A dozen or so years ago I was thrilled to find myself as a professional in the service of the first Jewish Federation in North America to provide a funding grant for a program in Israel that included both Jewish and Arab children. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, the decision of the Jewish Federation of San Francisco to offer financial assistance to a Jerusalem based pre-school program that accepted both, Jewish and Palestinian children touched a nerve in a few people.

I myself fielded a phone call from a local Holocaust survivor who to this day still writes and pays to have anti-Arab diatribes published in Jewish newspapers across the U.S.: “Why is the Federation giving my money to the enemy of the Jewish people?” he demanded.  “We’re not giving money to any enemy of the Jewish people.  We’re helping to fund a pre-school program that includes both Jewish and non-Jewish…