It pains me to write about Theo Bikel, one of the great purveyors of our Yiddish language and culture, and the Foundation for Jewish Culture and its naïve board (“Culture Group Rebuffs Bid To Condemn Boycotts,” Dec. 31).
Where does one begin to delineate the absurdity of their position not to condemn cultural and academic boycotts of Israel? Whether BDS or otherwise, it is plainly disgraceful and yes, I dare say, traitorous. Folks like Bikel, those who constitute the majority on the board of the Foundation, and yes, liberal Jews in general, suffer from many delusions.
They imagine that their work for their version of “tikkun olam” will engender some sort of reciprocity from the enemies of Jews and Israel. They imagine that those they disdain in Judea and Samaria are a bunch of bearded and payos-clad zealots in trailers on some hilltop outpost somewhere, rather than core areas, populated by all kinds of Jews, which would remain under any imaginary future scenario with some imaginary peace partners. They fail to imagine the reality that Ariel University has more Arab students than any other Israeli university. They imagine that our heritage is constituted by Haifa, Tel Aviv and western Jerusalem.
Great Neck, L.I.
Editor’s Note: Several Israeli universities, including Hebrew University and Tel Aviv University, have substantially more Arab students than Ariel University.
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