ZOA High School Fellow Blog – “I gained a deeper understanding of my role as an unwavering supporter of Israel.”
By, Jordana Zackon
Recognized as the “most optimistic man in Israel,” by local Israeli media, Gil Hoffman has lectured on Middle Eastern affairs in 49 states in the United States and in more than half of the Canadian provinces. Having graduated as Magna Cum Laude from the School of Journalism at Northwestern University, Hoffman has written for the Miami Herald and the Arizona Republic and is now the chief political correspondent and analyst for the Jerusalem Post. Additionally, he is known to be connected to both Israeli as well as Palestinian leaders and reports on the political sphere in Israel.
On a recent Friday night, I had the opportunity to hear Gil Hoffman speak at the Chabad Shul of Harbor Islands. During his speech, Hoffman covered a variety of topics, from the future of Israel’s security, to growing relations with foreign leaders in a compelling and humorous, yet informative manner. He first outlined three possible conditions that would allow for a two-state solution. The first would be for Israel to unilaterally concede the lands of Judea and Samaria, an action that in this day and age would not occur. The second would be a Palestinian leader willing and ready to negotiate for peace. Lastly, the third condition would be a strong United States president, able to act as a mediator for such a peace to take place. Unfortunately, the latest UN resolution quells any incentive on the Palestinian side to negotiate, as it condemns a Jewish presence in Judea and Samaria. As one of the five permanent members of the Security Council, the United States had the opportunity to veto the resolution and show its support of Israel. The US abstained from voting however, allowing the resolution to pass.
Despite the outcome of the Security Council vote, Hoffman remains optimistic and, in fact, even states that this may be the safest time to visit Israel. Primarily, tensions have lessened between Israel and neighboring Arab countries due to the threat of a common enemy: ISIS. Hoffman’s assertion is that a growing awareness of terrorism leads to a greater understanding of Israel’s security challenges. For this reason, Hoffman believes the American public is becoming more sympathetic towards Israel.
Additionally, Hoffman addresses the fact that foreign leaders, even some from China, Japan, and Jamaica, visit Israel to discuss TNT: technology, natural gas, and trade. Though many solely view Israel as a contentious battleground, world leaders recognize its technological advances and seek to learn from them.
Following his speech, Gil Hoffman took questions from the audience about different current happenings in Israel and the future of its security. I was eager to ask what advice Hoffman could provide to a Jewish student entering college next year, who is ready to act as an ally and activist for the state of Israel, despite a large anti-Semitic bias on many campuses today. He first recommended looking into attending an Israeli college, maintaining that for a fraction of the price, one could receive just as good, if not better, an education. In terms of American universities, however, Hoffman stressed the importance of finding a comfortable Jewish community, whether it be a Chabad or a Hillel, where Jewish students can interact and engage over shared beliefs.
In total, Hoffman’s words were wholly optimistic and inspiring. As a Jewish teen, I gained a deeper understanding of my role as an unwavering supporter of Israel. Despite the litany of negative media surrounding Israeli affairs, I understand that truth can only be understood through knowledge and I hope to spread some of that knowledge and positive sentiment in my coming years as a college student.
Watch! Highlights of the US-Israel Relationship
Miami Officials Blast “Anti-Semitic” Israel Boycott After Vandals Target Jewish Stores
Six elected officials from the Miami area on Wednesday harshly condemned recent acts of vandalism committed near local Jewish businesses by supporters of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign, which they blasted as an “anti-Semitic and anti-Israel” ploy to undermine peace prospects.
In a letter to Miami Police Commander Albert Guerra, officials including Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL), Miami Mayor Tomás Regalado, Bal Harbour Mayor Gabriel Groisman, Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine, Miami Commissioner Francis Suarez, and Miami Beach Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez denounced the defacement of public property in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood with hundreds of spray-painted “BDS” stamps, which were first spotted on November 15. The letter was also signed by Sharona Whisler, executive director of the Zionist Organization of America’s Florida chapter.
The stamps were concentrated in an area with many Jewish-owned businesses, including some with mezuzot on their doorways, and were reported to the Miami Police Department by local businessman and activist Joe Zevuloni. A video taken by Zevuloni and embedded below shows some of the stamps sprayed in front of an Israeli-owned store.
The incident is being investigated as a hate crime, a decision the officials said they “strongly support.”
“As you may know, and as many in the community are aware, many Jewish-owned businesses are in the radius of where the graffiti appeared. This graffiti in Wynwood, thousands of miles from Israel, is simply the targeting and harassment of those Jewish-owned businesses,” the officials observed.
The BDS movement pretends to be a progressive, social justice movement but in fact, it is anti-Semitic, anti-Palestinian Arab, and anti-peace. The BDS movement singles out Israel alone – the one Jewish state in the world and the only thriving democracy in the Middle East – for condemnation and punishment, while ignoring the egregious human rights abuses of countries such as Syria, Saudi Arabia and North Korea.
The officials noted that the founders and supporters of the BDS campaign actively “call for Israel’s destruction” and support economic attacks on Israeli businesses that have the potential to leave thousands of Palestinian Arabs jobless.
“BDS is also anti-peace, blaming only Israel for the ongoing conflict and ignoring Arab incitement of violence against Jews, Arab terrorism against Jews, and the Arab refusal to accept a Jewish state. Instead of encouraging negotiation and compromise, BDS supporters encourage isolating, condemning, and hurting Israel,” they wrote.
Unfortunately, the pro-BDS graffiti stamps defacing the sidewalks in Wynwood are not the first time BDS supporters have defaced property and we anticipate it will not be the last. It is crucial that our police departments take pro-active measures to ensure that supporters of the BDS movement do not vandalize community property or engage in other actions that threaten the safety, security and peace that we value.
Bal Harbour Mayor Gabriel Groisman told The Tower on Thursday that he applauded the Miami Police Department for deciding to investigate the incident as a hate crime, saying the designation “sends a clear message to the perpetrators.” He noted that while the BDS campaign has failed to gain traction in South Florida, he was glad that it was being taken seriously by law enforcement officials.
“Spray painting ‘BDS’ in front of Jewish businesses in Wynwood in an effort to encourage people to boycott these businesses in simply anti-Semitism, harassment, and religious discrimination. This is unacceptable in our backyard,” Groisman added.
In December 2015, Bal Harbour became the first U.S. municipality to pass an ordinance against the BDS campaign. Groisman drafted and sponsored that measure, which sought to prevent taxpayer funds from being used to support discrimination based on national-origin.
“The BDS movement is a global propaganda campaign against Israel that serves as thin cover for anti-Semitism – the levels of which we have not seen in the Western World in over 60 years,” Groisman said at the time. “This ordinance will protect the economic and social interests of the citizens of Bal Harbour, who widely reject discriminatory business practices, especially when they are funded in any way by public taxpayer money.”
Months later, Florida lawmakers overwhelmingly voted to adopt bipartisan legislation to restrict the state from investing in companies that boycott Israel. The bill was signed into law on March 10 by Gov. Rick Scott, who warned that BDS is “fueled by anti-Semitism, and has no place in Florida or any part of the world that values freedom and democracy.”
This is not the first time that anti-Israel campaigners in South Florida appeared to focus their efforts on Jewish targets. Last year, vandals allegedly plastered anti-Israel labels on Kosher food products at a North Miami Beach grocery store. A label seen in a photo of one of the branded items, which was manufactured by the Jewish American food company Kedem, called on consumers to “boycott this product.”
Whisler, whose group organized the officials’ letter, told The Tower that “it is of interest to the national Jewish community that the City of Miami Police Department takes it seriously and that this vandalism is being investigated as a hate crime, setting a precedent.”
“That the graffiti targets an area saturated with Jewish owned businesses, should leave any doubt as to the true bigoted nature of BDS,” she added.
First Published in The Tower, found here.
ZOA High School Fellow, Malka Suster – “As a Jew, my heart is tied to the well-being and advocacy of my Homeland: Israel”
By, Malka Suster (Hebrew Academy)
The formal definition of zionism is “a nationalist political movement of Jews and Jewish culture that supports the re-establishment of a Jewish homeland in the territory defined as the historic Land of Israel”. But Zionism is more than this dictionary definition. For me, it is a responsibility. It is a lifestyle. It is supporting and believing in the importance of Israel even after its 1948 establishment. As a Jew, my heart is tied to the well-being and advocacy of my Homeland: Israel.
Due to my Zionistic upbringing in my home and school settings, I am excited and happy to have been selected as a ZOA high school Fellow. ZOA is a crucial organization that constantly brings awareness to and advocates for Israel. As a fellow, I am proud that I will actively be involved in the integration of ZOA into my school and community. Bi-monthly, I, along with the other fellows, give presentations related to Zionism and Jewish history. Although this year’s course has just begun, I can already tell that teaching and advocating for Israel in my school will be a rewarding experience. After giving a presentation a few weeks back on the significance of Zionism, a high school girl confronted me and thanked me for giving an insightful presentation. At that moment I realized the critical importance of what I am doing. I must thank ZOA for giving me the tools and curriculum needed to advocate for Israel.
ZOA has so much to offer, and I know I will gain new insights and wisdom about Israel and the global issues surrounding Israel. I am excited to learn more about what ZOA is and does, and then transfer the knowledge I attain to the students in my school. As a fellow, I hope to gain skills and leadership experience that I can use to go on and become a leader on college campuses and in my community. Given that I will be soon entering the real world, I am certain that this organization will help equip me with the proper tools I need to prepare for my future at college where anti-Zionism/anti-Semitism is prevalent.
I am looking forward to a fun yet educational year. I hope to learn many new things, and in turn, hope to relay the knowledge to others around me. I hope to obtain a new sense of Jewish identity and learn more about Zionism.
Facts on anti-Semitic UN Resolution
UN Resolution 2334 Facts
1. UN: Israel has no legitimate claim to Judea and Samaria because the land was acquired by force.
Facts:
● Israel has a legitimate legal claim to Judea and Samaria, which pre-dates the 1967 war. The 1917 Balfour Declaration recognized the Jewish people’s historic connection to the land of Israel, and explicitly called for the establishment of a national home for the Jewish people. This declaration was incorporated by the Allied Powers in a resolution at the 1920 San Remo conference. A Jewish national homeland, including Judea and Samaria, was enshrined in the League of Nations’ British Mandate for Palestine. (Palestine was a region, never a state) and later recognized in Article 80 of the UN Charter.
● Israel acquired Judea and Samaria (“West Bank”) in a defensive war, against an illegal occupier – Jordan. Jordan occupied Judea and Samaria in a war to destroy the fledgling Jewish State in 1948 and illegally annexed it in 1950 with no prior legal title to the territory; the annexation was recognized by only two countries, Britain and Pakistan. Since no internationally recognized sovereign control previously existed, the territory cannot be considered “occupied” by Israel.
2. UN: Israel does not abide by the Fourth Geneva Convention which states (in Article 49): “An occupying power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.”
Facts:
● Israel is not an “occupying power” for two reasons. First, it is legally entitled to the lands it controls per the parameters established by the 1920 San Remo Conference. Second, since the lands were never the sovereign territory of any country prior to 1967, Israel cannot be considered to be “occupying” them.
● Jews are not being coercively deported or transferred from Israel to Judea and Samaria. They are moving there of their own free will, nor has there been a coercive deportation of Palestinian Arab populations.
3. UN: Jewish communities (“settlements”) imperil the viability of a Palestinian State Solution based on the 1967 lines.
Facts:
● Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria are not an obstacle to peace. These built up areas comprise less than 2% of the territory of Judea and Samaria. Further, approximately 20% of the population of Israel is comprised of Palestinian -Arabs who live there freely and safely. Jews live freely and safely in countries throughout the world. Why can’t Jews live freely and safely in Judea and Samaria? If one claims it wouldn’t be safe for Jews to live in a Palestinian Arab state, why would anyone want to establish a terrorist Judenrein state?
● The true obstacle to the viability of a Palestinian State Solution is the Palestinian-Arab commitment to the destruction of the Jewish state of Israel, and murder of its inhabitants. It is evidenced by their maps showing all of Israel as Palestine, and by their daily violence against Jews and their promoting the murder of Jews in their schools, media, and speeches. The Palestinian Liberation Organization was formed in 1964 – three years before a single Israeli-Jew lived in Judea and Samaria. And the 1964 PLO charter which is still on Palestinian Authority websites, as well as the Fatah and Hamas Charters, call for armed struggle against Israel.
4. UN: Israel is obligated to freeze building in Judea and Samaria due to demands of the international community.
Facts:
● There is no provision in the Oslo Accords which required Israel to “freeze” construction within existing communities. Prime Minister Netanyahu did completely freeze all construction in Judea and Samaria for 10 months in 2010, a precondition set by the Palestinian Authority to negotiate a peace agreement with Israel. But the Palestinian Authority leadership refused to sit down with the Israeli delegation until the freeze was nearly over and then refused to come back to the table after the freeze concluded, even though there has been a defacto freeze ever since.
5. UN: eastern Jerusalem is Arab land, and its Jewish inhabitants are “settlers” who are in violation of international law.
Facts:
● For all of recorded history, with the exception of the illegal Jordanian occupation from 1948-1967 recognized only by Pakistan, Jerusalem has been a united city. The city has had a majority Jewish population since the end of the 19th century.
● The eastern part of Jerusalem houses the holiest places to the Jewish people, including the Kotel (the Western Wall) and Har Habayit (The Temple Mount) and the Mt. of Olives. It is incomprehensible and a denial of history that this resolution would deem these places to be in “occupied Palestinian territory.”
6. UN: Reaffirming its relevant resolution, including resolutions 242 (1967)…
Facts:
• UNSC 2334 violates UN Resolution 242 and the Oslo Accords, which require that a final agreement must be obtained by negotiations between the two parties.