The loudest voices attacking Jews are not ignorant of Jewish history. They are fluent in citing it, distorting it, and weaponizing it. Our strategies must reflect that.
It may be a crazy suggestion but I believe it would do wonders. A "Birthright equivalent" trip for nonJewish teenagers and young adults, either separate from or with the Jewish kids. This age group will pounce at the opportunity of free travel. They are in the formative years of their lives and this would be a great way to "hijack the narrative" that they otherwise would be vulnerable to at home on university campuses, etc. The Jewish kids are already a "captive audience". Even those Jewish kids who are against Israel for whatever deluded reason are relatively benign when compared to a potential anti Israel/ anti Zionist/ possibly antisemitic non Jewish kid. The vast majority of these non Jewish young adults will go home with a positive attitude towards Israel, be it because of the magic of the country, a romance which occurred during the trip, the realization that Israelis are such good people, or whatever. The Israelis should muster up a team of similar age/ slightly older tour guides for these non Jews. This team should be composed of all ethnicities to drive the anti-apartheid point home that Israel is the opposite of "white colonialization", and should also include off duty IDF soldiers. As my male children stated to me upon their return from Birthright and March of the Living trips, "Dad, there is nothing more "influential"( I am paraphrasing here) than an Israeli girl in a bikini with an Uzi slung over her shoulder.
This type of "on site" education for non Jews is a concept which my recently deceased father and I had often discussed. He had visited Israel so many times after the 6 months he spent in Israel during the War of Independence in 1948 when he was flying arms into Israel from Zatec in the Czech Republic ( See Boaz Dvir PBS documentary Wing and a Prayer for the story of this group of heroic WW2 pilots recruited by the Haganah). My father was the last last surviving pilot in this group put together by Al Schwimmer (who died in 2011).
We must keep in mind that every kid that goes home from Israel after an incredible experience in Israel will be amplifying their positive experience on social media, and that some of them will even become great advocates/ influencers.
In Western Europe , which also spends large sums on antisemitism work this money makes no difference. This is because the entire state broadcasting system is dominated by woke antisemites . This also goes for 90% of all other media. There is little point in spending all this money when antisemitic bias is subsidised with €10 Billion Euros in Germany alone. That is how much the public broadcaster gets per year.
Also important is the entire education system which evidently is a waste of money.
In Germany the government , federal and state has assembled itself a servile woke Jewish group of people who are called upon by the press to explain anything to do with Jews. They just happen to be married to Muslims, hate Israel, aren’t religious and often get state money.
For nearly a decade teaching Holocaust education has done nothing to fight against Jew hatred itself, and indeed, the Left and jihadists have weaponized it to turn on us, and it is useless for Islamic extremists. Sadly, the career Jewish leaders still continue to push for it, as they are not chosen for their creativity, reflection, or anything else that we need after October 7, but are hired due to the old boys' network, as well as hiring friends and relatives without regard to their ability to deal with the new reality, at least in Canada. Instead of teaching about Jew hatred, and about Judaism, like Islamophobia does about Islam, Holocaust education takes from the topic specifically about Jew hatred and makes it about everyone else's "genocides", including the lies about Gaza.
Until we identify radical leftist professors and get rid of them and not allow them to ever teach children again, the problem will continue. Until you get rid of the cause, the effect will not change.
Thank you and please watch (on YouTube) the one hour documentary which tells of the heroic efforts of this group of WW2 pilots who essentially rescued the nascent state of Israel from sure defeat in 1948. The documentary film maker was Boaz Dvir
YouTube search: Boaz Dvir PBS Documentary Wing and a Prayer.
A very interesting read. Unfortunately, whilst international law sees the West Bank and Gaza as occupied, the haters can use this information to justify their belief that Israel is a coloniser and land grabber. Apparently, no other country has kept land won in a war, since WW2 except for Israel. The haters don’t differentiate between Israel as a country and the areas that are disputed/occupied and associate this with the whole of Israel. I wish more education and context could be given on these areas so that people realise how equal everyone is treated in Israel and that the disputed areas have a nuanced background that needs to be understood . There are millions more Muslims than Jews and so their voice carries loudest and they use this ‘grey’ area to give legality and justification to their hate and to portray Jews/Israelis as the bad ones. People like an underdog and a cause and this narrative allows for this and that’s how this hatred has grown.
It's true that Holocaust education has largely failed, except to turn words like "genocide" against Israel. What would have been expected from a project that pulled Jews out of oblivion to appear only as victims of a madman and his evil empire? Jews appear nowhere in the history of civilization , nor in the multi- ethnic literature that students read except as - once again a victim - Anne Frank.
But these proposed nostrums aren't going to work either. How many millions of visitors to Israel are proposed? How many Birthright students are proudly and outspokenly Jewish and advocates for Israel? There isn't a magic elixir waiting to be found that will negate centuries of "the oldest hatred." How about better Jewish education and immersion for our own children, so that they can be proud and knowledgable Jews when they are faced with antisemitism in whatever guise it presents itself? Having done a poor job within our own community, how likely are we to be effective with other ones?
It may be a crazy suggestion but I believe it would do wonders. A "Birthright equivalent" trip for nonJewish teenagers and young adults, either separate from or with the Jewish kids. This age group will pounce at the opportunity of free travel. They are in the formative years of their lives and this would be a great way to "hijack the narrative" that they otherwise would be vulnerable to at home on university campuses, etc. The Jewish kids are already a "captive audience". Even those Jewish kids who are against Israel for whatever deluded reason are relatively benign when compared to a potential anti Israel/ anti Zionist/ possibly antisemitic non Jewish kid. The vast majority of these non Jewish young adults will go home with a positive attitude towards Israel, be it because of the magic of the country, a romance which occurred during the trip, the realization that Israelis are such good people, or whatever. The Israelis should muster up a team of similar age/ slightly older tour guides for these non Jews. This team should be composed of all ethnicities to drive the anti-apartheid point home that Israel is the opposite of "white colonialization", and should also include off duty IDF soldiers. As my male children stated to me upon their return from Birthright and March of the Living trips, "Dad, there is nothing more "influential"( I am paraphrasing here) than an Israeli girl in a bikini with an Uzi slung over her shoulder.
This type of "on site" education for non Jews is a concept which my recently deceased father and I had often discussed. He had visited Israel so many times after the 6 months he spent in Israel during the War of Independence in 1948 when he was flying arms into Israel from Zatec in the Czech Republic ( See Boaz Dvir PBS documentary Wing and a Prayer for the story of this group of heroic WW2 pilots recruited by the Haganah). My father was the last last surviving pilot in this group put together by Al Schwimmer (who died in 2011).
We must keep in mind that every kid that goes home from Israel after an incredible experience in Israel will be amplifying their positive experience on social media, and that some of them will even become great advocates/ influencers.
In Western Europe , which also spends large sums on antisemitism work this money makes no difference. This is because the entire state broadcasting system is dominated by woke antisemites . This also goes for 90% of all other media. There is little point in spending all this money when antisemitic bias is subsidised with €10 Billion Euros in Germany alone. That is how much the public broadcaster gets per year.
Also important is the entire education system which evidently is a waste of money.
In Germany the government , federal and state has assembled itself a servile woke Jewish group of people who are called upon by the press to explain anything to do with Jews. They just happen to be married to Muslims, hate Israel, aren’t religious and often get state money.
For nearly a decade teaching Holocaust education has done nothing to fight against Jew hatred itself, and indeed, the Left and jihadists have weaponized it to turn on us, and it is useless for Islamic extremists. Sadly, the career Jewish leaders still continue to push for it, as they are not chosen for their creativity, reflection, or anything else that we need after October 7, but are hired due to the old boys' network, as well as hiring friends and relatives without regard to their ability to deal with the new reality, at least in Canada. Instead of teaching about Jew hatred, and about Judaism, like Islamophobia does about Islam, Holocaust education takes from the topic specifically about Jew hatred and makes it about everyone else's "genocides", including the lies about Gaza.
Excellent suggestions. Have you sent them already to the Ministry of Tourism and the PM office?
It's not working, and the self-erasing spineless cowardly Jews are in the forefront of the problem.
Until we identify radical leftist professors and get rid of them and not allow them to ever teach children again, the problem will continue. Until you get rid of the cause, the effect will not change.
Thank you and please watch (on YouTube) the one hour documentary which tells of the heroic efforts of this group of WW2 pilots who essentially rescued the nascent state of Israel from sure defeat in 1948. The documentary film maker was Boaz Dvir
YouTube search: Boaz Dvir PBS Documentary Wing and a Prayer.
It is also critically important to reestablish the obvious: Jews are indigenous to the land of Israel
A very interesting read. Unfortunately, whilst international law sees the West Bank and Gaza as occupied, the haters can use this information to justify their belief that Israel is a coloniser and land grabber. Apparently, no other country has kept land won in a war, since WW2 except for Israel. The haters don’t differentiate between Israel as a country and the areas that are disputed/occupied and associate this with the whole of Israel. I wish more education and context could be given on these areas so that people realise how equal everyone is treated in Israel and that the disputed areas have a nuanced background that needs to be understood . There are millions more Muslims than Jews and so their voice carries loudest and they use this ‘grey’ area to give legality and justification to their hate and to portray Jews/Israelis as the bad ones. People like an underdog and a cause and this narrative allows for this and that’s how this hatred has grown.
excellent ideas... I'm already visualizing the number of Israelis headed to Tehran or Isfahan for a Rita concert!!
shabbat shalom
It's true that Holocaust education has largely failed, except to turn words like "genocide" against Israel. What would have been expected from a project that pulled Jews out of oblivion to appear only as victims of a madman and his evil empire? Jews appear nowhere in the history of civilization , nor in the multi- ethnic literature that students read except as - once again a victim - Anne Frank.
But these proposed nostrums aren't going to work either. How many millions of visitors to Israel are proposed? How many Birthright students are proudly and outspokenly Jewish and advocates for Israel? There isn't a magic elixir waiting to be found that will negate centuries of "the oldest hatred." How about better Jewish education and immersion for our own children, so that they can be proud and knowledgable Jews when they are faced with antisemitism in whatever guise it presents itself? Having done a poor job within our own community, how likely are we to be effective with other ones?