How Jews and Kurds can work together for the Newroz
Hi everyone, and Newroz Piroz be!
I came across this article awhile back and I just can't resist reposting it here. Everyone asks me questions like "how do Jews in the US have som much power"? and "What is the relationship between Kurds and Jews, or between Israel and Kurds"? These questions are not easy to answer, but I think this guy Bart (article below) gives a good explanation. First, look at what Jews do in their communities, it's not evil, it's not a secret and it's not complicated either. We organize, we network and we agree to disagree about the small stuff (not much fighting). We focus on things that really matter to us and we donate money and LOADS of time.
You see, in the US, people are not very interested in politics between elections...so someone has to hold the meetings, keep the doors open, and do the organizing, and it is often Jewish people that do that. The other thing is we are involved in charities because it's part of our religion, but it also means that we meet a lot of politicians, and that builds a network of people who are doing good work for others in the world. It's nice to be able to call a politician and she/he remembers you for your good works and not your complaints. Then there is this strange electoral system in the USA, and there are swing states where the vote can go for either party, and we didn't plan this, but we live in those states where a percent or two difference in the vote matters. So, these are all things the author does not tell you, but I just did...there are no more secrets than that...REALLY!
But I would very much like to see Kurdish Jews and Kurds and Jews around the world working together on good charities and helping others together...You know...when you give but ask nothing in return it comes back to you in good ways. I also do not want only the politicians in Kurdistan to get the benefits of this age old friendship. We come from the same place and we are of the same blood...but we need to see more Kurds helping Jews and more Jews helping Kurds and everyone in between doing the bridge-building. This guy has it right! This is the best way I can see. It's a great thing he wrote, and so here it is:
A Kurdish Guide to Jewish Politics
by Daniel Bart
September 02, 2004 – KurdishMedia.com
The power of a democratic nation does not rest with its government alone. Essentially, the power of a nation is a web of human relations, commercial, cultural, political and military. The special situation of the Jews is that the Israelis are strong in hard power while American Jewry is strong in soft power. The key to international Jewish politics is for these to interact in such a way that it will benefit the Jewish people as well as its friends and allies.
Needless to say, Israel would find it hard to exist without the support of its American ally, though such an asymmetric relationship obviously creates a sense of vulnerability. There are two ways to relate to such a predicament. One would be to downplay that essential relationship and rather foster relations with other less friendly powers. The other path is to deepen the special relationship even further so that it becomes more reciprocal and somewhat less asymmetric. In the early 1950’s the two major powers of the young Israeli democracy were the social democrats and the communists. The communists argued for an alliance with the Soviet Union while the social democrats suggested alignment with the United States. In hindsight it is clear that Israel made the right decisions.
The Kurdish student of Jewish politics needs to first study the democratic character of Jewish politics. It is popular based with very active grassroots pushing political developments. Jewish political influence in Washington is not primarily that of Washington players but of active Jewish grassroots in local chapters of national Jewish organizations across the United States. The most prominent among these are the American Jewish Committee (AJC), the foreign ministry so to speak of American Jewry that builds national and international coalitions and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) which coordinates Jewish fundraising to the coffers of those who run for office. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) fights Anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry. The conservative Jewish Institute of National Security Affairs (JINSA) deepens defense ties between Israel and the US as well as with third party governments. The Hadassah or Women’s Zionist Organization lobbies for Israel as does the liberal Reform Action Center in Washington that works with the US gay lobby and other US civil rights organizations. The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) advocates the views of the Israeli right. All these and many other large Jewish organizations are members of the umbrella organization Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, the official address of American Jewry.
All these organizations are popular based and would not have much influence without their grassroots. The same is true in Israel. The political parties are broad popular based movements with competing worldviews. There is hardly any democracy in this world that has so intense popular involvement in policy making and such a ruthless public debate. Anyone looking for a serious relationship should not bypass these grassroots. The Turkish lobby in the US knows this and has made extensive efforts to reach out to American Jewish grassroots. The Kurds do not even have a serious lobby in the US let alone in Israel.
The weak point of Jewish power is called Europe, an Asian subcontinent that annihilated most of its Jewish population and is now obsessed with its hostility towards a Jewish State that absorbed the survivors of the worst genocide in human history. Here, Jews are increasingly persecuted by less than friendly members of the Arab and Islamist communities. It has come to the point where Jews can no longer live in some areas with large Arab communities because of the renewed persecution of Jews in Europe. The Arab satellite channels beam out their hatred and openly advocate genocide against the Jewish people. Like the Kurds of Kurdistan, the Jews of Europe spend their time waiting for the next massacre. If current developments continue to evolve, it is probable that Jews will have to leave Europe once more as Jews left Muslim countries in the 1950’s.
Any Sudanese rebel movement can establish relations with the Jews based on plausible denial, assist the Israelis on intelligence matters and get help in Washington. That is the lowest level of such a strategic alliance. That was indeed reasonable for the Kurds in the past, but hardly anymore.
There is no historical friendship between two nations like that between the Kurdish and Jewish peoples. Thus, many Kurds wonder why Israel isn’t making a proactive effort to reach out to the Kurdish public. The reason is that the Israelis respect their Kurdish partners’ request for secrecy and are hence extremely discreet. Israel has many such discreet relationships and this is therefore nothing out of the ordinary to the Israelis. Kurds need to ask themselves whether they want a limited relationship where a few Kurdish leaders try getting maximum for themselves while giving minimum, where these leaders are essentially clients rather than allies or whether to strive for a dynamic special relationship involving all sectors of the two nations. Rather than ask what the Jews can do for the Kurds, the Kurds need to ask what the Kurds can do for the Jews.
Who will build this relationship? It seems that Mr. Barzani and Mr. Talabani are inclined to keep for themselves personally all the power and influence generated by the Jewish-Kurdish relationship. It is abundantly clear that they never attempted to transcend their personal and partisan interests so as to benefit the Kurdish nation as a whole. The Israeli government and leaders of American Jewish organizations has not taken the initiative, loyal as they are to the preferences of Mr. Barzani and Mr. Talabani.
There is an asymmetry in the contemporary Jewish-Kurdish relationship, as the Jewish public has been kept in the dark about the Jewish-Kurdish relationship as requested by Talabani & Barzani. Therefore, most non-Kurdish Jews are completely unfamiliar with the several thousand years long history of friendship between the Jewish and Kurdish peoples. Kurdish grassroots in the Diaspora should therefore not wait for orders from leaders who preach the virtues of elitism, dissimulation and political secrecy, but rather to reach out to Jewish communities throughout the Diaspora and build social, cultural and political ties with Jewish grassroots and local leaders throughout the world.
Next time you go abroad on vacation you should consider spending a week or two in Israel and network with Israelis in general and Israeli Kurds in particular. You might want to visit the annual Israeli-Kurdish Saharane festival. The Saharane is the major annual Kurdish cultural event in Israel with 6 000- 7 000 participants every year. This year the Saharane takes place the first week in October in northern Israel near Lake Kinneret. For more information contact e.g. info@kurdishjewry.org.il
The Kurdish people must debate in public what in fact constitutes its true interests and elect representatives on January 31, 2005 who will promote those interests. The Kurdish people should not wait for Mr. Barzani and Mr. Talabani to take any initiatives as the only initiatives they act upon are those that come from Washington and Jerusalem. This relationship belongs to all Kurds and all Jews. It is not the personal property of any particular leader or even duo of leaders.
Kurds should submit opinion pieces on the need to develop Jewish-Kurdish relations to Israeli newspapers such as the English-language The Jerusalem Post, Haaretz and Maariv (all published on the Internet as well) as well as to the Hebrew newspapers Hatzofeh and Yedioth Ahronoth ( Israel’s largest newspaper that is also published in Arabic on the Internet.)There are also 5 Russian-language dailies as well as dailies in other languages. (Use your knowledge of additional languages!)
There are Jewish weeklies/monthlies in most Jewish Diaspora communities. If you live in the Kurdish Diaspora, write in your own words what you think should be done in terms of Jewish-Kurdish relations in your community. You will encounter different reactions but keep in mind that it is your job to educate the Jewish public. You have the knowledge. What is rightly ours –yours and mine- have been kept away from its true owners.
Establish with your rediscovered Jewish friends people-to-people programs between the peoples of Israel and Kurdistan. Connect the Diaspora communities with each other. Establish a network or association in your Diaspora community for the benefit of Jewish-Kurdish friendship. Do it yourself because this friendship is your birthright.
I came across this article awhile back and I just can't resist reposting it here. Everyone asks me questions like "how do Jews in the US have som much power"? and "What is the relationship between Kurds and Jews, or between Israel and Kurds"? These questions are not easy to answer, but I think this guy Bart (article below) gives a good explanation. First, look at what Jews do in their communities, it's not evil, it's not a secret and it's not complicated either. We organize, we network and we agree to disagree about the small stuff (not much fighting). We focus on things that really matter to us and we donate money and LOADS of time.
You see, in the US, people are not very interested in politics between elections...so someone has to hold the meetings, keep the doors open, and do the organizing, and it is often Jewish people that do that. The other thing is we are involved in charities because it's part of our religion, but it also means that we meet a lot of politicians, and that builds a network of people who are doing good work for others in the world. It's nice to be able to call a politician and she/he remembers you for your good works and not your complaints. Then there is this strange electoral system in the USA, and there are swing states where the vote can go for either party, and we didn't plan this, but we live in those states where a percent or two difference in the vote matters. So, these are all things the author does not tell you, but I just did...there are no more secrets than that...REALLY!
But I would very much like to see Kurdish Jews and Kurds and Jews around the world working together on good charities and helping others together...You know...when you give but ask nothing in return it comes back to you in good ways. I also do not want only the politicians in Kurdistan to get the benefits of this age old friendship. We come from the same place and we are of the same blood...but we need to see more Kurds helping Jews and more Jews helping Kurds and everyone in between doing the bridge-building. This guy has it right! This is the best way I can see. It's a great thing he wrote, and so here it is:
A Kurdish Guide to Jewish Politics
by Daniel Bart
September 02, 2004 – KurdishMedia.com
The power of a democratic nation does not rest with its government alone. Essentially, the power of a nation is a web of human relations, commercial, cultural, political and military. The special situation of the Jews is that the Israelis are strong in hard power while American Jewry is strong in soft power. The key to international Jewish politics is for these to interact in such a way that it will benefit the Jewish people as well as its friends and allies.
Needless to say, Israel would find it hard to exist without the support of its American ally, though such an asymmetric relationship obviously creates a sense of vulnerability. There are two ways to relate to such a predicament. One would be to downplay that essential relationship and rather foster relations with other less friendly powers. The other path is to deepen the special relationship even further so that it becomes more reciprocal and somewhat less asymmetric. In the early 1950’s the two major powers of the young Israeli democracy were the social democrats and the communists. The communists argued for an alliance with the Soviet Union while the social democrats suggested alignment with the United States. In hindsight it is clear that Israel made the right decisions.
The Kurdish student of Jewish politics needs to first study the democratic character of Jewish politics. It is popular based with very active grassroots pushing political developments. Jewish political influence in Washington is not primarily that of Washington players but of active Jewish grassroots in local chapters of national Jewish organizations across the United States. The most prominent among these are the American Jewish Committee (AJC), the foreign ministry so to speak of American Jewry that builds national and international coalitions and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) which coordinates Jewish fundraising to the coffers of those who run for office. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) fights Anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry. The conservative Jewish Institute of National Security Affairs (JINSA) deepens defense ties between Israel and the US as well as with third party governments. The Hadassah or Women’s Zionist Organization lobbies for Israel as does the liberal Reform Action Center in Washington that works with the US gay lobby and other US civil rights organizations. The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) advocates the views of the Israeli right. All these and many other large Jewish organizations are members of the umbrella organization Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, the official address of American Jewry.
All these organizations are popular based and would not have much influence without their grassroots. The same is true in Israel. The political parties are broad popular based movements with competing worldviews. There is hardly any democracy in this world that has so intense popular involvement in policy making and such a ruthless public debate. Anyone looking for a serious relationship should not bypass these grassroots. The Turkish lobby in the US knows this and has made extensive efforts to reach out to American Jewish grassroots. The Kurds do not even have a serious lobby in the US let alone in Israel.
The weak point of Jewish power is called Europe, an Asian subcontinent that annihilated most of its Jewish population and is now obsessed with its hostility towards a Jewish State that absorbed the survivors of the worst genocide in human history. Here, Jews are increasingly persecuted by less than friendly members of the Arab and Islamist communities. It has come to the point where Jews can no longer live in some areas with large Arab communities because of the renewed persecution of Jews in Europe. The Arab satellite channels beam out their hatred and openly advocate genocide against the Jewish people. Like the Kurds of Kurdistan, the Jews of Europe spend their time waiting for the next massacre. If current developments continue to evolve, it is probable that Jews will have to leave Europe once more as Jews left Muslim countries in the 1950’s.
Any Sudanese rebel movement can establish relations with the Jews based on plausible denial, assist the Israelis on intelligence matters and get help in Washington. That is the lowest level of such a strategic alliance. That was indeed reasonable for the Kurds in the past, but hardly anymore.
There is no historical friendship between two nations like that between the Kurdish and Jewish peoples. Thus, many Kurds wonder why Israel isn’t making a proactive effort to reach out to the Kurdish public. The reason is that the Israelis respect their Kurdish partners’ request for secrecy and are hence extremely discreet. Israel has many such discreet relationships and this is therefore nothing out of the ordinary to the Israelis. Kurds need to ask themselves whether they want a limited relationship where a few Kurdish leaders try getting maximum for themselves while giving minimum, where these leaders are essentially clients rather than allies or whether to strive for a dynamic special relationship involving all sectors of the two nations. Rather than ask what the Jews can do for the Kurds, the Kurds need to ask what the Kurds can do for the Jews.
Who will build this relationship? It seems that Mr. Barzani and Mr. Talabani are inclined to keep for themselves personally all the power and influence generated by the Jewish-Kurdish relationship. It is abundantly clear that they never attempted to transcend their personal and partisan interests so as to benefit the Kurdish nation as a whole. The Israeli government and leaders of American Jewish organizations has not taken the initiative, loyal as they are to the preferences of Mr. Barzani and Mr. Talabani.
There is an asymmetry in the contemporary Jewish-Kurdish relationship, as the Jewish public has been kept in the dark about the Jewish-Kurdish relationship as requested by Talabani & Barzani. Therefore, most non-Kurdish Jews are completely unfamiliar with the several thousand years long history of friendship between the Jewish and Kurdish peoples. Kurdish grassroots in the Diaspora should therefore not wait for orders from leaders who preach the virtues of elitism, dissimulation and political secrecy, but rather to reach out to Jewish communities throughout the Diaspora and build social, cultural and political ties with Jewish grassroots and local leaders throughout the world.
Next time you go abroad on vacation you should consider spending a week or two in Israel and network with Israelis in general and Israeli Kurds in particular. You might want to visit the annual Israeli-Kurdish Saharane festival. The Saharane is the major annual Kurdish cultural event in Israel with 6 000- 7 000 participants every year. This year the Saharane takes place the first week in October in northern Israel near Lake Kinneret. For more information contact e.g. info@kurdishjewry.org.il
The Kurdish people must debate in public what in fact constitutes its true interests and elect representatives on January 31, 2005 who will promote those interests. The Kurdish people should not wait for Mr. Barzani and Mr. Talabani to take any initiatives as the only initiatives they act upon are those that come from Washington and Jerusalem. This relationship belongs to all Kurds and all Jews. It is not the personal property of any particular leader or even duo of leaders.
Kurds should submit opinion pieces on the need to develop Jewish-Kurdish relations to Israeli newspapers such as the English-language The Jerusalem Post, Haaretz and Maariv (all published on the Internet as well) as well as to the Hebrew newspapers Hatzofeh and Yedioth Ahronoth ( Israel’s largest newspaper that is also published in Arabic on the Internet.)There are also 5 Russian-language dailies as well as dailies in other languages. (Use your knowledge of additional languages!)
There are Jewish weeklies/monthlies in most Jewish Diaspora communities. If you live in the Kurdish Diaspora, write in your own words what you think should be done in terms of Jewish-Kurdish relations in your community. You will encounter different reactions but keep in mind that it is your job to educate the Jewish public. You have the knowledge. What is rightly ours –yours and mine- have been kept away from its true owners.
Establish with your rediscovered Jewish friends people-to-people programs between the peoples of Israel and Kurdistan. Connect the Diaspora communities with each other. Establish a network or association in your Diaspora community for the benefit of Jewish-Kurdish friendship. Do it yourself because this friendship is your birthright.
posted by Emmunah at 8:52 PM
