JimInCO
January 12th, 2006, 07:27 PM
http://www.jewishreview.org/Archives/Article.php?Article=2006-01-15-1960
Ashland Jew joins Green Party to defend Israel
Call for divestment, boycott spurs Gary Acheatel to action
By Hal Klopper, Special to the Jewish Review
http://www.jewishreview.org/images/Issue/2006-01-15/GaryAchateal.jpg
The Green Party's recent call for divestment from and boycott of Israel prompted major Jewish organizations to issue statements condemning the party's resolution.
For Gary Acheatel of Ashland, however, that didn't go far enough. So, he joined the Green Party.
Socially and politically, it's easy to condemn and all too often convenient to define ourselves by what we are not. More challenging, and ultimately more rewarding, is to take action that affects change.
Still, why would someone belong to a club that wouldn't exactly appreciate his involvement?
Acheatel's new membership is a calculated move that seems unusual only on the surface. Dig just a bit deeper, and his unconventional reasoning sounds not only plausible but necessary.
The Green Party of the United States began to form as a political entity in 1984 with the intentions of changing the government within the system.
Employing a circle-within-a-circle strategy, Acheatel has now joined the Greens for one reason: to create a groundswell of member activism to reverse the party's anti-Israel resolution.
"There was a time when I admired much of what the Greens stood for," said Acheatel. "I was sympathetic to their position on the environment and gave them my vote in 2000. But their strong environmental positions are now tainted by their ridiculously biased divestment campaign."
Acheatel was born and raised in Beverly Hills. His parents were armchair Zionists. He studied at UCLA and UC-Santa Cruz. He made aliyah in 1980, served in the Israel Defense Forces, and lived on Kibbutz Eilot in the Negev.
Six years later he returned to the States and eventually settled in Ashland. Married, with a 10-year-old daughter, he's now, at 52, a senior vice president for Morgan Stanley.
That is, Acheatel leads a fairly comfortable life; he doesn't need to engage this campaign. But, he believes, that's exactly where the danger looms.
After a strong showing in the 2000 elections (with nearly three million votes, Ralph Nader's candidacy likely siphoned support from Al Gore and contributed to George W. Bush's presidency), today the national party seems fractured.
Though the Green Party bills itself as the third largest political faction in the United States, membership totals just over 300,000 people.
Armed with those statistics, many pro-Israel individuals and organizations use a strategy of ignoring the Greens in hopes that the issue will disappear.
Acheatel believes this is a strategy that cannot be risked. "It's my contention that America's political leadership is very favorable toward Israel," he said, "but that eventually it will cave in without the widespread support of the population. So, Israel's PR efforts need shoring up in order to maintain that support."
He cited Ashland's extremely liberal reputation as an example. "Flabbergasted" that nobody was reacting to the many anti-Israel letters to the editor in the Ashland Daily Tidings, he joined a local Media Watch Team—now with 18 members—to counter the anti-Israel diatribes and help create a pro-Israel advocacy group. This effort has contributed to reducing considerably the volume of anti-Israel rhetoric in Ashland's op-ed pages.
With a resurgence of global anti-Semitism and the pervasiveness of sometimes well-organized anti-Zionist sentiment, Acheatel's activism is a reminder and a challenge, a hybrid of the reactive and the proactive.
He campaigns against both the persistent anti-Israel media coverage and a pattern of passive nonchalance in the Jewish community, a similar complacency that contributed to the imperilment of European Jewry in the 1930s.
"One man going against the machine is an exercise in futility," he said. "But when the time and conditions are ripe, one man can influence other people and organizations to join a massive effort for Israel advocacy."
Acheatel is encouraging others to join the cause. His new organization, Advocates For Israel, (www.advocatesforisrael.org), is being set in motion to: • Provide a centralized Web site to educate the public about the extent of both pro-Israel and anti-Israel activity. • Maintain a guide for establishing community-based chapters dedicated to Israel advocacy. • Coordinate local activism to engage in effective pro-Israel PR campaigns. • Provide templates for people to craft and publish letters-to-the- editor in local newspapers. • Establish a national speakers' bureau of experts to speak about Israel's history, politics, society and innovations. • Serve as a resource center to link the Jewish and general public to myriad Israeli accomplishments and initiatives in the arts, science, agriculture, business and technology.
Is the Green Party anti-Zionist? Not necessarily. True, its Israel boycott resolution was co-sponsored by "Palestinian refugee" and Wisconsin party member Mohammed Abed, who wrote, "Israel's treatment of Palestinians—those who are Israeli citizens as well as those in the territories—is comparable in many ways to South African apartheid."
Yet, there are internal Green Party rumblings of discontent and outrage that the resolution process is less-than democratic; many constituents did not know of the boycott until it was voted upon and a press release was issued.
Lorna Salzman, member of the New York State Green Party Committee and a candidate for the party's 2004 presidential nomination, said the Greens "have allowed leftist extremists to dictate the party's national policies."
Though nonviolence is one of the party's founding principles, said Salzman, "they've never had one word about the torture and enslavement of women under Islam. Not one word."
Of Acheatel's joining the Green Party, she said, "I think he's doing the right thing. Join, change, get committed."
Rejecting his own institution's divestment proposal, Harvard University president Lawrence H. Summers said, "Serious and thoughtful people are advocating and taking actions that are anti-Semitic in their effect if not their intent."
Whether addressing the effect or the intent, Gary Acheatel's seemingly innovative approach—creating change from within—hearkens back to the fundamental definition and intent of our democratic process and the republic for which it stands.
Visit www.gp.org learn more about the Green Party or to send it a message.
Hal Klopper is a writer living in Brooklyn, N.Y. He recently completed a novel, "Echo's Version."
Ashland Jew joins Green Party to defend Israel
Call for divestment, boycott spurs Gary Acheatel to action
By Hal Klopper, Special to the Jewish Review
http://www.jewishreview.org/images/Issue/2006-01-15/GaryAchateal.jpg
The Green Party's recent call for divestment from and boycott of Israel prompted major Jewish organizations to issue statements condemning the party's resolution.
For Gary Acheatel of Ashland, however, that didn't go far enough. So, he joined the Green Party.
Socially and politically, it's easy to condemn and all too often convenient to define ourselves by what we are not. More challenging, and ultimately more rewarding, is to take action that affects change.
Still, why would someone belong to a club that wouldn't exactly appreciate his involvement?
Acheatel's new membership is a calculated move that seems unusual only on the surface. Dig just a bit deeper, and his unconventional reasoning sounds not only plausible but necessary.
The Green Party of the United States began to form as a political entity in 1984 with the intentions of changing the government within the system.
Employing a circle-within-a-circle strategy, Acheatel has now joined the Greens for one reason: to create a groundswell of member activism to reverse the party's anti-Israel resolution.
"There was a time when I admired much of what the Greens stood for," said Acheatel. "I was sympathetic to their position on the environment and gave them my vote in 2000. But their strong environmental positions are now tainted by their ridiculously biased divestment campaign."
Acheatel was born and raised in Beverly Hills. His parents were armchair Zionists. He studied at UCLA and UC-Santa Cruz. He made aliyah in 1980, served in the Israel Defense Forces, and lived on Kibbutz Eilot in the Negev.
Six years later he returned to the States and eventually settled in Ashland. Married, with a 10-year-old daughter, he's now, at 52, a senior vice president for Morgan Stanley.
That is, Acheatel leads a fairly comfortable life; he doesn't need to engage this campaign. But, he believes, that's exactly where the danger looms.
After a strong showing in the 2000 elections (with nearly three million votes, Ralph Nader's candidacy likely siphoned support from Al Gore and contributed to George W. Bush's presidency), today the national party seems fractured.
Though the Green Party bills itself as the third largest political faction in the United States, membership totals just over 300,000 people.
Armed with those statistics, many pro-Israel individuals and organizations use a strategy of ignoring the Greens in hopes that the issue will disappear.
Acheatel believes this is a strategy that cannot be risked. "It's my contention that America's political leadership is very favorable toward Israel," he said, "but that eventually it will cave in without the widespread support of the population. So, Israel's PR efforts need shoring up in order to maintain that support."
He cited Ashland's extremely liberal reputation as an example. "Flabbergasted" that nobody was reacting to the many anti-Israel letters to the editor in the Ashland Daily Tidings, he joined a local Media Watch Team—now with 18 members—to counter the anti-Israel diatribes and help create a pro-Israel advocacy group. This effort has contributed to reducing considerably the volume of anti-Israel rhetoric in Ashland's op-ed pages.
With a resurgence of global anti-Semitism and the pervasiveness of sometimes well-organized anti-Zionist sentiment, Acheatel's activism is a reminder and a challenge, a hybrid of the reactive and the proactive.
He campaigns against both the persistent anti-Israel media coverage and a pattern of passive nonchalance in the Jewish community, a similar complacency that contributed to the imperilment of European Jewry in the 1930s.
"One man going against the machine is an exercise in futility," he said. "But when the time and conditions are ripe, one man can influence other people and organizations to join a massive effort for Israel advocacy."
Acheatel is encouraging others to join the cause. His new organization, Advocates For Israel, (www.advocatesforisrael.org), is being set in motion to: • Provide a centralized Web site to educate the public about the extent of both pro-Israel and anti-Israel activity. • Maintain a guide for establishing community-based chapters dedicated to Israel advocacy. • Coordinate local activism to engage in effective pro-Israel PR campaigns. • Provide templates for people to craft and publish letters-to-the- editor in local newspapers. • Establish a national speakers' bureau of experts to speak about Israel's history, politics, society and innovations. • Serve as a resource center to link the Jewish and general public to myriad Israeli accomplishments and initiatives in the arts, science, agriculture, business and technology.
Is the Green Party anti-Zionist? Not necessarily. True, its Israel boycott resolution was co-sponsored by "Palestinian refugee" and Wisconsin party member Mohammed Abed, who wrote, "Israel's treatment of Palestinians—those who are Israeli citizens as well as those in the territories—is comparable in many ways to South African apartheid."
Yet, there are internal Green Party rumblings of discontent and outrage that the resolution process is less-than democratic; many constituents did not know of the boycott until it was voted upon and a press release was issued.
Lorna Salzman, member of the New York State Green Party Committee and a candidate for the party's 2004 presidential nomination, said the Greens "have allowed leftist extremists to dictate the party's national policies."
Though nonviolence is one of the party's founding principles, said Salzman, "they've never had one word about the torture and enslavement of women under Islam. Not one word."
Of Acheatel's joining the Green Party, she said, "I think he's doing the right thing. Join, change, get committed."
Rejecting his own institution's divestment proposal, Harvard University president Lawrence H. Summers said, "Serious and thoughtful people are advocating and taking actions that are anti-Semitic in their effect if not their intent."
Whether addressing the effect or the intent, Gary Acheatel's seemingly innovative approach—creating change from within—hearkens back to the fundamental definition and intent of our democratic process and the republic for which it stands.
Visit www.gp.org learn more about the Green Party or to send it a message.
Hal Klopper is a writer living in Brooklyn, N.Y. He recently completed a novel, "Echo's Version."