Diaspora Jews grow out of their imaginary friend israel

July 14th, 2016

Awake Goy

Diaspora Jews grow out of their imaginary friend Israel

1) JTA: Study: Diaspora Jews are growing increasingly critical of Israel
2) Ynet: Diaspora Jews voice their opinions about Israel, the JPPI report;
3) Times of Israel: A war-torn Israel directly affects Diaspora Jewry, so where’s its voice?, report on JPPI survey;
4) JF: Jews March in New York Rally Against Israel War in Gaza
5) JPost: Looking at Zion: Prof. Irven Resnick shares his views on Israel, which are very critical when it comes to Israel’s view of the Diaspora;

JfJfP join the protest against Israel’s onslaught on Gaza, July 9th, 2014. The banner is held by signatories Richard Kuper and Leah Levane. Photo from Flickr

Study: Diaspora Jews are growing increasingly critical of Israel

The study, released this week by the Jewish People Policy Institute, an influential think tank based in Jerusalem, comes a year after Israel’s war in Gaza.

By JTA
July 24, 2015

JERUSALEM–Diaspora Jewry is increasingly critical of Israel and young Diaspora Jews are growing more alienated from the Jewish state, a new study found.

The study, released this week by the Jewish People Policy Institute, an influential think tank based in Jerusalem, comes a year after Israel’s war in Gaza. Titled “Jewish Values and Israel’s Use of Force in Armed Conflict: Perspectives from World Jewry,” the report looks at how non-Israeli Jews view Israeli military actions and how Diaspora Jews should respond.

Diaspora Jews tend to support and understand the military actions, the study found, but also “doubt that Israel truly wishes to reach a peace settlement with the Palestinians.” The study added that “few believe it is making the necessary effort to achieve one,” particularly among younger Jews.

Israel’s military actions affect them, Diaspora Jews said, whether exposing them to physical attacks or changing their interactions with non-Jews. The study said that many Jews feel uncomfortable with being forced to serve as “ambassadors” for Israel.

Because of the effect that Israel’s actions have on their lives, according to the study, Diaspora Jews said they want Israel to consult Diaspora Jewry on sensitive issues.

The study was based on discussion groups with Diaspora Jews, as well as questionnaires and survey analysis.

Of the Diaspora Jews who have criticized Israel, Iranian Jews have grown increasingly vocal following the recent Iran nuclear deal.

Haroun Yashayaei, the head of Iran’s Jewish community harshly criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the state of Israel in an article appearing in a major Iranian newspaper last week. In the article, he critiqued Israel’s policy in the West Bank, calling Israel “the regime that has been occupying a large part of the Palestinian lands since 1967, and has never heeded any of the resolutions adopted by the UN General Assembly or Security Council, and has even rejected to temporarily stop building settlements.”

He accused Israel of using rockets fired at it from Gaza as a “pretext” to “turn the Gaza Strip into ruins.”

Ariel Ben-Solomon contributed to this report.

Jewish protesters demonstrate again Israel’s offensive on Lebanon, August 12, 2006, in Toronto, Canada. Photo: Wikimedia

Diaspora Jews voice their opinions about Israel
Jews from various communities around the globe voice a multitude of opinions about Israel in a project called Looking at Zion, an international survey.

By Yaniv Pohoryles, Ynet
April 04, 2016

What do people think about you? This is one of the most existential questions a person faces. When it comes to the relationship between Israel and Diaspora Jews, the question is more complicated: on one hand, there is a historical and religious connection, but on the other, there is a foreignness, which is derived from national, cultural and political differences. A special project titled Looking at Zion seeks to provide answers to this intriguing question. Dozens of Jews worldwide were asked to answer a questionnaire about Israel and their complex relationship with it.So what do the Diaspora Jews really think about Israel?Yinon Roichman, who created this project, started it independently and voluntarily. “I am curious how Israelis are perceived from the outside. Often the gaze from outside can reveal what those who are deep in the Israeli reality find it hard to see,” he said.

Jewish protest outside NYC Israeli Consulate, January 12, 2009.

For decades, Israel as a Jewish state played a central role in my Jewish expression of self, but that is no longer the case.

She attributes the change in her position to “the continuation of the Israeli occupation in the ’67 lands and the deterioration of democratic values in Israel. These reasons led me to doubt, without a proper solution on the horizon, my ability to stand behind the idea of a Jewish state that pretends to be democratic.”

‘Hitler would have wiped us out if we were in one place’

Rob Eshman, publisher and editor-in-chief of TRIBE Media/Jewish Journal in Los Angeles, also holds a critical view:

The relationship (between Israel and American Judaism) is sometimes like that of a person to his ATM card. Sometimes it’s like a lobbyist to a senator. Sometimes it’s like a teenager to his parents, seeing how far he can go before he’s cut off. Sometimes it like a celebrity to a fan, basking in adulation. Sometimes it’s like teammates in the midst of a big game.

From the same NYC protest as above.

Dale Jeffries, president of the Jewish community in Porto, Portugal, explained,

The Jewish religion is almost 6,000 years old; Israel is only 70. The Jews are the people of the book, not the people of the land. In contrast to widely held views that all Jews belong in Israel, I totally disagree. Hitler and other tyrants would have wiped us out if we were all in one place. Jews are certainly not born loved so being everywhere, leading, achieving, contributing and sharing ideas in all societies is our greatest strength. Judaism can be open arms and minds, not closed fists.

Israel is ‘condescending’ to Diaspora Jews

The subjects of Reform conversions and Western-Wall accessibility to all streams of Judaism probably interest Israelis less, but they stir up diaspora Jews. Israeli decisions that stand in the way of non-Orthodox streams of Judaism cause a major rift with them.

Rally in New York City, July 24, 2014, Photo by Martyna Starosta

Rick Jacobs, the president of the American Union for Reform Judaism, attested to this:

It is unconscionable that the Orthodox establishment rules over Jewish life in Israel still to this day. It belies the reality in Israel and among the Jewish people globally. (…) The result of this Orthodox stranglehold is, in fact, that young people in Israel are turning away from Judaism.

Even the culture of “sponging” off the diaspora is criticized across the ocean. Dr. Rachel Friedberg, a senior lecturer in economics at Brown University, said that Israel’s policy toward Diaspora Jews is “condescending. (…) The assumption is that all Jews belong in Israel. Americans are the rich, stupid uncle (though in some cases that is true).”

‘I have been very proud’

Red warning lights flash above the younger generation of Jews, which is losing its connection with the Holy Land. For example, Andrew Gordon-Kirsch, a master’s student at the New School in New York, said that he feels “less and less” obligated to ensure the existence of the State of Israel:

The deeper Israeli policy digs into a fascist hole, the more hopeless and angry I get, and the more I want to turn away.

Witold Wrzosinski, a Pole who actively works to preserve the country’s Jewish heritage, said that Israel has “too much combined with too much encouragement to make aliyah, and too little interest in Jewish heritage.”

Ashleigh Warner from Sydney, Australia, a member of the Board of Directors of the World Union of Jewish Students, added,“I feel as though Israel is always sort of open for me, but I feel as though there could be more the country could do for diaspora Jews rather than looking for what diaspora Jews can do for the country.”

There are also other voices: Alex Koifman, president of the Russian Jewish Community Foundation, who currently lives in the United States, said, “So far I have been very proud of Israel’s conduct in the conflict with Arabs, including Palestinian Arabs and Arab Israelis.”

Roichman added, “Furthermore, I believe that the depth and complexity of the relationship between Israel and the Jewish diaspora give value to their gaze on us. Like it or not, in more ways than one, the fate of the Jews living in Israel and the diaspora are influenced by one another.”

Are there elements that surprise you?

Filed under: Break The siege, Gaza, Israeli Aggression, Jewish Mentality, Jewish terrorism, Jewish violence, Nazi Israel, Netanyahu, Palestine, Zionist entity