HELLO JEWS! ANYONE OUT THERE? By Rabbi David Algaze Let's face it: Jews in this country have lost their influence. Ironically, the area where Jews dominate, the media, is precisely one of the areas that have proven most inimical to Jewish interests. The New York Times, the TV networks and many other mainstream American publications continue to spread misinformation, ignore history and present the Arabs as victims of Jewish aggression. All this and American Jews are quiet. Rabbi Lookstein effected a recent attempted protest of the New York Times during the Aseret yeme Teshuva. The intention was right and the effort valiant but the results, as was to be expected, failed to deliver any message to the Times. In fact, the campaign only highlighted that soon after the period of the boycott, the subscribers would return to the Times as if nothing had happened. It was sort of complaining to the judge that a merchant is cheating you and then go on shopping as if the problem went away. Our political clout has become more diminished than ever. The Jewish vote is so divided that ultimately we fail to attract any candidate's attention. The election of Senator Clinton, in spite of her many statements of support of the Palestinians and after the brouhaha over the Suha Arafat, as representative of the State of New York is a case in point. Is it any wonder that even our Jewish Senator, Charles Schummer, is joining the voices of those who suggest that America apply pressure on the parties of the Middle East to reach an agreement? This is the man who represents the largest Jewish community in the world? In New York, we are witnessing the rise of a very important political coalition of African-Americans and Latino voters that threatens the political influence of the Jewish community and its political power. In New York City the Jewish vote is becoming irrelevant and it therefore cannot command any particular allegiance. But we go on oblivious to these developments and act as if nothing is happening. We Jews have been sleeping through some of the most momentous periods of change in our history, only to wake up when it was too late to do anything. We slept through the initial steps of the Inquisition, through the political developments in nineteenth-century Europe, through the anti-Semitic winds blowing in the West and now through the development of the most virulent anti-Jewish movement: the Arab and extremist Muslim world. Well, one day we are all going to wake up and ask ourselves, "How did this happen?". The answer is: it happened slowly, as we were sleeping and comfortably tucked in our beds. Why are we sleeping? A lesson may be learned from the recent attack on America. Americans lived comfortably on the presumption that the government and all the agencies responsible for their security were working. People boarded planes believing that terrorists would be caught before they could hijack a plane; the people in the World Trade Center went to work trusting that someone was doing a job of checking the safety of the building. We all thought that someone was checking up on potential terrorists. We were wrong. Dead wrong. The same phenomenon is happening with the Jewish community. We believe that someone is working to protect us, that someone is insuring that the issues that most affect Jews in this country and Israel are being taken care of. Sadly, we are wrong there too. Despite all the hoopla about Jewish organizations and despite the many millions of dollars being spent on those organizations, the results are dismal. In the aftermath of one of the most heinous attacks on American soil by the same organizations that are fighting Israel, the President of the United States has the gall to proclaim that the United States views the creation of a Palestinian state as the only solution to the problems of the Middle East. The United States is asking Israel to absorb Arab terror without a proper response in order not to jeopardize this "holy" alliance that is being put together. The unity of the alliance is thus based on Jewish blood. And what is the reaction of the Jewish community? Nothing. No screaming, no protest, no pain. When the Jewish community remained silent and uninvolved during the Holocaust, it was not because they did not care; it was because they thought someone else was doing the job. Now we know: they were not. Let us not make the same mistake again. I have news for you: we are alone. You and I and all the Jews, who I hear complaining about the situation, we could do something. You are now warned: no one is doing the work. Wake up, brothers and sisters, there is no one out there. No one is fighting our battle, organizing the Jewish community in a concerted effort to express our views forcefully and eloquently. We are happy to hear reports that nothing more can be done, that everything is being taken care of. I for one disagree. More could be done, more could be said, more noise should be made. Our leaders tell us everything is all right, that noise is useless, even counterproductive. And we go on, slowly to our political demise and death. The same pattern as in the days of the Holocaust is repeating itself. Our leaders are not telling us the truth, partly because they too believe there is nothing that could be done and partly because they are too embarrassed to admit that they are powerless and impotent. For instance, when Oslo was being celebrated, there were many who ran to be invited to the White House lawn. Where are these same leaders today that Oslo has collapsed and all its assumptions shattered? The central organizations of the Jewish community operate on the desire for consensus. But this has yielded only impotence and lack of focus. We must confront all Jews with the stark choices that are facing us and attempt to develop a serious agenda of the issues that unite us. While we may disagree on some issues with the Reform and the Conservative movements, all Jews are united in their support of Israel. If we cannot develop a common agenda with all Jews who care, what is the point of unity? It is time for all Jews who care to speak up. And the time is NOW. Please do not just complain and whine. Political power bases need organization. To this end I ask you to join me in developing a new political forum. Let us build a place where Jews can share their ideas, their concerns and give them a voice. We should create a place where ideas can be debated but also develop a common and powerful voice that will have to be heard. We can go on endlessly nitpicking and weakening each other. Let us choose the other path: let us be united and thus we shall become strong. In order to achieve this goal, we have created a new political center to unite all Jews: the American Jewish Political Committee. Enough silence. We want to hear your voice. Please write to me at the email address: amjewpolitical@msn.com . At least it should not be said that you were sleeping through these momentous events.