July 13, 2010
Mr. Daniel Sokatch
CEO New Israel Fund
PO Box 96712
Washington, DC 20090-6712
Mr. Sokatch,
Imagine before you are two buttons. Above the first button is a sign which reads:
“Security barrier is dismantled. Arab Palestinians not inconvenienced.
Jews murdered from renewed snipers and suicide bombings.”
Above the second button is a sign which reads:
“Security barrier remains. Some Arab Palestinians are inconvenienced.
Jews not murdered.”
I have posited this scenario to fellow Jews on the extreme Left, and they refuse to “press a button.” They refuse to deal with the fact that a hostile world, biased against Israel, will ultimately demand that they make that choice. By not making that choice, they deny the very basic tenants and core values of their faith which is “choose life.” Their response amazes, saddens, and confounds me, because by not pressing a button, they reveal that the life of a Jew is not worth the inconvenience of an Arab. Yes, some situations are either/or.
As a Jew, “choose life,” “don’t murder,” “he who saves one life, saves an entire world,” etc., etc., are at the core of Judaism, and at the core of what informs my value system. But I am also aware of the admonition that, “If someone comes to slay you, slay him first.” Of course, this may seem like a contradiction, but you and I know life is full of contradictions and hard choices, and we must maneuver among them to find some consistency for our behavior and ultimately, act.
From what I’ve read about the New Israel Fund and the organizations you financially support, I conclude that you have made a choice to act by supporting the Arab narrative that Israel is an interloper on land that is not rightfully theirs, and a harsh occupying force. In fact, I would go so far as to say that if your objectives were realized, Israel itself would be dismantled and the world opinion you enable, would insist that the Jews be sent packing back to Poland, Germany, Russia, Yeman, Syria, Iran, Ethiopia, etc. if they are not first murdered in a Holocaust from the sky perpetrated by Iran, Hamas, and Hezboulah.
I do believe the extreme Left would rather the Jews return to being an oppressed and wandering people than having to deal with the reality that Jews have challenged the role the world had thrust upon them, are successful and dominant in their own land. Why the extreme Left needs to feel Jews should return to being an oppressed minority always in danger, I have no idea. Nor do I know what in your history moved you to support the Arab Palestinian narrative when their cause moves them to murder, and their charter calls for the destruction of Israel? Why do you insist that Israel be the only righteous nation on earth when you make no demands on the totalitarian regimes in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East?
Certainly you must know how the Arabs living in Palestine were never a nation supplanted by Israel, and were first declared to be a “Palestinian people” in the 1960's. Certainly you know how the predecessors of these same Arab Palestinians were moved to Palestine in the 19th and early 20th centuries by the Ottoman Empire to farm a land the Palestinian Jews were reclaiming. Certainly you know the response of the new Israelis to having a country of their own and their eagerness to live in a state peopled by the Arab Palestinians. Why then can you not support the Israeli narrative that is grounded in fact rather than supporting an Arab Palestinian narrative that is grounded in myths created by the KGB, General Giap of North Vietnam, Muhammad Yazid of Algeria, and Nicolai Ceausescu of Romania?
You know the historical facts of Israel’s relationship with the Arab world, and yet it would seem that to accept these facts and to come down on the side of Israel would be to cause you and your supporters something akin to a cognitive dissonance in your brain that would challenge you to your core. Such challenges to your resolute notions are dangerous, and facts must be put aside to avoid such challenges.
It is my feeling that organizations such as yours, “J Street,” “Peace Now,” etc. are composed of people who have exchanged their Judaism for extreme Liberalism. But because it was Torah teachings that gave such people and Western Civilization its value system, extreme Liberals have nobly clung to laws that insist that you must uphold those who have fallen, and demand justice for all. Such moral laws have logically lead you to support the underdog. But when that underdog would gladly cut your throat and the throats of your children just because you and they are Jews, you should reconsider your support and encouragement for such a group unless you are so radicalized or altruistic that you would even sacrifice yourself and family for their cause. Would you press that button if you and your children were in the direct line of fire from a sniper in Jenin? There are real Jewish families who would be in the cross hairs of Arab snipers and suicide bombers if that barrier comes down. Why are these Jewish lives not of more value to you than the inconvenience of some Arabs?
I have never seen where the extreme Left has called upon the Arab Palestinians to change their charter, or made any effort to stop Iran’s nuclear effort. Nor have I seen the extreme Left marching to demand the release of Gilad Shalit or demand that the Arabs stop teaching Jew-hatred to their children and sit down face to face without conditions. I have never seen your organization and others of your ilk not support the idea that Israel’s response to years of attacks are “out of proportion.” What in your opinion is an appropriate response to people dropping rockets on your home? Do these things and you might earn some credibility among Jews who are liberals, in the center, and on the right.
Despite your protestations to the contrary, I do believe that you and your supporters would gladly see the dismantling the Jewish state so you all might feel a nobility and a righteousness that you have raise up a down trodden people, and you no longer have to be associated with a people who are forced to keep another group of people who seek their destruction in check until peace and security are assured. You and the rest of the world insists on holding Israel to a standard that no one else in the world is willing to hold, and in doing so, you continue to support and give comfort to those who would gladly see Israel’s demise. My standard is Israel’s survival.
Manifest Destiny is a concept held by many countries over the centuries, and it involves empire expansion. The United States moved west. The sun never set on the British flag. Germany tried to take over Europe twice. Russia created the USSR, and Japan invaded Asia. No doubt, terrible things happened because of such a notion to the indigenous people. The radical Arab manifest destiny concept is to re-establish the Caliphat and to bring all lands that were once Muslim under sharia law once again, and then extend the Calipaht to the rest of the world. The Islamifacation of Europe attests to this effort. Check out Malmo, Sweden. The Jews are leaving because they are no longer safe or protected, and the Sweeds are too politically correct to do anything about the violence. The Jewish manifest destiny concept is that the Land of Israel was given by God to the Jewish people. They have no interest in world domination nor in taking what was not originally theirs. They just want to survive as an independent people and country.
Your continued support of those who would delegitimize Israel tells me you prefer the Muslim manifest destiny concept rather than the Jewish concept. Why? Kindly remove my name from your mailing list requesting donations.
Cordially,
Leonard H. Berman
Mr. Daniel Sokatch
CEO New Israel Fund
PO Box 96712
Washington, DC 20090-6712
Mr. Sokatch,
Imagine before you are two buttons. Above the first button is a sign which reads:
“Security barrier is dismantled. Arab Palestinians not inconvenienced.
Jews murdered from renewed snipers and suicide bombings.”
Above the second button is a sign which reads:
“Security barrier remains. Some Arab Palestinians are inconvenienced.
Jews not murdered.”
I have posited this scenario to fellow Jews on the extreme Left, and they refuse to “press a button.” They refuse to deal with the fact that a hostile world, biased against Israel, will ultimately demand that they make that choice. By not making that choice, they deny the very basic tenants and core values of their faith which is “choose life.” Their response amazes, saddens, and confounds me, because by not pressing a button, they reveal that the life of a Jew is not worth the inconvenience of an Arab. Yes, some situations are either/or.
As a Jew, “choose life,” “don’t murder,” “he who saves one life, saves an entire world,” etc., etc., are at the core of Judaism, and at the core of what informs my value system. But I am also aware of the admonition that, “If someone comes to slay you, slay him first.” Of course, this may seem like a contradiction, but you and I know life is full of contradictions and hard choices, and we must maneuver among them to find some consistency for our behavior and ultimately, act.
From what I’ve read about the New Israel Fund and the organizations you financially support, I conclude that you have made a choice to act by supporting the Arab narrative that Israel is an interloper on land that is not rightfully theirs, and a harsh occupying force. In fact, I would go so far as to say that if your objectives were realized, Israel itself would be dismantled and the world opinion you enable, would insist that the Jews be sent packing back to Poland, Germany, Russia, Yeman, Syria, Iran, Ethiopia, etc. if they are not first murdered in a Holocaust from the sky perpetrated by Iran, Hamas, and Hezboulah.
I do believe the extreme Left would rather the Jews return to being an oppressed and wandering people than having to deal with the reality that Jews have challenged the role the world had thrust upon them, are successful and dominant in their own land. Why the extreme Left needs to feel Jews should return to being an oppressed minority always in danger, I have no idea. Nor do I know what in your history moved you to support the Arab Palestinian narrative when their cause moves them to murder, and their charter calls for the destruction of Israel? Why do you insist that Israel be the only righteous nation on earth when you make no demands on the totalitarian regimes in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East?
Certainly you must know how the Arabs living in Palestine were never a nation supplanted by Israel, and were first declared to be a “Palestinian people” in the 1960's. Certainly you know how the predecessors of these same Arab Palestinians were moved to Palestine in the 19th and early 20th centuries by the Ottoman Empire to farm a land the Palestinian Jews were reclaiming. Certainly you know the response of the new Israelis to having a country of their own and their eagerness to live in a state peopled by the Arab Palestinians. Why then can you not support the Israeli narrative that is grounded in fact rather than supporting an Arab Palestinian narrative that is grounded in myths created by the KGB, General Giap of North Vietnam, Muhammad Yazid of Algeria, and Nicolai Ceausescu of Romania?
You know the historical facts of Israel’s relationship with the Arab world, and yet it would seem that to accept these facts and to come down on the side of Israel would be to cause you and your supporters something akin to a cognitive dissonance in your brain that would challenge you to your core. Such challenges to your resolute notions are dangerous, and facts must be put aside to avoid such challenges.
It is my feeling that organizations such as yours, “J Street,” “Peace Now,” etc. are composed of people who have exchanged their Judaism for extreme Liberalism. But because it was Torah teachings that gave such people and Western Civilization its value system, extreme Liberals have nobly clung to laws that insist that you must uphold those who have fallen, and demand justice for all. Such moral laws have logically lead you to support the underdog. But when that underdog would gladly cut your throat and the throats of your children just because you and they are Jews, you should reconsider your support and encouragement for such a group unless you are so radicalized or altruistic that you would even sacrifice yourself and family for their cause. Would you press that button if you and your children were in the direct line of fire from a sniper in Jenin? There are real Jewish families who would be in the cross hairs of Arab snipers and suicide bombers if that barrier comes down. Why are these Jewish lives not of more value to you than the inconvenience of some Arabs?
I have never seen where the extreme Left has called upon the Arab Palestinians to change their charter, or made any effort to stop Iran’s nuclear effort. Nor have I seen the extreme Left marching to demand the release of Gilad Shalit or demand that the Arabs stop teaching Jew-hatred to their children and sit down face to face without conditions. I have never seen your organization and others of your ilk not support the idea that Israel’s response to years of attacks are “out of proportion.” What in your opinion is an appropriate response to people dropping rockets on your home? Do these things and you might earn some credibility among Jews who are liberals, in the center, and on the right.
Despite your protestations to the contrary, I do believe that you and your supporters would gladly see the dismantling the Jewish state so you all might feel a nobility and a righteousness that you have raise up a down trodden people, and you no longer have to be associated with a people who are forced to keep another group of people who seek their destruction in check until peace and security are assured. You and the rest of the world insists on holding Israel to a standard that no one else in the world is willing to hold, and in doing so, you continue to support and give comfort to those who would gladly see Israel’s demise. My standard is Israel’s survival.
Manifest Destiny is a concept held by many countries over the centuries, and it involves empire expansion. The United States moved west. The sun never set on the British flag. Germany tried to take over Europe twice. Russia created the USSR, and Japan invaded Asia. No doubt, terrible things happened because of such a notion to the indigenous people. The radical Arab manifest destiny concept is to re-establish the Caliphat and to bring all lands that were once Muslim under sharia law once again, and then extend the Calipaht to the rest of the world. The Islamifacation of Europe attests to this effort. Check out Malmo, Sweden. The Jews are leaving because they are no longer safe or protected, and the Sweeds are too politically correct to do anything about the violence. The Jewish manifest destiny concept is that the Land of Israel was given by God to the Jewish people. They have no interest in world domination nor in taking what was not originally theirs. They just want to survive as an independent people and country.
Your continued support of those who would delegitimize Israel tells me you prefer the Muslim manifest destiny concept rather than the Jewish concept. Why? Kindly remove my name from your mailing list requesting donations.
Cordially,
Leonard H. Berman