What the GA delegates won't see.

[Classical_Liberal]

If I were a delegate to the United Jewish Communities General Assembly, which opens its deliberations today in Jerusalem, I would be deeply insulted—insulted by the fact that the organizers of this important assembly continue to treat me like a fool, who only has to be shown one side of Israel—the brightly lit and pretty side—and has to be kept away from its dark backyard, as if it were on fire. I would be insulted by the fact that the organizers think that I will continue to believe that Israel is only biotechnology, kibbutzim, immigrant absorption, Yad Vashem and the Supreme Court; that the Israel Defense Forces is truly just a defensive army; that Israel is "the only democracy in the Middle East," despite years of brutal occupation; and that any criticism of the government's policies is heresy.

I would be insulted by the fact that 55 years after its establishment, the State of Israel continues to treat the Jews of the United States as walking charity boxes, that cheap propaganda is all it takes to make them reach into their pockets, and that it does not have the courage to show its real face—both the beauty and the ugliness—to its brethren in the Diaspora. If the most senior representatives of U.S. Jewry agree to this division of labor—propaganda in return for handouts and automatic support—then the Jews of America shouldn't be surprised that some Israelis hold them in contempt.

Beginning today, some 4,000 delegates will listen to speeches by the country's leaders, and, like always, they will speak about the absolute, exclusive justice of Israel, the only victim in the region. And then, on Tuesday, they will split up into 55 separate study sessions. They'll be shown how Argentine Jews are being absorbed; they'll see researchers at the Weizmann Institute, pilots from the air force, the best of Israeli high-tech, and even a school at which animals are being used in the framework of therapy for violent children. They'll see a day in the life of an immigrant, learn about women's equality in Israel, attend an Ethiopian celebration, visit a jewelry center in Lotan, and even meet a Druze woman who became a photographer.

And don't worry, the organizers haven't ignored the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. There are visits to Gush Etzion, Har Homa, a model mixed (Jewish-Arab) city, the navy and the fire department, victims of terror and, finally, there is a trip that "follows Israeli-Palestinian cooperation," including a meeting with Jewish and Palestinian women who are fighting breast cancer together.

http://www.tikkun.org/index.cfm/action/current/article/199.html

[Paschall]

1. I was reading something about the GA

Apparently, according to a poll of delegates, France is the most anti-Semitic country in the world.

Selective attention. Or tunnel vision. :eyes:

[Gimel]

2. If you were

then you would ask.

[Resistance]

3. It's simple

If criticism of Israel's Palestinian policy were allowed (such as the terrorist attacks on Palestinian civilians, or the bulldozing of homes, for example), then the thing would be dismissed by rightists and ultranationalists as "anti-semitic".

So, as good liberals, we must pretend that the killings and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians is not occuring, or we just don't talk about it.