A slight rant on the opprobrium Dianne Lob, the ex-@HIASrefugees has garnered for being the next @Conf_of_Pres chairwoman, in part because of how I cast a story. She just issued a long semi-apologia about how yes, she is pro-Israel, as if this should ever be in question...
let's examine the thinking behind this. I've seen @HIASrefugees described on this idiot website as "anti-Zionist" with zero evidence. How is it anti-Zionist? what posture does it embrace that opposes Zionism? Its Israel office *is* part of a network of Israeli groups that oppose-
...how some recent Israeli governments have treated refugees in Israel. Does that make it anti-Zionist? Is the government of the day identical to the idea of Zionism? Are the Orthodox groups that have opposed Israeli government accommodations of the non-orthodox anti-Zionist? ...
...if that's the thinking, it's nonsense. HIAS in Israel also quietly assists Palestinian gays fleeing danger. Does that make it anti-Palestinian? No. Another argument is that HIAS is aligned with the left here, rendering it partisan. "Hias was great at rescuing Jews, but...
..why must it climb aboard this immigration bandwagon?" The problem with this argument is sequence. Hias expanded its mission to assisting all migrants in the late 1980s when it was a bipartisan issue -- when Reagan was behooving Americans to assist refugees...
..from oppression left and right! Part of Hias' operation in Latin America *today* is assisting those fleeing oppressive leftist regimes. What's true is that the GOP has moved radically right on immigration. Sets up an interesting philosophical question for nonprofits!...
when your issue becomes a partisan one, do you simply fold up and go home? "Oh no, one party no longer aligns with us, let's give it up." Yes, do this, because it's why all the anti-abortion and gun rights groups have disappeared as Dems have frozen them out. 🤦♀️...
there's another wrinkle. Of course, Hias lay and professional leaders are committed to an expansive notion of America welcoming migrants and assisting refugees. But there is a practical consideration: Hias is keeping its infrastructure intact in part *so it is in place* at the...
... next Jewish refugee crisis, and if you don't think it has plans in place for certain countries, you don't understand how Jewish nonprofits work. This is where the notion of being one's brother's keeper intersects in the ideological and practical dimensions: Keeping...
...a Jewish refugee organization intact for these folks is the right thing to do because it is right and also practical. And then there's the far-right nostrum insinuating itself into Jewish arguments that Hias "profits" because it gets money from the US govt for its work...
...people, this system for 9 agencies, most faith-based, has been in place for decades, and the govt-faith based partnership it represents is a deeply American thing. It's why religious conservative nonprofits are asking the feds for money during the pandemic! The money does not-
...line anyone's pockets, it is a "passthrough" just as say government money to faith-based orgs that do rehab with addicts is. Yet somehow for some this concept only becomes corrupt when applied to migrant/refugee work. So why did I find it interesting that PresCon...
...saw fit to name as its head the former head of an org that has clashed with Trump when it often chooses figures more in sync with and admin?Not because it was "fun" or "naughty" or "provocative" but because of this: A group that works with a given admin at times...
will be forced to make a choice: Do we repress one of the central political/cultural expressions of being a Jewish American to go along to get along, or do we say, this is who we are, and let's work on that from here? Were a truly anti-Israel president to be elected...
...would AIPAC and pro-Israel fold up shop? What is the healthier choice, being true to one's outlook or to the political climate of the moment? PresCon's choice was newsworthy because of what it says about the Jewish organizational mindset.
Ok, done.
Ok, done.
