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I Walked Out Before He Spoke

I Walked Out Before He Spoke – And Despaired While Listening From Outside

Impressions from the AIPAC Policy Conference 2016 in Washington, DC Rabbi Jamie Gibson – March 24. 2016

 

(For those who just want the Trump stuff - except for the beginning, it is in the middle of the blog…page 2, to be exact)

 

I left the Verizon Center on Monday night in low spirits. It wasn’t just the whole Trump debacle and the other candidates’ speeches. The atmosphere I had witnessed all day long - the lights, the videos, spectacular effects and the speeches themselves, seemed more fitting for the Coliseum in Rome than a policy conference. I guess if you were going to have to stand for an hour in the cold (morning & afternoon!) just to get in through security, they wanted you to get your money’s worth.

 

On the Metro, riding back to be with my kids, Micah and Catherine, I noticed two young men sitting across the aisle from me. They were still wearing their AIPAC credentials. Trying to be non-committal, I remarked, “Interesting afternoon, don’t you think?”

 

They perked right up, all smiles. “He killed it!” one exclaimed. “No one else got a response like he did!” the other piped up. They were reveling in the experience, the sheer energy of it all. I looked over at them one more time and swear I heard one of them marvel, “He’s unstoppable!” They were, of course, referring to Donald Trump.

 

I got up and went to an empty section of the Metro car to escape their gloating.  I was depressed as I tried to reconstruct what I had witnessed that day…

 

(I’m leaving out the talks by House Majority and Minority Leaders Kevin McCarthy and Steny Hoyer and Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan, and the terrific, smaller group talks given by Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken, journalists Jeffrey Goldberg and Bret Stephens, and Principal Legal Counsel and negotiator for the State of Israel, Dr. Tal Becker).

 

I heard Hillary Clinton lay out her record of support for Israel. She spoke of the significant material aid and assistance that President Obama’s administration and she as Secretary of State had gotten for Israel, from defense systems to assistance with basic research.

 

Toward the end of her talk, she attacked some of the positions of Donald Trump without naming him. To great cheers, she derided his comment that he would remain neutral in the conflict with the Palestinians. To great applause, she insisted that she would continue to insure that Israel would hold a qualitative advantage in military material over its neighbors.

 

To considerably less applause, she defended the Iran agreement as the best way to prevent Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon. She affirmed her commitment never to let that happen (applause rising).  She reiterated her support of a negotiated two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict (a smattering of applause). She professed her undying care for and commitment to Israel (crescendo of cheers).

 

In her conclusion, she mispronounced the holiday of Purim (calling it “pyu- rim”) and although there were some groans, they were directed more to her advisors than her.

 

Presidential candidate John Kasich spoke of his personal connection to Judaism through the Jews he had come to know over the years in Ohio. He highlighted his connection with Israel through Natan Sharansky, from the time he met his wife, Avital. Candidate Kasich claimed that he had more foreign policy experience than any other candidate, which raised almost as many eyebrows as Clinton saying “pyu-rim.”

 

He called for the immediate suspension of the Iran nuclear agreement because of its recent ballistic missile tests. As we were reminded throughout the day, one of the missiles bore the words in Hebrew – Israel must be wiped off the face of the earth (or words to that effect). As you can imagine, massive applause for that.

 

Then, finally, the crowd got what it had been waiting for. Donald Trump was announced. I politely got up from my seat and left the hall. I did not notice many others following suit, although I’m told that between 50-70 rabbis, cantors and others did leave.  I heard of one Rabbi who yelled in protest and was removed.

 

I stood outside, watching the video feed and listening to what was going on inside. With me were three wonderful rabbinic students from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion’s Los Angeles campus. They, like me, refused to be part of Trump’s crowd, to be part of his visuals. You see, every time there was cheering, the house lights came up and the cameras panned the hall to show the faces and smiles of attendees.  We weren’t willingly going to be part of that movie.

 

As we listened, we heard fairly tame stuff, at least by Trump’s standards. He gushed about how much Israel meant to him and how thrilled he was that he was going to have a Jewish grandchild. He spoke of his personal bravery in accepting the invitation to be the Grand Marshal of New York’s Israel Parade in 2004 (a highly dangerous assignment in the most Jewish city in the world, I guess).

 

He tore into the United Nations as ineffectual (massive applause) and touted his ability to get a deal done between the Palestinians and Israel as he had written “one of the best selling books of all time about deal making.” (general laughter)

 

Then he laced into both President Obama (“He may be the worst thing that has ever happened to Israel, believe me, believe me”) and Hillary Clinton (“…a total disaster, by the way”). He went on to say that “…she and President Obama have treated Israel very, very badly.”

 

And the crowd roared. And my heart sank as it did. I have rarely felt so distanced from my own people, preferring easy bromides to hard choices, exercising lungs over brains.

 

As I said, I wasn’t shocked by what Donald Trump said.  Offended, yes.

Shocked, no.

 

But the reaction of the 18,000 in the room bothered me a great deal. They know who this man is. They know the offensive things he’s said, including about Jews! They know that he has advocated policies, domestic and foreign, that violate both our Constitution and the Geneva Convention. They know he has fomented racism, sexism and Islamophobia, all without retraction or apology.

 

It did not matter to the crowd as long as he ripped the Administration. It did not matter to the crowd as long he called for the US to defend Israel and its policies without question. The young men on the Metro were right. Donald Trump killed it and received got cheers and standing ovations. And those of us who chose not to be in the room?  We were irrelevant to the proceedings.

 

I braced myself and came back inside to listen to Candidate Ted Cruz, who at least pronounced “Purim” correctly. But he spoke with such arrogance and self- aggrandizement, so much anger and verbal violence against the Administration that after a while, I couldn’t take it and got up to leave.  The fault was mine for not be able to separate his tone from what might have been an important message.

 

I tried not to respond to the speeches as a partisan advocate. I am willing to listen to both very liberal and conservative views, especially on Israel. They all have a legitimate place at the Jewish community table. But what I witnessed had nothing to do with exchanging viewpoints. I am against spectacle masquerading as political dialogue.

 

And on my way out the hall, walking through the pro-Palestinian protesters and others who simply were against Trump, I wondered what was I doing there?

What had I expected? This was politics, after all. But the critical issues of Israel, Palestinians, Peace, Co-Existence and Security will not be solved by crowds of 18,000, who cheer, whoop and stand for those who appeal to our basest emotions.

 

I am not angry with AIPAC for inviting Donald Trump to speak (although I found Ted Cruz’s talk more offensive).  It is important for a lobbying organization

like AIPAC to hear from all viable candidates for the Presidency (although I question

 

why Bernie Sanders was not allowed to appear via video while Prime Minister Netanyahu did).

 

I am sorely disappointed that the largest non-Charedi Jewish gathering in our country acted like just another political interest group, as single-issue focused as the pro-life crowd. I’m surprised and saddened that the group was willing to listen to fantasies masquerading as policy proposals, such as:

 

“We will move our embassy to Jerusalem!” (and give up Saudi Arabia as an ally? I’m told that every Republican platform since 1972 has made the same promise.  It is just as likely to come about this time as it was 44 years ago).

 

“We will not contain, but utterly defeat ISIS!” (We? American troops on the ground?  At what cost in blood and treasure?)

 

“We will rip up the Iran agreement the first day in office!” (and ignore our allies, especially Germany? And replace it with what? War against Iran? Again, at what cost in blood and treasure?)

 

I understand that AIPAC effectively teaches and lobbies our representatives on issues vital to Israel’s security.

 

But fantastical appeals to the impossible do not even motivate the young. It disillusions them, either because they already know they are impossible to realize or will be disillusioned when they inevitably fail. And they are smart enough to know when they are being used by the adults around them. I would not be shocked if there was negative fallout among some of the 4,000 young adults who came to Washington.

 

I respect AIPAC advocating for the alignment of Israeli and American interests in so many areas.

 

But large rallies that give the opportunity for candidates to whip up our emotions and leave our brains at the door do not help this cause.

 

I appreciate the learning opportunities I was afforded at this conference. Even those with whom I disagree made arguments based on reason and facts, not just waving a bloody shirt to rile me up.

 

AIPAC leadership realized that some of the political speech had gone too far.

They issued a public apology the next day in which they said (in part):

 

“We say unequivocally that we do not countenance ad hominem attacks, and we take great offense to those that are levied at the President of the United States of America from our stage.

 

While we may have policy differences, we deeply respect the office of the

 

President of the United States and our President, Barack Obama.

 

We are disappointed that so many people applauded a sentiment that we neither agree with nor condone.”

 

Important words, to be sure.  But in my view they were too little, too late.

And so I am in limbo with respect to AIPAC, once again. I support many of its goals, but not its methods, proven as they may be in the eyes of others.

 

Support for Israel’s rights and needs? Yes! But also support for the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people.

 

Partnership with Israelis? Absolutely. But also seeding partnership between Israelis and Palestinians on the ground.

 

Twenty-five times I’ve been to Israel (I know many have a higher count than me). I am not an expert, but I know enough to believe that slogans and simplistic sayings hurt us in the long run. I am still an AIPAC supporter, but a chastened one, to be sure.

 

My personal feelings of sadness over the AIPAC Policy Conference are of little consequence. It’s time to roll up our sleeves and advocate with knowledge and passion for the Israel we love and the solutions that we believe in. You can be sure that I will continue to do so, even as the roar of the crowd still rings in my ears.

Thu, March 28 2024 18 Adar II 5784