semitism.net

A couple weeks ago, the leadership of the American Jewish
community outdid itself. Not an easy
feat to achieve these days, but the American Jewish Congress
managed to announce an initiative more damaging, more insensitive and, in many
ways, more un-Jewish than just about any in recent memory. And just in time for the Seder.

As I have written in my previous posts, in the course of my
advocacy work in Washington on behalf of the Refuser Solidarity Network, I have
had occasion to meet with a number of senior staff from various Jewish
leadership organizations. And a couple
have been honest enough to explain to the Israeli refusers and to me "the
way it is" with the major American Jewish organizations (I think this
happens because they want the Israelis, rather than me, to get it). 

Basically, between twenty and thirty years ago, the major
organizations developed a narrative of the situation in Israel that they have
been selling ever since. (And for some
of them, the narrative goes back much further). We all know the basic gist: Israel is America’s only democratic
ally in the region, the home of the Jewish people and in need of strong defense
because of the threats to its very existence: be they Arab armies, terrorism or
stones. These threats represent such a
grave danger that the actions of the Israeli government must never be
questioned (that is, unless it seems ready to make peace with the very threats
we have said are so grave). Settlements
and other measures undertaken by Israel are both the spoils of wars not of
Israel’s choosing (even if she fired the first shot) and critical, but only
temporary, safety measures. 

And the final piece of the narrative: every Israeli and
every Jew must – and does – agree. 

Mostly, for a host of reasons way too numerous to list, they
have been successful in selling the narrative. Certainly there have been voices of dissent, as well as some
shortcomings in their message that have been modified over time, but when you
look at the landscape both in Washington and throughout the major institutions
of American and Jewish life, it is hard to argue with how widespread these
precepts, and everything that flows from them, are. 

And before getting into my specific point of contention, let
me say that I do not attribute necessarily nefarious motives to these
organizations and their leaders for what they have achieved. In many ways, nearly every American Jew,
whether or not he/she disagrees with the narrative, enjoys a level of
prosperity, access and opportunity unparalleled in the Diaspora (and some would
argue even including Israel) because of the work these organizations do. 

But last week, AJCongress took a step that we must all be
ashamed of, and denounce. And perhaps
it’s an action that will make that many more people realize that this narrative
has run its course, that a new one is necessary if American Jews are to be on
the right side of peace.

What was this step? It came as part of AJCongress’ anti-divestment campaign. The point of this campaign is to combat
those who "seek to undermine Israel’s self-defense, its economy and its
legitimacy, and to pressure Israel to make concessions during peace
negotiations with the Palestinians." 

The first plank of this campaign, AJCongress’ strongest
answer to divestment? Buy shares of
Caterpillar. Or, stated another way,
underwrite home demolitions.

Now, divestment itself is a complex and difficult
topic. Debates about divestment rage in
many places, and I am no expert on any of them. I will admit that I go back and forth on what I think of these
efforts and do little to support them. 

But regardless of where you stand on divestment, how can
buying shares of Caterpillar do anything for Israel’s self-defense, economy or
legitimacy – that is, of course, except undermine all three? First, this is an American company selling
items to Israel, so one can hardly say it does much for the Israeli
economy. If you truly seek to help the
Israeli economy — and it needs help — why would you prioritize sales to
Israel of items not destined for the general economy, or for the most part,
even destined to be used within Israel? 

And what of self-defense? Israel uses CAT’s bulldozers and other equipment to demolish homes;
tactics the IDF itself has now ceased because of findings that they do not
work. Tens of thousands of Palestinian
lives have been torn asunder by these bulldozers; American peace activist
Rachel Corrie was killed by a CAT bulldozer in 2003 during a demolition in
Gaza. So self-defense? If anything, at least some of those who lost
their homes and possessions to the demolitions later turned in response to
tactics endangering Israel and Israelis. 

Legitimacy? Human
rights groups consistently call out home demolitions as among the most
egregious of Israeli human rights violations in the Palestinian
Territories. The IDF itself knows
demolitions don’t serve their purpose, and as such, has announced their
cessation. 

Help Israel’s self-defense, economy and legitimacy? O for 3. 

In explaining the need for the campaign, AJCongress
President Paul Miller continued, “While all people of conscience want to see
peace in the Middle East, the sponsors of campaigns such as these rely on a
one-sided narrative that omits the central fact that Israel has tried to
negotiate peace for many years, and omits that, at least until recently, the
Palestinian Authority has responded consistently with violence."

By emphasizing support of CAT over everything else,
AJCongress did much to contradict this sentence. First, how can any organization sponsoring the purchase of items
used for destructive purposes include itself among "people of
conscience"? To my mind, becoming
a shareholder in home demolitions takes a lack of conscience to all new levels,
and stems from the belief that you can say and do just about anything without
facing criticism 

Second, AJCongress lays open for all to see that it, too,
relies on a one-sided narrative, the one described above, for only blind
adherence to such a narrative could generate a decision like buying shares of
CAT or a repetition of the mantra that every time Israel tries to negotiate,
Palestinians respond with violence. Again, to call this the "central fact" makes it clear that
facts themselves are malleable weapons in this fight, and often of little use
when your narrative dominates the scene. 

Only analysis and action rooted in a narrative that supports
all decisions made by, and prevents criticism of, right-wing Israeli
governments could lead to a choice to invest American Jewish money in
destruction, and believe that this is the most important way to support Israel. 

Every member of AJCongress should think long and hard about
whether this is an organization worthy of support. And know that, if you do, you too bear an even greater measure of
responsibility for those lives that have been, or may be in the future,
destroyed by CAT bulldozers. 

This is also a time to reconsider the dominant
narrative. For if the narrative is now
so entrenched that our leadership champions Israel’s ability to destroy and
rushes to build its weaponry, then we must ask ourselves what we have learned
from the time we were slaves in Egypt, other than that we now know what it’s
like to be Pharaoh.