Wednesday, November 18, 2015

EMBOLDENED BY ITS OWN SILENCE

As I write this Post 5 days have passed since the streets of Paris were filled with the blood of the victims of Terrorists once again. My own community reacted with the immediacy, expressing the grief, the anger, the solidarity and the sorrow all of us feel:

"The Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago and its Jewish Community Relations Council stand with the people of Paris and with all people of conscience who wish to defend the principles of pluralism, freedom, and democracy. 

We mourn for those who were savagely murdered at the hands of Islamist terrorists, and pray for the speedy recovery of the injured.
The jihadist attacks in Paris, like those that preceded them, are part of a global onslaught waged by extremists and fanatics, who aim to sow chaos, death and the destruction of social and political order.  

We call on elected officials, civil society institutions, and security forces of all nations to fight the scourge of extremism and terrorism at home and abroad. Here in Chicago, we call on the communal representatives of every religion, race, and ethnicity, to work together to defend the fundamental values that form the bedrock of our open, pluralistic American society. 

Only through unity will we foil the terrorists’ evil designs."
Chicago's statement was titled "We Stand Together Against Terror."

Have you heard a word from those who supposedly represent us, from those who are supposed to know how to build consensus but do not...from JFNA? No, of course not. As the brilliant mimic, Dana Carvey, used to paraphrase George H. W. Bush ("41") -- "wouldn't be prudent, not prudent at all." We're prudent...to a fault. Surely, someone at 25 Broadway has their thumb in the air (and thereby removed from somewhere else for the purpose) checking which way the wind is blowing.

The Chair of Chicago's Jewish Community Relations Council, the co-sponsor of the Chicago resolution above, Chairs JFNA's Global Operations" Israel and Overseas Council. David Brown led the JFNA Solidarity Mission to Paris after the terrorists' attacks in January. I had hoped that David would be as vigorous a proponent for JFNA action when he assumed this newest position as he is in the Chicago community. It hasn't worked out that way.

JFNA took its own curated silence during the Iran Deal contretemps and attempted to conflate its silence into some sort of leadership. In fact the silence then was such an imagined triumph that Smilin' Jerry has converted that silence into an "achievement." And, so there are those at 25 Broadway who are seeking a way to replicate that "triumph" at this time of Paris's, France's. the world's tragedy.

And, so, at JFNA the silence is deafening. How pathetic it is and remains.

ADDENDUM:

Some of you have already commented reiterating a strongly held view first expressed on these pages in opposition to JFNA taking any position other than neutrality/silence in response to the Iran Deal. I came to understand that position given the divisions in our community/communities on that highly controversial deal. If you, however, believe that JFNA should remain silent on any and every matter -- including, but not limited to, "standing together against terror" as my federation and yours put it -- one has to question when you would have JFNA, which arguably represents us all, speak at all. 

Apparently some of you no longer believe in what was once a true representative democracy embodied in our membership organization. Enjoy yourselves bowling alone. It's just what Smilin' Jerry wants.

Rwexler


22 comments:

  1. But have they opened a mailbox?

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  2. They have the courage of their lack of convictions.

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  3. As an FYI, the comic is Dana Carvey, not Dave Barry.

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  4. Thanks -- if memory goes I will have only the present!! Oy vey!!

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  5. Maybe. Or maybe they just felt like everyone in my community, and yours did. That it's the role of the LOCAL federations to put out statements and not for the umbrella organization? Just like it was the role of the LOCAL federations to work with their communities and not have an imposed statement from on-high (which you seem to want, Richard) during the Iran-deal summer.

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  6. I'm with anon 10:12 on this. This isn't my father's federation and any attempt to impose "the old ways" of a centralized system on us won't work. Sure they need to work harder (who doesn't?) but don't get excited about them not putting out statements when they shouldn't be doing it on these kinds of things.

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  7. Either the last two anons missed the point or they are still focused on contentious issues. I cant'imagine that there is anything short of unanimity that the tragedy in Paris should be condemned. Or maybe JFNA has changed its policy and no longer wants to speak out on tragedies as they did in Haiti, Nepal, Japan, and any number of other places. Of course they should lead the way.

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  8. JFNA did put out a statement on Twitter and Facebook on the 14th.

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  9. Twitter and Facebook but not in the waste that is FedWorld or on its website? Maybe they also put it on a Post-It and stuck it on a bulletin board at headquarters.

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  10. It was in FedWorld and a letter was posted to the website.

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  11. Don't be shy -- just send the "statement" to the Blog (anonymously of course) and I will publish it.

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  12. Yesterday's horrendous attacks on innocent civilians in Paris underscore once again the growing danger of terrorism in all of its forms. Our sympathies go out to the victims and their families and to the rest of the free world, whose hearts are heavy because of these horrific acts.
    https://fedweb-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/fed-1/1/JFNA%2520Letter%2520to%2520French%2520Leadership%252011.16.15.pdf

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  13. It's understandable that JFNA wouldn't publicize this 2 sentence expression of sympathy. Compare and contrast this from JFNA with that of your federation or Chicago's. This is slightly better than saying nothing.

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  14. Hey, Wexler just asked for a statement from JFNA, he didn't ask that it say anything.

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  15. "some of you no longer believe in what was once a true representative democracy embodied in our membership organization." Hahahahahahaha that's hilarious. Good one, Richard.

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  16. Richard,
    Good question for those of us in mid-size communities who believe that we don't need JFNA statements. JFNA doesn't represent us all, so we don't need it to speak in that sense. We need it for many many other reasons -- and you are right to criticize those failings. But not on this. It's fine if you saw this different thirty or forty years ago. But as a Canadian Prime Minister pointed out a few weeks ago, it's 2015.

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  17. I think the anon at 5:39 has it right: we're not what we were 30 years ago. Times have changed. Richard, what concerns me is that your critique, valid on many levels, seems rooted in a different era.

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  18. To the anon at 9:22 - why do you NEED a separate statement? Doesn't make sense.

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  19. JFNA's "curated silence?" Or maybe they didn't want to shoot their mouths off first and apologize to their (divided) leadership later, like several federations were forced to do because they assumed that they were speaking for the community. Like you're doing.

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  20. I am surprised that a few of you hold federations and the construct of the federation as the central communal address in such disdain. I have rejected a number of the more incoherent Comments but I am concerned that those of you who express, some with vitriol, others with a dismissive wave, that federations are "yesterday's news" offer absolutely no alternatives -- because, apparently, you have none. I also fail to understand the hatred some of you hold for Chicago -- again without explanation.

    Fortunately, the majority of our readers and Commentators understand the need for collective response and for effecting change through the system. I feel sorry for the rest of you.

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  21. I was dismissing your view of federations and the so-called system as yesterday's news. Not the federations themselves. Can't speak for Chicago though. I think it's quite pleasant.

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  22. Why do you print Comments as imbecilic as that at 5:10? When a writer wants federations to be bystanders to everything, that person has prescribed the total deconstruction of the federation system. If any Comment is undeserving of seeing the light of day on your Blog, supportive as you've been of a strong federation and strong JFNA, it's that.

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