“Solidarity With Whom?”
Shabbat Hol Hamoed Pesach
Neil F. Blumofe
27 April 2024
Even amid the great and inspirational themes of redemption that are the cornerstone of our celebration of this Pesach Festival, it has been a distressing week. It is hard not to be overwhelmed by all that swirls around us on college campuses and across media and social platforms. All of this: it is alive in all of its muchness.
Even speaking about this, in the context of the great love of the Song of Songs which we read today and the desire by Moses to know God in wholeness speaking about this is both paltry and risks taking us from a place of hope and elevation. Yet, I have been thinking about agendas and the stories that we tell – and the Exodus from Egypt has the good, the bad, and the ugly. It features the human nature of vacillation and regret by Pharaoh and the fear and anxiety of the Children of Israel. The story of Exodus is compelling because it tells a fuller picture of a series of events. It has the voices of those who win and those who lose.
I am thinking of this as I watched clips of a couple of elected officials at the University of Texas campus speak to the protestors this week and then have their words thunder back at them, echoed phrase by phrase by those present, like we offer the plagues at the seder, one at a time.. It as if their words were being translated, somehow as if their messages alone couldn’t hold force by themselves.
The speakers were in a position to help tell a story – yet, they kept it analogue. Expressing discontent with the current leader in Israel, comparing this protest to others that agitated for civil rights and against the war in Vietnam, and offering vague and indeterminate slogans about justice. The phrase that most captured my attention was the one used by a United States Congressman who spoke to the crowd, ending his speech with the phrase, solidarity forever as he spoke to those assembled.
Now there certainly are students earnest in their desire for peace, and I fully support their rights to gather and say so. Yet it is disingenuous to say that among those gathered there are not others who are proclaiming untrue words about Zionists, Israel, and really, all Jews who don’t subscribe to the Mitzrayim-like, that is, the narrow agenda of right and wrong. This has been the case at other universities and as much as people try to issue-splain away, there are friends and teachers on the UT campus in this community who are afraid, and anxious, and made to feel unsafe.
The protestors who affirm their right to armed resistance, which is caught up in the phrase, resistance by any means necessary, attack anyone who is seeking normalization with Israel and by extension, with Jews who are also Zionists. It is with this that our elected leaders express solidarity forever. Now, I realize that this was not heard at this particular gathering, or at least wasn’t reported. Yet, when we make speeches and serve as examples, isn’t it responsible to qualify where one stands – and by not qualifying is that not a dog whistle for what one advocates? If you’re at a rally, where those intimidating voices have been heard across this country, isn’t it not by association at one’s own gathering, if one doesn’t call it out specifically? By not defining more clearly, one gives the impression that one agrees across the spectrum. Would it be too much to ask for those who align with the protestors to demand the release of the hostages, the dissolution of Hamas as an organization, and the cessation of rockets fired against civilians from anywhere in the Middle East?
Perhaps it is this insistence not to do so, adhering to these redlines of non-engagement, or parallel engagement, without acknowledging the steps that can be taken towards peace by those opposed to Israel, that prolongs this tragic war. As Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, a man from Gaza who has lost 31 family members in this war, states: working towards a just and equitable resolution of the injustices facing the Palestinian people should entail a wide variety of audiences, especially Israelis, diaspora Jews, and those who identify as Zionists – Zionists must be engaged.
Without real engagement, without a desire to learn, and empathize with another’s story, then all of this becomes empty sloganeering. Solidarity forever with whomever happens to be standing in front of me. We can’t parse human life. Without acknowledging the asymmetrical value system of those launching rockets and attacking Israelis and harassing and intimidating Jews then positions becomes more stark and distanced from each other.
When a city council member states that this war is BS, he does not admit that this is a war against the Jewish state, and by extension, against Jews. The Iron Dome systems are a miracle and have saved Israel from great loss of life and devastation. Yet, their regular use should not be a part of the cost of existing as a state or as a people. The deployment of Iron Dome should not be normal.
People are suspicious of mounted, armed police on campus. And yet, can a different story be told, one that is nuanced and more compassionate that builds trust as opposed to people gathering here in the larger optic of other campuses who have set up encampments, forty across this country and counting, who speak up to dismantle the system? In the messaging for peace, can virulent rhetoric be called out as part of the story of justice and fairness? Then, can alliances be built? There are still folks with whom I worked closely, who have not engaged with me since 7 October – of if they have, they lecture me about human rights or what is an acceptable response to those who announce that my community and I are unfit to live. Is this good faith? Does this promote the goals that they are seeking? What response do they expect? Just a wide-toothed pleasing grin saying, whatever you say? I think that the police presence on the UT campus, as discomforting as it was, transpired because of the lack of trust in the protestors. Protestors elsewhere who act so police are called in to keep other students safe – people who fear for their well-being. Protestors in Austin who do not separate themselves from these actions and this behavior – what do they expect? The gatherings in this time and place seem more sinister and a far cry from the protests against the war in Vietnam, more than 50 years ago.
There is a lot more to say. Justifications for war are sometimes built on sand. Let me give you three examples. The Nazis staged their invasion of Poland in September, 1939. They staged numerous false-flag operations and so-called Polish provocations against the Germans. One such attack was staged at a radio station in the town of Gleiwitz on the German-Polish border. A German farmer was arrested, drugged, and shot by the Nazis. The Germans pretended that the Poles had stormed the station and killed this man. The infamous Nazi propaganda machine was soon amplifying news of this attack, day after day.
And as painful as it is to say the second example, I will. In 1964, the United States staged the Gulf of Tonkin incident which led to the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution which gave the United States the authority to assist any Southeast Asian country whose government was considered to be jeopardized by communist aggression. This resolution led to the commencement of open warfare against North Vietnam.
And the third example: Today those supporting the cause of Hamas are being manipulated and gas lit on Tik Tok and other social platforms – many of which are being funded and given content by dedicated foreign agents and provocateurs, who are keen on exacerbating divisions in our country with deft polemical technology. We are being goaded into acting as useful idiots, or if you prefer, useful innocents. The advances of AI, or artificial intelligence supercharges these false-flag tactics. As Scott Galloway, a clinical professor of marketing at New York University writes, social media bots sound like real people and can engage one-on-one in real time with millions. Deep fake audio and video clips show hateful or foolish things. Now I ask us to consider. Some of this is about Israel, but a lot of this is about the hegemony of other states, like China, and the calling into chaos of our upcoming elections in November. Perhaps what we’re seeing now – that much of these protests are a dress rehearsal for the fall.
What to believe? How to react to real rockets launched into Israel from the North, South, and East? As is soberly said in when teaching about war: the essence of war is violence and moderation in war is imbecility. We look to our Torah for help and see that in his quest, in his being overwhelmed by the muchness, of the golden calf and everything else, Moses was shielded in the cleft of the rock. He was told by the Divine Voice: it is not possible to know the whole story, so see what you can see and tell a reliable story that brings about hope. Spill some wine from your glass before you speak. Don’t offer empty phrases to the people. Don’t identify with those who seek destruction, division, and perpetual war. Look to see who is needy among you and concentrate your efforts there. See that others are hurting based on your associations. See that while you may think yourself peaceful, you are associating with those who think rape of women and the murder of children is the way towards liberation. So modify your story, don’t be sloppy, tell a better story and in this way, have the ideas of freedom, hope, and solidarity ring – not just for those who get it by your standards, but for all who are dedicated to the pillars of co-existence, normalization, mutual respect, and trustworthiness.
Yachad Ne’natzeach – Together we will win
Besorot Tovot — May we Know Better Days Ahead.
Shabbat Shalom. Am Yisrael Chai.
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D’var Torah: 2:00:45 – 2:14:55