Pro-Israel confusion

I am writing in response to “State of ignorance” (Oct. 13, 2017) by Gabriel Groz. In this piece, he writes that American Jews are primarily being taught pro-Israel talking points. The arguments are all based on his experience in Jewish day school — up to fifth grade. It is hard to imagine any elementary school classroom where any topic would be discussed in detail. Groz writes about a non-problem considering that about 75 percent of Jewish students do not attend Jewish private schools, according to Pew Research Center.

Jews cannot avoid defending Israel from criticism when it is the only country in the world whose very existence is questioned on a regular basis, be it at the United Nations or in surrounding countries that are committed to its destruction “from the river to sea.” The David Project does not pretend to be a curriculum. It is explicitly an advocacy organization. Not mentioned in the opinion piece is the large number of “pro-Palestinian” groups, whose “curriculum” consists of talking points for their side, who would not draw the Green Line in their maps either.

Jews are not a people “whose history has been characterized by the critique of nation-states” — we include a prayer in support of governments in the Yom Kippur liturgy. We are a people whose history has been characterized by being at the mercy of nation-states. Now Jews have control of their own destiny in Israel, and we intend to keep it that way.

Benjamin Rudshteyn is a Ph.D candidate in Chemistry.