Israel Matzav

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Diaspora Jews to be able to call Knesset debates

An initiative by MK Einat Wilf of the Atzmaut party (Ehud Barak's faction that will likely not pass the threshold in the next elections) would allow diaspora Jewry to initiate debates in the Knesset.

Today, the Knesset Sub-Committee on Ties between Israel and the Jewish
People took the first step to creating a Knesset that will also represent the Jewish People in the diaspora. The Sub-Committee discussed the proposal by Joelle Fiss, a British Jew currently resident in the United States, to create a “Jewish People’s Initiative” on the pattern of the European Union Citizens’ Initiative. Fiss recently published her ideas in her book: “Tiptoeing on Minefields”. The Committee Chair, MK Einat Wilf (Atzma’ut), was quick to partially adopt some of her proposals and announced that a request by a few thousand Jews, from at least three different Jewish
communities, registered by email or by “Likes” on Facebook, will lead her to initiate a debate by the Committee she chairs on the requested issue.

Wilf stressed that “consultation between the official institutions of the State of Israel and the Jewish People are essential, and it is important to listen and to understand the issues they face. [This consultation must be] not only with heads of a few Jewish organizations who meet periodically with ministers and Prime Ministers, but also with all the many Jews around the world.”

Joelle Fiss called for an open dialogue in real time, with the involvement of all the existing organizations, but also of individual Jews. She noted that any world Jewish parliament or initiative should also represent small communities just as much as the large ones and all the streams in Judaism. On the one hand, she said, it must reflect the fact that 80% of world Jewry today lives in Israel and the United States but must also give weight to the rest of the Diaspora. Current technology makes it possible to follow and participate in the debates from anywhere in the world. Her first proposal is that a request from %0.2 of Diaspora Jewry should oblige the Knesset to hold a debate on the relevant issue.

Marina Solodkin, MK (Kadima), added that “to a certain extent, Facebook is already doing this today, making contact with all Jews around the world simultaneously”, while Avinoam Bar-Yosef, President of the Jewish People Policy Institute, stressed that Israel must accept mutual responsibility with the Jewish People and take their needs into account.” Dani Wassner, Media Director of the Jewish Federations of North America, also welcomed the proposal, noting that Diaspora Jews must feel that their voice is heard in Israel and specifically in the Knesset.

Read the whole thing.

This may come as a disappointment to some of you, but I vehemently disagree with this proposal. People in the diaspora don't pay taxes here, don't ride the buses or drive cars here, don't send their kids to school here, and don't send their kids to the army or national service here. We are the Jewish state, and we have a responsibility to ensure the continuation of the Jewish people and to offer a haven to Jews in distress. We are not, however, required to give a voice in our governance to people who don't live here. If you want to be part of deciding the country's direction, please put your money where you mouth is, and get on a plane and make aliya.

I look at this proposal as an underhanded way to minimize the influence the greater influence that certain groups have in Israel than they have abroad, and to maximize the influence of groups that have a lot of influence abroad and very little influence in Israel.

והמבין יבין.

Labels: Israel's Jewish character, Israeli Knesset, Jewish activism

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

American hiker detained in Iran has Jewish Israeli parent

Now that US hikers Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer have been released, US and Israeli media are spilling a secret that they kept for the last two years out of fear of endangering his life: Josh Fattal is the son of a Jewish Israeli father (Hat Tip: Zvi S).

Josh's father, Jacob Fattal, was born in Iraq and moved to Israel before ultimately settling in the United States. Josh Fattal became a Bar Mitzvah at Rodeph Shalom's suburban campus. He traveled to Israel several times, the last time just before meeting up with his friends in Syria and going on to Iraqi Kurdistan, where they crossed the border to Iran and were arrested.

It's no accident that the Jewish side of the story has largely been kept under wraps, according to family friend Brian Gralnick and others familiar with the situation.

And it doesn't take much imagination to guess the reasons why: The Iranian government is virulently anti-Israel and has a history of charging Jews with spying for Israel.

While it stands to reason that Fattal's captors knew his religion or learned it during interrogations, his family did not want to take any chances and risk having information get out into the public sphere that could endanger their son even further.

And, since the families of the three captives worked so closely together, forming a united front, the idea was to keep the focus on three American citizens who were wrongly imprisoned, rather than single out one because of his Jewishness.

So, despite the fact that Laura Fattal appeared frequently in the media as she and the other families waged a public campaign for their children's release, she and other family members declined to be interviewed by the Jewish Exponent. The family also rejected offers of several Jewish organizations to intervene.

The Jewish Exponent chose to refrain from reporting on the story altogether, let alone detail Fattal's Jewish connection, until the hikers were freed.

"When it comes to someone's physical safety, we'll always err on the side of caution, even if it means suppressing such a dramatic and important story," said Lisa Hostein, the Exponent's executive editor.

Read the whole thing.

YNet adds:

"It's the best gift we could have received for the (Jewish) New Year," Fattal's father told Yedioth Ahronoth.

His aunt, who lives in Israel, said: "We've prayed for his safety for the past two years. We went crazy. We talked to him and were able to notice he was very thin. He promised to come visit Israel, but now he's going to undergo a rehabilitation process."

If only we could channel some of this Jewish activism into activism on behalf of Jews and Israel.

/sigh

Labels: hiking, Iran, Israeli Jews, Jewish activism