OTR’s new responsibility.
This would have been my address had I attended the OTR
Conference that took place in Berlin.
Berlin, the German capital, sadly, has been the place where
too many Israelis have fled to make new homes and careers. They are becoming assimilators
rather than ambassadors. They throw themselves into their new environment,
gathering among themselves too often to criticize Israel’s harsh economic life.
They may have cause, but this is selfish and introvert behavior.
It will lead, in future generations to a disenfranchisement in their kids and
grandkids as they grow older and more detached from the Jewish State. Pity!
It was this way in America, the Golden Medina. The
figures are unknown, but between 400,000 and a million Israelis are estimated
to have emigrated from Israel to The States.
In the main, they live there detached from the local Jewish
communities, their synagogues and JCC bases. They become Israelis in the sense
that they still are able to speak Hebrew and, maybe, keep up with the Israeli news
which some use to justify the reason they left.
But now, in America, a new organization has taken root. The
Israeli American Council (IAC) is driving a new agenda to convert these new
Americans into advocates and ambassadors for Israel.
At their recent annual conference in Washington DC, 3000
Israeli-Americans attended. They heard a woman Dr. Miriam Adelson, the wife of
American billionaire, Sheldon Adelson, “What has happened to the embarrassment
some Israelis felt in leaving Israel? Has it disappeared with them becoming
Sabra-Americans, and why is IAC celebrating this new identity of the
Israeli-American?”
Thank goodness Miriam is an intelligent and eloquent woman
who answered, “Who better to fight for Israel than native born Israelis living
abroad who feel Israel is in their bones and in their soul, and who have fought
in its wars.”
It is far better to
inspire them with national ad religious responsibilities and train them to
represent and fight for Israel than the non-Israeli citizens of the countries
in which they find themselves.
This should be a central task of OTR.
Israelis abroad cannot, must not, leave the battlefield of
Israel’s demonization and delegimitization to the goyim and the local Jews.
Instead, Israelis abroad must trust themselves to the
forefront of the battle for the hearts and minds of the citizens of the
countries they find themselves.
They should become Israeli first responders, the Israeli
reservists on duty, in the hasbara sense, even if they choose to live abroad.
For far too long, Israelis stayed on the sidelines in
foreign countries as Israel was assaulted, slandered, and ridiculed. They were
too busy building their new lives in countries removed from Israel.
It was strange to me to see Israelis abroad remove
themselves from the turmoil and politics of Israel while watching radical Arabs
from the Middle East leading massive protests and demonstrations against Israel
in South Africa, Britain, Europe, Canada and the United States.
Generally, Israelis abroad are divorced and unresponsive to
efforts to publicly support Israel.
The need and opportunity for Israelis resident abroad to add
their voices to the pro-Israel chorus was lost for so many years.
The Israeli government didn’t help. They ignored ‘yordim’ as
if they were lepers. To be honest, speaking as someone active in grassroots hasbara
in overseas countries, the Israeli governmet has also ignored our non-Israeli
local and vocal supporters.
What a waste!
Now, in America, at least, things are changing. Now,
thousands of Israeli-Americans are acting up and speaking out. They attend
workshops and conferences on topics such as “Jewish Peoplehood, Israel, and
Zionism” and “How to Fight Anti-Semitism and Anti-Zionism.”
These events are not promoted by the Israeli government, nor
by the WZO. They are organized by NGOs such as IAC.
This is a vacuum that must be filled by Over the Rainbow.
Barry Shaw. Senior Associate for Public Diplomacy at the
Israel Institute for Strategic Studies, and a consultant and supporter of OTR.
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