VTMBH Article: Body
Last weeks Washington rally for Israel, bringing together some 100,000 demonstrators from across the nation on less than a week's notice, bore powerful testimony to the deep emotional bond that links ordinary Americans to the Jewish state. For making that possible, the organizers deserve a hearty round of thanks and a word or two of caution.
For more than a year and a half, those of us who consider ourselves friends of Israel have watched with growing anguish as the Jewish state has endured the agonies of terrorism, mounting international isolation, the threat of regional war and, not least, the loss of hope for a better, more peaceful future. For most, these months have been a time of fear and anger, mixed with a frustrating sense of helplessness. But for one afternoon this week, thousands were able to come together and make themselves heard, and millions more stood a bit taller because of it. The rallys organizers, from the local schools and synagogues that chartered buses to the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, which coordinated the effort, have earned our gratitude.
The rally was more than just an outpouring of emotion. It was also a show of force, serving to remind Washington decision makers of the considerable political muscle packed by what is commonly known as the pro-Israel community.
Its a point that needs to be raised right now. Israel's political star is widely assumed to be on the wane in this country, owing to the rise of interfaith marriage and the attending decline in Jewish ethnic and religious bonds. Given Israel's embattled stance on the world stage, the loss of a secure constituency in the United States, its one secure ally, could have catastrophic consequences in the long and not-so-long run.
As this week's rally demonstrated, the reports of our demise are, at the very least, premature. A movement that manages on five days' notice to turn out 100,000 peopleon a workday in mid-Aprilis a movement with a vast support base. Pro-Israel passion, it turns out, is not limited to a dwindling core of the most devout Jews. It encompasses millions of secular, liberal and once-a-year Jews who still feel the pull of Jewish destiny, still pass that feeling on to their children and even, as mounting evidence suggests, share it with their in-laws. It includes millions of evangelical and fundamentalist Christians who believe, no less than Jews, in the sanctity of Jewish statehood. All told, the ranks of the pro-Israel communitythose who feel in their bones for the safety of Israelnumber in the tens of millions. That is indeed, as another President Bush once said, a powerful political force.
It is not a monolithic force, however. Those who made the trek to Washington this week included both supporters and opponents of continued Israeli presence in the territories. There were those who favor the administration's efforts to revive the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and those who oppose it. The opponents managed to make the most noise, heckling President Bush's personal representative at the rally and harassing fellow demonstrators who carried signs that seemed too dovish. But they were not the majority at the rally, nor are they the majority in the pro-Israel community nationwide. Their noisy intolerance should not divert attention away from the underlying unity expressed Monday in Washington.
What unites friends of Israel is a deep sense of solidarity with the Jewish state and its people and a passionate concern for their safety. Unity is not the same thing as unanimity. It allows for a rich diversity of views. That diversity, we must be reminded over and over, is a source not of weakness but of strength.
For more than a year and a half, those of us who consider ourselves friends of Israel have watched with growing anguish as the Jewish state has endured the agonies of terrorism, mounting international isolation, the threat of regional war and, not least, the loss of hope for a better, more peaceful future. For most, these months have been a time of fear and anger, mixed with a frustrating sense of helplessness. But for one afternoon this week, thousands were able to come together and make themselves heard, and millions more stood a bit taller because of it. The rallys organizers, from the local schools and synagogues that chartered buses to the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, which coordinated the effort, have earned our gratitude.
The rally was more than just an outpouring of emotion. It was also a show of force, serving to remind Washington decision makers of the considerable political muscle packed by what is commonly known as the pro-Israel community.
Its a point that needs to be raised right now. Israel's political star is widely assumed to be on the wane in this country, owing to the rise of interfaith marriage and the attending decline in Jewish ethnic and religious bonds. Given Israel's embattled stance on the world stage, the loss of a secure constituency in the United States, its one secure ally, could have catastrophic consequences in the long and not-so-long run.
As this week's rally demonstrated, the reports of our demise are, at the very least, premature. A movement that manages on five days' notice to turn out 100,000 peopleon a workday in mid-Aprilis a movement with a vast support base. Pro-Israel passion, it turns out, is not limited to a dwindling core of the most devout Jews. It encompasses millions of secular, liberal and once-a-year Jews who still feel the pull of Jewish destiny, still pass that feeling on to their children and even, as mounting evidence suggests, share it with their in-laws. It includes millions of evangelical and fundamentalist Christians who believe, no less than Jews, in the sanctity of Jewish statehood. All told, the ranks of the pro-Israel communitythose who feel in their bones for the safety of Israelnumber in the tens of millions. That is indeed, as another President Bush once said, a powerful political force.
It is not a monolithic force, however. Those who made the trek to Washington this week included both supporters and opponents of continued Israeli presence in the territories. There were those who favor the administration's efforts to revive the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and those who oppose it. The opponents managed to make the most noise, heckling President Bush's personal representative at the rally and harassing fellow demonstrators who carried signs that seemed too dovish. But they were not the majority at the rally, nor are they the majority in the pro-Israel community nationwide. Their noisy intolerance should not divert attention away from the underlying unity expressed Monday in Washington.
What unites friends of Israel is a deep sense of solidarity with the Jewish state and its people and a passionate concern for their safety. Unity is not the same thing as unanimity. It allows for a rich diversity of views. That diversity, we must be reminded over and over, is a source not of weakness but of strength.