Opinion: This Is Zionism?

by Rabbi Sidney Schwarz
Special to the Jewish Week

It had been at least 20 years since I was in New York for a Salute to Israel Parade. But it was a happy coincidence.

I was scheduled to be in New York on Monday for a meeting of theboard of Rabbis for Human Rights-North America. I came into the city aday early with my wife and 20 year old daughter to enjoy the parade. Mydaughter marched with a delegation from the University of MarylandHillel. My wife and I enjoyed being part of the crowd, hearing theIsraeli music and watching the floats and delegations of students fromsynagogues and schools from all around the area.

After the parade we heard that there was going to be anIsrael-themed concert in Central Park so we decided to attend. It was ashock to the system.

I was not troubled by the fact that the crowd was predominantlyOrthodox. I was raised in an Orthodox day school and I do a lot of workwith Orthodox institutions under the auspices of PANIM,the organization that I run in Washington D.C. committed to trainingyoung Jews for a lifetime of leadership, service and activism.

Then one speaker launched into a tirade about how every Americanpresident since Jimmy Carter had betrayed Israel by courting the favorof Arab nations. Applause. Another speaker announced that HillaryClinton cared more about Palestinian national aspirations than aboutIsrael's survival. Applause. Candidate for Congress, Elizabeth Berney,slammed Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY), chairman of the House Sub-committeeon the Middle East for his characterization of Israeli settlementactivity in the territories as part of a "destructive dynamic" in theregion. More applause.

Then a band launched into a rousing rendition of Am Yisrael Chai.I spent more than 25 years as an activist for Soviet Jewry. This wasour theme song signaling solidarity both with the history of our peopleand with all those oppressed Jews in the world whose cause wechampioned. A group of young men in their 20's with kippot and tziztzitwere right in front of me dancing in a frenzy. But they alternated theverse that meant "the people of Israel lives" with "all the Arabs mustdie." It rhymed with the Hebrew. Given the way all joined in, it wasclear that this was not the first time it was sung.

I leaned over to a young man who was next to me, also wearing a kippah and tzitzit.I nodded at the dancers and asked: "Does this song bother you?" Helooked at me with a suspicious look and replied: "This is Zionism."

There were a dozen or so sponsors of the rally including the ZionistOrganization of America, Americans for a Safe Israel and the NationalCouncil of Young Israel. Rally sponsors cannot control every statementof every speaker and they certainly can not control the actions ofthose in the audience. Yet the messages from the stage were all inideological alignment and the MC was generously doling out yasher koachs after each presentation.

The joy of the earlier part of the day changed to outrage and thento deep sadness. I have devoted my entire life to Zionism, Israel andthe Jewish people. I ran a Zionist think tank for academics in bothPhiladelphia and Washington D.C. I brought public officials to Israelas the executive director of the JCRC of Washington D.C. I ledSolidarity Missions to Israel during Intifadah II under the auspices ofUJC. All three of my children spent a gap year in Israel with YoungJudaea Year Course. My organization trains thousands of young people tobe proud of their Jewish identity and to be effective advocates forIsrael in the public square.

But the Zionism that compels me includes the proposition that aJewish state will honor the rights of all of its citizens and be trueto the prophetic ideals of peace and justice that are elaborated on inthe Torah. It does not include anti-Arab sentiments that Israel's newforeign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, wants to enshrine in Israeli law.It does not include a political stance that is destined to put thegovernment of Israel on a collision course with an Obama Administrationthat seems committed to bringing about a just settlement to the MiddleEast conflict that has made Arabs and Jews enemies for more than acentury. And it certainly does not include a fervor that turns a Jewishsolidarity song into an anthem of prejudice and hate.

Jewish leaders are quick to demand that Muslim clergy condemn theextremism that has hijacked Islam into a religion of terrorism anddeath. We need to make the same demands of the rabbis of institutionswhose students make a chillul hashem (a desecration of God's name) by singing "all the Arabs must die". 

Finally, Jews who love Israel and who want peace need to askthemselves how we can reclaim the public discourse about the future ofthe Jewish state. Islam is not the only religion that is in danger ofbeing hijacked.

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Rabbi Sid Schwarz is the founder and president of PANIM: The Institute for Jewish Leadership and Values and the author of Judaism and Justice: The Jewish Passion to Repair the World (Jewish Lights).