Schear Musings by Abe Schear

  • On Obama and the Middle East
     Over the last week or so, I have been asked numerous times what I thought about President Obama’s speech regarding the middle east and I am reminded, in many ways, of the best advice I have ever heard about aging parents, that in order to be best prepared stay two steps ahead of the events and not just one.  When we look at the middle east, it is very clear that events, predictable and unpredictable, have radically changed the landscape and, when given our complicated world where economics are unsettled and where numerous countries are trying to muscle into the mix, each country will have to continue to adapt, continue to react to these very complicated positions – and this issue certainly engulfs, and even overwhelms, the Israeli position.  It isn’t just the moral high ground but, rather, how can Israel control its destiny as opposed to being forced to untenable compromises.
              I’ve been to Israel twelve times in the last six years and, if nothing else, I am quite sure that I do not understand the political dynamics, the pressure on Israel, the tension of living in  a region where hatred is your neighbor’s primary emotion.  I told someone recently, in fact, he with a misguided intellectual bent, he who had never been to Israel, that his positions regarding Israel are, incorrect, harmful, and naïve.  He was very critical of AIPAC, quite incorrect in his analysis, failing to give any regard to the Israeli view of AIPAC, that liberals and conservatives in Israel are appreciative that Americans, Jewish and otherwise, lobby congress on behalf of Israel.  This is, of course, a perfect example of loving the  garden without loving the gardening and his intellectual (in his mind) opinions are truly harmful.
            That said, Israel is clearly stuck in an awkward and potentially negative paradigm and in many ways needs to determine what peace it wants, whether the peace it can obtain today is better than one it can achieve in years to come.  This decision is all the more complicated as many of Israel’s best and brightest leave the country, resulting in a serious intellectual drain from a country that already clearly questions its ability to educate its population.
             When I was in Israel earlier this year, I repeatedly asked who were the next Israeli leaders, who would govern after Prime Minister Netanyahu?  The answer was a pretty resounding “I don’t know”, a situation that quite clearly helps keep the current Israeli government in control, however, the only way to stay in control is to mollify both the left and the right, a situation which makes change all the more complicated.
              Absent the emergence of a bold Israeli leader, it is possible that President Obama was trying to accomplish more than stating his opinion, perhaps he was trying to move the process by giving creating enough space between the stated Israeli position and that of the United States to allow for compromise, to allow (actually force) the Israeli government  to move toward President Obama’s position, and perhaps then the United States (and others) could move back toward Israeli’s position.
              With each trip to Israel, I learn how dangerous it is for me to assume that I know any of the answers, however, I do know that the sand is flowing through the hour glass.  Global politics have changed and, while traditional foreign policies could be characterized as good versus evil or even politics based on oil reserves and economics, today’s politics are formed more and more on religion (and cultures) and, to some extent, a characterization of the west (and it values) as evil.  If it were simply good against bad, the world surely would clean up Syria but none of the major players, certainly including Russia or China, have any interest in being demonized by intervention.  Israel lives in this less than perfect neighborhood, in this fulcrum of hostility.  It is likely that Israel will have to make harsh and painful compromises and Israel will have to determine how active it will be in a process that will impact its history. 
    By Abe Schear exclusively for AtlantaJewishNews.com
  • Jews and Baseball

    The movie “Jews and Baseball – An American Love Story” will open the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival and it will for sure, and for so many reasons, put smiles on the faces of the audience.

                 The Festival itself has grown into an extremely important cultural portion of the Atlanta arts calendar, bringing together thousands of Jewish and non-Jewish movie lovers. It is, as often noted, the largest film event each year in Atlanta; however, the fact that it effectively attracts patrons from throughout the community, enhancing the American Jewish Committee’s embracing message, is exceedingly meaningful for the community at large.

    Equally important is that the Festival gives its patrons a wide variety of choices. Serious films, documentaries, sports films (remember, this event had Holy Land Hardball a few years ago), romantic films and historical pieces all have their audiences. The Festival’s leaders clearly understand each movie has to be well made; however, and unlike most film events, the movies do not have to be slow and serious and dark.

    It is a sign of the Festival’s maturity that Jews and Baseball would lead off the event. This wonderful project has inescapable Atlanta roots under the guidance of Linda Selig and Lynda Walker who were able to birth this film after wonderful fund raising events in Atlanta, in Los Angeles, at the Major League Baseball winter meeting, as well as other events too numerous to mention. Without their energy, it is unlikely that this movie would have been made.

    Their energy was critical to the film; however, the subject itself tapped into wonderful memories, particularly for those first generation Americans and their children. It seems like all of us grew up with baseball memories – memories that unified our families, memories that make us smile.

    First generation Americans had little money and a great sense of wonderment. They wanted to be part of the American experience, and baseball offered just that. Jewish Americans could go to the ballpark and cheer shoulder to shoulder with the rest of the community. We could listen to those elegant announcers, Harwell and Allen and Barber, all Southerners, and we knew that they were talking to us. You did not have to be big or particularly strong to play baseball. We loved Koufax for his ability, but didn’t we also love him for his art, his intellect and for his discipline?

    There were wonderful players like Moe Berg who swore that he was a spy, and made a career out of being an intellectual third string catcher. The entire Jewish community rooted for Hank Greenberg and cheered each home run. He was us and we were him.

    Baseball was simply part of our culture. Joe Haas, whose family represented Leo Frank, once told me about his stickball exploits. Rabbi Arnold Goodman listened to the ball games on the porch with his father.  Cecil Alexander explained to me how he’d jump the train to watch the almost mythic Atlanta Crackers.

    My friend, Michael Meyer, explained to me how fondly he remembered going to Cubs games in the 1950s with his father and grandfather. He could express his opinion and debate the intricacies of the game. His grandfather and father loved this most American of sports and Mike’s stories mirror memories most of us have. Baseball was multi-generational and its nuances appealed to this new audience. It was “the” American sport and was embraced warmly by the Jewish community.

    “Jews and Baseball,” in addition to leaving the audience smiling, will be the catalyst for many conversations that may start with “I remember when …” If art is meant, in part, to cause a reaction, to evoke a passion, then this movie will fulfill its mission.

    By Abe Schear
  • Complicated Politics: Israel

                   I just returned from a ten day trip to Israel and, from the Israeli point of view, it would be fair to say there is consensus on a number of issues:

    (1)               President Obama has been, at best, disappointing.
    (2)               Prime Minister Netanyahu has no real willingness to make any bold decisions.
    (3)               There are no identifiable new Israeli political leaders on the horizon.
    (4)               Israelis better understand the lower arc of US influence than perhaps we do.
     
    Israelis love to talk politics so it was interesting that so few really wanted to discuss President Obama. We did, in our meetings with lawyers and real estate investors, meet one person who thought our president was “ok”, however, that was the zenith of positive opinion. Opinions spiraled downward quickly with person after person feeling that President Obama does not understand the complexity of the issues or, if he does, does not really care about the Israeli dilemma. For sure, the rigidness of the Bush presidency is missed and former President Bush is exceedingly well regarded in Israel.
     
    Close behind the Israeli general disdain for President Obama is a discomfort with their Prime Minister. They are likely not quite as negative but they are gravely concerned that he offers few useful ideas or any true statesman quality. He is routinely analyzed as being mostly interested in staying in power, concerning himself more with his coalition than with any desire to achieve or be bold. He likely stays in power in no small part due to the lack of good alternatives.
     
    Any analysis of Israeli politics includes a summary of who is next, what are the alternatives. Here, those who opined were plainly gloomy. Barak has, in the opinions of most, seen his time come and gone. Livni has already crested, seen as an honest, weak and naïve politician, one who will forever be incapable of achieving leadership. The future leaders are, for the most part, unidentifiable. They certainly seem unable to, in the short term, excite the Israeli voters and there is a fundamental dismay that politics attracts individuals who are quirky or somehow morally unacceptable.
     
    Overlaying all of this is the arc of US influence. With President Obama just finishing his India – Indonesia - G20 trip, one which was perhaps as bad as any presidential trip in recent memory, it is not lost on the Israeli citizenry that our global influence is reduced, that our ability to influence is less than ever (at least since 9-11), and that Russia and China will surely complicate the global scene. That inescapable conclusion lessens the ability of the U S to influence and, while it might offer some new creative solutions particularly given Israeli’s economic ties to these other powerhouses, the issues surely become more complex.
     
    Politics is, of course, always complicated in Israel yet sometimes the future is modestly predictable. This is, sadly, not one of those times.
     
    Abe Schear is a columnist and views expressed in Schear Musings represent the opinions of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of www.AtlantaJewishNews.com.
    By ABE SCHEAR
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