Take it into the streets

Editorial

The day after the Olympics plebiscite in Vancouver last weekend, a radio station interviewed a voter who said he had voted Yes, but that he actually hoped the No side would win. That must be what is known as "strategic voting." Only in this case, the "strategy" was to act in a way that felt comfortable, while hoping for a different outcome. It is symptomatic of a trend we see in the Jewish community here. The community has a goal in mind – educating the public in a way that will shift support towards Israel – but we stop just short of actually doing what it takes to educate the public in a way that will shift support towards Israel.

Canadian friends of Israel are deeply concerned about the public perceptions of the Middle East situation, particularly those that are purveyed in the media. People complain about the portrayal of Israel on CBC's The National and are quick to parse every news report for hints of anti-Israel bias. There have been countless letter-writing campaigns and protests lodged against writers and newscasters who are perceived to be unbalanced in their reporting. As a community, we are quite expert at writing letters and lobbying behind the scenes. But we seem to be averse to showing public disapproval of events.

Let's do an unscientific comparison.

In February alone, the pro-Palestinian element in Vancouver planned a wildly successful propaganda film screening at Langara College, held a day-long conference at Simon Fraser University (SFU), a trade unionist rally for Palestine and a "panel" discussion packed with anti-Israel speakers at the University of British Columbia (UBC). There is a new Philosophers' Café series on Commercial Drive sponsored by the Canadian Arab Justice committee and, perhaps most notable of all, a weekly vigil in support of "peace and justice" in downtown Vancouver – and these are just the major Arab community events that the Bulletin happened to hear about.

In terms of community grassroots organizing, the pro-Palestinian contingent has done a miraculous job of spreading their message and giving at least the appearance of mass support. What have the friends of Israel done besides writing letters of complaint to the CBC?

Well, the Jewish Youth Professionals Group scheduled a community vigil for Israel on Feb. 27 – inside the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver!

And, in a move that could be a sign that things are changing, Hillel at UBC tried to mobilize people outside of the university to go and support Israel at what promised to be an anti-Israel meeting on the campus on Feb. 28. But even this latter plan of action is still merely responding to external forces.

We have said this here before: The Jewish community contains members who, because of their various historical experiences, are not comfortable drawing attention to themselves in a public way. But it is time for Vancouver's Jewish community to come to an entente with itself on this subject. It is time to really bring messages of support for Israel and education about the Middle East into the open.

Our Israel Action Committee Townhall meetings are worthy events, but they generally attract the same crowd of die-hard supporters. The Jewish community centre is not Simon Fraser University, the JCC parking lot is not Langara College and Schara Tzedeck does not attract the same type of people as does an event at UBC. We are constantly holding meetings where people are already convinced of their support for Israel. What good is that? Isn't it better to convince even a handful of the undecided than it is to bolster already established beliefs?

Let's take a step toward the positive. Let's plan our own pro-Israel events – in full light of the public. Rabbi Ross Singer set an admirable precedent when he and a small group demonstrated outside NDP offices on Boundary Road against Svend Robinson's attempted visit to Yasser Arafat. Given the opportunity, there are probably plenty more people who would attend a similar public rally or meeting in support of Israel.

Whether we like it or not, "the street" has become an important fixture in the body politic of Canada and the world. Whether it is anti-globalization, anti-war or environmental concerns, the numbers of people who express themselves in public venues are being viewed as a factor in governmental decision-making – look at the pause the recent massive peace rallies gave to world leaders.

Friends of Israel need to take a lesson from the Hillel students who are bravely confronting the anti-Israel propagandists face-to-face. They need to stop hiding in Vancouver's Jewish institutions and show a new generation of Canadians that Israel has friends here. There are those in the community who are willing to do it. Let the leadership capitalize on this pent-up love of Israel and let us take it to the streets.

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