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.
