By Bruce S. Ticker
PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania — With anti-Jewish hate crimes in New York City ballooning by 35 percent since 10/7, Mayor Eric Adams suggests that we “educate” Black youths and others about Jewish people.
Adams proposed this idea at a curious point in Middle East warfare. Israel is increasing its public relations budget tenfold to improve perceptions about Israel, yet The New York Times struck Israel with a body blow that can only harden criticism of the Jewish state.
It is crucial to influence the public about Jews and Israel. Americans and other people worldwide have regularly bashed Israel, and that must be changed to diminish antisemitic actions. However, the Jewish people face steep obstacles to this end. I can run down a series of steps along different tracks that can help us, but no amount of money is going to boost Israel’s standing so long as the present government remains in power.
That would encompass the mayor’s notion of educating Black youths; transforming the Israeli government; and alerting critics to the goal of terrorists – destroying Israel.
“We have to educate our way out of this, and as adults, we need to invite our children into settings with other children,” Adams said. “And then we have to take a strong stance.”
Antisemitism is a stubborn force in the Black community. Diminishing that will help reduce pressures on American Jews. Of course, antisemitism does not dominate the feelings of most African Americans. However, self-styled friends of the Palestinians propagandize Black Americans on the concept of intersectionality: While the White establishment starves and persecutes African Americans here, Jews starve and persecute Palestinians in “Palestine,” whatever that is.
What many African Americans and others ignore is that Hamas started this conflict by murdering 1,200 Jews with its invasion of southern Israel on Oct.7, 2023; persist in holding up to 100 Jews as hostages; and treat civilians as human shields.
In America, they need to be informed that the majority of Jewish voters support Democrats who try to advance social programs that will likely benefit racial minorities considerably more than Jews. If American Jews prioritized Israel over domestic needs, they would be voting for Republicans.
Adams called for educating Black youths about Jews during a news conference with Jewish reporters on Dec. 19 after he was questioned about the spike in anti-Jewish hate crimes from 374 in 2023 to 506 this year. “We’re seeing rising antisemitism in all segments,” a Jewish radio host told Adams. “As the mayor of New York and a respected African-American leader, what can we do to dampen antisemitism in the Black community?”
The mayor responded, as quoted by Jewish News Syndicate, “It’s clear when you look at the numbers. Many of these cases are dealing with young people and young African Americans, boys specifically.”
Adams went on, “We have to do a better job in our educational system, to really appreciate our diversity…we need to be creative as adults…(the city must) bring young people together, so they can sit in a room. A lot of hate is ignorance, and by allowing young people to come in and cross-pollinate their ideas and their cultures, I think that’s how we stop the increase.”
City leaders will need to get more specific than this, but the mayor is on the right track. Their mission is to reach these youths and also adults, for that matter. These are primarily the ones who probably skip classes, drop out of school and lose hope for a future. That makes it so much more difficult.
Worldwide, outreach to anyone to converse about Jewish issues is necessary, but how can it be accomplished?
Adams’ objective would surely be welcomed by Israel’s Foreign Ministry, which will acquire $150 million in 2025 for pro-Israel advocacy efforts abroad, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reports. That amount is more than 20 times the allotments provided for such efforts in previous years.
However, I do not see how advocacy steps, also known as hasbara, can succeed in spite of this new influx since the source is the same one that will likely undermine future advocacy efforts.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged the money to the Foreign Ministry in exchange for Gideon Sa’ar’s decision to have his New Hope party rejoin Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition. The deal also included Sa’ar’s appointment as foreign minister.
This is the same coalition that sought to impose a new judiciary system on the nation. It plans to expand communities (a.k.a. so-called settlements) in the West Bank. It may annex the West Bank. It has considered moving Israelis back to Gaza. It is accused of ignoring settler attacks against Palestinians. And, Netanyahu is facing prosecution for bribery.
On top of that, The New York Times published a front-page article the other week disclosing that Israeli officers were authorized to risk killing up to 20 civilians in every strike. As of 1 p.m. on Oct. 7, 2023, mid-ranking officers could now seek out the lowest-ranking terrorists as well as senior Hamas commanders, arms depots and rocket launchers that were the center of past military campaigns.
More grist for the propaganda mill. Critics of Israel routinely accuse the military of genocide as thousands of Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks. Now they can refer to a formal order allowing the potential of civilian deaths; the Hamas-controlled health ministry currently claims that 44,000 Palestinians have died since 10/7 without distinguishing between terrorists and civilians.
For the sake of definition, this is not proof that Israel committed genocide because Israel’s campaign must be deliberate to eliminate Palestinians. There is yet no clarity as to why Israel went so far.
Based on the Netanyahu administration’s record, how can any of Israel’s critics take seriously the government’s proposed advocacy program? How will these words from Sa’ar sound not only to consistent critics but any reasonable person who has been following the situation?
”Israel’s hasbara efforts and consciousness warfare have for decades not received the critical and life-saving resources and tools they require,” he said. “I am determined to make a change. Every shekel devoted to this cause is an investment, not an expense, and will strengthen Israel and its standing in the world.”
The first step Sa’ar must take to “strengthening Israel(‘s)…standing in the world” is to replace the current government with a more sensible one. This is probably impossible for nearly two years, when the next parliamentary elections are planned. Until then, nobody will trust anything the coalition says or does
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Bruce S. Ticker is a Philadelphia-based columnist.
Clayton, it is important to sort out the legalities, but this coalition lacks credibility with much of the general public and even many Jews who are strongly supportive of Israel. How are you going to convince people that Bibi’s government can be trusted? How do we incorporate the considerations you present into arguments that will provide the current Israeli government with sufficient credibility to be trusted by the general public?
Israel cannot “annex” any land in Judea and Samaria since the last legal entity, the Ottoman empire, does not exist anymore.
Furthermore, the author ignores the fact that Article 80 of the United Nations Charter, an international treaty, which incorporates by reference the 1922 Palestine Mandate and the 1920 San Remo agreement, declares all of what is Israel to be the reconstituted homeland of the Jewish people. Thus, Israel is an ethnic democracy not a liberal democracy whose Jewish aspirations are embraced by the United Nations Charter and the U.N. members who are required to obey it.