May 31, 2009 Israel at 61: Growing criticism in Marin, figuring out where we stand, and what we can do." – Rabbi Doug Kahn, Executive Director, Jewish Community Relations Council Chag Sameach and Shabbat Shalom. It is an honor to be here today and to worship at Congregation Kol Shofar whose members and rabbis could create a spiritual community anywhere. Today I will not focus on the geopolitical issues in the Middle East, or American-Israel relations per se, tempting as it is. Rather, I want to focus locally, very locally – how Israel issues are manifesting themselves in the county in which we live, Marin County. Let me begin by painting a picture of some of the recent developments in Marin. In so doing, I do not want to create a sense of undue alarm, or suggest that there a massive outpouring of anti-Israelism in Marin. Still there are some disturbing trends and this should be considered a wake up call. Marin Peace and Justice Coalition has, despite its name, been actively engaged in strong attacks on Israeli policy for a long time. It has a continuing cycle of movies it runs on Marin’s public access TV station, Channel 26, including such biased films as “Peace, Propaganda and the Promised Land.” Its website home page includes an excerpt from the poem, “The Poem is Missing in Gaza.” The poem begins, “The poem is missing in Gaza although there have been fleeting glimpses and unconfirmed sightings someone says she saw it floating down a gutter in a foaming river of blood another one reports hearing its cries from under a building to rubble and dust. The poem is missing in Gaza it may have been at an open-air morgue among the bodies of children killed from the sky while waiting for a bus a doctor believes he may have amputated the poem’s shredded legs and tossed them on a pile of other limbs. The poem is missing in Gaza some say they saw it run into a school to escape the bombs just before the bombs obliterated the place the flesh of its hands and arms may have been charred from the bones as it tries to rub white phosphorous off a burning infant.” SF Theological Seminary is the Presbyterian Seminary all of us have seen – set idyllically in San Anselmo. Several years ago it was revealed that their student delegation visiting the Middle East met with Hezbollah. Naim Ateek, an alumnus of the year from the seminary, is the founder of SABEEL – the Palestinian Liberation Theology movement - that is the engine behind a number of the recent anti-Israel actions by liberal Protestant denominations. One of its arguments is that the Jews are doing today to the Palestinians what they did to Jesus. Nearby the Seminary is First Presbyterian Church in San Anselmo – today perhaps one of the most active churches in the Bay Area as a center for anti-Israel speakers. Earlier this month, its program was the showing of a movie “500 Dunam on the Moon,” a documentary that is described as telling the story of an “Arab Palestinian village that was captured and depopulated by Israeli forces in the 1948 war,” that was Judaized and whose original inhabitants end up settling about a mile away in the outlying hills in an area that the Israeli government refuses to recognize or provide any services for such as water, electricity or access.     I have seen an endless parade of antagonistic-to-Israel speakers at that church …Allison Weir speaking on “If Americans Knew;” members of the Free Gaza Movement on “They Broke the Siege” are two examples. That particular program was sponsored by 14 Friends of Palestine, a new formed Marin-based group established because its members got tired of driving to protests against Israeli policy in other areas. On the home page of 14 Friends of Palestine – which states that people who promote violence or anti-Semitism are not welcome to participate - is a link to the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, a coalition of which 14 Friends is a member, and which supports what is known as the BDS movement – boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israel. Not directly connected with any of these but its own independent voice is the Coastal Post, a newspaper that serves the Bolinas, Stinson area and that consistently carries vicious attacks against Israel that often do cross a line. The April edition includes an article by Norman Finkelstein entitled “The Facts about Hamas and the War on Gaza” that blames Israel for just about everything possible. One paragraph demonstrates the bias. “The record shows that in every crucial issue raised at Camp David, then under the Clinton parameters, and then in Taba, at every single point, all the concessions came from the Palestinians. Israel didn’t make any concessions. Every concession came from the Palestinians. The Palestinians have repeatedly expressed a willingness to settle the conflict in accordance with international law.” Over the years the Coastal Post has been a sanctuary for anti-Israel critics and has truly stepped over the line into allowing anti-Semitic viewpoints to be expressed. 14 Friends of Palestine supports efforts to save the Coastal Post while distancing itself from the anti-Semitism. Add to these the threat to disrupt the community solidarity gathering for Israel held in January at Congregation Kol Shofar and you get a picture of the growing challenges in Marin. (Let me add one additional comment – to distinguish between the picture I’ve presented and the role of Reverend Doug Huneke of Westminster Presbyterian Church where we gather today for services. He has stood with us and with Israel time and time again and we are tremendously grateful for his courageous leadership). When we analyze the patterns of growing protests against Israel in the Bay Area our focus is not on extremist voices per se. Our goal is not to eliminate extremist voices because we cannot, but to keep them at the margins. Rather we want to avoid mainstream creep – to prevent ideas that were once held at the extremes from creeping into the mainstream. That is the primary concern we have with respect to the recent growth of activity in Marin among Israel’s tough critics But we have our own legitimate concerns, criticisms, frustrations with Israeli policy – so why should this trouble us? The answer is – because Israel is not being given a fair hearing. Consistent in all these activities in Marin are the following: -    The absence of any effort of balance; -    The portrayal of only one victim in the conflict; -    Avoidance of any context Let me be clear. Not all events are equally hostile in tone and content. Furthermore, criticism of Israeli policy is not the issue here. People are free and should be free to criticize Israel’s policies. The issues are these: 1)    There is a growth industry of organizations that engage in what I call virulent anti-Israelism. 2)    The hallmarks of these efforts are what Natan Sharansky called the 3 d's against Israel – Delegitimization; demonization; and double-standards. 3)    There is a passion and energy in these groups that is not mirrored today within the Jewish community that is increasingly ambivalent about the depth of its connection with Israel – and as a result there is not a level playing field. (The 2007 National Survey of American Jews indicates that among 1,700 non-Orthodox Jews there is a profoundly disturbing trend. 48% of Jews under the age of 35 believe Israel’s destruction would be a personal tragedy, compared to 78% of those over 65. In addition, only 60% of those under 35 believed caring about Israel was an important part of being Jewish compared to 80% of those over 65. And, only 54% of those under 35 said they felt comfortable with the idea of a Jewish state compared to 81% of those over 65). 4)    Unless we can figure out how to create a safe environment for our own honest conversations about Israel, I worry that our community members who may have the most credibility with Israel’s detractors – to build bridges and deter virulent messages – will themselves drift away from a connection with Israel. 5)    The situation is about to get even more challenging as the Netanyahu Administration decides the extent to which it is willing to go along with the will of the Obama Administration.  So what then are our challenges? 1)    To remind ourselves about what is so right about Israel even when we may disagree on particular issues – be it settlements, religious pluralism or any other issue; 2)    To empower ourselves as activists…to feel the self-confidence to attend events, to raise questions, to write letters to the media, to organize events that portray Israel in a positive light, to reach out and build coalitions with others, to engage in group and individual dialogue, to become actively involved in Kol Shofar’s Bridges to Israel activities – educating the Jewish and non-Jewish community, participating in local activities and advocacy efforts on a local state and national level.. Some examples of our recent initiatives include the following: -    Marin JCRC is involved in an ongoing dialogue with the Marin Peace & Justice Coalition as an attempt to model civil discourse; -    Similarly, we encouraged Marin Interfaith Council to hold a clergy lunch on the subject which they did; -    We have created a spin-off group, From Here to Peace, which is aimed at focusing on the quest for peace and fair and balanced presentations; -    We plan to offer a training in the future for how to talk about the conflict. 3)    To remind ourselves what is at stake. The goal of these groups is nothing less than to chip away at American support for Israel. While I’m sure most of us believe that America has an essential role to play in trying to get the parties to the negotiating table and help them get unstuck, the unshakeable truth is that America’s role as Israel’s strongest ally in the world is absolutely critical to the well-being of the Jewish state. Equally true is that we live in a country that is both Israel’s only guarantor in the world outside of Israel itself and the best enabler of citizen action on its behalf. If we lived in Iceland or even Spain we should still be active but it wouldn’t make much of a difference. Our activity on behalf of Israel here sends a signal to the American government how much we care, to Israel of what a true partnership can look like, to our children who watch what we do.     4)    To find constructive ways for folks who really want to improve Israel to do so. There is a need to strengthen Israel’s democratic institutions and society through organizations such as the Israel Religious Action Center, Association for Civil Rights in Israel, and New Israel Fund. 5)    To retain a strong interest…to rekindle our sense of connection with Israel     Specifically, to remind ourselves of the imperatives of Jewish history: •    In Spain and other countries from which we were expelled; •     In the Ukraine where hundreds of thousands were killed in the Cossack massacres; •     In Ethiopia where tens of thousands were forced to convert; •     In Arab lands where Jews lived at the mercy of the ruler of the moment; •     In cultured, civilized 20th century Europe – culminating the Holocaust. •    The one common denominator – all of these dark chapters of Jewish history happened during the absence of a Jewish state.   6)    To therefore remind ourselves daily that for 1900 years our people were powerless and only in the last 61 years has that changed. Thank God we have a Jewish state to criticize; 7)     Tor remind ourselves of the imperatives of Jewish peoplehood – Kol Yisrael Aravim Zeh Lzeh (All Israel is Responsible for One Another) which also includes the value of Pidyon Shvuyim – Redemption of the captives…whether the Jews of Russia, Syria or Ethiopia…only Israel is focused every day on fulfilling this mitzvah as a national mandate. In 1975, the United Nations obscenely declared that Zionism was racism. Yigal Allon, the great Israeli statesman, spoke about the meaning of Zionism to the General Assembly. He said: “Zionism is the modern expression of the ancient Jewish heritage. Zionism is the national liberation movement of a people exiled from its historic homeland and dispersed among the nations of the world. Zionism is the redemption of an ancient nation from a tragic lot and the redemption of a land neglected for centuries. Zionism is the revival of an ancient language and culture, in which the vision of a universal peace has been a central theme. Zionism is the embodiment of a unique pioneering spirit, of dignity of labor, and of enduring human values. Zionism is creating a society, however, imperfect it may still be, which tries to implement the highest ideal of democracy – political, social and cultural – for all the inhabitants of Israel, irrespective of religious belief, race, or sex. Zionism is, in sum, the constant and unrelenting effort to realize the national and universal vision of the prophets of Israel.” And I would add, Zionism is a term that should not be allowed to become a dirty word in Marin County even as we value and respect the range of views within our own community. On Shavuot we are reminded of the requirement to bring the first fruits to the Temple as an offering to God – the seven species of wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives and dates. They stand as an enduring symbol of the Jewish people’s connection to the land of Israel. It is a connection we must fight to maintain and to strengthen.