Looking over the blog archive, I expected to find an anti-Young Israel concert rant. But I didn't, so I'll present it here.

The National Council of Young Israel throws a concert in Central Park every year on the same day as the Salute to Israel Parade. The two are unconnected, but I guess the idea is that you should go to the parade and then head up to the concert (they overlap slightly).

All well and good. But it still makes me mad. First, the parade is a truly universal Jewish thing. Everyone comes, and everyone has a good time. I even just got an email from the Jewish Republicans saying that both they and the Jewish Democrats will be marching this year (not together, I suppose, although that would be nice too). (Even though I'm volunteering, maybe I can still hook up with the Republicans- and YU- somehow.) Even the anti-Zionists come out from under their rocks to enjoy the day (I've blogged about that already).

So: Why does there have to be another event? Ah, but that's not all. Perusing an ad for the concert, one is struck by how parochial the event is. The parade? All are welcome. The concert? Well, just see who it's dedicated to. (I'm paraphrasing, but not exagerating. I'm only listing a few dedicatees. Oh, and it's not like I don't agree with all these ideas, but see below.)

-The anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem and the independence of the State of Israel. In that order. That speaks volumes right there.

-The Jews of Hebron, Yehuda (funny, I thought it included Hebron), Shomron, Greater Jerusalem (they mean Jerusalem past the Green Line, of course, but don't want to say that, and so lump in Har Nof et al), Gaza, Golan, the Jordan Valley (huh), etc. etc. If you live in Haifa, Holon, Tel Aviv, Be'er Sheva, Eilat, Ashdod, Petach Tikva, Rishon L'Tziyon, Ramat HaSharon, or Bnei Brak, well, you're outta luck. No concert for you.

And the kicker:

-The 36.6 million Jews (5 million in the West, 31.6 million in the Far East) who want to make aliyah, especially to Yesha (natch). Among them are 20 million Patans (sic, what's meant are Pathans) and 5 million Keren (sic, perhaps giving a more Jewish flavor to the Karen people).

This requires much analysis. There are 13 million Jews in the world. Five million are in Israel, and a handful in the Far East. Five million are in the US. That leaves three million elsewhere in "the West"; even if all (in France, the UK, the former USSR, Argentina, etc.) wanted to make aliyah (what's stopping them?), that means that there are two million in the US who wish to do so (again, what's keeping them/us?). Right.

So. Where do these mythical (literally, as in the Ten Tribes) 30 million Jews of the Far East come from? Of course, it's clear what's meant: The Amishav organization, actually headed by a cousin of mine, has been finding many lost Jews- or people who claim to be (there's room for skepticism, let's be honest)- around the world. There's a bit of a contretemps in Israel, as many are moving to Yesha, making leftists who wish to keep Jews out of there unhappy.

But, even allowing for all the claims being made, the concert people are being just plain dishonest with these numbers. The people claiming to be Jews are only a relative handful of the millions of Pathan and Karen and Kashmiri and even Bnei Menashe peoples. Most are quite happy where they are.

So why is the claim made? Well, one has to go to the last item on the list of dedications:

-No to a PLO terrorist state. (Bold in the original, also interesting is the waffling through the use of "PLO terrorist" instead of "Palestinian" or even "PLO.")

Now, being the rabid Kahanist I am, I'm just as opposed to a Palestinian state as the next man- more, as we'll see. But this type of declaration always irks me. After all, there are millions of Palestinians in the Territories, and more in neighboring countries (not to mention in Israel itself). What're you going to do with them? And here's where the opposition to a Palestinian state breaks down, not only among Likudniks but among Young Israelites. They have no plans. Say what you want about Kahanists, but at least they have ideas.

So what are they left with? A pipedream that there are millions of potential immigrants to Israel sitting there somewhere, just waiting to come in and overwhelm the Palestinians with their numbers. (Not that that would solve matters either, but hey- it's a pipedream anyway.) Oh, they'd never dream of expelling Arabs. And so they turn to the "Patans" and the "Keren." Yuck.

The concert, as it happens, is always quite a balagan, with people wandering around and things being generally confusing. Anyway, this year, if people ask me (as they always do) where the concert is, I'll either play dumb or tell them not to go.

Ah, who'm I fooling? My nicer instincts (yes, I do have them) will win out, and I'll tell them. I guess.

More later, I hope. Now to call a lovely young woman and see if we can go out.