Standing up for Israel

Students protest the United Nation’s futility

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Decrying what they see as the persecution of Israel and the global ineffectiveness of the United Nations, students and faculty from Rambam Mesivta Maimondes High School in Lawrence and Shalhevet High School in North Woodmere protested for more than two hours at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza in Manhattan on Jan. 11.

Taking an active role in rallies on global issues has been a part of Rambam’s educational mission since the high school was established in 1991, said Rabbi Zev Meir Friedman, the school’s dean.

“To take part in rallies like this is very important in today’s self-centered world and it extends the educational message to teach students, who will be tomorrow’s leaders, about the world at large,” said Friedman, adding that Rambam graduate Avi Posnick is now the managing director of StandWithUs, a nonprofit pro-Israel education and advocacy organization. 

Friedman and Rabbi Yotav Eliach, Rambam’s principal, pointed to a pair of U.N. resolutions in the past three months that they believe were aimed at weakening Israel, along with a listing of massacres around the globe, in which millions were killed, that they consider failures of the U.N. to intervene and help end the bloodshed. In October, UNESCO (considered the intellectual agency of the U.N.) identified Jerusalem and the Temple Mount as exclusively a Muslim holy city. Then, last month, the U.N. Security Council passed Resolution 2334, labeling the Western Wall — the last known remaining remnant of the Second Temple — as “occupied territories” held illegally by the Jewish state.

Between 1949, four years after the U.N. was founded, and the present, there have been at least 15 instances of mass killings either by governments or in civil wars, according to scaruffi.com and Wikipedia, where the United Nations has not taken action. (See list at right.)

Each year the U.S. provides roughly $8 billion in mandatory payments and voluntary contributions to the U.N. and its affiliated organizations. The largest portion — about $3 billion in 2015 — went to the U.N.’s regular and peacekeeping budgets, more than 185 other countries combined.

“A question someone has to ask himself or herself is, ‘What are they doing?’” Eliach said about what he views as the U.N.’s failures. “It’s time to say, ‘Enough,’ and talk about serious alternatives to the U.N.”

Students from both Rambam and Shalhevet firmly believe that Israel appears to be persecuted by a majority of U.N. members. As Rambam students printed posters for the Jan. 11 rally, several shared their opinions.

Interested in politics since he was 11, Rambam senior Noah Schwartz, 17, said he has learned that someone must step up and be part of the solution. “I’ve had the desire to be involved,” he said, “so when I go to college and I’m on campus I can try my best to make a difference.” He noted the U.N.’s longstanding history of being anti-Israel and the recent rise in anti-Semitic rhetoric on college campuses across the U.S.

Fellow senior and rally organizer Josef Silverstein, 17, said his peers want to send the U.N. a message that there are people who oppose the recent resolutions and the persecution of Israel. “We are taking a stand against the treatment of Israel,” Silverstein said, noting that in 2014 and 2015, the U.N. condemned Israel 31 times for perceived acts of aggression, while well-known human rights violators North Korea and Syria were cited only once each.

“The rally is important because the U.N. has constantly shown aggression against Israel and singled them out,” said Tuli Weiss, a 17-year-old senior from West Hempstead. “I definitely have learned that it’s important to show up and take a stand.”

Stirred to think more about Israel and its global role by her older brother Benjamin, Sarah Austin, 15, a Shalhevet junior from Long Beach, said she took part in the rally to voice her concerns. “You have to understand what [the U.N.] is doing to Israel. They are delegitimizing another country and we have to make a stand,” Austin said. “If a bunch of high school students are standing up for Israel, certainly middle-aged people can do it.”   

Zahava Fertig, 17, a Shalhevet senior from Woodmere, said her passion for Israel is strong. “Israel is surrounded by enemies and they do so much while they are combating these enemies,” she said, alluding to the technological advances and business success of Israeli companies. “Imagine how much they could do if they didn’t have to worry about fighting.”

Dvi Orlow, 17, a senior from Queens; Adam Schwartz, 15, a sophomore from Lawrence; and Solomon Prince, 14, a freshman, also from Queens, are all concerned about how the world treats Israel.

“It seems that the Jewish state is held to a double standard,” Orlow said, referring to the resolutions. 

“The world is a dangerous place,” Schwartz added, “and if we don’t [stand up] for Israel, who will?”                     Prince attended the protest because he feels the world doesn’t respect Israel. “It’s not fair and I’m upset about it,” he said.

A member of the StandWithUs team leadership committee for Long Island, Woodmere resident Rachel Fishbein, 17, said she has always had a love for Israel, and wants to defend the Jewish state. “I’ve learned how to combat ant-Semitic comments, and want to go to a college with a diverse student population,” the Shalhevet senior said. “When I’m older, I want to move to Israel and work with StandWithUs.”

Have an opinion on the United Nations or Israel? Send your letter to the editor to jbessen@liherald.com.