A Cautionary Tale

You've all heard the maybe attributed to Gandhi ,but maybe not quote before: "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win”

Its wrong. They are missing a step.

First they stalk you.

Club Z  trains high school students to respond to anti-Israel rhetoric in their schools and in their communities. Its about time.  As we just saw it Ithaca, the anti-Israel force are imposing their propaganda campaigns on younger and younger children. Club Z is creating the leaders of tomorrow.

From the Club Z mission statement:

Club Z is a youth movement that fosters a commitment to Israel and Zionism among today’s teens. We empower young people to become leaders with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to stand up to anti-Semitism, bias, and ignorance.
Now Club Z  has attracted the attention of the haters.

From an email received by our friends at Club Z. Could this be any more obvious?

Sam Elmore
Subject of email: Research assignment on Club Z

Dear Club Z,

My name is Samuel Elmore and I'm a student at the University of Georgia majoring in journalism and religion (with a focus on Jewish Studies). I'm finalizing a research project on Jewish and Israeli initiatives and movements within the US. With that said, I was wondering if I could get answered a couple of questions:

Club Z receives funds from generous donors. Are there specific groups that have contributed the most? Are they Jewish/Israeli or organizations allied to Israel?

And finally, are there members beside the board of directors and advisory members associated with Club Z?

Thank you!

Samuel

Naturally, this particular “Sam Elmore” doesn’t appear to exist in the real world (you could have guessed that, right?) so this response was sent in reply

Dear Mr. Elmore, 

Thank you for your interest in Club Z.  

We find your questions rather inappropriate and none of your business.  
If you are curious about funding of various groups, why don't you look into how SJP or MSA is funded.  That seems to be a much more interesting topic of research, don't you think?  

Oh, and by the way, your question about other members of Club Z -- I am happy to answer.   We have a large and growing network of people who support us all across the United States and even the world.  We have advisory members in Canada, Mexico, Germany, Russia, Italy, Australia, South Africa and Ghana.  Club Z will soon become a Zionist movement the likes of which has never been seen before by American Jewish community.   The unstoppable Zionist youth will be outspoken and able to defend themselves against growing anti-Semitism inside their classrooms and on the campus quad.  No longer will SJP be able to bully Jews into hiding and no longer will the bigoted professors and apathetic administration be allowed to hide behind non-sensical proclamations.  

Any more questions? 

Club Z. 

This is a cautionary tale. Don't expect the enemies of Israel to fight clean. And if your teen is interested in learning more about our land and our people, consider sending them to Club Z's  Youth Conference on Israel and the Middle East in January

Young Jewish and Proud

JVP's attempt at creating the veneer of a youth movement, 'Young Jewish and Proud' was meet with well deserved skepticism.  With Intactivist activist Mathew Taylor, (just this side of  40)  and Rachel Roberts, now an attorney for the Council for American Islamic Relations (CAIR) among their  spokespeople, the movement was ripe for ridicule, and ridicule came in torrents.

From Divest This: Young Jewish and Proud -Oy  The Young Jewish and Proud declaration:

"We shout, we yell, we interrupt when other people are speaking. Publically. We wear necklaces made of olives and have slightly creepy smiles. One of our grandparents was Jewish. Or not. You must take us seriously... 

We refuse. We refuse to stop speaking. We refuse to let other speak. You must give us a platform and never criticize what we say. We send out fifty press releases a day. We run a dozen Web sites. We show up at every event shouting at the top of our lungs. We are muzzled. We all say in unison: we are individuals...

We demand you listen to us. We demand the right to not listen to you, to speak (or yell loudly) when you are speaking, to accuse you of censorship for criticizing us in any way. We are your children. And we will not stop acting like them until you give us everything we want."


 For all JVP's self congratulatory rhetoric, Young Jewish and Proud went nowhere, beyond a few self-publicized disruptions of speakers within the Jewish community. In spite of their grandiose proclamation to the contrary, theirs was NOT the future of Jewish youth.

Perhaps this is.



Made by high schoolers in the  San Francisco Bay Area,  this is a proud unapologetic declaration of Jewish and  Zionist values.

Watch it, and know that the Zionist ideal is safe in the hands of the next generation.

The kids are alright.

UPDATE:

There is a  post at Mondoweiss regarding this brief clip. Apparently Annie and Phillip find photos of kids lighting Hanukkah candles  "concerning"

Can't help but wonder how they'd feel about this.