Birthright Walkouts

For decades, Israel has sponsored “Birthright” trips to show young Jews the glories of the Jewish state. It has been a popular program salted by easy “hook ups” with young sexy Israeli soldiers, both male and female.  Participants are even provided with “An Unofficial guide to Sex on Birthright Israel,” complete with information as to which brand of condoms are safest. Most Birthright trips are joined by young Israeli soldiers who surmise that the possibility of uncomplicated sex with their choice of dozens of exotic foreigners, thousands of miles away from Daddy, is too much of an opportunity to let slip by. So, the Unofficial Guide to Sex on Birthright Israel says, “If you just want to have sex with an Israeli soldier, then by all means go for it.”[i]

Yet, in spite of the erotic pull, some Birthright kids are walking out.  

Philip Weiss reports:

Yesterday two more Birthright tours of Israel were struck by walkouts in Jerusalem. Two from one group, six from another group – making 13 in all to stage these walkouts.[ii]

The fact that each year the Israeli army arrest about 500-700 Palestinian children, some as young as 12 years old, most of them subjected to physical violence and interrogation, without parents or lawyer, grates against the Jewish values of more and more Birthright kids.

And then there is Gaza. The number of Palestinians killed by Israeli snipers since the beginning of the protest on March 30^th is over 135 with more than 15,000 injured. Over 2,530 of the injured are children, 1,160 are women.[iii] B’Selem, the Israeli human rights group, condemns the shooting of unarmed demonstrators across the fence as “crimes.” Some are saying that the American Jewish love affair with Israel is over.”[iv] Younger Jews have heard too much about the forced displacement of 700,000 indigenous people and Israel’s continued abuse of their human rights to simply buy into the Zionist narratives proclaimed by their parents and grandparents. Younger Jews, both in Israel and America are asking what it means to have Jewish values in the 21^st century. And when Birthright tours refuse to even acknowledge the existence of the wall, checkpoints and the blockade of Gaza, some choose to express their Jewish values by walking out.

Thomas Are

July 25, 2018

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[i] Wendy in furs, The Unofficial Guide to Sex on Birthright Israel, Jewlicious THE Jewish Blog, February 12, 2011.

[ii] Philip Weiss, Eight more Jews Walk out on Birthright; saying Tour has no Place for Palestinians. Mondoweiss.net, July 16, 2018

[iii] These numbers are too readily available to limit their source to any one website. Just Google.

[iv] Israel just Lost American Jews,Mondoweiss.net, April 5, 2018

Jewish Heritage

It seems that the children of the Rabbis are more Jewish than their dads. The younger Jews, especially in America, place more value on their morality than do their parents. They are supporting their Jewish heritage above a blind commitment to the State of Israel.

A poll recently conducted by the Pew Research Center indicated that:

Each U.S. generation is less sympathetic toward Israel than its predecessor. There is no guarantee that the strong pro-Israel consensus that has long been a bipartisan feature of U.S. politics will endure forever.[1]

Younger Jews are offended when Israeli soldiers, firing from behind barricades, shoot, maim and kill unarmed Palestinian protestors living in inhumane condition created by Israel’s multi-decade siege in Gaza. They have:

Learned too much about the forced displacement, and on-going discrimination against an indigenous people to accept that Zionism was, and still is, an innocent project of Jewish liberation… They have questioned the myths and narratives accepted by their parents, while their own understanding of what it should mean to “be Jewish,” in the 21^st century feels offended by what they see happening in a country that claims to exist and act in their interest.[2]

The creation and conditions in Gaza have triggered a reaction in the conscience of many younger Jews, especially in America. When Israel continues to bombard Gaza, blockade its water,    electricity and medical supplies, many younger Jews of conscience are saying, “the leaders in Israel may be Jews, but they are certainly not Jewish.”[3]

Jared Kushner does not represent the younger Jews of America.  The New York Jewish Week conducted a survey:

One of the study’s most concerning findings is a decrease in emotional and active support of Israel. While 87 percent of those 55 and older report feeling emotionally connected to Israel, 65 percent of those 18 to 34 feel the same way. And while 71 percent of those 55 and older actively support the Jewish State, less than half – 43 percent – of Jews 18 to 34 do the same.[4]

As of this posting, IDF snipers have shot and killed 133 unarmed protestors and wounded more than 13,000. In dozens of ways, including the declaration that Israel’s democracy applies to Jews only, Israel has demonstrated that the only lives that matter are Jewish lives.

May God strengthen and bless those younger Jews who put the glorious heritage of their faith above the idolatrous worship of the state of Israel.

Thomas Are

July 2, 2018

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[1] Robert M. Dann, Israel Among the Nations.  Foreign Affairs, July/August 2016

[2] Mondoweiss.net. Jews must Ditch Zionism, Now. April 8, 2018

[3] Mondoweiss.net. Older Jews are Officially terrified of Young Jew’s Views of Israel. March 27, 2018

[4] Mondoweiss.net, Support for Israel is Tumbling – even among Young Orthodox Jews.  November 1, 2017