AMERICAN JEWISH PROGRESSIVE ZIONIST

One might call me an American non-fundamentalist Jewish moderately Progressive Zionist who also happens to oppose Trumpism. I am an American because America is my country, and despite its imperfections (no country is perfect) I can think of no other country where I would prefer to live. I am a non-fundamentalist Jew because Judaism is my religion, but I do not believe that every word in the Torah and Talmud is necessarily correct. Between the two major non-fundamentalist Jewish denominations, I prefer Conservative (a misnomer in my view) to Reform because I was raised Conservative, but I could live with Reform (I don’t see much difference between the two). As for American politics, I am a moderately Progressive Democrat. I temper my Progressiveness with moderation because evolution might be slower than revolution but more likely to attain its goal by bringing in a larger group and minimizing pitfalls. I am a Zionist because I am concerned for the safety and welfare of all the people in the world with a particular focus on my fellow Jews, and 40% of all the Jews in the world live in Israel. Another 40% live here in America, and the other 20% live everywhere else.

Having revealed to you who I am and where I am coming from, I would like to discuss an issue that concerns me. Recently two Muslim American Congresswomen who favor BDS (an ant-Israel organization that favors boycotting, sanctioning, and divesting) proposed visiting Israel and the West Bank. At first Israel said OK, but then Trump told Netanyahu in a tweet that he should not allow them into Israel, so nebbish Netanyahu complied and said they could not visit. This resulted in an uproar in America, including among American Jews most of whom (like me) are progressive Democrats and pro-Israel. Trump thinks that he can gain some points in the 2020 election by winning over us American Jews. Sorry Donald, most of us are not for sale. I must add here that I do not expect everyone to hold the same views as mine. I disagree with Representatives Tlaib and Omar on some of their views concerning Israel, but they have every right to voice their opinions. After all, in a democracy we all have rights to our opinions, and I don’t expect everyone to agree with me.

Trump (like his handler Putin) feeds on division. Rashida Tlaib. like Trump, thinks she can also divide us. Both Trump and Tlaib are trying to convince us that our affinity toward Israel is incompatible with our affinity toward progressivism and justice. They are both wrong. President Trump, I will not support your dishonesty, your cruel anti-immigration policies, your insane gun promotion, your bigotry, your hypocrisy, your alliance with Putin and other Fascists against America, and so many other evils, just because you think that throwing out some goodies for Netanyahu and the Far Right extremists who have presently hijacked the Israeli government will cause me to fall at your feet. Representative Tlaib, I will not abandon my Israeli cousins and my Israeli co-religionists by looking through your eyes at only the worst of Israel ignoring the best. Perusing Google, I can’t find any recognition by you of the Hand in Hand schools in Israel that teach Israeli Arab and Jewish children together in the Arabic and Hebrew languages to create an atmosphere of trust. I also can’t find any mention of Reuven Rivlin, the president of Israel who promotes equality for Israeli Arabs and Jews. President Rivlin has at times proposed 2 possible solutions to the Israel/Palestine issue, a confederation or simply one country with Jews and Arabs including the Palestinians as equal citizens (similar to your suggestion although I suspect you are far apart in the details). BDS and your hatred of Israel and those of us Jews who support Israel does not promote the best interests of the Palestinian Arabs. I believe the real interests of the Israelis (Jews, Moslems, Christians, Bahais, and others) and those of the Palestinians (Moslems, Christians, and Jewish settlers) are closer than the extremists on both sides would concede and greater than their differences. The Palestinian Arabs want respect and full equality. The Israelis want assurances of security.

To Representative Tlaib, if you view one Israel/Palestine as a trojan horse in which to turn the country into an anti-Jewish dictatorship like Gaza, that will not set well with most Israelis and would not be supported by American Jews no matter how progressive we are.

To Prime Minister Netanyahu, on the other hand, an indefinite Far Right occupation of the West Bank is also not right or sustainable. Hopefully the Israeli people will elect a Center Left government in their election this autumn.

To President Trump, the 2020 elections are next year, and impeachment might come sooner. I look forward to a Democratic president in the White House who will have to clean up the international and domestic mess that you will leave behind.