Kugel Eaters
May 4, 2001
Jews are good to eat kugel with, opined that notorious
anti-Semite, Sholom Aleichem, and he added, that is all they are
good to do with. This maxim came to my mind, as Chicago hosts
the 'Junity', or Jewish Unity for Just Peace conference. Maybe
Sholom Aleichem was too harsh. He spoke without knowing any
Sephardi Jews who would rather die than touch kugel. But even
forsaking this sticky delicacy, I can imagine few things Jews
can meaningfully do together, - for example, pray. Political
struggle for equality in Palestine does not call for a separate
Jews-only discussion.
Moreover, it is a self-defeating course. The concept of Jews for
Justice, Jews for peace and other separatist all-Jewish groups
in pursuit of common goals appears to me about as justifiable as
that of Whites against Apartheid. Equality in South Africa was
achieved by overcoming such dubious groupings, by the
color-blind force of the ANC. The civil rights struggle in the
Southern states was carried out by Blacks and Whites together.
It appears that the case of Palestine should not be different.
Why, then, the Jewish Unity instead of the Human, all-American
conference?
This question has an answer. Many American Jews have come to
object the mistreatment of non-Jews in Palestine. Their numbers
are limited, as is their influence, but the process is important
and desirable. Maybe they do not change the world, but their
honorable position has a profound impact on them. They find
marvelous new friends, their fellow Americans, and discover the
human warmth outside the all-Jewish environment. They break with
the tribal tradition of 'Jews hanging together', and discover
the way to join their countrymen. They become better human
beings; they achieve 'tikkun', the mystic correction of soul.
Such a man is Bob Green of Vermont, a psychoanalyst, a nephew of
the first Prime Minister of Israel, David Ben Gurion, and a
scion of the illustrious Aharonson family who added many pages
to the history of Palestine. His best friends are Mousa, a
computer expert for IBM, an American Palestinian from ancient
Aboud, and his wife Kristin, an American of Norwegian
extraction, the brilliant translator of Arab literature. I met
them in Vermont and was blown away by their friendship, based on
love to humanity. They are a paradigm of brotherhood: when other
Jews follow the way of Bob Green out of separatism, the present
policies of the organized Jewish community will come to an end.
That is the last thing the bosses want. I would not be amazed if
they discussed it yesterday, when they met in the Edgar Bronfman
mansion in Manhattan. The head of the World Jewish Congress
hosted a meeting of the fifty richest and most powerful Jews of
the US and Canada. There was no press coverage, no limelight,
just a few lines in the newspapers. The gathered
multibillionaires discussed the ways to achieve Jewish unity,
and strengthen the Jewish identity of American Jews, tersely
reported Shlomo Shamir for Haaretz. They also agreed to launch a
PR program under the Orwellian codename of 'Truth' with the
purpose of influencing American public opinion regarding Israeli
policies.
The megabucks call themselves 'Mega group'. This name appeared
in the media a couple of years ago, as a name for the secret
Israeli mole in the upper reaches of the US establishment. It
came up in an overheard phone conversation, later denied by the
Israeli embassy in Washington, DC. The newshounds and spook
watchers got it wrong. 'Mega' was not an agent, Mega was the
boss.
It is a favorite subject of many columnists and analysts,
whether the tail (Israel) wags the dog (the US) or the other way
around. Here I have to disappoint the conspiracy seekers. In my
opinion, Israel does not dictate American policy. Our small and
poor state with its motley population commanded by old generals
is quite unable to do that. By no flight of imagination can I
see in my country the forces able to swing world public opinion.
We have not the money, nor the spirit to do the trick. Megabucks
influence us, even more than they influence the US. Our
politicians are as weak and corrupt as America's, and they are
easier to swing. Even relative small-timers can cause eruption
and bloodshed, like the Californian bingo-parlor owner Moskovitz
who pushed our ex-prime minister Netaniyahu to open the tunnel
near the Haram al Sharif. That is why we have a parody of
democracy, instead of a democracy.
The Megabucks can buy Israel with their spare change. If they
wish, we would have peace in Palestine today. But they are not
interested in Israel per se. Israel for them is only a means to
Jewish unity, on a par with the Holocaust propaganda. The idea
is to keep Jews together, away from hanging with other folks.
The heads of the American Jewish community need it, as they have
a fair chance to find themselves without soldiers, all chiefs,
and no Indians.
In a new book titled The Jew Within [i][i][i], Steven Cohen and
Arnold M. Eisen, write: 'The organized American Jewish community
has issued various alarms in recent years about assimilation,
intermarriage and diminishing population'. The book was reviewed
by Dr Bill Friend, who added, 'Only one third of the US Jews
still belong to the organized community, intermarriage is over
50%, and less and less people identify themselves as Jews. The
leaders of the organized Jewish community are scared by the loss
of identification with the state of Israel, as the less the Jews
of North America identify with the State of Israel, the less
power 'the Jewish Lobby' can exert on U.S. foreign policy with
regard to Israel'.
The prolix Dr Friend just missed the point. For him, the Lobby
exists for the sake of Israel, and Zionism is the corrupting
force. This opinion presumes a lot of altruism in the hearts of
the Jewish community leaders. In my opinion, the Megabucks care
for themselves, and they need Israel in order to keep the
American Jews together, supporting them. That is why they do not
mind bloodshed in Palestine, and even a bloody regional war does
not scare them. A war, and multiple casualties in Israel would
just give a boost to the desired Jewish Unity in the US.
Zionism, this bogey of Dr Friend, is an old and toothless beast,
while Israel is not the Evil Empire, but a poorly scripted and
staged soap opera for the American Jewish audience.
Israel is populated by real but bewildered men, who can not
understand the ideas of the script writers. Our heads spin with
the limelight and attention. The generous gifts make us dizzy
and infect us with smug self-importance. When Bill Clinton was
on his way to visit Israel, our Rabbi Yosef suggested the
American President should kiss the feet of the Jews in
supplication. Cabbala teachers multiplied and Israeli ministers
ask their advice and guidance. The Haaretz newspaper even
published a short story about an American president overthrown
for failing to comply with Cabbalists' decision.
In my opinion, Megabucks, rather than forces of Cabbala, move
the events in the Middle East. It is not magic, just money, -
but a lot of money. They do not rule America or Israel, but they
exercise a lot of influence. Fifty multibillionaires united in
one framework present a very real force in the world. And they
want to preserve their community by all means.
They are quite tolerant to a bit of dissent. You may support
Israeli policies or reject them, as long as you do it in the
separate for Jews-only groups, they do not mind. Jewish Unity
for Just Peace, or Jewish Unity for Holy War are quite the same,
as long as there is the idea of Jewish unity. I would choose the
idea of human unity and leave the megabucks stranded.
History repeats itself. Over a hundred years ago, the Russian
Jewish socialists, Bund, asked Lenin for permission to join his
new movement as a separate collective member. 'Everyone of you
is welcome to join the common struggle of workers against
Russian and Jewish moneybags, but as a separate group you would
just split our forces', he replied. Eventually many Russian Jews
joined the movement of Russian workers, and together they
changed the course of history. The Bund withered, some of its
members drifted to Zionism.
In a way, Lenin followed Paul in his dispute with Peter In
Antioch, Peter behaved like a brother to Gentile Christians
until the emissaries from Jerusalem arrived. Then he got cold
feet and separated himself from Gentiles. The other Jewish
brothers also started acting like cowards along with Peter,
until Paul, this learned Jew from Tarsus and lover of Israel,
opposed him in public and turned the tide back. Lenin and Paul
were right: in the great new movement, there is no need neither
place for the separatist streak.
We should create an international non-exclusivist movement, let
us call it "Together (Yachad, in Hebrew, Sawa in Arabic)
Network", uniting people of all opinions for the true democracy
and brotherhood in Palestine.
|