[Cz-L] Apologies and Clarifications

Hi Bruce, Hi List-members!
Apparently, the members of the Organizing Committee
and, probably, some members of the List felt offended
by my initial message, whereby I expressed how upset I
am at the fact that the 2007-reunion in Israel is used
by the WOBJ - with the consent of the Committee - to
<kidnap> the List (some of you told me the correct
word would have been <hijack>) mainly in the interest
of the Bk-er organisation and of those living in
Israel.
I still consider the hijacking aspect to be true. BUT,
if I inadvertently offended some of you – and in
particular, Bruce Reisch and/or some Committee members
who didn’t voluntary participate in the take-over by
the Bk-er organisation – please accept my sincere
apologies.
I understand that the purpose of the List is to be in
many aspects a link between all Cz-er and Bk-er Jews,
regardless of their religious and political opinions.
I explained to Mimi (by the end of June, if I remember
correctly) that I would only be interested in a new
meeting in Israel if there will be at least 20-30 % of
participants coming from abroad. Otherwise, I
certainly have no objection to an <Israeli Cz-er>
meeting within the Cz-List: it’s just that I won’t be
interested.
Now, someone accused me of being an Anti-Zionist: this
is absolutely wrong. I do have respect for all of us
including Zionists, although I’m not personaly one.
This doesn’t make me an anti-Zionist. I could feel
offended by such a misinterpretation. The only <anti->
I’m prepared to accept in respect of my opinions is
that I am an <anti-extremist> or <anti-fanatic> guy.
The problem with some Israeli (fortunately not all) is
that, due to their permanent critical situation (it’s
an understatement), they only think in terms of pros-
and cons-: it’s either black or white. I even remember
having been told, by an educated Israeli, that I have
absolutely no right to discuss nor criticize, because
I don’t live in the country. I cannot accept to have
my <esprit critique> (I know, this is typical French)
being denied, just because I don’t live in Israel.
Here, maybe, is the main reason (next to the fact that
I do not master the language) why I could never live
there at my age, despite my emotional links to Israel.
So, once more, if I offended some of you
inadvertently, please accept my apologies. I still
believe that the 2007-reunion event was <hijacked> by
the Bk-er organisation with the consent of the
committee, but I should have avoided the use of the
words <political> and <State>, because of the
potential misinterpretation. I understand the
difficulties the Committee has encountered and I thank
all its members for their time and efforts, even if I
consider they took the wrong decision. Above all, I
wish them to have a successful and Czer-culture
enriching meeting in April.
Best regards,
Charles

[Moderator's note: This topic is now closed. Any further discussion may continue privately. Moderator Bruce]
Received on 2007-01-19 12:24:39