Engaging In Polemics For The Sake of Engaging in Polemics

Submitted by Renee Bouvier (United States), Oct 21, 2009 at 12:45

Instead of engaging in polemics for the sake of engaging in polemics simply to have your words appear on a web site on the Internet, I would suggest engaging in fundraising for the Jewish Federation. Every year, there is the Super Sunday fundraising drive, where one can volunteer all day into the night to man the telephones as a telemarketer to raise money for Israel. One can also volunteer at a local chapter of the JCRC.

Instead of trying to convince people how much you love Israel, you should actually do something constructive by raising money for the Jewish people and the State of Israel. In addition to raising money, one can participate in Volunteers for Israel by actually spending time in Israel to work in one of the military barracks, cleaning tanks and the engines of trucks besides other necessary jobs to help keep the machine well oiled and running efficiently. So instead of blabbing about how you are a much better Zionist than anyone else on this web site, I would suggest following up your words with actual deeds on the ground. After all, not everyone is capable of going to graduate school and partaking in an academic program in Israel. There are many ways to serve the interests of the State of Israel right here in the United States by engaging in fundraising. Israel has plenty of highly educated academics to explain the state of affairs in the Middle East.

The Israeli people are more than capable of defending themselves both militarily and intellectually. If you do have problems understanding the state of affairs in the Middle East, both the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Tel Aviv University have overseas programs, which offer courses in the summer and during the academic year for undergraduate and graduate students, so that one does not necessarily have to be an academic to partake in two courses on the undergraduate level in the summer. Some of the courses during the summer at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem actually include extensive fieldwork in the Arab territories to better understand the everyday mechanizations of the State of Israel.

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".