David Altschul is an old friend of mine. We worked at Warner Bros Records together, where he was General Counsel and the head of Business Affairs, always someone who I knew I could count on for reasonable advice. We are also both on the Board of People for the American Way. David’s also the chair of Music to Life, a non-profit whose mission is to connect socially conscious musicians with the mentors, resources and training needed to realize their visions for community change. On top of that, he’s the principal bassoonist in the Kadima Philharmonic Orchestra and an active advanced photographer, traveling to countries throughout the world including India, Cuba, Namibia, Georgia, Armenia, Albania, Uzbekistan, Mexico, Japan, Vietnam, Nepal and Guatemala. I was surprised that he hasn’t been photographing Palestine and Israel yet. But that’s coming soon.
Crisis In Israel— Time To Take A Stand
-by David Altschul
Let me introduce myself: I am what many would consider a progressive Jew and a member of a Reform congregation, Temple Judea in Tarzana. Among a number of progressive organizations in which I am actively engaged, I have recently joined the Board of the American Friends of the Parents Circle, an organization that supports the work of a peace and reconciliation organization in Israel and Palestine. As essential as that work continues to be, it has been overshadowed recently by the crisis that has emerged as a result of the extreme right-wing takeover of the government in Israel. That crisis is only getting worse and threatens the very continued existence of the State of Israel as a liberal democracy. While you may or may not agree with my view that Israel’s occupation of the West Bank has been a cancer which Israel must work to “cure” through the hard efforts of peace and reconciliation and, I believe, a two state solution, hopefully you can agree that the right-wing takeover of the Israeli government is a heart attack which must be dealt with immediately (fyi…this metaphor is not original; it was mentioned in the webinar embedded below).
On Labor Day, I watched an extraordinary webinar, hosted by The Times of Israel, with speakers who are eloquent public intellectuals in Israel: Daniel Gordis, Yossi Klein Halevi and Matti Friedman. While these speakers seem to represent a range of political points of view, they were all unanimous in their belief that Israel is on the brink of a tragic implosion as a result of this extremist, right-wing takeover which will leave Israel in permanent tatters, much like Lebanon is today, a comparison made by one of the speakers.
Their common message was that it is critical now for Jews of the Diaspora to speak loudly with a united voice against the policies of this extreme Israeli government and in favor of the Democracy movement in Israel. For many, many weeks now, hundreds of thousands of Israelis have been taking to the streets EVERY SATURDAY NIGHT throughout the country, not just in Tel Aviv, in protest against the policies and intentions of this extremist government. If so many Israeli Jews can put their bodies on the line week after week, then certainly it is incumbent upon those of us in the Diaspora to do something to show our support for their efforts.
What can we do? Well, first, watch the here:
There will be a number of ideas presented to you. I, for one, gave a significant sum after the webinar to the America Israel Democracy Coalition, a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit, that is providing financial support to Israeli-based organizations that are a part of the Democracy movement: https://did.li/HabayitDonateUSA
While I have certainly had issues with policies of the government of Israel over the last several decades, my support for Israel as a democratic home for the Jewish people and the Arab citizens of Israel has never wavered. What is at risk now is the continued existence of a country that shares our basic ideals and is deserving of the support of we Diasporan Jews. Frankly, if this extreme right-wing government succeeds in turning Israel into its vision of a racist, misogynistic, homophobic, intolerant nation, I know that I will not be able to maintain my support for it and, I suspect, I am not alone in that assessment. That would be, in my opinion, a tragedy for both Israel and we Jews of the Diaspora.
Please DO SOMETHING. We will all be judged by our descendants by what we do or do not do NOW.
Seems like Israel has the same problem that we have. Voters too fucking stupid to make a democracy work.
Bibi should never have been elected after the first time. In fact, he SHOULD be in jail now for corruption, to say nothing of treason. They should not vote for anyone in the Likud party EVER.