21 Nov 2003 @ 16:59, by Bruce Kodish
An excerpt from a recent commentary by Rabbi Shmuley Boteach:
"Fighting for liberty brings out the best in Jews. When I arrived at Oxford University as rabbi in 1988, Jewish students were energized by the struggle to liberate Soviet Jewry. But after the crumbling of the Iron Curtain, the grand cause was lost, and along with it, the commitment of some of the most uninvolved students. I believe that world Jewry should now inaugurate a global movement to liberate our Arab brethren from the same tyranny that Soviet Jews once suffered.
In the same way that Jews were instrumental in creating the NAACP to help unfetter our Black brethren at the turn of the century, we must now create organizations that bring the incarceration of Arab peoples to the world's attention.
In the words of my friend David Suissa who coined the phrase, we should launch a campaign to "free the 400 million" who live under brutal dictatorship. In the same way that Jews marched on world capitals to protest the oppression of Soviet Jewry, we should campaign around the world to protest the persecution of subject Arab peoples. "
The Full Article "Free the 400 Million" by Shmuley Boteach The Jerusalem Post, Nov. 20, 2003
Three bold new ideas animated and rejuvenated world Jewry through the 20th century: the decision to educate women as well as men in Jewish learning, the founding of the State of Israel, and the Lubavitcher Rebbe's invention of Jewish outreach.
But for more than four decades there has not been another earth-shattering Jewish idea of this magnitude. The result is that Judaism and Israel are stagnating. And it is to the discovery of this next brilliant brainstorm that the leaders of American and Israeli Jewry, meeting this week at the GA in Jerusalem, should devote themselves.
To assure its inclusiveness, the idea should be one that appeals both to the Orthodox and Reform, to traditionalists and to the unaffiliated, to the politically conservative and politically liberal.
I propose that the next great Jewish idea be the fulfillment of our biblical mandate to serve as a light unto the nations. The three great concepts enumerated above resuscitated and secured Jewish peculiarity. Let us now move on to Jewish universality. The essence of Judaism is freedom. We were born as a nation when we were liberated from the taskmasters of Egypt. Our national holiday is Pessah, celebrating our emancipation. And the soul of our faith is a belief in the freedom of the individual to choose.
Ours is a religion of conscience rather than coercion, conviction rather than compulsion. And it is to the light of that noble cause that we should now dedicate our energies.
Fighting for liberty brings out the best in Jews. When I arrived at Oxford University as rabbi in 1988, Jewish students were energized by the struggle to liberate Soviet Jewry. But after the crumbling of the Iron Curtain, the grand cause was lost, and along with it, the commitment of some of the most uninvolved students. I believe that world Jewry should now inaugurate a global movement to liberate our Arab brethren from the same tyranny that Soviet Jews once suffered.
In the same way that Jews were instrumental in creating the NAACP to help unfetter our Black brethren at the turn of the century, we must now create organizations that bring the incarceration of Arab peoples to the world's attention.
In the words of my friend David Suissa who coined the phrase, we should launch a campaign to "free the 400 million" who live under brutal dictatorship. In the same way that Jews marched on world capitals to protest the oppression of Soviet Jewry, we should campaign around the world to protest the persecution of subject Arab peoples.
The Jews, whose Torah emphasizes the infinite value of each individual, should spearhead a campaign for Arabs to enjoy the human rights that are their birthright. We should cry out for an end to mullahs in Iran who slash democracy-seeking students with razor blades, a toppling of the House of Saud which allows young girls to burn in buildings rather than escape without a face covering, and against a regime in Egypt which throws free-thinking intellectuals into prison for challenging the government.
Our Arab brethren should be allowed to criticize their leaders without fear of torture, and to read newspapers uncensored by government authorities.
THE JEWS, who have suffered centuries of inhuman persecution, dare not turn a blind eye to the suffering of their fellow children of Abraham. We dare not sit idly when we read a New York Times story of how Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's son Al Saadi ordered his bodyguards to spray the stands with bullets when the fans booed him on the soccer field.
Just as there is an annual Israel Day parade in New York City which draws 100,000 Jewish supporters, there should be a "Free our Arab brethren day" which should draw at least as many and should be organized by Jews.
As a follow-up to its "Israel Inspires" initiative, Hillel should organize "Islam Aspires Ð to Freedom" offensives on campuses around the US, even if the Arab students initially refuse to participate. The fight to liberate Soviet Jewry was likewise a solitary and thankless battle.
Israeli ambassadors at the UN should be at the forefront petitioning the Security Council for sanctions against Arab governments that oppress and murder their people. Money should be raised within the Jewish community to be distributed to Arab democracy activists like Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi.
Speaking at the Yale Hillel last week, I heard some students protest the decision to host a joint after-fast feast for Ramadan with the society of Muslim students. For shame! We should be sitting with Arab students and telling them that whatever our disagreements on the question of Israel, we are here to support their struggle to be free in the 22 Arab tyrannies.
Nelson Mandela and the ANC were close allies of Yasser Arafat and the PLO. But that did not stop untold numbers of Jews from helping to fund and support the ANC's just struggle against racist oppression. Our posture toward Arabs who criticize Israel should be no different.
MY L'CHAIM Society at Oxford had scores of Arab and Islamic members and I considered them my friends and brothers. It was frightening to think they were returning to countries where arbitrary arrest and detention without trial is common.
The cook at our L'Chaim Society was a Muslim woman from Iran whose husband was doing a doctorate at the university. She was a noble woman of quiet dignity and a kind disposition who deserved better than to have to return to a country where violence and discrimination against women is common.
The campaign to free Soviet Jewry served to unite world Jewry. And aside from the obvious justice of the cause, the campaign to free the 400 million subjugated Arabs will serve as the grand new model to galvanize all constituencies of the Jewish community. Left-wing Jewish students who allege that Israel oppresses Palestinians Ð and at Oxford there were many Ð will delight in the Jews emerging as the foremost champion of Arab human rights. Secular Jews who complain that Judaism is too narrowly focused on the preservation of ethnicity will champion a cause that demonstrates Judaism's deep commitment to the wider world. Zionist Jews who defend Israel against fictitious human-rights violations will join a campaign that puts the spotlight squarely on the real abuses of Arab despots. And Orthodox Jews will support a battle soundly based on the Torah's commandment not to sit idly by the blood of one's neighbor.
To be sure, many Arabs, who couldn't care less about their fellow Arabs' suffering, will accuse this campaign of being a cynical effort to distract the world from what they call Israel's violation of Palestinian rights. Our response should be simple and sincere.
Would that all Arabs in the Middle East enjoyed the freedom of worship, press, and movement that Palestinians enjoyed before Arafat and his gangsters took over in Gaza and Judea. The security restrictions that Israel has since imposed was forced upon it in order to stop incitement and terrorism. But even if they never overcome their suspicion, saving the Arabs from poverty, illiteracy, and brutality, even if it is never appreciated, is righteous. Like so many moral causes that Jews have championed, we should do it even if we are hated for it. And what more pressing act of courage is there on earth today than rescuing our Arab brethren from being murdered and becoming murderers?
The writer was rabbi at Oxford University for 11 years and is author, most recently, of The Private Adam: Becoming a Hero in a Selfish Age.
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