Israel: A plea for more support from Jewish students

Since the October War Israel has been increasingly isolated in the world community. Yasir Arafat's triumphant speech before the General Assembly of the United Nations symbolized the deterioration of Israel's international position. Once again, the continued viability of the State of Israel is in question. In addition, the politics of oil, superpower involvement in the Middle East, resurgent Palestinian nationalism have all become frequent topics in newspapers and journals. A quick glance at the schedule of speakers at Harvard demonstrates the upsurge of academic interest in the Middle East. Yet, in spite of this, the level of interest and involvement in programs related to Israel has been surprisingly low, even among Jewish students at Harvard.

In fact, the presumption that these students would or should support Israel has itself come into question. Yasir Arafat was bold enough to call on American Jews to abandon their support for the Jewish State of Israel. A dramatic turn about of this type is probably not in the offing, for if support for Israel among Jewish students at Harvard is no longer as outspoken and unquestioning as it once was, this community--with a few isolated but vocal exceptions--is likely to maintain at least an ambivalent response.

The dormancy of Jewish student support for Israel is less a function of hostility towards Israel than it is of general students apathy to widely discussed Jewish students may now he less outspoken about their support of Israel, but then his students are outspoken in their support about anything these days. This stands in contrast to the immediate and widespread outpouring of student support for Israel during and after the Six-day War.

Judy Eisenberg is a third-year graduates student in Government

The points of debate in the Middle East are not only less personally immediate, but they are also less clear. What was once a question of Israel's survival now appears to some to be a mere question of territories. While the former evoked a clear-cut positive response, the latter question has evoked a wide spectrum of opinions. These differences with the official Israeli position are construed as a diminution of support for Israel itself.

There is, however, a more basic explanation for the unenthusiastic reaction to Israel's dilemma. Young Jews have recently displayed ambivalence about the nature and extend of their commitment, in terms in time, energy and money, to Israel. While the roots of this ambivalence go beyond the current political issues at stake in the Middle East, the triggering factor in this case has undoubtedly been the reemergence of the Palestinian problem.

The conflicting claims of Jewish and Palestinian nationalism as stated by the opposing sides have led to questioning whether the national self-expression of Jews is possible only at the expense of Palestinians. While it is by no means clear that this is the case, the resultant moral confusion has tended to undermine the legitimacy of the Jewish State sufficiently to neutralize the impulse to rise to its defense. Indeed, the urge to do so was further inhibited by a long-standing reluctance of American Jews to do open battle for Jewish causes once they became controversial.

For most Jewish students, moreover, prudent self-control of this sort is transformed into actual self-denial. Someone who is mildly embarrassed about his or her Jewishness, who is vaguely fearful about accusations of double-loyalty or parochial self-interest, and who only wants to be "just like everybody else" is hardly likely to be a vocal supporter of Israel even in the best of circumstances.

All these doubts and misgivings are the negative dimension of the new Jewish attitude towards Israel. But it is more than balanced by a strong sense of the moral right of Israeli Jews to national self-determination reinforced by a powerful undercurrent of emotional and historical ties to the land of Israel. In addition, support stems from a pride in Israel's cultural and social achievements, gratitude for Israel's role as the ultimate guarantor of Jewish survival and dignity, and not the least important, a network of personal contact with people in Israel.

This positive dimension finds expression in the activities of several groups in the Harvard community. Among these are an undergraduate committee sponsoring speeches and discussions on the Arab-Israeli conflict in the Houses, the current campaign to raise money for the Israel Emergency Fund and the ad hoc committee on UNESCO and Israel. Active participation in constructive efforts such as these shows that the circle of ambivalence can be broken.