{"id":17384,"date":"2016-02-22T15:26:05","date_gmt":"2016-02-22T23:26:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=17384"},"modified":"2016-02-22T22:31:32","modified_gmt":"2016-02-23T06:31:32","slug":"lets-talk-about-nini","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2016\/02\/22\/lets-talk-about-nini\/","title":{"rendered":"Let\u2019s talk about Nini \u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Screenshot of Noa\u2019s official website<\/a>, where she shows that she retains a sense of humor towards the\u00a0press: \u201cBelieve half of what you hear and nothing of what you read! :)\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Internationally known, award-winning Israeli singer and songwriter Achinoam Nini \u2013 who has served in the Israel Defence Forces, who has been a goodwill ambassador for Israel and who has been honored for her peace work \u2013 has been invited to headline the Vancouver Jewish community\u2019s Yom Ha\u2019atzmaut celebrations this year. Apparently, this is a controversial choice for some in our community.<\/p>\n

Nini (widely known as Noa) is clear about her political views and, so far, her critics have come up with the following to explain their upset at her invitation. She hates \u2013 a strong word, but it applies in this case from what we\u2019ve read \u2013 Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. She rejected an award from one artists organization and resigned from another because they honored someone she thought was too right-wing. She may have written in a since-deleted Facebook post that she supported B\u2019Tselem, Breaking the Silence and New Israel Fund for their work supporting peace. In 2012, she expressed hope that Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas could help bring peace to the region. Also in 2012, she took part in an alternative Remembrance Day event organized by Combatants for Peace, which describes itself as \u201ca group of Palestinians and Israelis who have taken an active part in the cycle of violence in our region: Israeli soldiers serving in the IDF and Palestinians as combatants fighting to free their country, Palestine, from the Israeli occupation.\u201d The ceremony mourned Palestinians and Israelis who had been killed in the conflict.<\/p>\n

One of her critics has compiled a curious mix of her posts to supposedly show why she is an inappropriate choice to perform, including: \u201cWe believe in two states for two peoples, Israel and Palestine, living side by side, supporting, protecting and nurturing each other\u2026. We believe in three simple steps: recognize each other, apologize to each other and share the little we have.\u201d We, too, believe in two states for two peoples, and in reconciliation.<\/p>\n

With plenty of Vancouverites apparently scouring the internet for \u201cevidence\u201d against her, there may be more to come. Nini\u2019s political views are not above criticism. Nobody\u2019s are. But she stands behind her opinions, acts on her beliefs, and is very clear about who she supports \u2013 some people might be surprised that B\u2019Tselem and Breaking the Silence are not among those listed on her website as groups she endorses \u2013 and who she doesn\u2019t support. Unlike some of her local critics, who are hiding behind the anonymity of social media and don\u2019t put their names and reputations behind their opinions, Nini owns her views. Whether or not you agree with her, that\u2019s worth respect.<\/p>\n

Should we be inviting someone with whom we don\u2019t all agree to headline our Yom Ha\u2019atzmaut ceremonies? What about someone who criticizes the Israeli government?<\/p>\n

We who love and support Israel understand that holding a large community-wide celebration once a year feels good and offers a sense of solidarity. But what kind of Jewish community is it that doesn\u2019t brook differences in opinion? Such uniformity certainly does not reflect one of Israel\u2019s \u2013 and Judaism\u2019s \u2013 greatest attributes and secrets to continuity: openness to debate and discussion.<\/p>\n

Skipping over what Judaism says about character assassination, the harm that can be done with words, the fact that lashon hara is worse than theft because money can be repaid but the destruction of a person\u2019s reputation can never be completely mended, is there a line that shouldn\u2019t be crossed when making out a Yom Ha\u2019atzmaut invitation list?<\/p>\n

As we argued in this space last week, it is our view that boycott, divestment and sanction (BDS) is a movement steeped in racism (though not everyone who supports BDS is an antisemite, of course). Rightly, Canada, the United Kingdom and other democratic countries formally condemn BDS. If we were to draw a red line not to be crossed, support for BDS might qualify as a deciding factor in whether or not to bring an artist to perform at a Yom Ha\u2019atzmaut \u2013 or any \u2013 event. It also might not.<\/p>\n

Despite what the emails in your inbox might say, Nini has explicitly said that she is against BDS. At most, she might\u00a0associate\u00a0with groups that might have supporters that also support BDS \u2013 groups that are legal in Israel and part of the vital discourse there.<\/p>\n

In a democracy, all voices that don\u2019t incite hatred against an identifiable group are to be, if not welcomed, at least tolerated. This includes those who believe that Nini should not sing for Vancouverites on Yom Ha\u2019atzmaut this year. However, the right to speak is not predicated on being right. This applies to Nini as well as her detractors.<\/p>\n

Some people are demanding that the invitation for Nini to perform at our Yom Ha\u2019atzmaut celebrations be rescinded. If successful, it won\u2019t matter much to Israel\u2019s future, or to Nini\u2019s. We should not overinflate our self-importance. But such an act \u2013 a boycott of Nini \u2013 would certainly affect our community\u2019s future. It would be a signal of intolerance, of closed-mindedness and an unwillingness to brook the very presence of a Jew, an Israeli, a veteran of the IDF and a great singer, simply because some disagree with her politics \u2013 and, worse, that we rely on innuendo and rumor to make our decisions. How solid a foundation is that upon which to build our community? What lesson would that teach our children? This is what we talk about when we talk about Achinoam Nini.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Screenshot of Noa\u2019s official website, where she shows that she retains a sense of humor towards the\u00a0press: \u201cBelieve half of what you hear and nothing of what you read! :)\u201d Internationally known, award-winning Israeli singer and songwriter Achinoam Nini \u2013 who has served in the Israel Defence Forces, who has been a goodwill ambassador for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17401,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[5343,4352,5362,762],"class_list":["post-17384","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-from-the-ji","tag-achinoam-nini","tag-jewish-federation-of-greater-vancouver","tag-noa","tag-yom-haatzmaut"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17384","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17384"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17384\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17384"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17384"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}