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Olive Tree Initiative and the Jews:Travels and Travails:
How the Jewish Federation of
OrangeCounty,
the UCI Hillel, and the Hillel Foundation of OrangeCounty
Softened the Pro-Israel Partisanship of Several UCI Jewish Students in 2008
The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication. The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication. The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication.
The
University
of California at Irvine
(UCI) published a book of approximately 112 pages in Spring 2009 as part of its
“Expressions/ Impressions” series.
It is volume 6 in the series and is subtitled “Special
Edition: Olive Tree Initiative (OTI).”It contains personal memoirs, averaging 2-3 pages per author, by
virtually every participant on the first OTI trip.The volume is instructive, beginning with information published at the
end:
The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication. The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication. The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication.
On pages 110-111, OTI formally lists with gratitude
the institutions and individuals whom they acknowledge as their “partners”:
the institutions and individuals that
“Olive Tree Initiative would not have been possible without.”These include, inter alia,Rose Project of the Jewish Federation of Orange County, Hillel Foundation of
Orange County, Shalom Elcott, Jay
Feldmann [sic], and Jordan Fruchtman.On Page 12, Daniel Wehrenfennig, the then-doctoral student who put
together the program, writes: “The Jewish community through the Rose Project of
the Jewish Federation in OrangeCounty offered crucial
financial support at just the right moment, as well as important contacts in the
region.”
The UCI Olive Tree
Initiative is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded,
supports, and recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation
of Orange County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication. The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication. The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication.
The faculty leaders’ theme of the trip was to
convince students that they can be
citizen peace builders
and play a role in bringing peace by learning to refrain from taking sides and
instead to listen and learn and communicate.Certainly, it is very important, and a central role of the liberal arts
university, to educate students to listen respectfully to and learn from those
with conflicting viewpoints. But there
is no virtue, after listening and
learning and understanding, in refraining from partisanship. Although
moderation can be wise, it also sometimes is true that "The middle of the road
is for mule trains."
Sometimes it is righteous to
take a side.The OTI trip did
not soften the understandable partisanship of the trip’s Moslem Arab students,
but its exceptional ideological tilt attenuated Jewish attitudes for Israel.
he
UCI Olive Tree Initiative is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel
co-founded, supports, and recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish
Federation of Orange County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies
are led by individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that
fits the Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions
between a Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication.
The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication. The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication.
Other than a solid memoir by one of
the Jewish OTI participants, virtually every other Jewish person’s memoir reflects a
softening of position – not necessarily to pro-Palestinian, not necessarily to
neutral in all cases, but to a greater sense that there needs to be a "Palestine"
alongside Israel, augmented by a deep belief that the masses of Palestinians
really sincerely want a peaceful coexistence with Israel, but are obstructed in
their dream solely by their political leaders. By contrast from the Jewish
students’ softening, among the Palestinian and other Arab students there is an
overarching sense that some may have evolved positively in viewing their fellow
Jewish UCI students as humans, but that they also were traumatized by seeing
in-person, and without meaningful
context,
the “suffering in Palestine,” the
Israeli military checkpoints, the "refugee camps."
Although some of the Moslem students speak warmly of a Friday night
Shabbat dinner the OTI group had on the terrace of a Canadian-Jewish family who
recently had made aliyah to East Jerusalem, the Palestinians came out strongly,
even strengthened, for Palestine.
Two or three speak of their shock in viewing without context what they honestly saw as apartheid
– military checkpoints at the security wall, the people in Qalqilya walled in
except for a few hours each day, spiffy new superhighways for Jews to drive from
one Judea-Samaria community to the next, but barred to Palestinians who instead
must use separate roads.Different
color licensed plates. The students seem
utterly unaware of context:
The
UCI Olive Tree Initiative is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel
co-founded, supports, and recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish
Federation of Orange County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies
are led by individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that
fits the Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions
between a Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication.
The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication. The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in
“I have heard people talk about Palestinian
apartheid, and I dismissed this as an overstated comparison. . . . But it wasn’t
until I visited the West Bank that I became
keenly aware that this was an area inhabited by two groups who were nevertheless
separated.I witnessed an elevated
Israeli-built superhighway intended for settlers overlapping a narrow road
mandated for Palestinian usage. . . . There is no point in building two roads
over each other unless it is desired to prohibit at least one group of people
from going to certain places.” (P. 54)
The
UCI Olive Tree Initiative is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel
co-founded, supports, and recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish
Federation of Orange County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies
are led by individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that
fits the Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions
between a Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication.
The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication. The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in
Daniel Wehrenfennig, the former UCI doctoral student
who now directs OTI, was the central crafter of the itinerary.His own personal bias is that Judea and Samaria are “occupied
Palestine.”
He formally decided not to bring
the students to Sderot or the Golan Heights.(P. 11) So, on a trip that relied heavily on perceptions at the hot
spots, the students never saw the
shell-shock impact of the unilateral Gaza disengagement, the resultant nightmare
sustained in Sderot by those who took risks for peace.And they never saw the facts on the ground in the north, the hands-on
actual stakes for Israel in
holding the promontories of Golan.
But they were brought to several Palestinian “refugee camps.”Those locations were deemed safe. One student came away from OTI’s visit
to Bethlehem’s
Kanistat al-Mahid (Christians call it
“Church of the Nativity”) with an understanding that the site “is a focal point
of Palestinian resistance. The nativity church is arguably one of the most
abused and neglected holy Christian sites. In it you will find Israeli bullets
that have damaged statues of saints only a few meters away from the birth spot
of Jesus Christ.” (P. 56)
The
UCI Olive Tree Initiative is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel
co-founded, supports, and recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish
Federation of Orange County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies
are led by individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that
fits the Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions
between a Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication.
The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication. The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in
They met a Holocaust survivor at Yad Vashem who
impacted them, but one of the Palestinian students writes in her memoir that,
through the Yad Vashem experience, she now better understands why Israel
essentially is xenophobic towards Palestinians:
The
UCI Olive Tree Initiative is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel
co-founded, supports, and recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish
Federation of Orange County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies
are led by individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that
fits the Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions
between a Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication.
The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication. The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in
“I understand that after two thousand years of
persecution and then the Holocaust, the panic they felt and the sense of urgency
to get out of Europe may explain that sometimes
you don’t care whose land you’re in and whose farms you’re stepping on.You just want to get out and try and seize any opportunity to a life of
security, free of fear and torture. . . .BUT . . . I hope future generations are
less overwhelmed with anxiety, fear, and distrust of others, as I feel many Jews
are.I hear Jews say
Hamas, Iran or the Arabs want to wipe out
the Jews, throw them into the sea, etc., etc. . . . These claims from Iran and Hamas
are at their heart media stunts which in turn play into Israeli politicians’
rhetoric and instill even more fear and xenophobia in the people.”(Pages 38-39)
The
UCI Olive Tree Initiative is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel
co-founded, supports, and recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish
Federation of Orange County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies
are led by individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that
fits the Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions
between a Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication.
The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication. The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in
An Israeli soldier, Yuval, who had served in Lebanon in 2006
spoke apologetically to the group, saying “. . . I would always ask myself what
I was doing, why we have wars, etc.”The UCI Lebanese student continues: “He spoke of Lebanon’s beauty, the mountains, the
sea, the nature. . . . This encounter, although unique, left me uneasy.The truth is, as he spoke of Lebanon’s
beauty, I felt violated.As if my
country is some protected jewel of mine and Yuval had snuck into my room and
held that jewel, enjoyed its beauty, and then threw it on the floor and stepped
on it.And although the jewel is
still here and mine, it is tainted. He had come into Lebanon uninvited, admired its
beauty yet contributed to its destruction.” (P. 42)Consistent with the OTI strategy of presenting Israeli speakers primarily
left of the mainstream, the group also met with Yonatan Adiri, a former advisor
to Shimon Peres.“He both praised
and criticized Israel’s democracy,” (P. 46) complaining
primarily about compromises that have to be made to form and maintain
multi-party coalition governments in Israel.It is ironic that, in advocating compromise with Palestinian Arabs who
are not motivated by Israel’s best interests, he
lambasted compromise with Israeli Jews, his own people.
The
UCI Olive Tree Initiative is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel
co-founded, supports, and recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish
Federation of Orange County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies
are led by individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that
fits the Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions
between a Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication.
The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication. The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in
The students were afforded a presentation by an
Israeli professor,
Muli Peleg, a long-time far-Left “Peace Now” organizer and advisor to Yossi
Beilin, formerly one of the Knesset’s most far-Left members and a key shaper of
the now-discredited Oslo Accords. Peleg left an impression on many of them, with
his basic narrative that Israeli and Palestinian leaders never will make peace,
but that peace only will come via the “bottom-up process” – i.e., bypassing the
established leadership and institutions, and instead starting with people like
the students at UCI who then spread the word, build the momentum, mobilize NGOs,
and create a movement from the bottom, working its way up until the leaders at
the top have no choice but to make compromises for peace. “One of the speakers
on our trip, Muli Peleg, a professor in Tel Aviv, believes that one of the main
obstacles is convincing Israelis that Palestinians want peace . . . .” (P. 61)
There seems no perception that
Israel had disengaged unilaterally from South Lebanon and
from Gaza, twice
taking risks for peace, being punished brutally for having taken those risks.
Southern Lebanon has been controlled by
the Hezbollah and Gaza
by Hamas ever since.
The
UCI Olive Tree Initiative is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel
co-founded, supports, and recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish
Federation of Orange County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies
are led by individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that
fits the Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions
between a Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication.
The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication. The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in
Most of the students come away with a sense that
there is no discernible solution to intractable differences in the region, so
there needs to be a two-state solution.Their model is the "Maxim" restaurant in
Haifa, co-owned by an Israeli Jew and an Israeli Arab,
where Israelis eat and Arabs eat.
An Arab woman had come into this center for Jewish-Arab coexistence a few years
ago, blew herself up, and thereby murdered 21 people and severely wounded 51
others. The Haifa community came together to restore the
restaurant.That restaurant becomes
the metaphor of the two-state.The
OTI students learned from a Captain in the Israeli Defense Forces that 95% of
the two populations want peace.
“Unfortunately, it is the other five percent who are not willing to compromise.”(P.26)It is noteworthy that, when UCI Olive Tree Initiative emphasizes that its
program balances Palestinian Arab views and speakers with Israeli views and
speakers, in order to provide UCI students a fair and balanced understanding,
the selected Israeli presenters, reflecting the same values as the professional
executive leadership of the Orange County Jewish Federation and the Orange
County Hillel, are disproportionately left of the mainstream of
Israeli society, thus skewing the UCI students’ perceptions. The UCI OTI group
did go to Ariel, a city of nearly 20,000 and capital of the Jewish communities
in Samaria, where they heard
Ron Nachman, the mayor.However,
that passing session does not resonate in the students’ memoirs. Thus, the IDF captain
and Prof. Peleg are misperceived as representing mainstream Israeli perspective
as a normative counterweight to Palestinian Arab propagandists.
The
UCI Olive Tree Initiative is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel
co-founded, supports, and recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish
Federation of Orange County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies
are led by individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that
fits the Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions
between a Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication.
The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication. The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in
The UCI Hillel Shaliach, Tzvi Raviv, participated.His only memorable thought was his last sentence:“I believe the future of Israel as a
Jewish-democratic state is tied with the creation of an independent prosperous
Palestinian state.” (P. 44) That was the
Zionist professional who served the Jewish students at UCI Hillel for the two or
three years he was on shlichut, and
who participated on this trip after helping with the creation of OTI in tandem
with UCI Hillel and its director. Shannon Shibata, the tour guide, portrays herself as someone who came to the
region as pro-Palestinian but changed to neutral, after getting to hear all
sides’ narratives, and she echoes the OTI theme, repeatedly encouraging the
students to go back as neutrals committed to peace.It is not clear how much Shibata and her agency is paid by OTI for
arranging sessions in "Palestine" with Palestinian propagandists.
The
UCI Olive Tree Initiative is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel
co-founded, supports, and recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish
Federation of Orange County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies
are led by individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that
fits the Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions
between a Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication.
The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication. The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in
In summary, the publication confirms that the OTI
program is not anti-Jewish or anti-Israel, but surely is deeply repugnant to an
identifying Jewish community’s ideals for what a normative and healthy Jewish
community should be supporting.
There would not be Jews today in the world if Judaism’s forebears had been neutrals.When the world was polytheistic, Jews were not neutral on the question of
monotheism.When the ancient world
worked seven days, Jews were not neutral on the question of a day’s Sabbath.Jews do not send children to Jewish day schools or Hebrew schools for
Bar/Bat Mitzvah study to be neutral.Mainstream normative Jews are fair and honest, and also are not neutral.By contrast, while portraying neutrality, the Israeli portion of the
two-week OTI trip is top-heavy with apologists from a distinctly Left
orientation that minimizes context and Jewish rights to Judea and Samaria.One swallow does not a summer make, nor does Mayor Ron Nachman of Ariel
counterbalance a program inexorably tilted, even if unintentionally, towards
moral relativism.One student, a
non-Jewish/ non-Arab/ non-Moslem lady, came away from her OTI travels with this lesson
in moral relativism: “Both Jews and Palestinians have suffered.I cried for both fathers of suicide victims and for the Palestinians who
face humiliating discrimination on a daily basis.”(P. 72)In the words of
another OTI student upon her return from the trip, and back at her UCI classes:
The
UCI Olive Tree Initiative is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel
co-founded, supports, and recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish
Federation of Orange County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies
are led by individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that
fits the Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions
between a Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication.
The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication. The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in
“Recently we had an assignment on the
Palestine-Israel conflict.Our
group had to show the Israeli perspective. One person said, I’m so glad I’m in
the Israel group
because I’m so pro-Israel.That
made me upset because I couldn’t figure out why he would be so one-sided. It
doesn’t help that he is Asian, not Jewish, so I don’t know where he’s coming
from with this.So even on a small
level, [now that I have been on OTI] I can help people better understand
[neutrality].”(P.93)
The
UCI Olive Tree Initiative is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel
co-founded, supports, and recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish
Federation of Orange County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies
are led by individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that
fits the Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions
between a Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication.
The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication. The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in
Clearly, the problem transcends OTI, which is an
important focus, and the greater problem is that the Orange County Hillel is in
the hands of people who are focused on raising money but who, among their
critical decision makers, include inter
alia individuals who have no vision of Jewish authenticity nor the capacity
or depth of Jewish knowledge for having such vision.They run an annual Poker Game, which many of the Hillel directors deem the annual highlight of
the UCI Hillel calendar year.Soon
after the wrenching Moslem Student Union (MSU) annual Hate Israel Week, they do a
reactive week of pro-Israel programming whose substance completely dilutes Israel and her character, so that students learn
very little about Israel
while watching various non-Jewish dance groups perform, participating in an
"Israeli hookah lounge," and while patronizing
booths that mostly are substantively superficial, offering very little about Israel.(That week’s main positive value is that members of the local Irvine Jewish community
come down to campus and mingle.)
The UCI Hillel has moved away from meaningful weekly Shabbat programming to an
occasional once-monthly TGIF dinner.Sukkot and Chanukah have passed by.Meanwhile, it is clear that the Federation is in terrible hands.They do a very good job for the community at the annual Lag B’Omer Israel
Fest, and some of their agencies do good work, completely separate from
affiliation. Thus, the staff of Federation does little by way of Family
Services; rather, Jewish Family Services does its excellent work with its own
people, even as that agency has been compelled by the economy to merge into the
Federation tent. Perhaps most
importantly for the job security of Federation professionals in a community
whose lay leaders seem mostly to value superficial displays of wealth and
substantively void edifices, they raise some good amounts of cash in a city
where, as one rabbi of ten years’ pulpit experience explained, “The Jews here
are committed a mile wide and one inch deep.”
The
UCI Olive Tree Initiative is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel
co-founded, supports, and recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish
Federation of Orange County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies
are led by individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that
fits the Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions
between a Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication.
The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication. The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in
So we have a Hillel Foundation of Orange County and a
UCI Hillel that is rudderless, without neither the vision nor the people in the critical
roles capable of having a vision, and a Federation being guided by those with a
distinctly left-of-center vision inimical to ours supported by patrons who are pleased that their Jewish
Community Center is 125,000 square feet with a gymnasium, health and fitness
center, two basketball courts, pool and aquatics center, and a Holocaust
memorial garden.And it was
designated a “Facility of Merit” by Athletic Business Magazine, too.With that kind of wealth, it is easy to see how the community would not
notice, below the radar, that the Jewish Federation of Orange County has submitted the community’s name
and reputation, and has devoted Jewish charitable funds, towards so deeply
flawed and damaging a project as the UCI Olive Tree Initiative. And
the tragedy is compounded by Federation's full-thrust pressure on Jewish groups
and temples to deny space for any public meetings positing an alternative vision
for a Jewish approach to campus Jewish leadership. When the
liberals in a Jewish community lead the censorship of free speech and dissenting
views within the community, nothing more powerfully reflects the bankruptcy of
their views.
The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash theThe
UCI Olive Tree Initiative is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel
co-founded, supports, and recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish
Federation of Orange County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies
are led by individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that
fits the Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions
between a Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication.
The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication. The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in
moral distinctions between a Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism
aimed at her eradication. The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication. The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in
POSTSCRIPT: WHERE CAN I DONATE INSTEAD?
The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication. The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication. The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in
As many of you know, several
hundred of us have begun redirecting our tzedakah away from the Jewish Federation of Orange County at
this time, with our numbers growing, and we will continue doing so until the
Federation withdraws from using its professional staff and its offices, as well
as Jewish charitable funds associated with it, to facilitate financial support of the Olive Tree
Initiative.
The
UCI Olive Tree Initiative is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel
co-founded, supports, and recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish
Federation of Orange County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies
are led by individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that
fits the Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions
between a Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication.
The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication. The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in
The
UCI Olive Tree Initiative is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel
co-founded, supports, and recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish
Federation of Orange County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies
are led by individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that
fits the Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions
between a Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication.
The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication. The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in
Several of us have been
pelted with phone calls this week from Federation staffers trying to convince us
not to boycott, with all kinds of silly and lame excuses supporting the Olive Tree
Initiative (OTI). In sum, the Federation arguments go something like this
(though obviously not verbatim, and obviously the propaganda is tailored to the
listener):
The
UCI Olive Tree Initiative is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel
co-founded, supports, and recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish
Federation of Orange County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies
are led by individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that
fits the Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions
between a Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication.
The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication. The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in
1. We are not
supporting the OTI. Federation has nothing to do with the OTI.
The
UCI Olive Tree Initiative is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel
co-founded, supports, and recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish
Federation of Orange County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies
are led by individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that
fits the Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions
between a Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication.
The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication. The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in
1a. By the way, there’s
nothing wrong with the OTI. It does good work. Jewish students
should meet with Palestinian propagandists in their West Bank villages in Palestine, or how else will they know what those people are
saying about Israel?
The
UCI Olive Tree Initiative is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel
co-founded, supports, and recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish
Federation of Orange County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies
are led by individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that
fits the Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions
between a Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication.
The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication. The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in
2. OK, one of
Federation’s Funds is supporting the OTI, but it has nothing to do with the
Federation.
The
UCI Olive Tree Initiative is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel
co-founded, supports, and recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish
Federation of Orange County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies
are led by individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that
fits the Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions
between a Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication.
The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication. The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in
3. OK, it’s on
the Federation web site, and we boast about it when we talk to other types of
people who like that kind of thing, but it’s not really a Federation thing.
And we don’t really have anything to do with it, even though it’s on our
website and we help donors make it happen.
The
UCI Olive Tree Initiative is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel
co-founded, supports, and recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish
Federation of Orange County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies
are led by individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that
fits the Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions
between a Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication.
The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication. The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in
4. OK, the Federation
staff works with it, and the OTI publicly has thanked Federation for being one
of its “partners,” but that’s not our fault. We don’t know what they’re talking
about, and we don’t know why they have thanked the Federation in a publication
of theirs. It’s not like someone in Federation actually works with them or has
helped them.
The
UCI Olive Tree Initiative is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel
co-founded, supports, and recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish
Federation of Orange County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies
are led by individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that
fits the Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions
between a Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication.
The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication. The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in
5. OK, they even have
thanked the Federation’s Chief Executive Officer by name as someone without
whose help the OTI might never have gotten off the ground. Yeah, yeah, OK, OK.
Fine, you Wikileaks nudniks – you found the documents. But don’t you care
about the needs of Jews, too? Huh? Well don’t you? Huh? Huh?
The
UCI Olive Tree Initiative is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel
co-founded, supports, and recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish
Federation of Orange County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies
are led by individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that
fits the Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions
between a Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication.
The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication. The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in
Anyway, amidst all the silliness,
we have been asked for suggestions
for an alternative way to materially assist Jews in need within Orange County. I
personally am strongly endorsing as an alternative resource worthy of your
support the Irvine-based county-wide "Simchat Shabbat" Project:
http://www.simchatshabbat.org/Simchat/About.html
The
UCI Olive Tree Initiative is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel
co-founded, supports, and recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish
Federation of Orange County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies
are led by individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that
fits the Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions
between a Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication.
The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication. The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in
Every Friday the Simchat Shabbat
project purchases, prepares, packs, and delivers complete Shabbat meals for
appropriate recipients throughout OrangeCounty. Those doing the preparing,
packing and delivering do not know the identities of the recipients, and the
recipients do not know the people doing it. It is an extraordinary
initiative begun by one fantastic woman, Zoe Rock, and Young Israel of Orange
County has been a constituent part of the project, along with Chabad of Irvine,
from the outset. More recently, Beth Jacob of Irvine also has joined us in supporting this
wonderful project.
The
UCI Olive Tree Initiative is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel
co-founded, supports, and recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish
Federation of Orange County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies
are led by individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that
fits the Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions
between a Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication.
The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication. The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in
If, like me, you are redirecting
your tzedakah gifts away from the
Jewish Federation of Orange County until it withdraws from the OTI and finally
withholds forwarding any additional Jewish charitable funds to the OTI – but you
also would like to make a gift to a Jewish organization that provides material
substance for Jewish families and households in need – please consider making a
tax-deductible donation payable to “Simchat
Shabbat.” You can make the gift directly to Simchat Shabbat and send your gift
directly to them or you can call in your donation, as per their website:
http://www.simchatshabbat.org/Simchat/Donate.html
The
UCI Olive Tree Initiative is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel
co-founded, supports, and recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish
Federation of Orange County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies
are led by individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that
fits the Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions
between a Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication.
The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication. The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in
Alternatively, you may make your
check payable to “Simchat Shabbat”
and send to us at YIOC,
and we gladly will forward to them.
The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication. The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication. The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in
The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication. The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication. The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in
The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication. The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in Israel and Arab Terrorism aimed at her eradication. The UCI Olive Tree Initiative
is repugnant to Jewish values. Although UCI Hillel co-founded, supports, and
recruits for UCI Olive Tree Initiative, and the Jewish Federation of Orange
County helps fund the Olive Tree Initiative, these agencies are led by
individuals whose values start and end with knee-jerk liberalism that fits the
Olive Tree Initiative effort to whitewash the moral distinctions between a
Jewish state in