Dissident Veteran For Peace

Below are some excerpts from a recent article by Joachim Martillo. I met Joachim last year at a talk by Joseph Massad and Rashid Khalidi. I have highlighted in bold several phrases that I think are particularly helpful in illuminating Messinger's and AJWS' motivations.

On April 27, 2007, Ruth Messinger, president and executive director of the American Jewish World Service (AJWS), was welcomed by the Harvard Jewish students' organization, Hillel, for an inspirational talk. Hillel often hosts these "invitation only" events where Jewish students can connect with important figures in politics, arts or the media. Ruth Messinger was described by the organizers as someone who "has combined a tireless commitment to public service and social justice with deep reflection on the nexus between Jewish and universal values." The talk focused on how to use human rights language to promote a positive image of "Jewishness."

Messinger described how each generation in her family became more "Jewish" than the one before. Her mother, Miriam Messinger served as director of public relations for the Jewish Theological Seminary in the 1930s, and was instrumental in developing Messinger's passion for her own ethnic group.

Messinger described how out of place she felt being Jewish in home-grown America, when she attended the Oklahoma School of Social Work. She said it was like going to live in a third world country like Zimbabwe. Because she was the only Jewish activist in Oklahoma, she was called after graduation to work for the Democratic Party.

Messinger fundraises for lobbying-oriented humanitarian aid through the American Jewish World Service in New York, which is collecting money for "Save Darfur." Last year she raised approximately $31 million of which Darfur was to receive approximately $3 million. Most of the money donated for relief and development in Sudan was channeled back into Jewish lobbying efforts, Messinger admitted with very little shame, adding that AJWS has no real way to do anything for Sudan. She urged Jewish students to participate in "Save Darfur" as a way to get connected and create a "presence" in world "humanitarianism," which would engage in a coordinated Jewish effort of organizing, electing and legislating.

Students interested in electoral politics were advised to study social work, to learn how people tick. Messinger suggested that a person hoping to enter politics should hold three or four different jobs in very different fields. Avoid law school because the debt involved in getting a law degree is an obstacle to community service, she advised. Messinger mentioned that NYU forgives student loans for people going into Social Law.

Life is a work of art, Messinger concluded. Every step counts towards your future goals.

Joachim Martillo is an expert in Jewish studies and a Harvard alumnus. A computer engineer, he helped install the first internet communications equipment in Occupied Palestine.

See also:

• Eve Ensler--"Lion of Judah"
• Iraq War Will Worsen--Take Two
  
• Darfur Diversion by Bendib
• "The Politics of Naming: Genocide, Civil War, Insurgency" by Mahmood Mamdani in the London Review of Books
• "The Politics of Naming: Darfur and Iraq," Mordecai Briemberg's interview with Mahmood Mamdani (MP3 audio file)
• "Darfur needs peace, not peacekeepers" by Robert Ménard and Stephen Smith in the Los Angeles Times
• "Out of Iraq, Into Darfur?" by Gary Leupp in Counterpunch
• U.N. Troops Are Not The Answer--Tragedy in Darfur: Unraveling the Real Causes by Monica Hill in The Black Commentator

Labels: Darfur, Khalil Bendib, Ruth Messinger, Sudan, violence