New York Magazine Features a Critical Article
about “My Grandfather the Zionist"
Allan C. Brownfeld, Editor
Special Interest Report
August 2021
New York Magazine of June 23, 2021 featured an article by Abraham Riesman, a
staff writer, about his grandfather, a lobbyist for Israel who, he says,
covered up war crimes such as the massacre and imprisonment of Palestinians.
The article is entitled, “My Grandfather the Zionist: He Helped Build
Jewish American Support for Israel. What’s His Legacy Now?”
In a critical, but loving, article about his grandfather, Robert Riesman
(1919-2004), who was active in promoting Israel in Rhode Island and with
that state’s representatives in Washington, the author declares that he no
longer believes the myths that the Israeli lobby spreads in the media, and
notes that neither do many other younger Jewish Americans. The pro-Israel
consensus, he writes, “is in decline.” The mistreatment of Palestinians, he
argues, is in violation of Jewish moral and ethical values, and “keeps me up
at night.”
Riesman, 35 years old, writes: “Israel is now tearing the Jewish community
apart. In my grandfather’s day, Israel was the great unifier of the
American Jewish community. Now it is the great divider, both inside our own
community and in cleavages with other ones. Bring up Israel with any
American Jew and you can feel the atmosphere tighten. There is no topic
that incenses us more, whether the emotions are pride or shame,
defensiveness or hatred, fear that not enough of our co-religionists support
the Jewish state or rage that they support it too much. The left is done
with Israel, particularly since the last Gaza assault, which heralds
disaster and disunity.”
In Riesman’s view, “Jews and Gentiles who had previously betrayed no
interest in the topic have taken up the cause of the Palestinians who are
governed and besieged and, in many cases, killed, by an occupying state. My
grandfather probably would be infuriated by me. In recent years, I’ve
developed a level of fixation of the place that rivals even that of my
grandfather. The conclusions we have come to, however, are worlds apart.”
His grandfather’s defense of Israel, even covering up its misdeeds, was,
Riesman writes, “…sincere based on his assessment of Jewish safety. In his
eyes, Israel was always under mortal threat and if his people lost their
citadel in the Middle East, who knew what other dominoes might fall.” His
grandfather, he notes, could dismiss the expulsion of Palestinians to make
way for Israel in 1947-49 because Jews had been victims of genocide in
Europe.
Even his grandfather’s attitude was complicated: “Grandpa held no
particular affection for the country (Israel). As he put it, it was really
like a relative you had to support, whose company you didn’t particularly
enjoy, who gave you no excitement, no stimulation. He said, ‘It was because
Israel was threatened that it became precious. When it wasn’t threatened
it was an inconvenient relative; when it was threatened, it became something
you liked.”
Riesman concludes: "I retain a sliver of hope that he (my grandfather)
could understand that I, like him, want to save the Jews. I have chosen to
see them as my family, for better or worse, and I believe that backing the
status quo in Israel is not just immoral and wrong, but a recipe for
disaster. I am not alone in this—Israel’s own politicians and security
officials have long said the occupation makes Israel less safe. I believe
Jews should have free access to the Holy Land. I do not in any way want to
see them driven into the sea or killed. But nor do I want to see
Palestinians to be massacred and imprisoned. I don’t think my grandfather
wanted to hurt Palestinians, but their concerns didn’t keep him up at night.
For me, they do. They are part of my family too. Until they are safe, the
Jews will not be safe. Israel and the Palestinians will not fix their
problems without audacious solutions, solutions as audacious as, say, the
creation of a Jewish state 70-odd years ago.” **
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