Thoughts on the Conference

All in all, the first J Street conference was a success: 1500 people showed up, The Obama Administration sent the National Security Advisor to bless the event, three dozen members of congress attended the gala dinner, and conference attendees were enormously positive about the gathering.

Monday's notable event was a town hall meeting between Jeremy Ben-Ami and Rabbi Eric Yoffie, the head of the Reform movement. Yoffie's stance is somewhere between J Street's and the center-right position often repeated by large institutional leaders of the Jewish community: he was sharply critical of settlement construction, the Goldstone report, and International Community's criticism of Israel. The Yoffie's and Jeffrey Goldberg's of the Jewish community seem to be key discursive links in the chain- they support a two-state solution and acknowledge J Street as legitimate, with some reservations.

Tuesday's best panel featured three Israelis: centrist politician Haim Ramon, former Shin Bet Admiral Ami Ayalon, and journalist Bernard Avishai.

Avishai talked about the need for peace for economic development, persuasively arguing that Israel's economy will be based around providing solutions for large companies.

Ayalon said that when he was head of the Shin Bet, the lowest year of Palestinian violence was directly related to Palestinian hopes for an belief in the peace process.

Ramon suggested that unilateral disengagement from the west bank may be needed in the future to ensure the demographic viability of Israel as a state with majority jewish population.

I haven't heard these viewpoints at an event with a National or super-public profile and audience. The conference is wonderfully unique is providing the American public access to these sort of ideas.

One JTA write-up of the conference quotes a certain 25-year-old from Washington...

An Evening On H at the J Street Conference

I spent Sunday evening at the Grant Hyatt on H street at the first-ever J Street conference. The evening was the conference's kickoff event featuring 1200-1500 people sitting in a ballroom. After speeches from Jeremy Ben-Ami (J Street's executive director), Daniel Sokatch (the charismatic new CEO of the New Israel Fund) and some others, the attendees discussed their connection to Israel and pro-peace activism in small groups at our tables. The mood was positive but not ebullient, and the informal conversation-style gave the evening a more participatory feel than is usual for issue or policy conferences.

Wandering around in the lobby before the dessert reception, I bumped into a motley assortment of characters: an old friend in rabbinical school, the executive director of Uri L'tzedek (the ethical kashrut org), a college friend covering the conference for an online jewish magazine, fellow jstreeters from NY, a frum activist trying to talk folks on the Berkeley campus out of divestment, and the online director from the labor movement.

Looking at the parade of name tags, I recognized the last name "Tassini" on a middle-aged man walking by, but couldn't place it. A later Google search revealed him to be Jonathan Tassini, the New Yorker who challenged Hilary Clinton in the 2006 Senate primary (she was a first-term incumbent) over her vote for the Iraq war.

The number of people attending is very encouraging. The crowd is a mixture of middle aged and younger people, with a large number of kippot-wearing attendees and beards. There is a noticeable Israeli presence, and lots of journalists, who seem to be dressed more formally than the average conference-goer.

The Liberal Lion is Dead

Senator Kennedy died yesterday, at the age of 77. I have wonderful memories of Kennedy from my summer on Capitol Hill at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC). Kennedy spent a good deal of time at the DSCC, and would make an entrance with gruffness and warmth, complaining about the summer's heat, some reception he had to attend, or the doings of the Republican majority leader. I remember watching his fiery speeches on C-Span and and being energized by his anger at the status quo: Kennedy was not intimidated by the Bush Administration or the Republican control of all three branches of government. It was a dark time to be a democrat, and Kennedy's defiant energy provided historical perspective to the sense of being under attack by Karl Rove and the Neoconservatives. Kennedy's presence was reassuring and gave us a sense of being a part of a struggle that was far from over- he had a presence that was much larger than the people and events around him.

Coming to Phnom Penh: Hasidic Jews

The Jewish Telegraphic Agency reports that Chabad (the International Chasidic Movement) is opening a Jewish center in Phnom Penh.

"The international Chasidic movement has announced it will send two rabbis to the Southeast Asian nation to open a Chabad House in Phnom Penh, the capital city.

"The Jewish community in Phnom Penh is much like any other in our part of the world,” Bangkok-based Rabbi Yosef Kantor was quoted as saying by Chabad.org. “It’s an eclectic mix of business travelers, Israeli expatriates and backpackers travelling across Asia after serving their terms in the Israel Defense Force."

This is exciting news for Cambodia. While Jewish expats in Phnom Penh are few and far between, many Jews visit Cambodia (there are roughly 2 million tourist per year, who focus on Angkor Wat), and there is signifigant need for Jewish community. While there has not been a Chabad in the past, there have been yearly high holiday services. In 2008, the high holiday services were led by Rabbi Jill Jacobs, the Rabbi-in Residence at Jewish Funds for Justice

It also makes sense for Cambodians, who despite experiencing their own tragic genocide, have little contact with or knowledge of Jews.

Yom Kippur in Cambodia, Anyone?

A View from the Ground: The New York Times correspondant from Gaza

A fascinating and highly informative interview with Taghreed El-Khodary, the New York Times correspondent in Gaza and International Crisis Group analyst. (Middle East Bulletin)

Some Key points:

1) The Siege and Economic Blockage benefit Hamas

-The private sector in Gaza has been completely destroyed, there is a complete lack of liquidity at banks, and unemployment is increasing.

-Hamas has set up its own bank to pay civil servants. (PA teachers have been replaced with Hamas teachers, who mainly focus on religious studies)

-Hamas builds recreational infrastructure to impress the population:

"I was in one of the settlements that Israel evacuated where Hamas built a park, planted apple trees and filled a pool with fish for the kids. I talked to people and asked them why they liked going there. They said ‘there is a zoo, a pool full of fish.’ So I went there and it’s the saddest thing I’ve ever seen. The zoo was one cage of monkeys. And imagine, these people were so impressed that they called it an amusement park. You go there and it’s so bad, but they’ve never seen anything else. For them, one cage of monkeys was a zoo. You go to the fish farm that they created, and it’s smelly, but for the children it was meaningful and exciting. It’s a place to sit, a place to barbeque."

2) There are a number of discourses within Gaza society allowed by Hamas, some of them critical of killing Israeli civilians and firing rockets (at Sderot, presumably):

"They are producing films, too. The latest one was about Emad Akel, who was 23 when he was killed by Israel in 1993. He was a fighter that Hamas portrays as establishing a whole military philosophy. Why? Because he managed to target Israeli soldiers only. So they made a story about him. And who wrote the script? Mahmoud Zahar, a senior Hamas leader. And that will be shown to the public starting August 1. And everybody, whether they like Hamas or not, wants to go because it’s entertainment, and because there are no other movie theaters. Then you have a play by an independent writer. In the play they mock the firing of the rockets as useless—the fighters fire them just for the sake of firing."

3) Hamas is interested in engagement with the international community and wants to be recognized as in control of Gaza.

"I was the one who did the interview for The New York Times. I sat with Meshaal for many hours, for two days, and the sense is that Hamas is very keen to engage in international politics. Meshaal told me that they are willing to be part of a solution when it comes to a peace process, and that they are not going to be the one obstructing an agreement. The international community must really read between the lines. There has to be an understanding, because after all, on the ground, Hamas is in Gaza, Fatah is in the West Bank, completely isolated from each other. I think you also need to learn from Oslo. Hamas was out of the game, therefore they obstructed. At that time they obstructed through a series of suicide bombings. This disequilibrium will always be there if the international community strives to marginalize a party that is too influential."

Good Morning America, How are ya?

There are benefits to jet-lag. One of these is waking up naturally at 6:30am for a leisurely coffee. With stable internet access, I spent my morning reading the New York Times (goodbye International Herald Tribune), eating carb-loaded pastries at a D.C. coffeeshop, and chatting with the manager, a mustached French-Lebanese judeophile who said he'd rather be in Mykonos.

On my first day back in the States, the news is surreal.

-A giant corruption scandal involving rabbis, government contractors, mayors, israelis, and a Swiss banker has been exposed.

-The New York times reports that Hamid Karzai's challenger is "A dapper dresser." The opthamologist (the eyes are the windows of a nation's soul" is taken to "wearing traditional Afghan clothes under a variety of Western tailored jackets."

Heading North

The Aegan Airlines flight from Athens to Berlin is almost three hours, most of which I spent asleep. The stewardesses generally ignored me, except to offer and remove my meal and tell me to open my windows for take-off and landing. The airline claims to have won some European airline award for 2008/2009. They should be glad that i'm not giving out the awards: I waited almost an hour to check-in and stood on a bus for another 10 waiting to be taken to the plane.

It was disorienting to wake up in Germany: an orderly exit from the plane into a quiet reception area arranged just for our flight. As the bags unloaded onto the cargo belt, it began to rain, and my second bag arrived in almost-soaked condition.

I was met at the Tegel airport by J, a family friend. It was the first time on my trip where i'd been "picked up" upon arrival. The experience is decicedly differant, arriving in a differant country alone provokes certain cognitive processes which get suppressed when you are met (how is this environment differant from the last one I was in? What do I I like or dislike about the new environment? Are the people moving, speaking, and dressing differantly? Etc).

The change from Greece to Germany is noticeable and disorienting. There is something wonderful about being knocked out of one's comfort zone.

Turkey: You will get used it it in time

"WELCOME TO TURKEY" reads the hotel handout, WE WISH YOU TO RETURN TO YOUR COUNTRY WITH HAPPY MEMORIES.

Here in Istanbul, rumors of Turkish hospitality live up to expectations. I have been served tea three times, queried about my ancestry, invited to go drinking, and given an extensive lesson on the knotting in Turkish Carpets (a double knot weave is better than single knot, and older enhances the tones of the natural dyes).

OUR CURRENCY IS CALLED AS "NEWTURKISHLIRE (YTL)" YOU WILL GET USED TO IT IN TIME.

The exchange rate to dollars is roughly 1.5, so i'm spending like a european on holiday. There are an enormous number of things to buy: this is a city of trade. The grand bazaar is endless, the city has a decicedly mercantile feel.

PLEASE BE CAREFUL ABOUT THE PEOPLE YOU MEET ON THE STREETS IN TURKEY...THERE IS AN INCREASE ON THEAF BY NON-TURKISH PEOPLE AGAINST TOURISTS.

People on the streets are very aggressive, though it's impossible to tell who is or isn't Turkish. Sellers and restaurant stringers establish eye contact and feign insult ("I was just talking to you").

The people i've met are wonderfully locquacious, knowledgeable, and internationally aware... more so than in any other city in the world.

When in Jerusalem, Take the Bus

Spent the morning relocating from the Old City hostel to the Inbal Hotel, with an hour of frappucinoed Internet access at Aroma Cafe in the Jerusalem's fancy new mall, complete with a Versace.

I spent the afternoon bus jumping on the way to Beit Hakerem, to meet some long-lost members of the Magarik clan. The two boys, F and M, are talented artists (separate post forthcoming), and all three members of the family are fluently tri-lingual in Russian, Hebrew, and English.

Transmigration is a funny thing, particularly for the Jews.

I spent the evening at the Shalom Hartman Center, and heard Rabbi David Hartman lecture, in a rare and brilliant appearance. He spoke on Contingency in Jewish texts, focusing on the Joseph story, with frequent and wonderful detours into his life, personal and intellectual relationships, contemporary jewish practice, and current Israeli politics.

It was a very moving lecture; he told wonderful stories about his mother, shared his pluralistic and progressive vision for the Jewish people (defending egalitarianism, the Reform movement, and taking a page from Obama's book in speaking of the need for realistic hope), and confronted his mortality and physical pain.

I had a second dinner with D, an old Israeli friend of mine who is engaged in dialogue work in Israel. While he continues to bring Palestinians and Israelis together for dialogue, he is not optimistic about current prospects for peace. I ate shakshuka (cooked eggs with tomato sauce) and shared life plans.

I leave for the West Bank tommorow morning.

The Old City Revisited

I write from the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, after hours wandering around the Muslim, Christian, and Armenian Quarters. My previous visits here have been on group tours, the the freedom is quite frightening- I am almost entirely unable to navigate the alleys and streets, and many of the merchants and people on the streets are incredibly unfriendly. There is a sense of deep hostility and resentment in the Muslim Quarter, which I have not encountered before in Israel... it is disturbing, and after two hours I feel angry myself. Why was I not taken here on previous trips? In a sense, I have been completely shielded from an entire side of the place.

Walking down one of the narrow streets in the muslim quarter, I walk past a small military post, and onto a wide, clean, white plaza where people are moving slowly and deliberately. My curiosity is piqued- I have never seen this before. I move slowly and carefully, until I am stopped harshly by an arabic-speaking guard, who escorts me back to the soldiers.

I find my way into the Jewish Quarter, and am overwhelmed with relief and familiarity.