Report from the Zionist Congress in

By Esther Rodzynek, Past National President

It was my pleasure to represent Na'amat Canada as a delegate to the 37th Zionist Congress. The meeting took place in , October 20-22, 2015.The Congress is held once every five years by the World Zionist Organization, and approximately 500 attended this Congress from all over the Jewish world.

This congress was titled "Non-Stop Zionism". Over the course of the three days we were addressed by a variety of important Israeli politicians, including Prime Minister ; Leader of the Opposition Yitzhak Herzog; Nir Barkat; Chairman of the Jewish Agency Natan Sharansky; and Minister of Defence Moshe Yaalon.

Each of these speakers gave a brief overview of their roles and views on the status of their respective departments. A couple of interesting facts were news to me:

 50% of the Arabs in Jerusalem are happy with the progress and services in the city.  2500 Arab students graduated from Israeli high schools.  100,000 French Jews have recently made Aliyah.  2,000 western youths have made Aliyah in the past year.  No one from the diaspora cancelled their participation in the congress due to the current terrorist attacks

Panel discussions addressed several issues:

1. Non-Stop Zionism addressed the issues of religion and cultural Zionism. It is becoming the norm for Israelis to consider the culture of Judaism as their connection to the religion, rather than knowledge of and observance of the religion. Since the comparison of Zionism to apartheid, youths wish to remove themselves from this ideology, even though it is evident that Israel not an apartheid state. Youth prefer to use the terms "good Jew" or "pro-Israel" rather than "Zionist".

2. Responding to BDS (Boycott, Divest, Sanction) and anti-Semitism was an extremely interesting discussion. Most of our Na'amat delegates were unaware of BDS, what it stands for and how it manifests itself in the diaspora. Participants from South America did not think they were even affected by this issue.

The Israeli participant, Miri Eisen, was excellent. She talked about the media and "framing" (how Israel is perceived and portrayed in the world press).

Three levels of perception:

1. Occupation: Israel is the occupier 2. David and Goliath: Whereas once Israel and the Jews are David, we are now Goliath and the Palestinians are David. 3. Victims: Whereas we were once perceived as the victims, we are now the victor and the Palestinians are the ''victims''.

The discussion on Anti-Semitism touched on campus unrest and the rise of anti-Semitic attacks in various communities around the world.

I feel that the highlight was the program "From Altneuland to Tel Aviv'' - From the Zionist Vision to Todays Reality.

Ten buses left Jerusalem and travelled south to visit communities bordering the Gaza Strip. It was a 2.5- hour bus ride to the site of my visit, Kibbutz Nachalat Oz. This is a settlement 3.5 km from Gaza. You could see the buildings in Gaza without the help of binoculars. The 300 members of this kibbutz are seven seconds away from being hit by a rocket launched from Gaza. Iron Dome requires 10 seconds to destroy a rocket. They must therefore rely on their own lookouts, sensory fences and luck, to avoid injury. A very scary way to live. These are the true Zionists of Eretz Israel.