Avi Posnock, Ferne Hassan, Nancy Kislin Flaum, Max Kleinman, Julia Silverstein, Rabbi Eric Lankin, Melisa Rayvid, David Ibsen, Danielle Flaum, Jim Daniels, Michelle Bauer, Banefesh Zand-Bonzzi, Chandler Benzini, Melanie Roth-Gorelick

As we raised our posters demanding that Honeywell leave Iran, we were greeted by passing cars honking their horns in support of the cause. The cause is very simple, the United Nations joined by the European Union and the United States Congress have all approved sanctions which are hoped to persuade Iran to stop its nuclear program resulting in building nuclear bombs. We credit the EU and the United States Congress have imposed more severe sanctions than the relatively modest Security Council resolutions, which gave diplomatic cover for the U.S. and our allies to be more aggressive in our efforts to impede Iran’s progress towards making a bomb. But companies like Honeywell stand in the way of this unified effort. Because it is currently aiding Iran in the development of the Iraqi refinery which will aid Iran’s capacity to refine its own oil. One of the major vulnerabilities of the Iranian economy is its dependence on imported petroleum and Honeywell is helping them overcome this deficiency. Honeywell is also a major U.S. government contractor. Of all the companies that do business in Iran, Honeywell does the greatest amount of business with the U.S. Government, more than $12.9 billion over the past decade. Honeywell must choose between doing business in Iran and doing with the United States.

I lived in the Twin Cities for seven years and Honeywell was a major corporate icon and great corporate citizen, known for many philanthropic initiatives. Honeywell bought Allied-Signal and moved its corporate headquarters to Morristown, New Jersey, which was the sight of our demonstration. We were over sixty strong, involving our Stop Iran Task Force of our Community Relations Committee, chaired by Jim Daniels, No Nukes for Iran, teen advocacy group, led Danielle Flaum, Amir-Abbas Fakhrabar, Secretary General of the Confederation of Iranian Students, and Eagle’s Wings representatives of the Christians United for Israel and Rabbi Eric Lankin of the Jewish National Fund.

Most poignantly stated, the plea of teens who, G-d forbid, would have to live with a nuclear-armed Iran, as part of their future if our efforts fail. Quoted in her letter to Mr. David Cote of the Honeywell Corporation that, “We are committed to confronting the biggest threat to peace in our lifetime, we call upon the free citizens of the world to mobilize and do their part to end Iran’s nuclear program. Our group has been instrumental in educating and motivating the youth of America to stand up and speak out against nuclear Iran. We are involved in communities in twenty-five states and twenty college campuses. To date, we have taken our message to Trenton and to Washington, D.C. and throughout the country.” The Danielle’s of the world, founder and chair of No Nukes for Iran, teen advocacy program, have the most legitimate claim for our attention as their long-term future depends upon our success in addressing this most important issue in writing Honeywell at Mr. David Cote, Honeywell Corporation, 101 Columbia Turnpike, Morris Township, NJ 07960 and calling Honeywell offices at 973-455-2000 to register your outrage about Honeywell’s concern for profits over doing the right thing for one of the most serious issues confronting our country.

Honeywell, get out of Iran now!

 

Joined by hundreds of other mourners, I was mesmerized by memories of Sima Jelin offered by friends, children, other relatives and business colleagues.

Sima Jelin

A successful businesswoman and trailblazer at the legendary Kislak Companies, Sima had a large family with Martin Jelin, of blessed memory:  six children, 15 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. She was dedicated to them all. In fact, the most memorable part of the celebration of Sima’s life, I can’t really call it a funeral, was the “cousins club” in which the grandchildren regaled us with tales of their grandmother that were both humorous and heartwarming.

After Martin’s passing, Sima had two successful marriages to Cecil Lichtman,, of blessed memory, and Sidney Weinstein. Sidney like Martin, a past president of the Federation, spent almost a decade with Sima, as a new chapter of love and companionship ensued for them both. Sima was the ultimate “people person.”

She was, for many years, a stalwart supporter of United Jewish Appeal and an early member of the Lester Society and Lion of Judah Endowment, because she wanted her philanthropic giving for the Jewish community to continue long after her passing from the scene.

Sima was on the board of the Newark Beth Israel Hospital and a founding board member and vice-chair of the Health Care Foundation of New Jersey and served on numerous boards of Jewish Communal agencies. A special love of Sima’s was the Kislak Adult Center, a NJY Camp for seniors founded by her father.

Over the years, I counseled with Sima on numerous communal issues. She was a “virtual” rolodex, an authority on people, places and events. When I heard news from Sima, it was almost like a journalistic “scoop.”

And she was so devoted to her friends. I know from my personal experience, she handled so many of the arrangements for Martin Levin’s funeral, as she was so devoted to him, Vivian and the rest of the family.

She had that inestimable joie de vivre which helped ensure a long lasting legacy of accomplishment, philanthropy and memories of good times for all those who had the pleasure of knowing her.

Sima was an original, and she will be sorely missed.

I sent the following letter in response to Tony Judt’s op-ed in The New York Times. I follow this with additional commentary:

June 11, 2010

Letters to the Editor
The New York Times
620 Eighth Avenue
New York, NY 10018

Dear Editor:

In his op-ed, “Israel Without Clichés,” Tony Judt smugly engages in a “little housecleaning,” in order to set the record straight on the “truth” regarding Israel. Additional “housecleaning” is in order regarding his attitude towards the State of Israel. In a 2003 article in the New York Review of Books in 2003, “Israel the Alternative,” Judt advocates the elimination of the Jewish State, calling its Jewish nationalism an anachronism. Instead he advocates a bi-national state of both Jews and Arabs. In other words, the current Jewish State would be involuntarily eliminated and absorbed within its surrounding twenty sovereign Arab states. Nationalism, after all, is parochial and ethno-centric and has no place in the 21st century world. Would he call for the elimination of these ethno-centric Arab States?

As an espouser of universal human rights, why would Judt pressure Israel to negotiate with Hamas, a client of Iran, which has killed thousands of innocents, tolerates no dissent and violently evicted the Palestinian Authority from Gaza?

Judt’s attempt to clarify clichés about Israel by an espouser of her elimination is the ultimate chutzpah.

Sincerely,

Max L. Kleinman

In the aforementioned article, the “prescient” Jewish scholar noted that Jewish settlers would die or be killed rather than move from their settlements. Nine thousand such settlers were forced out of Gaza by the IDF without any violence whatsoever. The Israeli people were repaid by thousands of rockets pouring into Gaza, the destruction of world-class agricultural settlements and burning of synagogues. Judt predicted that in 2003, “Unless something changes, Israel, in half a decade will neither be Jewish nor democratic.” Last time I checked, Israel has retained both statuses.

Judt claimed that the “Two-State Solution is already doomed. Seven years later we pray that the proximity talks, which, hopefully, will lead shortly to direct talks will lead to a “Two-State Solution.”

In his New York Times Op-ed, he does not accuse Jews of “running the country,” but denounces the “excessive leverage of the lobby.” He characterizes Congressmen as “rolling over for every pro-Israel motion.” Lobbies are there to be as successful as possible in achieving their goals. That’s the democratic way. I don’t think Judt would be an effective lobbyist with Congress.

Thank G-d the Tony Judt’s of the world have little influence on the American body politic, which is able to differentiate between terrorism and non-violence, the evil of Iran and its surrogates, Hamas and Hezbollah and Israel, a thriving democracy with flaws like other democracies. Unfortunately, his viewpoint is the mainstream in Europe.

No doubt, Israel blundered badly in its handling of the boarding of the Turkish ship. Recent polls have shown that Americans get the bigger picture. Israel had the right to exercise this blockade, to prevent Hamas from being re-armed. In short, Israel is the “canary in the mineshaft” in the global effort to combat Islamic terrorism. Hopefully, the U.S. and EU can find less confrontational ways to address Israel’s security needs and better meet the humanitarian needs of Gazans. But I wish there was as much pressure applied by the U.N. on Hamas as on Israel to recognize the latter and renounce terrorism. Then, there would be no need for a blockade at all.

It is time to rally around Israel as she faces the worst isolation since the Zionism is Racism resolution passed in the 1970’s.

Max Kleinman is out of the country this week and will return with a new message next wek.

(This blog was written before Sunday’s events with the flotilla heading for Gaza. Obviously, this places everything in flux. The only constant in the Middle East is instability.)

I participated in the AIPAC meetings in March, the nadir in Israel-U.S. relations of the Obama-Netanyahu era. Over the ensuing months, many in the American Jewish community criticized the Israeli Government for its handling of the Vice President’s visit and asked for it to provide some goodwill gestures to restore the balance in U.S.-Israel relations. Concurrently, many urged the Administration to keep any disagreements between allies private. Moreover, any demands placed on Israel on any points that would otherwise be negotiated with the Palestinians would only increase the number of pre-conditions the latter would place to get to the negotiating table.

Meanwhile, the clock was ticking on Iran’s quest for nuclear weapons, and we needed to be on the “same page” towards preventing this potential catastrophe from transpiring.

To dialogue on these points with U. S. Government officials, Jewish Federations of North America organized a leadership mission to Washington on May 26-27 with representatives from two dozen communities. David Lentz, our CRC Chair and I participated. Rather than representing one organization, ideology or lobbying group, we represented the “Jewish community” of varying political perspectives, all united in strengthening the U.S.-Israel relationship and preventing Iranian nuclear capability.

We met with Senator Mitchell, U. S. envoy for the Middle-East peace process, Ambassador Dennis Ross, the Administration’s point man on Iran, other Administration officials and top Republican and Democratic Congressional leaders.

After these meetings, it is clear that the Obama administration has heard the concerns of many in our community. Our meetings and statements in recent weeks have reassured us about the enduring U.S. commitment to Israel’s security.
 
These officials and members of Congress recognized our diverse group from Jewish Federations as a critical vehicle for communication and dialogue with the broader Jewish community.
 
As the last group from the Jewish community to meet with the Obama administration officials before Prime Minister Netanyahu’s visit to Washington we left reassured that their meeting will further enhance the warm relationship between the United States and Israel.
 
We learned of recent steps taken by the administration to strengthen Israel’s security, to stop Iran’s nuclear weapons program and to combat the delegitimization campaign underway against Israel.
 
And we expressed our gratitude also for the aggressive American diplomatic outreach that allowed Israel’s long overdue membership into OECD, for the administration’s request for the Iron Dome missile shield and for ongoing work to ensure Israel’s qualitative military edge.
 
The atmosphere in Washington is different than when Jewish Federations of North America announced this mission a month ago. These officials demonstrated an acute understanding of the reality on the ground in the region.
 
With the launch of proximity talks, Prime Minister Netanyahu scheduled to arrive in Washington in only a few days, and pending United Nations vote on Iran sanctions, the administration is setting down clear markers and standards.
 
In the coming days, weeks and months, our job is to ensure that the policy moving forward matches the messages we received.