Human rights have appropriately been prioritized by many nongovernmental organizations, charities and movements seeking to elevate and ameliorate the condition of oppressed people.
That's the good news. The bad news is that human rights, as practiced by so-called HROs – human rights organizations – have become a conversation stopper. They are both a sword and a shield wielded by those whose political actions have often been rationalized or justified as being waged on behalf of certain beleaguered groups; as such, their actions are beyond reproach or analysis, not to mention criticism.
Inevitably, this has led to a prioritization of woe and distress. Who has it worse, who is more deserving of our pity and help?
When I was a child in the U.S., I remember watching a show called "Queen for a Day" in which a parade of housewives vied for having the most pathetic story. There was an applause meter based on the individual's plight, and of course a raft of prizes awarded to the one who tugged most at our heartstrings.
The Left's use of the cudgel of human rights is "Queen for a Day" writ large. It's also rather cynical, as one senses that victims are being used to further a political goal. In Israel, those goals inevitably seem to involve usurping the authority of the state and the government.
Yes, they would say all lives are important, at least in theory; however, in reality, some need to be protected more than others.
In practice, this leads to the fracturing identity politics gripping the U.S., whereby certain groups "matter," and are thereby deserving, while certain groups are "privileged," part of the repressive majority, and therefore have no standing, no vote, no voice.
The hypocrisy of this perspective is fully visible in Israel, as an industry of far-left NGOs sanctimoniously vilify and slander the only democracy in the Middle East all in the name of human rights.
Another blatant hypocrisy, a black mark on the State of Israel, is to see families, destroyed by the wanton, indiscriminate terrorism of murderers, having to scramble to defend the memory of their killed family members, as human rights organizations, heavily funded by European governments, flood the courts with expensive petitions to protect the terrorists.
Where is our moral compass? Are we so distanced from our own selves that we have only disdain for our own?
A few days ago, at its sixth annual Zionist Conference for Human Rights, Im Tirtzu paid powerful tribute to the reality that Zionism is perhaps the ultimate root and repository of human rights.
For Zionism, human rights is not just about victims. It is also about respecting those non-Jews who are willing to embrace Zionism's mission, the decency of Israel, and to participate in building our society. So it was the other night, as we honored and embraced Druze, Muslims and Christians who work toward the integration of minorities into Israeli society.
These citizens recognize a core attribute of Zionism that the Left does not: By its nature, seeking to reinstate Judaism and Israel as a light unto the nations, Zionism is not an exclusionist ideology. Rather, it recognizes and respects the reality that, like the "mixed multitude," the huge array of non-Jews who left Egypt with Moses, there have always been non-Jews living among us.
These minorities are offered the opportunity to benefit from all that Israel has to offer them. The more that they reciprocate, through national identification, service and affinity, the more they are welcomed, the warmer they are embraced.
We also honored and embraced our brethren whose lives have been devastated by terrorism, but who insist on sanctifying the memory of their departed by doing all in their power to hold their murderers accountable.
We refuse to view terror victims as political figures. Rather, they are human beings deserving of our respect and tears. If we cannot extend our compassion to them without viewing them through a political prism, then human rights is just an empty catchphrase and we have lost our moral compass.
Human rights is not the monopoly of the Left, nor of any other ideology. In a Zionist state, human rights concerns should be focused on those who have thrown in their lot with the Zionist mission: to normalize, protect and cherish the welfare of Jews, all Jews; and to be gracious, tolerant and respectful to those non-Jews who see in Zionism their own greatest opportunity for dignity and fulfillment.
