“BEYOND CRISIS ZIONISM”

“BEYOND CRISIS ZIONISM”

By Gil Troy
The Jerusalem Report
March 20, 2006

The blinding sandstorms of Middle East politics once again highlight the shortsightedness of building a modern Zionist identity based on Israeli politics' shifting sands and paced by the latest CNN headlines. Like the early Zionists, we need a positive, relevant Zionist vision using Jewish nationalism and Israel to solve modern personal problems as well as “the Jewish problem.”

The last few months have been particularly disorienting. The pride the soldiers' and settlers' democratic dignity inspired during the August disengagement has been forgotten amid the government's neglect of many Gaza evacuees and the Amonah violence that dishonored security forces and settlers. The consensus faith in Ariel Sharon's leadership has fragmented into grief over Sharon's stroke, amazement at Israel's maturity during the power transition, and befuddlement as the electoral backbiting intensifies.

Yet amid the confusion over who should lead Israel, what Israel's borders should be, and how Israel can find stability, recent headlines also hint that Zionists might find worldwide popularity again. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's ravings, Hamas's electoral triumph, and the cartoon jihad's anti-democratic rioting again prove that evil currents really shape today's Middle East. Whatever our imperfections, Israel and the Zionist movement remain on the side of the angels. Israel's raucous, messy, but free, vital, and prosperous, liberal democracy compares most favorably outshines the Islamicist fanatics menacing whoever disagrees with them. In our perennial search for support and self-justification, it is tempting to center a new political Zionism on a democratic hatred of terrorism and love for freedom.

Alas, the world is fickle, and virtue does not guarantee popularity. The Europeans continue flattering Iran, while America's oil addiction fuels Iran's annihilationist fantasies with petrodollars. Russia decided to distinguish between outlaw Chechen terrorists and the merry misunderstood Hamasnikim - a false distinction the French naturally applauded. And the collective cowardice of most mighty Western media giants earned them honorary black umbrellas, winning this year's Neville Chamberlain Award. Most refused to print or broadcast the brave Danes' relatively benign Mohammed cartoons while diluting odes to free expression by deferring to Islamic sensibilities in ways more peaceful religions, especially Christianity and Judaism, somehow never merit in the media.

Crisis Zionism - Gevalt Zionism - provides only a fleeting high and provisional unity. True, Jews seem particularly programmed to rally around the blue-and-white flag when besieged. Anti-Semitism remains the great Jewish motivator; tragically, Palestinian terrorism triggered more Jewish identity-building on campuses than a decade’s worth of outreach initiatives did.

But what do we do when the situation stabilizes, when terrorism wanes as it has done, or if, heaven forbid, peace ever breaks out? Zionism must be more than the Jewish people's flak jacket, donned only in a crisis and happily removed when the shelling stops.

Since the 1990s, far away from the confounding headlines, a Jewish identity-building revolution has occurred. Young Jews have experienced
invigorated summer camps, schools, and Israel trips, adults have enjoyed reformed (not always Reform!) synagogues, educational initiatives, and Israel missions. The best programs offer Jewish solutions to the dilemmas that vex us as human beings living in 21st century capitalist democracies. They appeal to individuals' needs without forcing them into a communal cookie cutter. They launch creative, passionate, spiritual, meaningful Jewish journeys - not guilt trips.

These programs require a unifying ideology contextualizing them, and reinforcing each other, so one Jewish experience flows into another. Proposals to merge birthright israel and MASA would actualize this important one-two punch. MASA, the Jewish Agency's invitation to thousands of Diaspora Youth to spend six months or a year in Israel is the natural follow-up program to birthright israel, which has given nearly 100,000 18- to 26-year-olds free 10-day Israel trips. In this ideal bankshot, the Jewish Agency should pump money into birthright, with its established track record, to guarantee MASA's success. The more people who enjoy 10 days in Israel, the more people will consider longer stays. Both programs resonate as part of a broader ideological mindset, using positive Israel experiences as gateways into greater Jewish engagement - and personal satisfaction.

We need an Identity Zionism - beyond the headlines -- inspired by the historic idea of Jewish nationalism and modern Israeli realities. Our Jewish community needs a Zionist dream to sit astride the American dream -- in our have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too world, either-or-choices are unrealistic. If the American dream promises individual self-fulfillment and prosperity, the Zionist dream should concern communal fulfillment and individual meaning. If the American dream celebrates making it despite being a Jew, the Zionist dream should make a better world. If the American dream champions individual careerism, the Zionist dream should stoke Jewish communal ambitions.

Modern Jews have proven repeatedly that we can fight for a Jewish state. The challenge remains to build a modern Jewish state that speaks to Jews
throughout the world based on Israel's triumphs, not her traumas.

Gil Troy is Professor of History at McGill University. A revised edition of his book "Why I Am a Zionist: Israel, Jewish Identity, and the Challenges of Today," will be released this spring.