Mediocrates
07-30-2006, 11:07 AM
http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/newscontent.php3?artid=12750&offset=&B1=1&author=Carolyn%20Slutsky&issuedates=&month=07&day=28&year=2006&issuedate=20060127&keyword=
The New Bar Talk: Fighting For Israel
Advocacy group brings together unaffiliated 20-somethings for beer and talking points on the conflict. Carolyn Slutsky - Staff Writer
On an industrial stretch of West 29th Street, amid a private investigator’s office, a slew of art galleries and the Hudson River, about 400 young people who looked like they had just stepped out of “Sex and the City” gathered last Thursday night to learn about Israel.
The main event was “Fight Night,” the latest awareness-raising fundraiser of Fuel for Truth (www.fuelfortruth.org) (http://www.fuelfortruth.org%29), a five-year-old nonprofit organization based in New York that seeks to combat media bias and disseminate information about the Middle East to people between the ages of 18 and 34.
“This city is exactly what Hamas and Hezbollah want to put an end to,” Joseph Richards, FFT’s executive director told the crowd as he kicked off the party, billed as “Fuel For Truth vs. Hamas: Stop the Era of Terror.”
“They don’t understand the taste of freedom,” Richards said.
This was not your daddy’s Jewish fundraiser. Sol, the hip Westside nightclub where the event was held, was decorated in Everlast boxing paraphernalia. Guests were given boxing glove key chains and dog tags at the door. Raffle prizes included a top-of-the-line cell phone, yoga gear and a pair of boxing gloves signed by Sugar Ray Leonard.
The feisty theme was reflected in the tenor of the event. Speaking to the crowd, Fight Night organizers said they were driven by a historic commitment to fight terrorism and anti-Semitism.
“A lot of us have said ‘never again,’ but we never thought we’d have to act upon that vow in this generation,” said Richards. “It’s time.”
FFT attracts a wide array of people. Its membership is comprised mostly of religious and non-religious Jews while events attract Jews and non-Jews alike. Among FFT’s members are club promoters, actors and others who did not climb the ranks of Hillel and are often unfamiliar with the nuances of Judaism and Israel.
While some people at the event said they attended because they heard it would be a good time, the group says that by casting a wide net they are bound to catch a few new recruits.
“We try to find people who will take time out of going to the gym, starting their own business or drinking with friends to disseminate simple facts about Israel,” said Erik Levis, a volunteer with FFT. “We want someone to be able to walk into a bar or a club and say ‘here’s why Israel matters.’”
FFT’s organizers found that Israel matters a lot to young people, particularly since the recent outbreak of war and the heightened media attention to the region. Richards, the organization’s only paid employee, said he was revising his speech daily as new developments unfolded in Israel and Lebanon, and the group changed their slogan at the last minute to include Hezbollah among their list of foes.
“I hope they have the veil lifted about how the media portrays Israel, and that they support her as a democracy,” Richards, who was an actor before he joined FFT, told The Jewish Week of the people who attended the event. “It’s going to be ridiculous about how much America has to support Israel,” going forward, he said.
Ehav Eliyahu, a modern Orthodox Jew, volunteered at the event and said he was happy to be part of promoting an accurate picture of Israel to those who had not visited the Jewish homeland, as he has. “You only hear about Israel when something bad happens,” he said. “You don’t hear what’s going on with the average person.”
Seth Gillston, who works with FFT’s “boot camp,” a 10-week training program for volunteers who want to work more closely as advocates within the organization, said the group tries to fill a void in the New York Jewish world by reaching people across all religious affiliations on a mostly social, secular level.
“It’s easier to talk about a complex conflict in a social setting, with a beer in your hand,” said Gillston.
Some FFT volunteers also travel with the “Old Skool Campus Program” to speak with college students about their ideas.
In his speech, Richards expressed his belief that America and Israel are fighting the same enemies, and that they have to stand united against world terrorism. He also outlined some of FFT’s talking points, including that in the summer of 2000, Palestinians rejected Israel’s offer of 97 percent of the land they claim to want to control, and that Israel, like America, is a democracy.
Richards told the group assembled on the dance floor that he got involved with FFT after losing Jewish and Muslim friends on 9/11. “Just because I’m pro-Israel it doesn’t mean I’m anti-Arab or anti-Muslim,” Richards said. “We are one-sided, but which side are we on? The side of humanity.”
The minute the main event concluded, the chairs were whisked away and the strobe lights and booming music started up, with people talking about what they had heard and relaxing on the dance floor.
Meredith Bissu, who went on a birthright israel trip earlier this summer, said she came to the event looking for a way to channel the energy she felt after visiting Israel. After the speeches she headed over to sign up for boot camp, the idea of learning more about Israel and becoming an informed advocate an enticing prospect.
“I always cared about my heritage and where I came from,” she said, “but everything feels so much closer now and I want to help out as much as I can.”
Jing Wang, a non-Jew who minored in Jewish studies in college, said she feels Israel is the political center of the world, the root of problems and innovations, and was also interested in joining the boot camp to expand her knowledge.
“A lot of non-profits collect information but don’t disseminate it,” she said. “If you have the passion yourself, it’s inevitable that you’ll influence your family.”
http://www.fuelfortruth.org/
The New Bar Talk: Fighting For Israel
Advocacy group brings together unaffiliated 20-somethings for beer and talking points on the conflict. Carolyn Slutsky - Staff Writer
On an industrial stretch of West 29th Street, amid a private investigator’s office, a slew of art galleries and the Hudson River, about 400 young people who looked like they had just stepped out of “Sex and the City” gathered last Thursday night to learn about Israel.
The main event was “Fight Night,” the latest awareness-raising fundraiser of Fuel for Truth (www.fuelfortruth.org) (http://www.fuelfortruth.org%29), a five-year-old nonprofit organization based in New York that seeks to combat media bias and disseminate information about the Middle East to people between the ages of 18 and 34.
“This city is exactly what Hamas and Hezbollah want to put an end to,” Joseph Richards, FFT’s executive director told the crowd as he kicked off the party, billed as “Fuel For Truth vs. Hamas: Stop the Era of Terror.”
“They don’t understand the taste of freedom,” Richards said.
This was not your daddy’s Jewish fundraiser. Sol, the hip Westside nightclub where the event was held, was decorated in Everlast boxing paraphernalia. Guests were given boxing glove key chains and dog tags at the door. Raffle prizes included a top-of-the-line cell phone, yoga gear and a pair of boxing gloves signed by Sugar Ray Leonard.
The feisty theme was reflected in the tenor of the event. Speaking to the crowd, Fight Night organizers said they were driven by a historic commitment to fight terrorism and anti-Semitism.
“A lot of us have said ‘never again,’ but we never thought we’d have to act upon that vow in this generation,” said Richards. “It’s time.”
FFT attracts a wide array of people. Its membership is comprised mostly of religious and non-religious Jews while events attract Jews and non-Jews alike. Among FFT’s members are club promoters, actors and others who did not climb the ranks of Hillel and are often unfamiliar with the nuances of Judaism and Israel.
While some people at the event said they attended because they heard it would be a good time, the group says that by casting a wide net they are bound to catch a few new recruits.
“We try to find people who will take time out of going to the gym, starting their own business or drinking with friends to disseminate simple facts about Israel,” said Erik Levis, a volunteer with FFT. “We want someone to be able to walk into a bar or a club and say ‘here’s why Israel matters.’”
FFT’s organizers found that Israel matters a lot to young people, particularly since the recent outbreak of war and the heightened media attention to the region. Richards, the organization’s only paid employee, said he was revising his speech daily as new developments unfolded in Israel and Lebanon, and the group changed their slogan at the last minute to include Hezbollah among their list of foes.
“I hope they have the veil lifted about how the media portrays Israel, and that they support her as a democracy,” Richards, who was an actor before he joined FFT, told The Jewish Week of the people who attended the event. “It’s going to be ridiculous about how much America has to support Israel,” going forward, he said.
Ehav Eliyahu, a modern Orthodox Jew, volunteered at the event and said he was happy to be part of promoting an accurate picture of Israel to those who had not visited the Jewish homeland, as he has. “You only hear about Israel when something bad happens,” he said. “You don’t hear what’s going on with the average person.”
Seth Gillston, who works with FFT’s “boot camp,” a 10-week training program for volunteers who want to work more closely as advocates within the organization, said the group tries to fill a void in the New York Jewish world by reaching people across all religious affiliations on a mostly social, secular level.
“It’s easier to talk about a complex conflict in a social setting, with a beer in your hand,” said Gillston.
Some FFT volunteers also travel with the “Old Skool Campus Program” to speak with college students about their ideas.
In his speech, Richards expressed his belief that America and Israel are fighting the same enemies, and that they have to stand united against world terrorism. He also outlined some of FFT’s talking points, including that in the summer of 2000, Palestinians rejected Israel’s offer of 97 percent of the land they claim to want to control, and that Israel, like America, is a democracy.
Richards told the group assembled on the dance floor that he got involved with FFT after losing Jewish and Muslim friends on 9/11. “Just because I’m pro-Israel it doesn’t mean I’m anti-Arab or anti-Muslim,” Richards said. “We are one-sided, but which side are we on? The side of humanity.”
The minute the main event concluded, the chairs were whisked away and the strobe lights and booming music started up, with people talking about what they had heard and relaxing on the dance floor.
Meredith Bissu, who went on a birthright israel trip earlier this summer, said she came to the event looking for a way to channel the energy she felt after visiting Israel. After the speeches she headed over to sign up for boot camp, the idea of learning more about Israel and becoming an informed advocate an enticing prospect.
“I always cared about my heritage and where I came from,” she said, “but everything feels so much closer now and I want to help out as much as I can.”
Jing Wang, a non-Jew who minored in Jewish studies in college, said she feels Israel is the political center of the world, the root of problems and innovations, and was also interested in joining the boot camp to expand her knowledge.
“A lot of non-profits collect information but don’t disseminate it,” she said. “If you have the passion yourself, it’s inevitable that you’ll influence your family.”
http://www.fuelfortruth.org/