Hebrew charter school rejected; Could be too Jewish, district says
On March 15, the Saugus Union School District became the fourth Los Angeles-area school district to reject a Hebrew language charter school application in the past six months.
All four charter petitions were submitted by the backers of the Albert Einstein Academy for Letters, Arts and Sciences, a seven month-old charter school in Santa Clarita serving 200 students in the seventh, eighth and ninth grades.
Einstein was the subject of a Jewish Journal cover story in August, and the school’s backers hope to open elementary schools this year in Santa Clarita and Ventura County. The curricula at these schools will include intensive study of the Hebrew language.
An e-mail sent to the proposed Santa Clarita elementary school’s prospective parents and supporters said that the most recent rejection had been expected, and reassured them that the school is expected to open in time for their planned August 2011 start date.
Unlike earlier rejections of Einstein-backed charters by the Newhall, Los Angeles Unified and Ventura Unified school districts, the Saugus district’s report focused a great deal on the Jewishness of such a school as a possible obstacle to its approval.
The Saugus report quoted at length from the Jewish Journal story and cited overlap among the leadership of the proposed charter school, a temple in Santa Clarita and a Jewish community center project. (All three are led by Rabbi Mark Blazer.) The Saugus report ultimately expressed concern about “whether the proposed charter school would be and remain nonsectarian.”
State funding is awarded to charter schools and school districts on a per-pupil basis. Charter school supporters say school districts are inclined to reject applications to start competing schools, which can draw students away from traditional public schools.
With the popularity of charter schools growing and the budgets of school districts tightening, rejections by districts of initial charter applications are becoming more common in California.
In Los Angeles County, where 27 new charter schools opened in fall 2010, the growth of charter applications rejected by school districts can be seen in the corresponding rise in appeals being brought to the county. “We are seeing double the number of county appeals this year as compared to the same time last year,” Vicky Waters, director of media relations for the California Charter Schools Association, said.
Einstein Elementary’s backers are considering an appeal to the county on behalf of their Santa Clarita charter application. Ventura Unified, which rejected an application for the other Einstein-backed elementary charter school in November 2010, is set to consider an appeal on March 28.
Meanwhile, Einstein in Santa Clarita, which has been up and running since August 2010, has already received 150 applications for the 75 spaces in its incoming seventh grade for the 2011-12 school year. The lottery to decide which students will be admitted is set to take place on March 31.
— Jonah Lowenfeld, Staff Writer
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IKAR successfully pushes revision of LAPD’s car impoundment policy at DUI checkpoints
Following six months of advocacy work by the congregation of IKAR, Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officials announced that they would no longer impound unlicensed drivers’ cars at sobriety checkpoints, a victory for undocumented immigrants who cannot obtain drivers licenses under state law.
Effective immediately, if officers stop unlicensed drivers at checkpoints — which are designed to curb drunk driving, not penalize undocumented immigrants for driving without licenses — the unlicensed driver can call a licensed driver to the scene to take control of his or her vehicle.
“This is a really small but significant step for relieving the burden” of the immigrant population, said Wendy Braitman, a member of IKAR’s Minyan Tzedek team, a social action initiative, referring to the consequences involved with car impoundment: Vehicles are often held for up to 30 days and are costly to retrieve.
Braitman added that this is “an issue that none of us in the Jewish community knew anything about, because it really doesn’t impact us,” but she maintained that it is nevertheless significant.
LAPD assistant chief Michel Moore said the decision “was meant to begin improving the way impounds are done regarding unlicensed drivers. This is part of a larger issue,” he said. “We’re looking at the way we do impounds not only at DUI checkpoints but also at regular traffic stops.”
Still, unlicensed drivers who are stopped will receive a citation, as they did prior to revisions of LAPD’s protocol.
IKAR, working with LA Voice Pico, a coalition of religious organizations, schools and neighborhood organizations, welcomed LAPD’s announcement during a press conference on March 14 at LAPD’s downtown headquarters.
This is “a great moment for IKAR, for our city, and a great step toward a hopefully more expansive policy of enfranchising the marginalized immigrant community in our city,” wrote IKAR’s Rabbi Lizzi Heydemann in a recent e-mail. “This policy is an improvement because it takes us closer to a world in which people are treated with equality and fairness.”
– Ryan Torok, Staff Writer
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Grant contest will award Jewish day schools new classroom technology
Jewish day schools in the Los Angeles area have until April 1 to take part in a unique contest that will award grants of up to $25,000 for cutting-edge classroom technology and programs.
The Technology for Schools Grant Contest, open to day schools across the country, is a new program run by the nonprofit Center for Initiatives in Jewish Education (CIJE). Based in New York, CIJE has provided computer software, SMART boards and advanced science lab technology to 115 day schools nationwide since 2001 in a bid to boost enrollment by improving the quality of academic instruction.
“We’re in the midst of an ever-growing technology age, and students need a competitive edge in order to succeed in today’s global economy,” said CIJE president Jason Cury. “The only way Jewish schools will survive is if parents can be sure their children will get the best education they can get.”
Schools can take part in the grant contest by raising funds for CIJE, with the top two donor schools winning prizes of $25,000 and $18,000, respectively. The third-place prize of $10,000 will go to the school that garners the highest number of individual donations, regardless of the total amount raised.
Grant money can be used for a variety of CIJE programs, including computer-assisted learning software; interactive SMART white boards; interactive Hebrew language instruction software; and state-of-the-art science, math and engineering curricula.
CIJE’s initiatives complement the work of PEJE (Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education). While PEJE offers leadership and financial advisory programs to strengthen day school administrations and boards, CIJE focuses on the curriculum, providing classroom tools and sending educators out to help schools integrate new technology into their lessons.
Locally, day schools including Shalhevet School, Harkham Hillel Hebrew Academy and Yeshivat Yavneh have received educational technology from CIJE.
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Israeli-American leaders gather at third ILC gala
“A strong Israeli-American community makes Israel stronger,” Gabi Ashkenazi, the recently retired chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), told the crowd gathered for the third annual Israeli Leadership Council (ILC) Gala on March 20.
In the ILC’s nearly five-year history, the group has established a number of new cultural, educational and Israel advocacy programs in the Los Angeles area and has helped fund others that already exist. It has been likened to an Israeli Federation, and Ashkenazi summed up its guiding principle in fewer than 10 words.
Later in the evening, Ashkenazi would embody the organization’s spirit as well, singing Hebrew songs from the 1950s and ’60s and dancing on stage with Haim Saban and the rest of the ILC board.
But business came first. The night was a chance for the ILC to highlight its projects in video presentations, wall hangings and through the presence of more than a dozen members of ILC-funded troops of Israeli Scouts. Ashkenazi spent the hour before the gala speaking to Israeli-American teens getting ready to enlist in the IDF, and to their nervous, proud parents. Ten of the future soldiers joined Ashkenazi at his table for dinner.
It was also a night to raise some serious coin for these and other ILC programs. ILC board member Shawn Evenhaim exhorted the crowd to give generously, and the fundraising goal for the evening was met in just the first pledge — $400,000 from Saban. By the end of the evening, total contributions crossed the $1 million mark.
Michael Oren, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, delivered the evening’s other keynote speech, and he couldn’t resist pointing out the irony of an American immigrant to Israel speaking in America as a representative of Israel to a group of Israeli Americans. In a speech that raced around the Middle East, from Israel to Iran to Libya, Oren also encouraged Israeli Americans to get involved in local organizations — not only those dedicated to Israel advocacy, but also those aimed at improving and enriching local Jewish life.
To help Israelis imbue their American-born children with an identity that is as Jewish as it is Israeli and American, the ILC has joined forces with Rabbi Ed Feinstein of Valley Beth Shalom in Encino. Feinstein began speaking with ILC leaders earlier this year about working together to better serve the local Israeli-American community. No formal programming has been devised yet, a representative from the ILC said.
“It’s not genetic,” Feinstein said over dessert. “We have to create something that’s never existed before: Israeli-American-Jewish identity.”
By that point of the evening, the dance floor at the front of the ballroom was packed. Disco queen Donna Summer — who is also an FOH (Friend of Haim) — performed earlier in the evening, but her rendition of “Last Dance” was the last English song heard all night.
Outside, Beverly Hills was being pummeled with record-breaking rain, but for the more than 750 people at the Beverly Hilton, the dress code was much more Gucci than Gore-Tex. They weren’t wearing boots, but the crowd was ready for some stomping.
Israeli pop star Einat Sarouf belted out Israeli hits from across the decades while green-shirted Scouts twirled their scarves. The ILC board members — in their shirtsleeves — swayed arm-in-arm as they sang Naomi Shemer’s “Al Kol Eleh.” Sarouf guided Beverly Hills Mayor Jimmy Delshad by his necktie toward her microphone, where they did a quick duet of “Ya Mustafa.”
The other political notables in attendance — including Reps. Brad Sherman and Howard Berman, Los Angeles City Councilman Paul Krekorian and others — managed to avoid being drawn onto the stage.
Not so lucky was ILC Executive Director Shoham Nicolet. “You’re still in reserve, and you can get orders from me,” Ashkenazi said, summoning the junior officer.
Nicolet, who is preparing to move back to Israel this month after 10 years in the United States, stood at attention, uncertain as to how such a major element of the evening’s program had been sneaked in without his knowledge.
In recognition of his service to Israel and the ILC, Ashkenazi presented Nicolet with a large framed photograph of uniformed Israeli soldiers dashing across a rutted, dusty field.
Nicolet has served as ILC’s executive director since the group’s inception and plans to continue in that role from Israel.
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Bill Boyarsky: State budget crisis calls for action
If there was ever a time for Jewish parents to fight for Los Angeles public schools, this is it.
Legislators can’t agree on Gov. Jerry Brown’s plan to have a special election to extend taxes scheduled to expire this year. “If we don’t get these tax extensions, it’s a dire emergency,” said Steve Zimmer, the Los Angeles school board member who represents the Westside and the West San Fernando Valley. Layoff notices have already been sent to more than 7,000 Los Angeles Unified School District teachers. If the voters don’t approve the tax extensions, those notices will, for the most part, be translated into firings.
This would be a devastating blow to Jewish families who have been engaged for many months in a campaign to persuade parents to send their kids to public schools. They have hosted parental meetings in their homes, arranged for school visits and formed support groups, all in the interest of persuading skeptical mothers and fathers that their children can receive a high-quality education in Los Angeles public schools and that these schools are safe.
Now, with the budget crisis, parents impressed by faculty during school visits might one day learn those teachers have been fired.
“Reinvesting in public schools, particularly on the Westside and the West Valley, is still a fragile choice, still a leap of faith,” Zimmer told me. “People are positive, but it is fragile. So when you add the [budget] uncertainty, it makes the situation more precarious.”
Some people aren’t sitting back and taking it.
At the Westside’s Temple Isaiah, a center for the back-to-public school movement, Rabbi Dara Frimmer told me congregants are learning the complex politics of the Sacramento budget mess and what will happen if Gov. Brown’s proposed tax extensions are not approved.
At the same time, they are examining the Los Angeles school district budget. This is a great idea. Get some smart accountants, tough lawyers and sophisticated political activists to take that budget apart. When it is time to cut, we shouldn’t accept the word of the school board or administrators at face value.
Although she is concerned about the cuts, Rabbi Frimmer said, “this only intensifies our commitment to public education — not just Jewish middle-class parents but all parents.”
At Hamilton High School, students, inspired by the young people of Egypt and Tunisia, used Facebook and e-mail to create a protest network after hearing of the layoff notices, which would hit their school hard. Among the many targeted cuts that would affect the school, major district-wide cuts are focusing on music programs, and Hamilton’s renowned Music Academy falls into that category. Students began work on a Friday and by Monday had 600 students at a rally and had persuaded — with about 100 e-mails — Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez to visit the campus. He wrote a terrific, supportive column. Continuing to work through the week, they organized a bigger rally outside the school on South Robertson Boulevard last Friday morning.
This is another great idea. The L. A. school district is traditionally afraid of student activism, and administrators, fearful of getting in trouble, tend to put it down, but, as others have found, it’s hard to put down a social network.
Still, political organizing hasn’t been easy, as this Hamilton dad wrote me:
“Several kids, including our son, were designated to speak to the school board on Tuesday. They were told to be there at 9 a.m. to ‘sign in.’ They were there by 8:20, signed in and were told to return at noon for the 1 p.m. meeting. They did as they were told. Sometime after they got back, they were told that they hadn’t filled out the necessary forms — forms that no one had mentioned to them before. As a result, they wouldn’t be allowed to speak. They missed a day of school, didn’t get to speak, but … they learned a lesson (although I’m not quite sure what it is) about dealing with the district bureaucracy.”
If the kids have the guts for a worthy fight, the adult Jewish community should, too.
Sure, it’s easy to ignore Sacramento. The budget crisis is confusing, ugly and messy. It’s more fun to rub shoulders with the glitterati at a presidential fundraiser or hear some well-known journalist or book author at another Westside political or cultural event for donors. No doubt about it, it’s more interesting to talk about Israel, Egypt or maybe even the Afghanistan war than to immerse yourselves in the tortuous details of the Sacramento legislative mill.
But we all have to turn our attention to Sacramento with e-mails, faxes and phone calls. If these lawmakers, terrified of losing, get enough static from constituents, they’ll listen. Republicans should tell those stubborn GOP legislators to drop their opposition to letting the people vote on taxes. Democrats can tell liberal legislators to ignore large contributions from public employee unions who are against the governor’s plan. They don’t understand, as Los Angeles Times columnist George Skelton wrote, that Brown “is just the type to turn on everyone if negotiations blow up. He’d probably propose an all-cuts budget that would cripple schools, eliminate many thousands of teacher jobs …”
Skelton knows Brown well. So do I. And it’s clear that time is running out for our public schools. As Jews, who value education more than most, it’s our obligation to take the lead in saving them.
Bill Boyarsky is a columnist for The Jewish Journal, Truthdig and LA Observed, and the author of “Inventing L.A.: The Chandlers and Their Times” (Angel City Press).
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Talking with progressives about Israel
For years, liberal Zionists have been writing about the need to renew the traditional progressive-Zionist alliance, inspired by the civil rights and labor movements, and the importance of using these partnerships to maintain left-leaning allies for Israel.
Getting allies on the right has been easier because supporting Israel fits in neatly with the various goals of groups on the right, such as religious conservatives, the neoconservatives who deeply distrust the Muslim community, or economic conservatives who admire Israel’s thriving capital market. So much so, that political conservatives choose to overlook the “socialistic” policies of Israel, including protectionism, universal health care, education, and equal rights statutes for minorities and women.
The left is trickier. While most on the left side of the political spectrum support Israel, some progressives do not. The irony is that they probably agree with Israel’s domestic social welfare and civil rights policies more than conservatives do, but nevertheless a small element of the progressive movement has taken the “underdog vs. colonizer” model and oversimplified it in the context of a far more complex Middle East than some are willing to admit exists.
However, abandonment of our traditional alliances is only part of the problem. The other problem is how we explain Israel to the left. To paraphrase pollster Frank Luntz, we don’t “frame” Israel in language that resonates with the left.
Groups such as Democrats for Israel, the only Democratic club solely focused on supporting Israel and the Jewish community, made strides in the progressive community by explaining Israel in a way that many in the Democratic Party have embraced, beating back attempts by extremists to get the party to condemn Israel for merely defending itself from Hamas and Hezbollah.
How did we do it? In addition to keeping up partnerships, we learned to frame Israel in a way that resonated with our allies.
Israel is an island of progressivism
Universal education, universal health care, equal rights, minority rights protections, strong activist courts, and gays and lesbians openly serving in the military: Israel sounds like a progressive’s dream. Until I brought this up to several Democratic clubs, they had no idea that Israel was founded by a bunch of socialists on kibbutzim. No other single country in the Middle East has the complete set of social and civil rights that Israel does.
If Israel was a “creation” of colonialist powers, why is the country so liberal when it comes to activist courts and civil rights?
Israel has limited security choices due to geography and culture
Israel is about the size of New Jersey. At its narrowest point, Israel is about nine miles wide, about the distance from Santa Monica to downtown Los Angeles. This gives Israel very little room for error and sometimes requires it to overcompensate in its security choices.
Also, in the past when the United States publicly backed off its support for Israel, Israel’s enemies have interpreted it as a sign that Israel is weak and can be attacked (some have theorized that Nixon’s weak support for Israel in 1973 led to the Yom Kippur War). Therefore, the United States needs to be careful in how it chooses to resolve differences of opinion with its strongest ally, lest there then become no ally there at all.
However, every president has had his differences with Israel, just like there have been disagreements with every other ally, and no military aid was cut off to Great Britain or Canada.
Also, the region has more than 60 years of ethnic division building on thousands of years of history. Some Palestinian schools still refuse to teach children that Israel exists, and Hamas’ children’s TV openly preaches anti-Semitism. While Fatah’s leadership may profess to the West supporting peace, their own internal messaging has been more mixed — such as recently naming a town square after a terrorist whose only achievement was killing an innocent Israeli family.
Democracies are not perfect, and neither is Israel
We have heard it repeatedly: “Criticizing Israel publicly is not pro-Israel.” Whether you agree or not, picking on Israel is not what I am advocating here.
We just have to stop acting like we are infallible when we all know that no one, and no nation, is perfect.
We live in a sound-bite age, where pundits are expected to say, “We are right and they are wrong.” Pro-Israel activists are trained to say that Israel takes measures it deems necessary to defend itself and not acknowledge those measures’ collateral effects. It may work for news opinion shows, but the real world is not that way.
Democratic countries are made of human beings with flaws that extend to their governments, but that does not mean we should get rid of the country. If we got rid of a country just because of mistakes the government made, the United States might have perished numerous times.
Going into specific faults is unnecessary. Just admitting that our side is not perfect goes a long way toward establishing credibility with skeptics and further acknowledges that Israel at least has the democratic checks and balances that the surrounding countries don’t.
Nothing in the Middle East is simple
People, especially ideologues, like to see things in the stark contrasts of right and wrong. Just as conservatives value “freedom,” progressives value “justice” and are wary of the use of corporate or military means to oppress or deny any group access to its basic needs and rights, such as food, shelter and freedom of expression.
Progressives distrust state use of military-industrial power, so when they see the Israel Defense Forces in uniforms and Palestinian militiamen in plain clothes, the reflexive reaction is to sympathize with the side that does not appear to be an extension of organized military might (even if both are actually organized armies).
Of course, the situation is not that simple.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is very complex, involving land, water, peace and a multitude of groups, some of which have a vested interest in opposing peace. The governments of Israel and the Palestinian Authority are, for the most part, trying to move to the middle despite the pressures, years of distrust and the fact that neither side has been very good at keeping its word to the other (resulting in many lost opportunities on both sides).
Even the issues of borders and settlements are complex, with the borders changing in 1948, 1967 and even 1973, and with Menachem Begin and Yitzhak Rabin both using the issue of settlements as a negotiating chip during peace negotiations (how easily we have forgotten that Begin invested heavily in settlements in the Sinai).
The more we openly discuss how complex the situation is, the more we can shift the argument from blaming one party to a broader discussion of the complexities of the region and how the parties can come together. Other conflicts based on deep and long-lasting religious and ethnic divisions (such as Northern Ireland) were not settled by blaming a single party, but by acknowledging that everyone shares responsibility.
Andrew Lachman is the past president of Democrats for Israel — Los Angeles and is a current member of the Democratic National Committee and a Truman National Security Project Partner.
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A novel cure for Jewish baby boomers
Innovation has been the Jewish response to societal change and spiritual longing, from the emergence of the synagogue as the focal point of worship after the destruction of the Second Temple to the founding of independent minyanim in 21st century America.
There’s new opportunity for innovation as the communal conversation begins focusing on “how” to engage Jewish baby boomers, the estimated 25 percent of the Jewish population born between 1946 and 1964. But we must also focus on “where” to innovate.
The synagogue provides an unparalleled test laboratory to engage Jewish boomers, while fostering innovation and revitalizing synagogue life. Although some may view the synagogue as a “closed society” open to members only, it’s also where ideas can flourish and propagate freely. As Steven Johnson, author of the book, “Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation,” argues, “There’s a natural tendency to romanticize breakthrough innovations, imagining momentous ideas transcending their surroundings.” Johnson makes the case for the “adjacent possible,” in which new ideas develop by combining existing ideas.
The synagogue as an innovation laboratory
The synagogue has traditionally fulfilled Jewish baby boomers’ needs for comfort and refuge, spirituality, learning, socializing and personal growth. It is the boomers’ longtime spiritual home, intrinsically rooted in their very being and the sacred space associated with lifecycle events, both joyous and sad.
The synagogue exemplifies the quintessential kehillah kedushah, the holy community, where Jews come together bound by the covenant at Sinai. As Abraham Joshua Heschel taught, “The Jew does not stand alone before God; it is as a member of the community that he stands before God.”
Not surprisingly, nearly 80 percent of Jewish boomers are synagogue members, while only 27 percent belong to JCCs, according to the 2009 Jewish Encore Survey, a national survey of 34 communities conducted by professor David Elcott in conjunction with NYU Wagner’s Research Center for Leadership in Action and the Berman Jewish Policy Archive.
As Jewish boomers enter a new life phase, the synagogue can address their quest for spiritual fulfillment: the sacred space to acknowledge life transitions, safely express hopes and fears, recite Kaddish or a congregational misheberach prayer for healing and publicly celebrate milestone birthdays with traditional blessings or new rituals.
Working together as a community imbues each of us with a sense of holiness. The synagogue has inspired boomers to contribute to the local and global society, performing sacred deeds such as preparing shiva meals for fellow congregants, volunteering at homeless shelters and engaging their passion to fix the world.
When the Jewish people stood together at Sinai, we entered a relationship both with God and with one another. The synagogue provides boomers an important, ongoing social connection. As one synagogue member confided, “The most important thing the synagogue did for me was to introduce me to my best and lifelong friends.”
Finally, the synagogue provides a comfortable place where boomers can engage in lifelong serious Jewish learning and personal growth: to gain greater familiarity with Jewish texts, develop a greater appreciation for Jewish history and culture, and acquire new ritual or Hebrew language skills.
Enabling innovation
To succeed, innovation must be needs based. That means creating engagement strategies and innovative programming based on real, not perceived, boomer interests. As an institution whose vitality depends on developing and maintaining strong customer relationships, the synagogue is the ideal place to enable and foster this innovation.
True innovation involves taking risks and breaking conventional rules. Innovative boomer programming requires stepping outside of the traditional, self-contained institutional comfort zone. That means adopting new models and collaborating across boundaries, outside of traditional synagogue walls and denominational barriers.
Expanding reach outside of synagogue walls can be an effective boomer-retention strategy, particularly to reach those who feel shut out and alienated by recent synagogue transformation initiatives such as the introduction of more traditional ritual practices and liturgy in Reform Jewish practice or new forms of spirituality such as Torah Yoga and Qi Gong in Conservative congregations.
At a time of declining synagogue membership, a comprehensive boomer-engagement program can revitalize and infuse new creativity into the synagogue. Active listening, acting on these insights and delivering innovative programs targeted at boomer needs are mission-critical.
But synagogues must act fast before boomers totally disengage from synagogue life.
It’s time to address the all-too-familiar Jewish boomer cry, “There’s nothing here for me because programming is focused just on young families,” and demonstrate true customer value.
As a Jewish community, we have a sacred obligation to each member of the community. Using Johnson’s model of “the adjacent possible,” synagogues can become a laboratory for creating innovative spiritual, educational and social programming targeted at Jewish boomers. The result: The synagogue becomes transformed as a kehillah kedushah where boomers feel they are valued and respected members of the Jewish community.
Paula Jacobs is a Massachusetts-based writer, consultant and lifelong synagogue member. Rabbi Gerald I. Weider, a retired congregational rabbi, is president and founding director of JBoomers, a national organization that serves the spiritual, educational and social needs of Jewish baby boomers.
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David Suissa: Murdering Israel’s name
While five Israeli Jews were being murdered in Itamar last week, something else was being murdered on college campuses across America: Israel’s name.
This murder rampage is called Israel Apartheid Week.
There are few things worse for a country today than being labeled apartheid. This insult has it all: racism, decades of violent and racist oppression, international boycotts, even a global hero (Nelson Mandela) who conquered the demon.
No wonder the accusation has done so much damage to Israel. As Natalie Menaged, a pro-Israel activist, wrote recently in the Jerusalem Post: “Passing through many North American campuses this month — from New York and Boston to Chicago and Los Angeles — students are likely to draw the conclusion that Israel is a brutally oppressive regime, worthy of global boycotts and sanctions.”
In fact, if there is one word that has fueled the global campaign to delegitimize Israel, and the ensuing BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) movement, you can be sure it is the dirty word apartheid.
Even groups like J Street, who are not known for their passionate defense of Israeli policies, have gone on record against this racist accusation.
And yet, despite the obvious slander, the “Israel is apartheid” movement grows stronger every year.
What can Israel do to defend itself?
One approach would be to go positive, like many pro-Israel activists did this year, by playing up messages like Israel’s desire for peace and its history of making compromises for peace.
This approach is noble, but it is not enough.
It is not enough because the forces that hurl extremist accusations like “Israel is apartheid” are not looking for peace. They claim that all of Israel is apartheid and worthy of boycotts. Their aim is not to engage in debate but to destroy Israel’s name.
And let’s face it: They’re winning.
They have lodged a racist accusation in people’s heads that can’t be dislodged with feel-good language. The only way to get at this poison is with a specific and powerful antidote.
In other words, Israel must develop a PR message that will destroy the enemy’s accusation while reclaiming the higher ground.
Here’s my candidate: “Israel is the ONLY country in the Middle East that is NOT apartheid.”
Now imagine if Israel took this PR message and made it the focus of a global campaign on banners, Facebook pages, billboards, print ads, T-shirts, YouTube clips, etc. Who would be on the defensive then?
Unfair, you say? Not accurate? My answer: It’s certainly a lot more fair and accurate than “Israel is apartheid” — but if you disagree, well, then, let’s debate!
With the widespread revolts going on right now in the Middle East against decades of oppression, the world could use a debate comparing the democratic policies of Israel with those of her neighbors.
As Arsen Ostrovsky, an attorney for human rights and international law, writes: “The real apartheid today is in places such as Saudi Arabia, where the government totally forbids the public practice of non-Muslim religions, the presence of a Bible there, officially labels both Christians and Jews ‘unbelievers’ and cautions Muslims not to befriend Christians or Jews.”
He goes on: “If Israel were an apartheid State, people like Arab Israeli Salim Jurban would not have been elected to Israel’s Supreme Court … and there would not be five different Arab parties and 14 Arab Israeli members of Knesset, some of whom are the most outspoken and harshest critics of Israel.”
But what about the suffering of Palestinians, you ask? In a recent article in the Jerusalem Post (“Where Is the Outcry Against Arab Apartheid?”), Palestinian journalist Khaled Abu Tomaeh reported on the “hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who live in impoverished refugee camps in Lebanon and who are the victims of an apartheid system that denies them access to work, education and medical care.”
Tomaeh also reported on the 180,000 Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank, who, in the past year alone, were welcomed into Israel to receive some of the finest medical care in the world, whether they could afford it or not. I can think of a few hundred million Arabs in the Middle East who wouldn’t mind this kind of service.
So, yes, let’s debate. Let’s hear Israel’s apartheid accusers defend the apartheid abuses in Lebanon, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iran, Turkey, Yemen, Jordan and other Middle East countries — where, as Ostrovsky notes, “people are being jailed, tortured and often killed fighting for their human rights.”
Let’s compare those regimes with Israel’s democracy, and let’s see who’s apartheid and who’s not.
The truth is, when you look at the Middle East, the more liberal you are, the more you should defend Israel. At the very least, you should push back against the absurdly unfair apartheid slander. Israel might have an imperfect democracy with its share of flaws and inequities, but it hardly merits the vicious and unjust apartheid libel — a libel that even leftist groups agree goes way beyond the dispute with the Palestinians.
If you call yourself pro-Israel, you must fight this injustice.
David Suissa is a branding consultant and the founder of OLAM magazine. For speaking engagements and other inquiries, he can be reached at {encode=”suissa@olam.org” title=”suissa@olam.org”} or davidsuissa.com.
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Bomb kills at least one, injures 30 in Jerusalem
It seems like it’s been a relatively long while since a bombing rocked Jerusalem. ” title=”rockets have been fired from Gaza” target=”_blank”>rockets have been fired from Gaza into southern Israel. A Bomb kills at least one, injures 30 in Jerusalem Read More »