Much of the Washington, DC, Jewish community is excited about an event this coming Sunday on Israeli-Arabs. One-fifth of Israel's population of seven million people is comprised of Arabs, who are full citizens with voting and other rights...and responsibilities.
Israeli-Arabs, however, often complain of inequality, bias, and other unfair treatment. So, some 33 organizations have come together to co-sponsor the event, Arab Citizens of Israel - Challenges and Opportunities.
Topics will include economic empowerment, alienation and integration, seeking parity in education, and the needs of the Beduin Arab community. Many speakers likely will focus on "injustices" done onto Israeli-Arabs by Israeli Jews and the State, putting much of the blame for Israeli-Arab greviances upon others, not themselves.
Judging by the pre-announced panel of speakers and topics, omitted will be any discussion of homegrown radicalism, hatred, and incitement to terrorism by Israeli-Arab leaders like Sheikh Raed Salah, who in the past has publicly called for violence to "liberate" al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
Israeli-Arabs continue to be involved in acts of terrorism against their Jewish countrymen and women, and this fact ought not be ignored and deserves discussion.
Last week, Israel announced the arrest of two Arab residents of Jerusalem who plotted to fire missiles into the city's soccer stadium, which potentially could have killed and injured hundreds. The two appear to have been aided by Palestinian employees of Britain's consulate in Jerusalem, who had conspired to sell weapons to Hamas and are now under arrest.
Israeli-Arab radicalization and incitement aren't on the agenda on Sunday probably because the organizers do not want to spoil an atmosphere of goodwill. But ignoring the problem of continued hostility toward Israel in some quarters of the Israeli-Arab community is not helpful at all at confronting a very serious, lingering problem. At the least, efforts to improve the conditions of Israeli-Arabs ought to be introduced Sunday as intended to help combat a sense of disenfranchisement among Israeli-Arabs that may aid recruitment into radical activity and terror.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
A Palestinian State Will Solve Nothing
There is a big rush on to establish a Palestinian state. The thinking goes that, once one is established, the Palestinians will be satisfied and end their conflict with Israel. Facts, however, suggest otherwise. This week's Florida Jewish Journal contains my essay explaining why a Palestinian state, at least for now, is an existential threat to Israel's survival.
Treasured Venue's Confused Priorities
Several years ago, a handful of wealthy Jews in Washington DC acquired the old synagogue at Sixth and I Streets, which had become a church for 50 years after the area's Jewish population moved to the suburbs.
Sixth and I Synagogue, as it's now called, was rededicated in 2004 and has since become one of the hottest venues in town, hosting a variety of Jewish religious, social, and cultural events.
Sixth and I admits it's an "ongoing experiment," and it sometimes has problems -- like when it disclosed to a third-party commercial interest the e-mail addresses of hundreds of attendees after an event last Fall.
Now, it appears, Sixth and I administrators and event planners could benefit from a reminder about what has become one of the greatest threats to Jewish continuity: intermarriage.
Certainly, many events at Sixth and I help bring together young Jews, thus creating opportunities for young men and women to meet when they might otherwise not. This may help combat intermarriage.
But another part of the problem of intermarriage is the incredible numbers of Jewish males who feel no particular need to marry inside the faith and what must be done to reach out to them and draw them back.
It has been widely reported that about 50 percent of young Jewish men marry non-Jewish women, whereas only five percent of Jewish women marry outside the faith. There is even a Facebook group drawing attention to the problem.
At Sixth and I, however, the priority has been on programming appealing to Jewish women. Last October, Sixth and I screened Seeking Happily Every After, which, basically, preached to Jewish women in their 30s that it is okay to remain single -- that they can still live happy, healthy lives.
While it is important for single women in their 30s to receive support and encouragement as they watch friends around them marry and start families, I'm not sure this was at all helpful in encouraging marriage, which I think ought to be the Jewish community's number one concern to make up for the six million it lost.
Now, Sixth and I has planned another event targeting young Jewish women. At the event in late January, women in their 20s and 30s will learn "successful negotiation strategies," to use with "supervisors, significant others, and family."
Again, while such programming may have important uses, it still begs the question: Does not Sixth and I also see outreach to young Jewish males as a priority? Is it not important to try to craft programs that identify and confront the reasons why so many young Jewish males are falling out of touch with their faith and intermarrying?
For those men who marry non-Jewish women who do not convert to Judaism, their children are not considered Jewish under Jewish law. Essentially, their offspring are lost to the Jewish faith. Some will argue that, as long as those kids are involved somehow in Jewish life, then they are not lost. But many others still recognize such ties as fragile, likely temporary, and infrequently inherited. Really, most Jewish men who marry non-Jewish women bring very little, if any, Jewish observance into their households and their kids are, legally, not Jews.
I can't recall an event at Sixth and I targeted specifically to young Jewish men. Shouldn't it be a priority to reach out to them, too? Otherwise, we shouldn't be surprised when 50 percent of men intermarrying becomes 60 and then 70 percent.
Sixth and I Synagogue, as it's now called, was rededicated in 2004 and has since become one of the hottest venues in town, hosting a variety of Jewish religious, social, and cultural events.
Sixth and I admits it's an "ongoing experiment," and it sometimes has problems -- like when it disclosed to a third-party commercial interest the e-mail addresses of hundreds of attendees after an event last Fall.
Now, it appears, Sixth and I administrators and event planners could benefit from a reminder about what has become one of the greatest threats to Jewish continuity: intermarriage.
Certainly, many events at Sixth and I help bring together young Jews, thus creating opportunities for young men and women to meet when they might otherwise not. This may help combat intermarriage.
But another part of the problem of intermarriage is the incredible numbers of Jewish males who feel no particular need to marry inside the faith and what must be done to reach out to them and draw them back.
It has been widely reported that about 50 percent of young Jewish men marry non-Jewish women, whereas only five percent of Jewish women marry outside the faith. There is even a Facebook group drawing attention to the problem.
At Sixth and I, however, the priority has been on programming appealing to Jewish women. Last October, Sixth and I screened Seeking Happily Every After, which, basically, preached to Jewish women in their 30s that it is okay to remain single -- that they can still live happy, healthy lives.
While it is important for single women in their 30s to receive support and encouragement as they watch friends around them marry and start families, I'm not sure this was at all helpful in encouraging marriage, which I think ought to be the Jewish community's number one concern to make up for the six million it lost.
Now, Sixth and I has planned another event targeting young Jewish women. At the event in late January, women in their 20s and 30s will learn "successful negotiation strategies," to use with "supervisors, significant others, and family."
Again, while such programming may have important uses, it still begs the question: Does not Sixth and I also see outreach to young Jewish males as a priority? Is it not important to try to craft programs that identify and confront the reasons why so many young Jewish males are falling out of touch with their faith and intermarrying?
For those men who marry non-Jewish women who do not convert to Judaism, their children are not considered Jewish under Jewish law. Essentially, their offspring are lost to the Jewish faith. Some will argue that, as long as those kids are involved somehow in Jewish life, then they are not lost. But many others still recognize such ties as fragile, likely temporary, and infrequently inherited. Really, most Jewish men who marry non-Jewish women bring very little, if any, Jewish observance into their households and their kids are, legally, not Jews.
I can't recall an event at Sixth and I targeted specifically to young Jewish men. Shouldn't it be a priority to reach out to them, too? Otherwise, we shouldn't be surprised when 50 percent of men intermarrying becomes 60 and then 70 percent.
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