We were playing a get-to-know-you game in the J Street U breakout session, and we were standing up from our chairs whenever a statement applied to us. There were statements like, "This is my first J Street conference" or "I helped to found a chapter at my university." I stood up when appropriate. Then the facilitator said "I am deeply concerned by the Occupation." I sat dumbly and watched as the entire Mid-Atlantic region, a delegation of 130 students, rose to their feet.
It's not that I'm not concerned with the Occupation. I am. But this is all very new and shocking to me. This is the first organized event I've ever been to where I've even heard the word "occupation" being used. This is the first time in my life I ever heard someone suggest altering the Israeli flag to depict more inclusive symbols and changing the words of the Israeli national anthem from "Jewish soul" to "Israeli soul." And this is the first time I've ever put quotes around the word "democracy" when I use the phrase "Jewish 'Democracy,'" because suddenly I'm not sure if what I thought was the only democracy in the Middle East even is one.
I support the 2 State Solution. But I also NEED Israel to exist as a Jewish state, one in which Judaism is institutionalized. I need Judaism to have a physical space in this world. I don't think it's enough to have a lot of Jews living in a country so the country has a Jewish character in its culture and values. I don't want Israel to celebrate the Jewish holidays the way America celebrates Christmas. In America, I appreciate that many people say "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas." Because that's what I signed up for by living in America.
In Israel, I want the bus banners to still switch between the name of their destination and "Chag Channukah Sameach," And I would like the Jewish Sabbath to be recognized in some formal way. And I would like Jews to have a special immigration policy that allows them to become citizens easily and quickly.
BUT. I want Israel to provide work permits to asylum seekers living in South Tel Aviv. I want Bedouins living in unrecognized villages to not fear the destruction of their homes at any moment. I want Palestinians in refugee camps to expect clean running water. I want Druze villages to receive the same funding for their schools as their Jewish neighbors.
I also feel strongly that Jews need to address the problem of pluralism in a way that enriches Judaism without forcing everyone to adhere to the strictest possible observance. To me, this means creating a system in which everyone has the freedom to practice in the way that they please while respecting other approaches. This will require some major creativity and breaking away from the status quo.
--A day later--
Another challenging day at the J Street Conference. We had a session to plan our advocacy work tomorrow and I met some nice people and I met some people who didn't make it too hard to dislike them. Then I got in line for a long time to listen to Biden speak, who was very late because Bibi is visiting and the government is shutting down.
Biden made a lovely speech. He was charming and funny and made it unequivocally clear that the US supports Israel and that a two state solution is an absolute requirement.
I am glad that I heard Biden speak today, because he left me with hope for the situation, and he diverted some of my attention away from the horrifying fact that I am much more right wing than I had originally thought. He closed with a quote from this poem:
“Human beings suffer,
They torture one another,
They get hurt and get hard.
No poem or play or song
Can fully right a wrong
Inflicted and endured.
History says, don't hope
On this side of the grave.
But then, once in a lifetime
The longed-for tidal wave
Of justice can rise up,
And hope and history rhyme.
So hope for a great sea-change
On the far side of revenge.
Believe that further shore
Is reachable from here.
Believe in miracles
And cures and healing wells.
Call miracle self-healing:
The utter, self-revealing
Double-take of feeling.
If there's fire on the mountain
Or lightning and storm
And a god speaks from the sky
That means someone is hearing
The outcry and the birth-cry
Of new life at its term.”
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