To be Leftist, Feminist and Zionist in Berkeley

Fascinating interview with feminist Leader Rima Greene- radical organizer, lesbian author, and Zionist.

Rima writes
"In 1954, my grandmother had connected me with a girl in Haifa for a pen-pal. We exchanged letters and photos until the last letter in the early ’60s when she sent me a photo of her in army uniform with a rifle on each shoulder. Her last words to me were: “I’m in the army. I hate it! I hate it! But shall I let others die for me?” In 1965, my parents traveled to visit her parents in Haifa — I still remember the address: 7 Masada St., and I found out she had been a border guard in Eilat and was shot to death. Her name was Nili Goldschmit. She had a round smiling Russian face. She is the foundation for my love for Israel"

That love galvinized in 2009, with her first trip to Israel
"When I returned home I was hurt by the reaction of my lesbian friends of the decades. They were supposed to be feminists but they did not care that Israel was the only place in the Middle East where we could be independent women. I wrote a story for my travels, “Three Weeks in the Holyland” which some would not read, even though before we were writers who commented astutely on each other’s work"

She continues:
"Leftists and leftist feminists, homosexuals and lesbians purport to represent democratic rights, women’s rights and gay rights etc., and yet their silence (with a few exceptions) on Islamic violations of all of these rights, and their hatred of Israel, shows that they really don’t really care about these rights at all."

Rima concludes
"I was a lost soul, up for grabs by the default program of the Left. But I was not a Believer, I was not deeply imprinted, because I am an experimenter, an adventurer, and finally, my mind opened to going to Israel.

Many of the long term friendships I have had were with people, mostly women, who are not really people who loved me, but only ideological fellow travelers who cannot follow me now. I was seriously alienated from society and desperately needed their friendship.

In Israel, I found my lost soul parts, like Etty Hillesum records in her journals. A deeper part of me plugged in. I got engaged, forged my boundaries, and was no longer up for grabs. I now pick and choose. There are no packaged deals."


Read the interview in its entirety here