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| The Kotel (Western Wall of the Temple Mount) at night |
He told us about one case where a caller challenged him about Israel being an Apartheid State like pre Mandela South Africa. By coincidence there was a former black South African in the studio at the time working the technical side of the program. When he heard the question – you could see him visually bristle at the comparison.
One might have thought that an expert in Israel advocacy would
have had a very quick refutation. But he quickly told us that he had no answer
for that caller. He then asked the audience why. Several people tried to guess
but no one could. He then told us.
The reason he could not refute this caller was because he
didn’t have the 3 hours it would take to refute any possible comparison of
Israel to Apartheid South Africa! The amount of cruel anti black legislation
and treatment of black South Africans then versus the way the State of Israel
treats its West Bank Arabs now are worlds apart. There were just too many specific examples to show
just how radically different the two countries are.
So instead of trying to refute the caller, he simply said, “How
dare you compare the cruel and inhumane treatment of the blacks in Apartheid
South Africa to what is happening to Palestinian Arabs in Israel!” “Have you
been to either country?” The caller had no answer. And that black South African
studio technician raised his hands in a quiet cheer. He experienced and knew
what Apartheid really was. And he knew that what was happening to Israel’s
Arabs is nowhere near that.
Mr. Olesker then went on to speak about how important personalizing
a story is over simply stating a statistic. Quoting Josef Stalin (who murdered
more of his own people than Hitler did during the Holocaust) - he said “Killing
a human being is a tragedy. Killing 20 million people is a statistic.”
Describing a suicide bombing by saying 6 innocent people
were killed in a suicide attack at a café in Jerusalem one Saturday night does
not have the same impact as telling the story of one of those victims: Dr.
David Applebaum.
Dr. Applebaum was a world renowned trauma specialist, a
Talmid Muvak of Rav Ahron Soloveichik, and a close friend of David Olesker. He
had just personally set a broken wrist in Shaare Tzedek Hosptial that Friday. Saturday
night he was murdered along with his daughter in that attack. Dr. Applebaum had
decided to go to that café the night before his daughter’s wedding. The next
day, instead of a wedding for his daughter, there was a funeral for both of
them.
Another thing Mr. Olesker said is that in a debate – never
allow the opponent to frame the conversation. Staying in that frame, can easily
lead to a misrepresentation of the facts.
The best example of this is when one is challenged to give a
yes or no answer to the following question: “So… is your brother out of prison
yet?” Answering that question with
either a yes or no is a losing proposition.
One must always take the initiative to frame the
conversation rather than allow an opponent to do it.
This was pretty much the gist of David Olesker’s speech. With
humor and great charm he told us how to advocate for Israel.
But I couldn’t help thinking about a different kind of enemy
of the State of Israel. Not the Jimmy Carters of the world; nor university
professors like John Mearsheimer and Stephen
Walt or Noam Chomsky and Norman Finkelstein and their protégés.
This is about a group of people far more troubling than
these gentlemen. A group that is renowned for their piety and kindness towards all
other Jews. A group whose founding member called the miracles surrounding the
creation of the State of Israel and the return of Har HaBayis (The Temple Mount)
the work of the devil.
Someone who compared the father of religious Zionism, Rav Avrohom Yitzchok HaKohen Kook to the wicked Haman of the bible. (You know which Haman. The
one who - like Hitler - tried to annihilate the Jewish people.)
A leader whose anti Israel rhetoric rivals that of Israel’s
worst enemies, like Iran’s President Mahmud Ahmadinejad. A leader whose words
and philosophies has inspired admirers from Neturei Karta to physically embrace
the Iranian president.
And a group that is the fast growing group of Jews in the
entire world.
How does one deal with this group who joins our enemies in
calling for the dismantling of the State of Israel and says its existence
defies the will of God? Whose current leader from Williamsburg is there right now undermining
the very elections taking place today - with strong anti Israel speeches to
hundreds if not thousands of people who come to hear him
A leader who has
stated that all the problems of the Jewish world can be traced back to the existence
of the State of Israel.
How does one do any Israel advocacy to this huge and fast growing group known to the world as Satmar, A group
that is accepted and even honored by mainstream Charedi publications - as did
Mishpacha Magazine recently (the immediate last issue) by doing a lengthy and flattering
cover story on the Williamsburg Satmar Rebbe, Rav Yekusiel Yehuda Teitelbaum.
I don’t think David Olesker - as good as he is – could answer
that one.
Update
If one wants to know exactly what the Satmar Rebbe of Williamsburg really thinks - here are excerpts from his speech given Sunday night in Jerusalem to 10,000 of his 'fans' . Or you can access my other blog.
Update
If one wants to know exactly what the Satmar Rebbe of Williamsburg really thinks - here are excerpts from his speech given Sunday night in Jerusalem to 10,000 of his 'fans' . Or you can access my other blog.
