Oh, American Jews are doing their best to not know about this report from B'tsalem, a Jewish-Israeli-lawyer dominated organization in Israel. Trust me. There is not a rabbi in nearly temple or synagogue in the United States who will talk about this, and if they do, they will likely vehemently deny its conclusions. The corruption within our temples and synagogues, largely from big donors who have more of the late Sheldon Adelson's politics, is nearly ubiquitous.
I know, I know. "The Arabs!" See? We don't even have to finish the sentence. We know and genuflect immediately. "The Arabs!" That's all American Jews are taught to know. It allows us to end all discussion. It allows us to ignore the oppression inflicted on Arabs. It allows us to ignore the continued encroachments on lands where Arabs dwell, whether it is a bad faith permitting system that allows Israeli military bulldozers to destroy homes and seize land, or seize water sources. It allows us to ignore the fact the Israeli military is the largest and most trained military apart from the US, China, and Russia. It allows us to ignore how Hamas political leaders, yes, Hamas, since 2007 or so, have offered olive branches, only to be swept aside and ignored by Netanyahu and nearly all of the Israeli Jewish establishment parties. We won't find any solace in the Blue & White, or any other so-called "unity" party.
We must also face the following fact: B'tsalem consists of people who have been marginalized in Israel, especially during this still unfolding century. The same may be said of the opinion writers and reporters at Haaretz. I feel badly for these people, who live in a land where the majority fo Israeli Jews who vote have voted for apartheid--and yet those voters have the audacity to cynically use victim cards, while denying what it is they actually stand for. They cry "We don't have a partner for peace!" No, they are the partner who doesn't want peace.
Oh, and did anyone hear about this in any discussion on MSNBC or CNN? Just wondering. I think I know the answer.
