As a former schoolmarm, I have a retirement account managed by TIAA-CREF. The Cap’n recently called out from the laptop in his office in our basement to tell me that there is a divest-from-Israel campaign afoot, and perhaps I would like to write a letter?
He sent me a link to a report about a recent TIAA-CREF shareholders’ meeting in which they garnered 15,300 signatures from teachers and professors demanding that TIAA-CREF divest from companies that do business with Israel, benefiting from “repression,” “land theft,” “death,” and “The Occupation.” It’s always sad to me to see purportedly intelligent Jews making asses of themselves on camera, parading their heartfelt ignorance before the world, and enlisting as Useful Fools in the cause of Israel’s destruction. Watch and weep.
I simply cannot see that sort of thing without running to the computer (or, since I’m already here, opening up Word) and writing a letter. The letter to other shareholders about the “breakthrough” meeting in which “[n]ot a single person spoke to defend Israel’s occupation” continues, “But we all know that will change, which is why we need you now to join our call and help us grow the 15,300 to 25,000 and then 50,000.” Not THIS shareholder.
Here’s my letter to TIAA-CREF:
Dear Madam or Sir:
It has come to my attention that an organization calling itself Jewish Voice For Peace has been collecting signatures for a petition calling TIAA-CREF to divest from companies that do business with Israel.
As a TIAA-CREF shareholder, I would like to offer a different perspective.
I actually live in Israel. Furthermore, I live in the West Bank. And unlike the American Jewish Voice For Peace, I see every day the civility, courtesy, and cooperation that exist between Israelis and Arabs. We share the roads, and we share an economy. And while there are frequent demonstrations calling for an end to Israeli “occupation” of this area, they are nearly always planned and attended by non-Israeli, non-Arab activists (political tourists, if you like).
The people who spoke on behalf of Jewish Voice For Peace on the video posted online seem like intelligent people. But unfortunately, even intelligent people can sometimes have a poor understanding of history and current events. The West Bank and Gaza were left in Israel’s hands after Israel successfully fought off an unprovoked attack by Jordan and Egypt in 1967, who hoped for the second time to destroy Israel and divide its land. Israel has tried numerous times to trade these lands for peace, first to Jordan and Egypt (who refused after the Khartoum Conference) and many times to PLO Chairman Yasir Arafat and PA President Mahmoud Abbas (who refused to accept them and end the conflict once and for all). The settlements are legal according to international law, there is nothing approaching apartheid either in Israel or in the disputed territories, and Israel gave Gaza to the Arabs in 2005, painfully uprooting its own citizens, in order to give the Arabs a head start on building a state. In return, not only has Hamas refused to engage in any of the necessary tasks of state-building, it has continued its war against the Jewish State, firing thousands of rockets and mortars across the border into Israel, terrorizing the Israeli population, killing and maiming people, and causing millions of dollars of damage to property, meanwhile taking refuge behind its own civilian population for whose safety and well-being it feels no responsibility.
The individuals who call themselves Jewish Voice For Peace appear well-meaning, but in calling for boycotts and divestment in order to weaken Israel’s economy (which also serves Israeli Arabs, Beduins, and Druze), they are no friends of peace. Were they really interested in peace, they would be encouraging TIAA-CREF to help strengthen the Palestinian Arabs by supporting through investments Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad’s efforts to build a viable Palestinian economy as one of the necessary steps toward a lasting regional peace.
I too would like to see peace come to the Middle East. But I also recognize that activism against Israel, without an understanding of the complex relationship between Israel’s economy and the peace process, is ignorant, short-sighted, and bad for business.
I urge you at TIAA-CREF not to give in to pressure by ill-informed political activists who want to weaken Israel. We have a thriving democracy, a liberal justice system which serves the needs of all of its citizens, and a population of people of all colors from all over the world who have come together to create not only a haven and home for all Jews, but who also act as custodians for some of the world’s holiest sites, where everyone—Jewish and Gentile—is welcome. To attempt to hurt Israel will not help anyone—Jew, Arab, or American—and will not bring peace.
Thank you for your time and attention.
Yours truly,
Shimshonit Schnitzengruben
And on a slightly different note: Review, please, the wording regarding the overwhelming support for divestment at the meeting. Aaron Levitt writes, “Not a single person spoke to defend Israel’s occupation. Not one. … So many inspiring and courageous JVP activists stood up to say how TIAA-CREF was fueling death and destruction by literally investing in it. To implore TIAA-CREF to find a new way.” Let’s overlook the sentence fragment for now and focus on the rest, particularly the glee expressed by Levitt at the unanimity in the room and admiration for those “courageous” souls who, unassailed by conflicting opinions, stood up one after another and repeatedly hammered home the same message to the CFO and other officers of TIAA-CREF who, he writes, “listened attentively, respectfully.” If this is what academia has come to, i.e. ecstasy at conformity and trepidation at debate, then these are sad times, indeed.
Shimshonit 
Oh, dear. I believe I know someone who works for this company… It is (was?) a good company in other ways. This is not good news.
OK, turns out we are shareholders as well. If enough people write to TIAA-CREF that counter these folks…
Your post with finely-written letter are being forwarded.
Hope they take your letter, and others I hope they will receive, into consideration.
Leora: Thank you for forwarding this. It seems the battle for Israel is endless…
Ilana-Davita: Thank you. I hope so too.
This post shows that the writer seems not to be bothered by the Israeli treatment of non Jews, which includes, land confiscations and home demolitions of people simply because they are not Jewish. There are actually roads for Jews Only, as well as settlements for Jews Only. Of course, TIAA Cref should disinvest in these companies that are profitting from the occupation. So should every decent human being.
Hi Shimshonit, it has been a while since I have commented here. I find this whole divestment thing to be silly. Personally, your letter makes sense. It seems that working class would be the ones who suffer. Even though I have a Liberal leaning, I could not support this kind of advocacy. Thanks, I am grateful you posted this.
richard greve: You make some wildly general accusations against Israel in your comment, but don’t seem very clear on specifics. Don’t worry; I suspect most others interested in this divestment campaign are in the same boat. Let me break it down for you:
1) In general, non-Jews are treated very well in Israel (especially compared to the way non-Muslims and non-Arabs are treated in the rest of the Middle East). Jews aren’t allowed into Saudi Arabia AT ALL, and the US Army needed special dispensations to allow Jewish soldiers to go and save the Saudis from the Iraqis in Operation Desert Storm. And what city could you imagine being more Christian than Bethlehem? Actually, there are almost no Christians left there at all; they’ve been intimidated and driven out by the Muslims.
2) I’m not sure what land confiscations and home demolitions you are referring to, but then, probably neither are you. If you’re informed enough to know about the security fence, you should know that every inch of it was carefully considered in light of which side the terrorists were likely to be on; if any land was expropriated by Israel, it was solely in the interest of saving lives, and the Arab landowners were duly compensated. And if you’re referring to home demolitions in Silwan, those homes are illegally built and not up to any safety codes at all. Those “homeowners” will be compensated and moved to homes nearby that are LEGALLY built, and some of the illegally built homes will be rezoned to make them legal retroactively. NO ONE has lost land or homes because they’re not Jewish. That’s a stupid lie.
3) Roads (specifically Route 443 between Jerusalem and Modi’in) only became Israelis-only (note I don’t say “Jews-only” since Israeli Arabs can also use them) when shootings by Arabs of Jews became unbearable and deadly. By order of the Supreme Court, it has recently gone back to being open to Arabs as well, and the Arabs celebrated immediately by hurling rocks at vehicles with Israeli license plates. The US has banned its government workers from travel on 443 at night out of concern for the Arab-instigated violence likely to resume there.
4) And “settlements for Jews only”–you’re funny. I can just picture it: Arabs leaving their villages and clamoring to join the religious Zionist settlement enterprise. Actually, Arabs used to be free to shop in my settlement, until one walked into the crowded grocery store on a Muslim holiday wearing an explosive belt. Thank God, his detonator failed, and he was shot in the head by the settler for whom he’d been working for the past couple of weeks.
You seem to think that “decent human beings” are people with unlimited tolerance for violence against Jews, and none whatsoever for anything that might offend or inconvenience an Arab. Actually, richard greve, I think every “decent human being” should know what he’s talking about before he leaps aboard the Divestment Train–and finds it taking him not towards peace, but towards chaos and war.
James: Thanks for your comment. Actually, I consider myself a liberal-minded person too, but I require facts, not just slogans and emotions to guide my thinking. It sounds like you think along the same lines.
I sure try to keep a level head, Shimshonit. But, sometimes I let emotions creep in and that gets me in trouble. It nice coming here and getting a perspective about Israel that I would not get from the media.
James,
Here are the facts. Bethlehem is now almost a completely walled in city, surrounded by settlements that only Jews can live in. NonJewish land is confiscared everyday to make in settlements where only Jews can live. Non Jews cannot drive on roads in the west bank, they were made for the settlers and people who visit them. Non Jews are jailed for advocating equal rights for nonJews in Israel.
Thousands of nonJewish residents of Jerusalem have been made homeless because their homes were demolished to make way for homes for Jews Only. These are facts. This is apartheid. No decent human being can support such plolicies. This is why there must be a strong BDS movement.
Richard
Richard: I don’t know where you get your “facts,” but they are ALL WRONG. I think it’s time you actually came to Israel to see for yourself what the facts are. Until you do, I will be banning you and your lies from my blog.
For the rest of you who aren’t sure of the facts, Bethlehem has the security fence (less than 5% of the total of which is wall) running along its western boundary. The walled portion of the barrier is placed along Route 60 to protect motorists (Jewish and Arab) from bullets fired from Bethlehem and Beit Jala. (During the Palestinian Terror War in the earlier part of this decade, Arabs regularly shot at motorists between 8 PM and 11 PM–in order to make the 11 o’clock news.)
In the West Bank, Jews live in their towns, Arabs live in their towns and villages. (Inside the “Green Line,” Arabs and Jews are both free to live wherever they like.) This is by mutual preference, and for safety. Non-Israeli Arabs must have permits to enter Jewish settlements; Jews are not allowed into PA controlled Arab villages AT ALL and are warned against entering them with red signs in Hebrew, English, and Arabic. Roads leading to those villages are Arabs-only.
However, Arabs are allowed on most roads in the West Bank, as are Jews. To suggest otherwise is ludicrous and ignorant.
Non-Jews are NOT jailed for advocating equal rights for non-Jews. There are regular demonstrations by Israelis, Arabs, and foreigners all over the country for human (read: Arab) rights. And there are regular Friday morning demonstrations by self-proclaimed anarchists outside my settlement against my settlement, and against Israel in general. They are permitted to demonstrate freely and are not impeded, harassed, or jailed. However, those who demonstrate for Jewish rights (against the Disengagement in Gaza, or against the Olmert government’s policies for example) have often been illegally disbanded or jailed.
“Thousands of nonJewish residents of Jerusalem have been made homeless, etc….” This is a made-up figure.
These are lies. There is nothing even approximating apartheid in this country, as anyone who has ever gotten off his tuchas and come here to see for himself knows. I always thought “decent human beings” learned the facts and then did the right thing. But Richard has set me straight: Decent human beings make up statistics, repeat lies, and commit acts of wanton slander and libel to suit their ossified liberal political leanings. They are joiners, and crave affirmation from like-minded fools, hiding their ignorance and hatred of people they dislike behind a fig leaf of “human rights advocacy.” These are the clueless vacationers aboard the Turkish flotilla; they are the tourists who work off their Western guilt by “helping” Arabs harvest grapes and olives, protecting them from attack and interference by “evil settlers”; and they are the conformists with big mouths and little wits who subjected the TIAA-CREF officers and CFO to an ad nauseum tirade against Israel. There is no qualitative difference between the rubbish Richard expounds as “facts” and the anti-Semitic tripe churned out by Goebbels in Der Sturmer. The message is the same: The Jews are oppressing and dragging us “decent” people down, and they must be dealt with swiftly and harshly. Heil Hitler, Richard.
Shimshonit:
I agree with you on the BDS campaign being misguided. There are more effective ways to engage with government policies you don’t agree with – like discussion in parliament and in the free press, the media etc. Divestment/not investing is the last option if there is clear obstruction by government.
In your letter to TIAA-CREF you write:
“…The settlements are legal according to international law, there is nothing approaching apartheid either in Israel or in the disputed territories…”
International law to the best of my knowledge(a friend of mine is doing a Ph.D. in it at Hebrew University of Jerusalem and worked at the Israël Democracy Institute there) requires the territory & its inhabitants acquired in war to be administrated by the victorious state for the benefit of its inhabitants and not undertake irreversable action that may take the rights of these inhabitants away. Reclaiming jewish property that was occupied by arabs after the jewish inhabitants were driven out during the English Mandate period(1929 in Chevron being the best known example of this) may fall under these guidelines and be permissable. I don’t think you can extend ‘jewish rights’ to Judea & Samaria so far(under International law, religious law like the Tenach & Halachah are a completely different question) that you can appropriate the whole of the West Bank, even if the lands there are customary owned only, not registered in Ottoman/English/Jordanian law. These lands don’t automatically become Israëli government land, Israëli Land Administration’s property or Keren Kayemet l’Israël owned by virtue of the army’s administration of these territories(at least under International law). Building settlements in Judea & Samaria was/is obviously legal under Israëli law, the government supported/supports it – though it seems to have 2nd thoughts now under international pressure. But it’s not legal under International law. The same goes for the route of the separation fence, its route was judged to be illegal by the Court of International Justice in The Hague, which jurisdiction Israël disputes. So these things are a bit more nuanced.
‘Apartheid’ was a South African system of ‘Bantustans’ where black people had to live, leaving 90 % of the country to the Afrikaner(of Dutch & other continental European descent) whites & English immigrants. These Bantustans served as a pool of cheap migrant labour for domestic help(women) and miners(men) who had to carry passes to stay in areas outside the Bantustans, while keeping the white areas ‘black free’. South African jews were classed as ‘white’ under Apartheid law so they were not affected by this. Helen Suzman, a jewish parlementarian for the Democratic Party, for a long time being the only voice protesting Apartheid, was the sole opposition to the National Party’s Apartheid policies for decades. Her approach reflected her jewish ethics and humanitarianism.
The treatment of Palestinians by the Israëli army in the West Bank is focussed on security issues of the Israëli inhabitants of settlements and thus requires separate roads, checkpoints, ID cards, permission passes, searches etc. for Palestinians to move around. Calling this ‘Apartheid’ isn’t justified, but it surely amounts to unequal treatment. How you can justify this depends on where you stand on the issue – or on which side of the ‘Green Line'(’67) you live. Again, nuance :-).
Nobody needs to justify their religious choice to live in Judea & Samaria in any way, shape or form(to me, at least) – it’s up to Israëlis to determine where to live in Israël – or where Israël’s borders are. But the fact is that the case for it is disputed, in Israël and abroad.