A new group of young American Jews has come into our lives, one that goes by the name of If Not Now. Members of the organization made headlines when they were supposedly thrown off a Taglit-Birthright trip to Israel for asking questions about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
But these were not young people whose natural curiosity was spontaneously piqued on a trip to Israel, rather activists who belong to a radical organization sent specifically on Birthright trips to disrupt them. These are not even young people who support the two-state solution, but political activists who refuse, both as individuals and on an organizational level, to declare their support for Israel's right to exist with or without Judea and Samaria.
The problem, of course, is not the raising of questions, a legitimate activity in any discussion that takes place inside a democratic and diverse society, but the callous exploitation at the expense of program participants of the framework of a particular activity to promote their ideas.
There are dozens of left-wing, Israeli and American, Jewish and non-Jewish organizations that offer tours of Israel that reflect If Not Now's worldview. I am confident that none of the activists who snuck onto the Birthright tour would have had a problem joining any of them. These activists knowingly showed up for a trip that does not reflect their positions and does not focus on the issues to which they wanted to draw attention. They not only exploited the generosity of the donors who fund Birthright but prevented other young people, who were interested in connecting to their Jewish identity and learning about the State of Israel, from having the opportunity to do so as they saw fit.
Birthright tours focus on connecting young American Jews to their Jewish identity. This is not a geopolitical tour or a tour that aims to teach participants about the history of the conflict. The activists' ridiculous argument that Taglit-Birthright is "covering up" the conflict is baseless and irrelevant. Israel is a nation that has been around for thousands of years; it was not and should not be defined solely on the basis of the current conflict with our neighbors. While it is undoubtedly important for young Americans to learn about the conflict, there is no need for them to do so on a tour that aims to connect them to their Jewish identity and the history of their people.
But the pattern of behavior of If Not Now reflects a far more serious problem in American public discourse. While the organization's activists are purportedly committed to an open and tolerant society in which people of different opinions can voice their positions, in practice, they loudly impose their views on others. They rob those who have an opposing view or who have yet to consolidate their views of the right to learn and express themselves. In doing so, they reveal the limits of their tolerance: They are in favor of a pluralistic and open society for all but those who disagree with them.
