Campaign launch a success

ARTHUR WOLAK

Last week, some 1,500 community members came to hear Harvard law professor and renowned defence attorney Alan Dershowitz at the Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts.

Helping launch the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver’s annual fundraising campaign on Sept. 20, Dershowitz sat down for an hour-long question-and-answer session moderated by local physician and media personality, Dr. Art Hister. The questions were submitted in advance and focused on such topics as the possibility of peace between Israel and the Palestinians, American politics, antisemitism and Jewish continuity, with some of the evening focusing on the threat of Iran to Middle East security.

Dershowitz maintained that the Palestinians’ unwillingness to make peace a decade ago has marginalized them. He said, “They’ve taken themselves from the centre of the Middle East conflict to the periphery [and] Iran has taken over that vacuum and is now at the centre.”

Back then, in return for Israel’s offer of a Palestinian state with 95 percent of the West Bank, 100 percent of Gaza, a divided Jerusalem and a $35 billion restitution package, the Palestinians could have offered Israel peace on each border, but what kind of peace can they offer Israelis today? he asked. According to Dershowitz, “Not peace in the north because it’s controlled by Hezbollah, which is controlled by Iran. Not peace in the southwest [because] that’s controlled by Hamas, which is also controlled by Iran. Certainly not peace with Iran and eliminating the threat of nuclear annihilation. All [the Palestinians] can offer Israel is a ‘modest piece’ peace. A piece of peace on the West Bank, which is the least dangerous place, particularly now with the security barrier up and no acts of terrorism.” Dershowitz concluded that, while the Palestinians are asking for more today, they are offering much less.

According to Dershowitz, “Iran is the smartest adversary Israel has ever faced, and one of the smartest adversaries the United States has ever faced.” Given American involvement in ground wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Dershowitz said that Iran does not fear that the United States will enter a third war by attacking them. “They are not going to build a bomb right now, [because] they don’t have to,” he said about Iran. “They’re going to develop civilian nuclear energy but they’re going to do it in a way that will make the civilian technology easily transferable to military use, but they’re not going to make that ultimate step because they know that ultimate step crosses a red line that the international community won’t accept.”

Dershowitz suggested, “Israel has a shorter red line than the United States does.” Therefore, he said, he believes “Iran is going to try and create a situation where it crosses Israel’s red line but doesn’t cross the United States’ red line” – because of the United States’ greater military capacity to retaliate – in order “to create a conflict between the United States and Israel.”

If the United States could give Israel assurance that it will not be continuously threatened with nuclear annihilation, Dershowitz said, “Israel would do a great deal in terms of giving up and even compromising some of its security needs on the West Bank.” However, Dershowitz argued, “If Israel does take preventive action and does attack Iran’s nuclear reactor, it will be acting within its legal rights,” although this comes at the risk of retaliatory attacks by Hezbollah and Hamas.

Although he was hesitant to compare anything to the Second World War, Dershowitz suggested that the current political situation is somewhat analogous to that which faced the United Kingdom before the conflict. In 1936-37, Neville Chamberlain was considered a good domestic prime minister, but lost his reputation internationally by ignoring the rising threat of Nazi Germany, said Dershowitz. Chamberlain ignored Winston Churchill’s advice to take preventive military action against Germany – that both the United Kingdom and France were entitled under the Treaty of Versailles – to prevent Germany from building up a large army, and possibly preventing the eruption of the war. Dershowitz feared that President Barack Obama – for whom Dershowitz voted – may go down in history “as the Neville Chamberlain of the 21st century if he does nothing to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.”

Dershowitz said that the best situation would be for the United States and Saudi Arabia to have joint military exercises, which would convey to the Iranians that, together, “Saudi Arabia, a Muslim country, and the United States would not permit Iran to develop nuclear weapons and, from Saudi airbases, the United States would prevent that from happening.” Dershowitz argued that, if the Iranians came to believe that was true, sanctions would likely be effective.

He cited as an example the Iraqi decision to dismantle its nuclear program under Sadaam Hussein’s rule when Hussein believed that the United States would attack. Similarly, Libya dismantled its nuclear program, he said. At the present time, however, “there is no chance that Iran will do that because Iran fears nothing,” Dershowitz warned. “They do not fear the United States because they don’t think the United States would do it, and they don’t fear Israel because they don’t feel Israel has the capacity to do any more than setting back the [nuclear] program for a short period of time.”

After speaking briefly on all of the aforementioned topics – as well as commenting on the dozen or so protesters who stood outside the centre – Dershowitz concluded by singling out the Canadian Jewish community for its fundraising efforts and contribution to the sustenance of Judaism in North America. He stressed, “A strong Jewish community in Canada and in the United States is Israel’s best weapon.”

Other events of the evening included Beth Israel Cantor Michael Zoosman singing the Canadian and Israeli anthems, a short video about the reach and importance of the annual Federation campaign, and three Birthright Monologues, delivered with humor and sincerity by Birthright Israel alumni Ruvym Gilman, Daliya Karnofsky and Boris Zilberman. As well, campaign chair Mark James welcomed the crowd and reported on the promising start of the campaign.

Federation chief executive officer Mark Gurvis echoed James’ comments in his weekly e-mail, noting that the success to date has been “due in part to the Challenge Fund – an incentive provided by a group of our community’s philanthropic leadership. Seven families have come together to create a $200,000 challenge fund through which every increase from other donors to our campaign is being matched by one-third. With that foundation, we’ve already closed 32 percent of campaign gifts and continue to run a consistent 17 percent increase on the gifts that have closed.”

Federation plans to have the entire Dershowitz Q&A available for download for those who missed him live.

Arthur Wolak is a freelance writer in Vancouver.

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