Israel, American Jews – familiar to Palestinians

Yalla Peace: Christmas is more than a religious holiday to Christians, as opposed to Hanukkah for Jews and Ramadan for Muslims.

By RAY HANANIA
George Bush 311 (photo credit: REUTERS)
George Bush 311
(photo credit: REUTERS)
When I heard that Israel’s Immigrant Absorption Ministry had launched an advertising campaign in America to convince ex-Israelis living in the US that marrying and mixing with American Jews was bad, it made me wonder because it sounded so familiar – in a strange way.
The message of the million-dollar campaign was to warn these Israelis that their American-born children could lose their Israeli and Jewish identities if they were raised in the United States.
It was kind of an ugly message about America, but even more to the point it wasn’t clear what precipitated the campaign at this time. Was it because we have entered the Christmas season and many American Jews have conflicted views about the holiday celebrations?
There’s a big “political correctness” debate among mainstream Americans about whether people should be “sensitive” to non-Christians. Some argue that instead of saying the Christian-specific “Merry Christmas,” they should say the more PC and generic “Happy Holidays.” I say them both. I even say “Happy Hanukka,” although the Jewish holiday creates even more controversy. First, how is Hanukah really spelled correctly, anyway? Hanukah? Hanukkah? Hanukka?
I don’t know how many times I’ve heard American Jews – not Israelis – eager to explain to others that Hanukka is a “minor and somewhat unimportant holiday.” American friends, including one who immigrated to Israel, have told me they don’t celebrate Hanukka. “It’s not like Christmas,” they say.
I got the impression that they were right when I was in Israel one December. I didn’t see a lot of evidence of an out-of-control “Happy Hanukka” industry suffocating shopping centers, retail stores and everyday Israelis, or street lights draped in banners.
I often hear the same thing said by Muslims about Ramadan. It’s not “Happy Ramadan.” It’s “Ramadan Mubarak.” Ramadan is a religious period when Muslims fast during the day and eat at night – so much so that many Muslims I know put on weight during the important religious commemoration.
IN CONTRAST, Christmas is more than just a religious holiday to Christians. It is a big deal, specifically because of the non-religious commercialization of the event. It’s a lifestyle that takes over the early winter months. You can’t walk through an American shopping mall without encountering abundant reminders of how Christmas has been commercialized: Santa Claus trying to sell deodorant, elves complaining about the lack of union representation or even the right to vote on TV commercials, or people dressing up $40,000 new cars in Christmas wrapping and red ribbons.
It’s hard for anyone – atheists included – to not find themselves swept up in the commercialization of Christmas. It’s about money, not religion. Businesses base their next year’s survival on how they “do” in the month between Thanksgiving and Christmas. That also creates an intense social pressure, which is why a lot of Jews in America buy Christmas trees and decorate them with Stars of David, dreidels and images of the Maccabees and redub them “Hanukka bushes.”
I can sympathize with how some Israelis view the United States and its lifestyle as being a threat to their Jewish way of life. Yet, as a Palestinian constantly showered with criticism of Israel from my own community, hearing someone argue that American Jews are a bad influence on Israel struck me in an uncomfortable way. After all that America has done for Israel, wouldn’t you would think Israelis would want to marry American Jews rather than make the argument that raising their children in America is a bad thing. After all that America does for Israel, wouldn’t you expect Israelis to be nicer about America’s Jewish community? Why do some Israelis think that raising Jewish children in America is such a bad thing?
Maybe the ads were created by a non-American Jewish Israeli who just doesn’t understand the role American Jews have played in Israel’s creation and fundraising. The largest PAC is not called “EIPAC” – the European-Israel Public Affairs Committee. It’s called AIPAC for a reason.
Or maybe Israelis are just super-sensitive about everything, more so than American Jews who live in an America inundated by the excessive commercialization of the Christmas holidays and where non-Christian holidays are sometimes pushed aside?
THOUGH I certainly don’t claim to be a scholar on Judaism, I do know some things about American Jewish life. I grew up in a “Jewish” neighborhood – Arabs and Jews actually lived in the same neighborhoods in America until the 1967 war. My wife Alison and son Aaron, as you know, are Jewish. My daughter from another marriage, Haifa, is Catholic. I’m Lutheran and Orthodox, depending where I am and what company I happen to be keeping at any given time.
I didn’t put up Christmas trees when Carolyn was young and we don’t put up a “Hanukka bush” now, but I do know that Americans get very upset when someone, trying to be sensitive to non-Christians, says “Happy Holidays” instead of singing enthusiastic “Merry Christmas” greetings and other holiday hallelujahs.
These are weighty issues that may be too serious for even me, a Palestinian perplexed by how some Israelis view American Jews.
So, knowing that I might upset Israelis and American Christians, I wish Jews a Happy Hanukka, even though it’s not that significant of a holiday, and to the rest of the non-Jews a politically correct “Happy Holidays.” And a belated Happy Ramadan, too.