U.S. Jews aren’t passive

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Regarding “Sitting on the sidelines,” by Mark Seal, December 24, 2004 http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/518470.html

Mark Seal’s piece fails to take into account several basic premises of the relationship of American Jewish organizations with Israeli politics, which accounts for why sometimes support for political initiatives appears to be neither public or enthusiastic.

With the exception of AIPAC, which is a registered political action committee, where contributions are not tax-deductible, most major American Jewish organizations are not-for-profit, tax-exempt organizations, which have entirely different laws governing and sometimes limiting their involvement in political advocacy to retain their tax-exempt status and not be viewed as agents of foreign governments. This very much tempers over support for particular initiatives and certainly for individual American and Israeli political figures.

Most major American Jewish organizations believe it is up to the Israelis to democratic ally determine their own destiny without interference from the organizations. Supporting Israel and telling Israel what to do politically are quite different activities, with most major Jewish organization avoiding the latter. However, this puts most major American Jewish organizations in a reactive, rather than a proactive, stance with respect to Israeli initiatives for peace and individual policy. After the decisions are made in Israel, the major American Jewish communal organizations try to rally understanding and support for the initiatives whenever possible. Having said that, one can be sure that some Israeli politicians wonder how policy initiatives will play in Jewish communities throughout the United States.

In recent years there has been a deep divide in many American Jewish community and the donor base with respect to particular Israeli policies and initiatives. Whether we would like to face it or not, many American Jews seriously questioned their relationship with Israel in what they perceived as Israel being the Goliaths to the Palestinian Davids, which was reinforced in academia and in many groups which were against “the occupation” and the tactics of the Sharon government. They see Sharon as the cause of the problems and not Arafat, Hamas and their Arab supporters. Many believe, rightly or wrongly, that there could be no peace with either Arafat or Sharon. Sharon is still present and so his initiatives are viewed with suspicion, even though a unity coalition is building with Labor. Also there is a wait-and-see feeling to see what a “democratically elected” new Palestinian government will look like and how willing it will be to pursue peace initiatives and abandon terrorism.

Seal is right in pointing out that things are changing in the region, but the organized Jewish community is not sitting on the sidelines. It wisely is strategically monitoring the peace initiatives on all sides with the hope that in the absence of its perceived intervention, the dispute will be seen as solved by the parties themselves without strong-armed intervention from outside forces. This increases the chance of success for bold peace initiatives by the affected parties themselves.

Dr. Edward S. Beck President, Scholars for Peace in the Middle East c/o Susquehanna Institute Harrisburg, PA

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/LiArt.jhtml?contrassID=2&subContrassID=7&sbSubContrassID=0

U.S. Jews aren’t passive

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