An Award Well-Deserved for Jeff Robbins

by Daniel E. Levenson, ALM
May 26, 2010

As I was driving home last night, from the American Jewish Committee’s Human Rights Award Dinner, I was listening to the BBC in the car. After a few minutes a report came on about an Israeli air strike that was carried out earlier in the day in response to a Palestinian bomb and mortar attack from Gaza. As I listened to the news, I couldn’t help but think of what Jeff Robbins, the lawyer, writer and long-term human rights advocate who was honored at the dinner, said about the cycle of violence in the Middle East, the ways in which terrorist groups help to fuel the conflict and the myopic view that the rest of the world seems to take when it is innocent Israelis, who are dying at the hands of terrorists, while doing nothing more than going about the ordinary tasks of everyday life.

Earlier in the evening, in his remarks before a crowd of over 400 people gathered at the Seaport Hotel in Boston, Mr. Robbins asked several times why, when the topic of human rights in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict comes up, so few people are concerned with the human rights of innocent Israeli civilians not to be the victim of rocket and suicide bomb attacks? I, for one, thought this was a pretty good question. I have often written of my belief in a two-state solution, but I believe equally in the right of Israel to defend its citizens, and I think that what Mr. Robbins had to say made a lot of sense. His suggestion that the fence has improved security within Israel also rang true with me, both from my own personal experiences in Israel and from the noticeable decrease in suicide bomb attacks since the barrier was erected.

I have attended other AJC events in Boston in the past, and one of the things that has always impressed me about this particular Jewish organization is its ability to draw an incredibly diverse crowd and to create content for their events which is accessible and interesting to everyone in the room, including, I would imagine, non-Jews and people who may not be particular well-versed about Israel or Jewish history. At last night’s event, for example, attendees ranged from Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, who spoke briefly and congratulated Mr. Robbins on his achievement, to  representatives of the Catholic Church and consular officials from nations including Turkey, France, Portugal, Greece, and of course, Israel. There were also a number of prominent politicians in attendance, including Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley and representatives from a wide range of Jewish organizations, including the David Project, the Anti-Defamation league, the World Zionist Organization and Hadassah.

At a time when there seems to be so much tension within the American Jewish community when it comes to discussing Israel, it was nice to see the leaders of so many different Jewish organizations come together to honor Mr. Robbins and the work of the AJC, and to share such a moment with representatives from such a wide variety of other ethnic, religious and national communities.

In an evening packed with praise for the work of the AJC and Mr. Robbins, there were several speakers who offered quite moving accounts of the ways that the organizations and the man have made a difference in their lives. But it was Mr. Robbins’s own words which I think will stay with me as I continue to write about Israel and the possibilities of peace. The idea that peace is something we should endeavor tirelessly to achieve, but not at the expense of innocent Israelis or the existence of the State of Israel, was at  the heart of the message Mr. Robbins shared with the audience last night, and it is one that I personally believe should be spread far and wide.

Copyright Daniel E. Levenson 2010