“I skate to where the puck is
going to be, not where it’s been.”
-Wayne Gretsky, Hall of Fame hockey player
To have Ameinu quote the greatest hockey player of all time in a letter appealing for your support may seem odd, but we think Gretsky makes an important strategic point. Too many Jewish organizations are stuck in an old paradigm, addressing yesterday’s challenges rather than focusing on where we need to be… looking forward.
Here are three examples of Ameinu acting on this strategy:
By providing American Jewish millennials with a meaningful way to engage directly with young progressive Israelis, we give them the opportunity to develop their own relationship with Israel. After identifying this need, we created the Urban Kibbutz Social Change program together with our colleagues in Dror Israel, the Urban Kibbutz Movement. Volunteering side by side in social justice activities in Haifa will change the lives of both the American and Israeli participants.
We will reach more young people with your financial support.
The Israeli-Palestinian peace process is currently non-existent. However, there are very real needs on the ground in Israel and Palestine to both develop relationships between the two peoples and make a substantial contribution to the level of healthcare available for Palestinians. Our awareness of this critical gap inspired Ameinu to establish Project Rozana USA, an affiliate of the international non-governmental organization founded in 2013 in Australia. Since beginning our financial support, the number of West Bank Palestinians receiving transportation to hospital appointments in Israel increased by 39%. We have also granted valuable fellowships to doctors from Hebron and Ramallah to train at Hadassah and Sheba hospitals in Israel.
Only with your contribution can we meet the pressing healthcare needs on the ground in Palestine.
Several years ago the American Jewish community set up an entity to address growing anti-Israel activity on campus and in our communities. Unfortunately, there was not enough attention given to the importance of progressive pro-Israel opinion in this effort. Seeing this coming, we independently established The Third Narrative to address these issues. Our 200+ liberal academics have taken on the toughest issues of academic freedom; whether challenges come from the left in the form of academic boycotts of Israeli institutions or from the extremist right-wing Canary Mission’s development of a black list. The Third Narrative has published materials that have been downloaded in 22 countries. And this past summer a combined Third Narrative/Project Rozana team was invited to
the Presbyterian USA convention to demonstrate why joint Israeli-Palestinian activism is more effective than boycotts and anti-normalization.
Additional funding is essential to expand this effort in a significant way.
So Gretsky’s sports aphorism has served Ameinu well… we will continue to look ahead and see where the next need will be in our progressive Israel world. We hope you will make an end of year contribution and help fund Ameinu’s projects so we can remain ahead of the game, fulfilling our progressive Zionist mission.
Please click here to donate using our secured donation page, or send your check to:
Ameinu, 25 Broadway 9th Floor, New York NY 10004
Thank you and warm regards,
Kenneth Bob, President, Ameinu
