Today I saw AIPAC was holding its final Summer Seminar. This one was featuring Joshua Bolten, the chief of staff of a little-known office called the White House. You'd think he'd be a little too busy to talk to interns, but it makes sense, because Bolten is Jewish.
Except it doesn't. My knowledge of the Jewish religion comes from my mother's mother ("this steak is to die for!"), her mother's mother (as related to me in stories), and the Rugrats Hanukkah Special. As far as I know, Judaism is about following the commandments of God, remembering the history of the Jewish people, and spinning a menorah every winter. I am absolutely bewildered by the religious belief, which I have only begun to encounter as I meet new people in college, that Judaism has something to do with staking a claim in the physical place called Israel. But apparently this is not only a major part of Judaism, but so important to the upkeep of the United States that one of the only times Obama donned a flag lapel pin was to demonstrate dual loyalty.
This seems absurd to me. Shouldn't America be the only loyalty of a Presidential candidate? I thought this is what the flag-waving Republicans are all about. Yet a message which would be political doomsday if any other country was on that pin (America/France?) is completely non-notable when it's Israel. To investigate the origin of this political compulsion, I went to this AIPAC seminar in the fancy-schmancy Ronald Reagan building.
There were maybe five or six yarmulkes... in an audience of over 600, and no Jewfros. There was a 1:1 ratio of men to women, a wide variety of colors and even some Arab faces-- a surprisingly diverse crowd for "America's Israel lobby." They all dressed and sounded like future Israel lobbyists; the college students making the introductions on stage proudly announced they were "diamond" AIPAC members which I assume will take them to great places in the future. I looked around for indications that this was actually a Republican rally, but I could find none. "Are all these people really here to support AIPAC?" I asked the guy sitting next to me. "Oh yeah, I'd say they have to be. Why are you here?" he asked. I demurred.
The talk itself was off the record. I was planning to violate that off-the-record promise but he didn't say anything too exciting anyway. Bush's plan for Israel, in case you didn't know, was a two-state solution with a Roadmap to Peace for both parties. Bush is proud to be the Decider and he's confident he will be remembered well by history. These facts come from a vague mish-mash of ideas in my head and I do not attribute them to anyone, least of all our off-the-record speaker.
Why is the continuing existence of Israel as an exclusively Jewish state so important, then? Well, here's one theme I heard: the Holocaust. Then why isn't there a Roma state in India? And why don't the Jews just come here to the USA? We're the most free and diverse country in the world, and any evidence of racial or ethnic hatred at this point in our nation's history is a cause for the entire country to denounce and reject. My great-great-great-grandparents immigrated here before that was even the case, and I don't see why what was best for them shouldn't be best for everyone else as well.
Okay, I didn't really get any of my questions answered, even though AIPAC committed itself to promoting a "dialogue." I really wanted to ask the guy what was so great about the two-state solution, but at an event paid for by AIPAC, that would just be rude. South Africa didn't deserve the privilege of a two-state solution in 1989, and I don't see any reason why Israel should be different in that regard. But maybe I'm making some people uncomfortable, so I'll stop here.
There was no secret meeting or conspiracy. The Republican speaker was very earnest, and the audience was extremely polite and self-critical. The cause just didn't make any sense. America is weird sometimes.
