Anyone who knows young Jews (or has kids) knows that Israel is of very little interest to most of them. Tom Friedman knows that and says so.
I know it from personal experience. Having worked for 20 years on Capitol Hill, and in other "kid" environments since, I can say that of the literally thousands of 20-somethings I have worked with, only a few outliers thought about Israel at all. I also have two kids, who both began going to Israel at age 3 and their zillions of friends. They are not anti-Israel; it's more like they don't give it much thought.
That sure has changed from when I was in my 20's. Back then, virtually all of the Jewish kids I knew cared about Israel. Most of us were pro-Israel but a small percentage already were disturbed by the occupation.
The other day I talked to a 24-year old who is active in J Street, the pro-Israel, anti-occupation organization. I asked if J Street had a lot of appeal among Jewish kids her age. She said it didn't.
"These kids would be with J Street if they cared about Israel. To get them interested in J Street, first you have to make them interested in Israel."
I asked about Project Birthright, which provides free trips to Israel which hundreds of thousands of young Jews have taken. "It's a free trip to a foreign country. It's not about Israel. It's about going abroad for free and hooking up once you get there."
Frankly, I find this pretty sad. For me and my friends, Israel (I have been traveling there since my teen years) was a source of joy. For the generation coming up, it's a source of either anger or nothing.
The Israel lobby can preen about its polls showing support for Israel all it wants. But it's clear which way the wind is blowing. Young Israel supporters are like Trekkies. They exist, they go to conventions, but they are outliers. When the current 20 and 30 somethings are in charge of America, the lobby's base will be reduced to Orthodox Jews and the Christian right. Actually, just Orthodox Jews because the Christian right does not donate campaign money and, when they do, their top causes are bashing gays, fighting choice and repealing evolution.
I don't know if this can be fixed. But Israel should start by ending the occupation. Another Yitzhak Rabin would sure help too. (Israel's popularity was at an all-time high when he was prime minister and pursuing an agreement with the Palestinians).
One thing is clear. The people who support the status quo are no friends of Israel. J Street can try to make the difference but, with young Jews indifferent to Israel, even J Street faces a very steep uphill climb.
Nationalism and religious chauvinism sells among the Christian right. For young Jews, liberalism is their Birthright. That isn't changing.
In the United States as in Israel, demography is not Israel's friend. That means that Palestinians are under less pressure to cut a deal every day. Israel, on the other hand, should grab the two-state solution with both hands now. It won't. It is the Israeli government -- more than the Palestinians -- which never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity.
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Do you know if I'm Jewish?
I'm interested in Birthright and how it is affected the 250,000 young people that participated in the program.
So that's what Birthright is all about. silly me, i assumed that the hundreds of thousands of kids were being indoctrinated with the nationalistic agenda and now it's just sex?
Do you know if I'm Jewish?
I'm interested in Birthright and how it is affected the 250,000 young people that participated in the program.
That the hard Christian right is rightist Israeli policies most zealous base fans outside of Orthodox Jews is infinitely appropriate.
Is MJ saying that the polls are incorrect or that that we should just ignore them in favor of the anecdotal evidence he offers because they don't agree with the point he is trying to make?
Over the long term, however, you need to be concerned not only about the current power brokers, but instead about those who will become those power brokers in the future.
He's saying that Israel should not get complacent based on poll numbers, when those numbers are likely to change over the long term -- which is good, general advice.
More and more people are coming to the same conclusion as Mr. Rosenberg, so why do you want him to shut up? Do you want to suppress dissent because it is too truthful?
How's the day going?
You repeatedly call J Street pro-Israel
Yet your column seems to say "Israel is always wrong in whatever it does"
How can one be "pro-Israel" without EVER agreeing with Israeli policies?
I, myself, often disagree with Israeli positions but, on balance, am supportive
His column is balanced, as opposed to the pro-Israeli non-sense, that never criticizes Israel's misdeeds.
The best example is the Gaza Freedom Flotilla massacre, where groups like AJC and AIPAC, resorted to outright lies against the humanitarians.
Mr. Rosenberg, I've been reading you for almost a year now and I can't remember the last time you said something positive about Israel.
Israel's failure to crack down on settler violence is a disgrace. Israel needs to move the security fence as it was told to by the ICJ.
Happy?
In our immediate circle of friends, several children made aliyah before they hit 20, and several joined the IDF. In every single case the parents, though not very observant Jews, made it their business to educate the children about their ancestors, and names like Herzl, Wiezmann, Ben Gurion, Rabin, Shamir, Sharet, Meir etc...
Our experience is different, perhaps determined by demographics who knows.
But I've lived long enough to know, that education is what opens the eyes, ignorance is what keeps them shut.
It is funny to hear you speak of "enormous wealth of the Jewish history", because you don't even know that Abraham lived in Palestine!
the problems are of course . . the usual suspects the right-winged christians, bibi and the aipac, the neo cons and corporate America . . they are the one's who are keeping the occupation thriving . . . . it is all about mega bucks . . in two words . . . greed and domination . .. . I think many of us feel like the young Jews . . . . we have had enough . . . . we know Israel is creating its own problems . . . . and we have had enough war . . . we want peace . . . the Palestinians deserve their own state . . and after the illegal invasion of Iraq and the bush years we all know all too well . . .what the real agenda is . . . . . this is more than just about israel it is about global peace vs global war for the sake of profits . . and exploitation of ordinary people including the American public