and speak to us as equals. And every once in a while, since you profess to be
“pro-Israel,” perhaps you can say something nice about my country.
J Street, if you continue on this disingenuous, anti-democratic
path, I assure you that you will fail. But don’t worry, we will be here to
welcome you home when you do — After all, that’s what sisters are for.
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