Olmert's Visit to NOLA Sparks Dissent

Last week, Ehud Olmert visited New Orleans and spoke at Tulane University.  None of us in AVODAH ended up attending, in part because you had to have a student ID from some New Orleans University to get in.  But there was also very little conversation about Olmert's visit and what it meant for us as Jews and as activists living in New Orleans.

In fact, a few of my housemates have noted that it's striking that, although we've talked at length about ourselves, our Jewish identities, our financial situations, social justice, the history of New Orleans, racism, and practically every other topic imaginable--we never once discussed the Israeli/Palestinian Conflict.

Then, today, I ran across this article, an account of Olmert's visit and what it meant to one particular student, Emily Ratner, and her community of pro-Palestinian activists.  She relates how she, along with more than 70 pro-Palestinian activists, demonstrated against Olmert's speech and took the opportunity of his visit to rally others for their cause and to start taking action.  You can read Emily's account of the demonstration yourself by going to The Trumpet Blog, but I wanted to highlight a few things.

At the end of her account, Ms. Ratner expounds upon the "positive responses" of the demonstration, which "resulted in a broadening of our local Palestine solidarity network into a community we had dismissed for too long.  Our new friends and allies at Tulane know first-hand how much they are up against in an institution [Tulane University] that is between one-quarter and one-third Jewish and regularly equates Zionism with Judaism, but they are aching to take up the challenge."

There is so much here that pains me.  I come to New Orleans from an institution--Vassar College--in which the political climate surrounding the Israeli/Palestinian Conflict issue was overwhelmingly one of peace and solidarity.  I spent my senior year working closely with a good friend and a Muslim student who was the co-president of the newly-formed Vassar Islamic Society to create such an atmosphere.  We worked together to open up dialogue about the Conflict in a civil and constructive manner.  We planned events during which members of the Vassar Jewish Union and Vassar Islamic Society could talk with one another, meet each other, and get to know each other as individuals.  We organized open-services during which Muslims and non-Muslims alike were encouraged to attend Muslim prayer services, and Jews and non-Jews alike were encouraged to attend Jewish Friday evening services.  We brought a Muslim imam and a Jewish scholar to campus to speak about the force of religion in the Conflict, and how it can be used to promote peace rather than violence.

Why is it that when people are confronted with a belief or opinion that challenges us, we so often immediately jump into attack mode?  Is it because we feel so threatened that we can only think to respond with threat?  Rather than the pro-Palestinian camp and the pro-Israeli camp each promoting one-sided propaganda that they think is "correct," can't we all work together in an attempt to find a solution or a compromise?  Can't we at least just talk to one another--and listen to one another?

Parts of Ms. Ratner's account do resonate with me.  "New Orleans is a city where so many feel linked to the Palestinian struggle through shared themes like the experience of diaspora, the right of return, and near-daily racist violence and oppression by police and military authorities," she writes.  This is valid.  But then she continues, stating that "there is no space in our city where Israeli war criminals will not be challenged."

Perhaps if we stopped attacking one another and calling each other names that are choked with negative meaning, we could work together toward some compromise or solution.  How much more inspiring would it have been if the response to Olmert's speech had been for Tulane students and others in the New Orleans community--Jews and Muslims and others--to gather together in the name of peace and coexistence?

What bothers me even more is that The Trumpet, the blog on which Ms. Ratner's article appeared, claims to be "the online component to the premiere non-profit news magazine of New Orleans."  As a publication that advocates for social justice, I think that The Trumpet has an obligation to promote peace, not hatred.

On the same note, as AVODAHniks who are advocates for social justice ourselves, it merits having a discussion on the Conflict.  What are people's thoughts about Ms. Ratner's account?  What are people's thoughts on the Conflict at large?  What does it mean to be Jews working for social justice in the United States?  Consider even the many responses to the Times-Picayune article on AVODAH New Orleans in which people brought up the Israeli/Palestinian Conflict ("Go ask the Palestinians what they think of the Jew's version of social justice"), even when the article had absolutely nothing to do with the Conflict--or did it?  What responsibility in this arena, if any, do we have as Jews?  Does this responsibility mean defending Israel no matter what, as some Jews think?  Or is it something else?

These are all questions I've been struggling with, and I would love to open up the conversation on this issue with you all.