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Members of the Tribe / Mixed feelings about Iran
By Amiram Barkat

The Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA) plenum, which convened last week in Washington, rejected a last-minute proposal to launch a public campaign against Iran's nuclear armament program. The proposal called for mass demonstrations using the slogan "Stop Iran" and for the start of a divestment campaign aimed at companies doing business in Iran. In a highly unusual development, Israeli diplomats appeared at the discussions and lobbied for the resolution's approval, but, as noted, their attempt failed.

The JCPA explained afterward that the resolution was voted down for technical reasons, not because of its content. However, it seems indisputable that the issue of Iran's nuclear armament was not the most popular item on the agenda of the JCPA's plenum: The genocide in Darfur was the top-priority international item on that agenda. In the case of Darfur, a divestment resolution was passed by a large majority.

The mood at the JCPA conference gives some indication of public opinion on the "Jewish street" in America. The fact is that there has been no massive Jewish mobilization to date for the struggle against a nuclear Iran. The largest mass demonstration, in which tens of thousands of American Jews participated, was held in protest of the genocide in Darfur. Israeli leaders like former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and even historians like Benny Morris have declared that Israel is facing the prospect of a second Holocaust; however, Jewish activists in the United States prefer to deal with the genocide of another nation that is taking place right before our eyes.
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David M. Elcott, who was recently appointed executive director of Israel Policy Forum, believes that American Jews are simply smarter than Israeli politicians. He says that Netanyahu's apocalyptic rhetoric is not acceptable from the standpoint of Jewish theology; the Jews, he notes, have always spoken of hope, and the language of despair is foreign to Jewish tradition. In an unforgettable speech that he delivered of the United Jewish Community's General Assembly in Los Angeles last November, Netanyahu kept repeating the same point - namely, that it is as if we are in 1938, but instead of Germany, the threat is an Iran that is trying to arm itself with weapons of mass destruction.

In Elcott's view, the analogy Netanyahu made between Iran and Nazi Germany has a flip side: It draws an analogy between Israel and European Jewry on the eve of World War II. As Elcott sees it, saying that the Jews in Israel are in the same situation as the Jews of Warsaw or Berlin in 1940 "undermines the Zionist vision of an independent State of Israel."

IPF was founded in 1993, during the period of the Oslo Accords, and was active later in the decade against the background of then-prime minister Ehud Barak's frustration with the hawkish stance of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) lobbying organization, and its frosty attitude toward the Middle East peace process. The organization's most significant achievement in recent years was the Senate's approval of a bill that enabled granting aid to the Palestinians despite the Palestinian Authority's Hamas-led government.

Today IPF is pushing for the approval of $86 million in aid for the training of the security forces of PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen), so far without much success. Even IPF executives, such as its president, Seymour D. Reich, a veteran Jewish leader, admit that their organization is still not a counterbalance to the powerful AIPAC on Capitol Hill. Regarding the Iranian issue, IPF's leaders believe that the option of direct talks with the Iranians has not yet been exhausted. Reich says that, in IPF's view, all the organizations that are shouting "The sky is falling" because of Iran are passing up the opportunity to encourage Washington to establish contact with that country.

The background to IPF's position on the Iranian issue is the trauma of the war in Iraq, which close to 80 percent of America's Jews oppose. According to Elcott, the American public wants a dialogue with the Muslim world, not another war. The nightmare scenario that frightens IPF's leaders is not a nuclear-equipped Iran, but rather an American military imbroglio in Iran. IPF is of the opinion that, if Jewish organizations in the U.S. are perceived as being responsible for America's decision to embark on such a military adventure, the consequences could be grave for the status of Jews in the American public.

IPF's analysis helps one understand the American Jewish public's mixed feelings regarding Iran. Given the choice between an internal threat and a threat aimed at Israel, many of America's Jews prefer to sit on the fence. It is much simpler and much easier to struggle for the victims of genocide in Darfur.
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  1.   Head in the sand 11:24  |  Mike 09/03/07
  2.   American Jews can influence events in Dafur 12:07  |  Ilan 09/03/07
  3.   on struthious behavior... 12:25  |  Akiva Patysh, Tzioni 09/03/07
  4.   IFP and AIPAC 12:48  |  Wolfram 09/03/07
  5.   assuaging guilt, Wolfram? 13:14  |  Akiva Patysh, Tzioni 09/03/07
  6.   Iran`s nukes - just Israeli propaganda 13:38  |  Boycott 09/03/07
  7.   Do we or dont we? 13:51  |  Ronnie Wolman 09/03/07
  8.   The Existential Threat 14:16  |  Stevie Two Shoes 09/03/07
  9.   Jewish People and Jewish State in Darfur 15:13  |  Brian Freund 09/03/07
  10.   To Boycott 15:17  |  Daniel 09/03/07
  11.   NOT TRUE AT ALL 15:22  |  Stephen Connor 09/03/07
  12.   it is a sad statement about Israel when U.S. Jews can not support 15:23  |  sol 09/03/07
  13.   Brian Freund: What?????? 15:24  |  Ronnie Wolman 09/03/07
  14.   Bravo JCPA! 15:27  |  CHGODMK 09/03/07
  15.   Iran,Darfur and American Jewish Organisations 15:30  |  Yaakov Sullivan 09/03/07
  16.   Ronnie Wolman re: Brian Freund 15:39  |  CHGODMK 09/03/07
  17.   "Yaakov" Sullivan 15:46  |  CHGODMK 09/03/07
  18.   Darfur, Israel, Etc 15:58  |  USJew 09/03/07
  19.   Megilat Esther 16:05  |  Benlolo 09/03/07
  20.   Iran and Darfur 16:08  |  Geoff 09/03/07
  21.   People of Darfur need money (to survive). PALS use aid money 16:12  |  Vittorio 09/03/07
  22.   #12 Sol 16:15  |  Rebekah S 09/03/07
  23.   Sullivan, have you come back to contaminate this site with your 16:20  |  Nadav 09/03/07
  24.   American Jewis haven`t learned the lesson of history 16:24  |  Yonatan 09/03/07
  25.   CHGODMK: the Perspecrive of my post 16:31  |  Ronnie Wolman 09/03/07
  26.   Yonatan in Kefar-Sava 16:39  |  CHGODMK 09/03/07
  27.   Hi Ronnie 16:40  |  Brian Freund 09/03/07
  28.   Support that dhimmi Olmert? 16:47  |  Jon 09/03/07
  29.   #23 Nadav 17:00  |  Yonatan 09/03/07
  30.   #23 Nadav is that really you or an 17:06  |  Racon-tour 09/03/07
  31.   Taunting the American Jews to lose their mind??. 17:33  |  Simon 09/03/07
  32.   Yaakov Sullivan 17:44  |  ODP 09/03/07
  33.   Brian Freund 17:46  |  Benlolo 09/03/07
  34.   200,000 murdered in Darfur 17:49  |  Marilyn 09/03/07
  35.   I call upon the Sudanese people to unite 17:58  |  Esau Sullivan 09/03/07
  36.   Wolfram 18:03  |  P. J. Casey 09/03/07
  37.   Save Darfur Scenerio/Israel To The Rescue 18:08  |  Nick 09/03/07
  38.   Brian Freund: Quick Picks 18:28  |  Ronnie Wolman 09/03/07
  39.   Israel should relocate in the FOUR CORNERS 18:47  |  albert amato 09/03/07
  40.   #26 CHGODMK 19:14  |  Yonatan 09/03/07
  41.   Shedding Light 19:26  |  Joan Stuchner 09/03/07
  42.   Not Me! 19:33  |  Yosemite 09/03/07
  43.   No USA Troops To Darfur! 19:50  |  Tony Anthony 09/03/07
  44.   To Ronnie Again 19:51  |  Brian Freund 09/03/07
  45.   P.J. Casey 19:52  |  Benlolo 09/03/07
  46.   Self-determination Nadav #23 20:03  |  Stanley 09/03/07
  47.   Reply to Brian #9, 27 20:04  |  Noam 09/03/07
  48.   Racon-tour, it is really me, Nadav from Jerusalem. You know, .... 20:16  |  Nadav 09/03/07
  49.   Noam...Thank You 20:16  |  Brian Freund 09/03/07
  50.   Brian Freund: Sorry Brian I am all for it 20:38  |  Ronnie Wolman 09/03/07
  51.   Sick and tired of Rosner`s Israel-centric universe 20:42  |  Joe 09/03/07
  52.   Benlolo 20:54  |  P. J. Casey 09/03/07
  53.   Ronnie and Noam 21:02  |  Brian Freund 09/03/07
  54.   Racon-tour on nadav on me #48 21:34  |  Yaakov Sullivan 09/03/07
  55.   pathetic american and canadian jews 21:53  |  lee 09/03/07
  56.   We are too assimilated 21:54  |  Devin 09/03/07
  57.   My, my, family troubles??? 22:37  |  ballistic 09/03/07
  58.   simple and easy? 22:44  |  Benny 09/03/07
  59.   Joe #51, did you realize your reading an Israeli newspaper ? 22:45  |  bbl 09/03/07
  60.   Bush and Iran 22:49  |  DanielGree 09/03/07
  61.   One is happening, the other is conjecture 22:53  |  natan 09/03/07
  62.   Wolfram`s very poor understanding of American Jewery 23:01  |  bbl 09/03/07
  63.   #51 Yusuf - Liberated Judea - Are you serious? 23:10  |  natan 09/03/07
  64.   take it easy lee #55 23:10  |  bbl 09/03/07
  65.   If there will be series of attacks from Iran Israel can defuse it 23:24  |  e.m 09/03/07
  66.   Germany and Iran are not Equal 23:29  |  Brad 09/03/07
  67.   to ballestic # 57 the difference between jewish family troubles 23:34  |  terrornator 09/03/07
  68.   # 6 Boycott - How can you be so sure? 23:36  |  ChanahS 09/03/07
  69.   #67 Hey terrornator; aw come on man 23:49  |  ballistic 09/03/07
  70.   # 51 Joe in Ramallah 23:53  |  ChanahS 09/03/07
  71.   THERE IS AN ACTUAL GENOCIDE HAPPENING! 00:04  |  G. 10/03/07
  72.   Strategically stupid for American Jews to get involved