By MICHAEL C. KOTZINWhen the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) convenes its annual General Assembly in New Orleans early next month, a new priority will be at the heart of the agenda. While support for Israel has long been a defining characteristic of the federation movement, and while Israel advocacy has long been a major area of activity for many federations, the growing global assault on Israel’s legitimacy is taking JFNA and its constituents into new territory.Recent years have witnessed an escalating campaign to demonize Israel in the court of public opinion and to weaken and isolate the country through steps such as boycotts, divestment and sanctions. The ultimate goal is to deny Israel its very right to exist as the nation-state of the Jewish people. Organizations across the ideological and religious spectrum in North America are mobilizing to take on this threat in various ways.But the federation movement is uniquely positioned to deal with the issue.That movement involves not only JFNA itself, but 157 federations in cities throughout North America. And it also brings into play the Jewish Council on Public Affairs – the community relations arm of JFNA, that itself brings together Jewish community-relations councils around the US, along with 14 national affiliates.Much of the most problematic action now underway in North America takes place in communities throughout the continent. For one thing, that is where the campuses – the major centers of delegitimization agitation – exist, places where radical Muslim student groups and ideology-driven faculty create a climate not unlike that more familiar in European cities today.That is where churches and church leaders are attempting to advance divestment. That is where shoppers are being called on to boycott Israeli culture and Israeli products. That is where demonstrators take to the streets calling Israel an apartheid state, labeling it and its supporters Nazis. And in a city like my own, that is where enemies find countless causes to advance – in our case by attempting to force Chicago to sever its sister-city ties with Petah Tikva.JFNA’s new Israel Action Network, which will be set in motion at the GA, will mobilize Jewish communities and their allies in a comprehensive, strategic response to this challenge as it is playing out in North America – the most important place in the world for ensuring understanding and support for Israel.Through the initiative, JFNA will put itself on the map in a new, highly relevant fashion.The writer is executive vice president of Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago.
Introducing the Israel Action Network
At the upcoming JFNA General Assembly in New Orleans, the federation network will lay out its plans to counter delegitimization.
By MICHAEL C. KOTZINWhen the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) convenes its annual General Assembly in New Orleans early next month, a new priority will be at the heart of the agenda. While support for Israel has long been a defining characteristic of the federation movement, and while Israel advocacy has long been a major area of activity for many federations, the growing global assault on Israel’s legitimacy is taking JFNA and its constituents into new territory.Recent years have witnessed an escalating campaign to demonize Israel in the court of public opinion and to weaken and isolate the country through steps such as boycotts, divestment and sanctions. The ultimate goal is to deny Israel its very right to exist as the nation-state of the Jewish people. Organizations across the ideological and religious spectrum in North America are mobilizing to take on this threat in various ways.But the federation movement is uniquely positioned to deal with the issue.That movement involves not only JFNA itself, but 157 federations in cities throughout North America. And it also brings into play the Jewish Council on Public Affairs – the community relations arm of JFNA, that itself brings together Jewish community-relations councils around the US, along with 14 national affiliates.Much of the most problematic action now underway in North America takes place in communities throughout the continent. For one thing, that is where the campuses – the major centers of delegitimization agitation – exist, places where radical Muslim student groups and ideology-driven faculty create a climate not unlike that more familiar in European cities today.That is where churches and church leaders are attempting to advance divestment. That is where shoppers are being called on to boycott Israeli culture and Israeli products. That is where demonstrators take to the streets calling Israel an apartheid state, labeling it and its supporters Nazis. And in a city like my own, that is where enemies find countless causes to advance – in our case by attempting to force Chicago to sever its sister-city ties with Petah Tikva.JFNA’s new Israel Action Network, which will be set in motion at the GA, will mobilize Jewish communities and their allies in a comprehensive, strategic response to this challenge as it is playing out in North America – the most important place in the world for ensuring understanding and support for Israel.Through the initiative, JFNA will put itself on the map in a new, highly relevant fashion.The writer is executive vice president of Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago.