It was the summer of 1971. Like many Jewish teenagers growing up around NYC, my mother’s parents sent her off to sleep-away camp in upstate New York. She had gone to camp before, but this year she was old enough to be a counselor-in-training. She was excited to spend the summer with her best friend at a new camp – Camp Betar – which was promised to feature horses, a lake, and the natural beauty of the Catskill Mountains.
As the summer unfolded, things started going wrong. First, her friend broke a leg and had to stay home. Then, heading to camp alone, my mom encountered a few more disappointments: no lake, no horses, no campers for her to look after, and no bungalows. Living in a tent and spending her days mostly staring into space, she started to notice some strange occurrences.
Shooting practice at Betar
One such occurrence took place under the umbrella of the “cultural and spiritual Jewish activities” that Camp Betar advertised. Seeking distraction from her boredom, my mom decided to check out the meetings that the older campers and staff would attend. At these meetings, she discovered that they would talk rather fervently about defending Israel from the Arabs, even bragging about bombings that had taken place in the name of Zionism.
Beyond these meetings, the camp featured weapons practice for the campers on what they’d refer to as “shooting days”. They also staged kidnappings during the latest hours of the night. They would have campers patrol the territory, watching for putative anti-Semites who had infiltrated the area. Hours later, the supposed hostage would mysteriously appear with stories of having been taken away in a car.
Betar, as it turns out, is a right-wing Zionist youth movement that dates back to Eastern Europe in the 1920s. It indeed appears that they used explosives and other weaponry against Palestinian residents before Israeli statehood. Though the camp is no longer around, Betar is still an active international organization and even is affiliated with Israel’s Likud party, which is currently leading parliament there. Here is a glimpse as to what they are currently up to:
My mother tried to convince her parents to take her home. But they were going to Europe that summer so that was not a possibility.
Just remember, if you are ever looking for a camp for your child, to do some research first.
this actually happened? wtf? it might explain a lot
yes, true story.
Perhaps you might also take your own advise and do some homework. Betar assists disadvantaged children running sports camps, assisting with the Israeli “red cross”, having camps in different settings so that different experiences are provided (city kids going to the countryside learning about jewish history which unfortunately your mother didn’t find value in), learning about jewish history which you again denigrate and suggest that ensuring the camp was patro;ed was punative noting that these were also about the times when jewish children worldwide were threatened (and still occurs-note antidefamation league reports of attacks), the organisation runs in a variety of countries and ensures life long friends are created. It’s unfortunate that your mother’s decade old memories combined with your biased views denigrade a very good and valuable experience that many generations of jewish children have had. Consider what and how you write otherwise you create a warped one sided view followed by those without foundation.
The views and pictures you provide are dated (1955) and not contemporary- perhaps you should provide the current protests from arabs and left wind ideologues who just go with the latest anti jewish/anti israeli PC flavour, who want jews out of Gaza and West Bank, and who provide slogans about jewish pigs and the like. I suggest you look beyond your dated mother’s memory and your tranparent left wing ideology and not put down what you do not know about. Ask first.
Hi K,
Could one not say that Hezbollah too does charity work, education, and helps create lasting friendships?
Oh, I am glad my left-wing ideology was apparent to you.
- Justin
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