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Civic Engagement, Identity, and Group Mobilization Final Paper

Alexander Gregory

CPP 112

Dr. Jonathan Koppell

12 May 2020
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International Friendship of Christians and Jews

The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews mobilizes members through their

forms of identity shared amongst themselves. With a variety of ways, they aid the community

ranging from local actions of helping the poor Jewish communities with holocaust survivors. To

protecting Israelis from terrorist attacks, they instill an urge to raise the level of participation in

civic engagement and further serve the community’s needs through possible political

engagement. We may show this in their “Stand for Israel” campaign, they “aim to engage people

both spiritually and politically on behalf of Israel and the Jewish people” ( “Who we are + Our

Programs + Stand For Israel”). The organization foundation began on May 16, 1983, when

“Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein founded the Holyland Fellowship of Christians and Jews to fulfill his

vision of building bridges of understanding and cooperation between Christians and Jews” (

“Who we are + About IFCJ + History”). Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein then wrote a book that

Christians then promoted, such as Dr. Pat Robertson and Dr. Jerry Falwell. Through the

collaboration of community members from all different walks of life, they managed on

September 1, 1991, to declare they were becoming officially international, in which they could

begin making even more progress towards their goals of meeting the needs of those who need it.

Identity

While speaking about the identity of an organization, it is something that doesn’t on the

outside looking in seem to be too relevant; occasionally, everyone is so different it can suggest

there are no similarities. Yet this is instead not the situation in many scenarios, identity holds

many tightly and can range from ethnicity, religion, age, along with many other infinite shared
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attributes. With the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, one prominent shared

characteristic or identity would be their religious beliefs, where they show a top-level of

dedication to Israel and the Jewish population. Though this is unique, to see those two religions

coming together to work for the common good of both communities. The powerful bond is

apparent in their mission statement, “To promote understanding between Christians and Jews,

build broad support for Israel, and replace our history of discord with a relationship marked by

dialogue, respect, and cooperation”(“Who we are + About IFCJ”). As Dr. Jonathan Koppell said,

“The key is those cross-cutting identities or cross-cutting cleavages, divisions that cut against

each other, they stop me from being completely alienated from those whom I don’t share certain

aspects of my identity. What happens is sometimes it seems like all those identities line up with

each other”. This seems to be the case in the early development of the International Fellowship

of Christians and Jews the cross-cut between the religions was Israel which allowed for full

unity.

American Democracy

The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews uses American Democracy in an

attempt to strengthen U.S. ties with Israel, as well as advocate for aid towards them. This is seen

on their website, “ The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives are key players in maintaining

Israel’s strong relationship with Washington. When elected officials visit their home districts,

they set aside time to meet with their concerned citizens and may be willing to meet with your

church or civic group”(“Act + Advocate”). This expresses their different methods, where they
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are aiming for all levels of government to maximize their potential going from indirect advocacy

committed by the members, as well as lobbying for influence in the upper levels of government.

Social Capital

Social capital, this is essential to how an organization operates effectively, and possibly

function at all. The bonds already stand before a shared identity in the form of religious beliefs,

and further solidified when the organization developed, leading to social capital to build up

through these shared characteristics, and relationships. They can use this to promote the

organization’s beliefs or further any goals such as they have done with Israel campaigns. As said

by Dr. Jonathan Koppell, “Once you have financial capital, you have the potential to do things

with that money. Well, social capital is the same idea. Social capital represents the connections,

and the relationships, and the bonds that bring communities together, and it allows us to know

each other, to know what our aspirations are, to know what our hopes are, to see where we have

common interests and common goals”(Koppell 02:58-03:18). The accumulation of social capital

is one of the critical things to have occurred with an organization for progression because it is the

driving force behind almost every social movement. As we see with IFCJ, it’s those foundational

roots that hold them together, as culture is a powerful binding unit for individuals.

Civic, Political, and Social Engagement

The aim of an organization is typically towards social, or if need be political change. This

is through the civic or social engagement of an organization, in terms of the IFCJ they explicitly

state how they want their members to perform social engagement, with raised awareness when
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they say, “spreading the word in your community can take many forms. On an informal level,

make an effort to discuss Israel with people you see every day. Tell your neighbors, friends, and

coworkers how you feel, and try to explain why you believe Israel and America are such good

friends and why America must support the Jewish state” (“Act + Advocate”). These statements

provided conclude that the organization has a more defined set of goals. The other way to engage

through the group would be to visit Israel, where you lend aid in multiple projects on a

humanitarian basis. Their group having so direct of a goal has the potential of doing much more

when engaged civically or socially, because of the beliefs becoming united.

Mobilization

Mobilization is essential to pushing others towards change with the IFCJ more recent

showings of their mobilization in the form of aid were in 2018 when “Christian communities in

the Middle East are being decimated. ​The Fellowship​ helps fund a medical clinic on the ground

for Christian refugees who fled to Jordan and provide food and housing assistance” ( “Who We

Are + History”). With them being a not-for-profit organization, they’re based mostly off of the

support from members causing their actions to be a massive undertaking per-mission, which if

you take into account their track record of missions displays how effective they mobilize the

Jewish and Christian communities.

Conclusion

The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews is a not for profit organization which aims

to “promote understanding between Christians and Jews..”(“ Who We Are + About IFCJ”). Their
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goals are political and social change for Israel, as well as reduce tensions between Christians and

Jews. The members are guided through two possible pathways, which are public service

employment, in ways such as spreading awareness of Israel to your community. The other main

path would be Political engagement in which you would hope to group up and lobby local

politicians towards supporting causes relating to the relationship between Israel and the United

States. For this organization, the identity being so deep of a connection to whom they are, as well

as sharing the passion for Israel, allows them to work on a higher level of cooperation than

expected from an outside perspective, and without this shared identity it would be more

challenging to achieve what they have.

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Works Cited

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Christians and Jews,​ 2020,

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“Association and Social Capital.” Youtube. CPP112x - Service Year Alliance. 18 July 2018,

https://youtu.be/u_SUOk6iIsY​. Accessed 1 May 2020.

“The National Service Movement.” Youtube. CPP112x - Service Year Alliance. 19 July 2018,

https://youtu.be/sjclmvtEchM​. Accessed 2 May 2020.

“IFCJ Investment in Bridge Building Pays off for Israel amid Coronavirus.” ​The Jerusalem Post

| JPost.com,​ 1 May 2020,

www.jpost.com/opinion/ifcj-investment-in-bridge-building-pays-off-for-israel-amid-coronavir

us-625065​. Accessed 2 May 2020.