About the leftist Jewish youth

The support of the American Jews and of all the Diaspora is necessary in the struggle for the existence of the State of Israel. But as long as they continue supporting causes that are not fair and that border on anti-Semitism, we will be in serious trouble.

There is a battle on college campuses today. It is not just the battle of ideas, it is the battle of ideas against facts. A battle against tolerance and thought that is not in line with those of the academic mainstream.

In U.C. Berkeley demonstrations and protests are held almost daily. Antifa, Black Lives Matter, Muslim Students Association and many others are constantly protesting against conferences that do not follow their political agenda. For example, due to the last conference held by conservative thinker Ben Shapiro, Berkeley municipality had to pay $ 600.000 on security to prevent Antifa riots and attacks. In worst cases, such as the “Free Speech Week”, organized by Milo Yiannopoulos and introducing speakers such as David Horowitz and the controversial Steve Bannon, the event had to be cancelled.

In fact, a poll conducted by the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation and You Gov shows that 44 percent of millenials would like to live under a socialist government, 7% under a communist government and 7% under a fascist one. That means that 58% of millennials (almost two-thirds) would like to live under a totalitarian state.

This phenomenon is also reflected in certain sectors of the Jewish youth.

Just a few weeks ago, Princeton University’s Hillel had to give in to the pressure of the Jewish left organization Alliance of Jewish Progressives to cancel a talk by Tzipi Hotovely, Deputy Foreign Minister of the State of Israel, because in the words of this organization “Hotovely’s work causes irreparable damage to the prospects of a peaceful solution to the Israeli – Palestinian conflict”.

In the case of NYU, the extreme left Jewish organization Jewish Voice for Peace, along with 11 other organizations including NYU College Democrats, the Arab Student Union and NYU Students for Justice in Palestine, are boycotting a subsidized trip by the Maccabe Task Force of Sheldon Adelson to Israel called NYU Israel Experience, in which ”intersectionality and inclusiveness is promoted” and shows Israel ”beyond the headlines”. The reason? According to these groups, this trip includes the ”visit to territories illegally occupied” and that it is financed by ”the same organization that finances Islamophobe groups like ‘The David Horowitz Freedom Center’”, as reported by ‘The Washington Free Beacon’.

It is no coincidence that sectors of Jewish youth are engaged in this phenomenon.

Jews have been historically progressive and have supported just and noble causes such as those that protect and promote the recognition of the rights of minorities, and ‘social justice’. These sectors not only have a self-perceived moral highground because they are defined as left-wing, in fact, for those who still care about religion (or only use it to justify themselves), all this helps to fulfill the precept of tikkun olam, to fix the world.

But do not get confused, fighting for all people to have the same rights, no more nor less, is a struggle of classical liberalism. The search for ‘social justice’ (if by social justice we understand that each person’s individual rights are respected and protected), is also a struggle of classical liberalism.

The problem is that the far left has infiltrated academia (following Gramsci’s prescription) and has monopolized the representation of these causes,therefore distorting universities traditional objectives of pursuing truth and protecting freedom of speech in favor of its totalitarian and collectivist political agenda. Do not blame only Jewish academics like Noam Chomsky or Ilan Pappe, since this situation can be traced to the beginning of the 20th century. Let’s look at the Zionist youth movements, mostly leftists. These movements until today are in favor of the old kibbutz, the one in which private property did not exist, decisions were taken collectively and people didn’t live for themselves, but for the community. Communist ideas, which had an enormous influence in both Jewish participation throughout socialist parties as well as in shaping Labor Zionism.

Another reason may be the growing secularity of the Jewish world and especially the Jewish American world, where the values ​​of Judaism are seen as universal values ​​that must be pursued by all. Devoiding Jewish values from its Jewish origin and component ​​is a problem when it comes to defending Israel, since without Judaism there is no Zionism, and without Zionism there is no Israel.

But there is hope inside Israel. A survey by Israel Hayom shows that 60% of students in the 11th and 12th grades define themselves as right-wing, while only 13% define themselves as left-wing.

The support of the American Jews and of all the diaspora is necessary in the struggle for the existence of the State of Israel. But as long as they continue supporting causes that are not fair and that border on anti-Semitism, we will be in serious trouble.

Want to win on campus? Organize. Get together with those individuals who are Pro-Israel and are willing to defend their position. It does not matter if they are evangelicals, Christians, Jews or secular. It does not matter if they are libertarian, conservative, or liberal. Organize peaceful marches, open-air talks, events of all kinds. Invite Pro-Israel thinkers and speakers to accompany you in your demonstrations. Create networks of Pro-Israel organizations. It is necessary to establish the moral highground using peaceful and moral techniques. Moreover, the public also needs to know the nature of Israel’s enemies, and morally condemn them for brainwashing children to kill Jews, denying Israel’s right to exist and promoting Jew-hatred. There are going to be people who criticize you, there will be countermarches, defamations in the media. But if you stay united and pursue the same goal you will be able to counteract all the bad that comes your way.
Only then we will win the battle at the universities.

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The author is a member of the Zionist youth movement Hechalutz Lamerjav.