American Jews Disengage While Israel Languishes

By GIL TROY

The Forward, DECEMBER 21, 2001

Let's face it, the American Jewish response to the Palestinians' war against the Oslo accords has been pathetic. Organizations have mobilized, rabbis have fulminated and individuals have worried. But the most visible reaction among American Jews has been mass cancellations of trips to Israel. Scattered missions have sought to replace the thousands of tourists who have changed their plans, but it is an insubstantial fig leaf indeed. There has not even been the traditional massive influx of cash during an Israel crisis to balance out this communal act of abandonment.

The Palestinians' shadowy war of on-again, off-again terror lacks the drama of 1967 or 1973. Still, over the last year, we have passed one potential turning point after another: a Palestinian mob lynches two reservists; Palestinian bullies beat to death two 14-year-old boys, one an American; suicide bombers kill 21 at a disco and 15 at a pizzeria.

Only the slaughter of more than 3,000 people on our home turf has galvanized the American Jewish community to action against terrorism. But even now the community is not mobilized on Israel's behalf. Note the contrast: Americans responding to the September 11 attacks have done whatever they could to respond; blood banks have overflowed and more than $1 billion has been collected for the victims. But American Jews responding to Israel's 15-month crisis of Palestinian violence have sponsored only a handful of initiatives to assist Israeli victims of terror.

Among them is a fund for families of terrorism victims established by the parents of 14-year-old Koby Mandell, an American who was bludgeoned to death near his home in the West Bank. But few American Jews have heard of the fund and even fewer have contributed to it.

Distance, ambivalence and impotence account for this communal failure. For starters, we should not be asking, "How can we, as American Jews, help Israel during its time of need?" Such a formulation emphasizes the distance between American Jews and Israelis, and perpetuates this Florence Nightingale mentality of American Jews as rescuers swooping in to nurse needy Israelis. Instead, we should be asking, "What more should I be doing to respond to these attacks against me, us, the peace process and Western civilization?"

Few American Jews ask that question because the distance they feel from Israel is compounded by an ambivalence many feel about Israeli policy. The current crisis in the Middle East has generated competing narratives. Those who believe this is a war about boundaries, settlements and the occupation blame Israel for at least some of the trouble. Others view this conflict as part of Israel's continuing war for survival and see the Palestinians' rejection of Israel's right to exist as the fundamental issue.

But as the violence has escalated, the war of survival narrative has won out. Even as Israelis stand ready to compromise, more and more Jews have come to recognize that whatever mistakes Israel has made pale in comparison to the Palestinians' repeated rejections of compromise.

Anger, however, is not enough. Doing something is the imperative. American Jews can give money to victims, visit Israel, keep in touch with Israeli friends, lobby politicians and respond to media distortions. Just as Passover teaches us to act as if we were the ones delivered from Egypt, today each one of us must take personal responsibility and act.

Last year, for example, Montrealers participating on the Birthright Israel trip visited with the parents of Benny Avraham, one of three Israeli soldiers kidnapped by Hezbollah guerrillas near the Lebanese border in October 2000.

Three young women returned from the trip to produce a fashion show that raised money for Israeli soldiers missing in action. The women understood that these were exceptional times and that the families were in need of emotional and financial support. More than 240 people raised nearly $10,000.

We have, alas, been extraordinarily lazy, passive, disengaged and distracted. Most of us stick to our routines while our brothers and sisters in Israel languish. Future generations will ask — as we have asked our elders — how we responded to the historic challenges of our time.

Let us say to future generations that we did whatever we could to embrace Israelis, to support Israel and, ultimately, to defend ourselves.