CHANUKAH EDITION
SECTION B PAGE 1
OFFICIALLY, it was called the Mayor Michael Hancock Mission to Israel, but in reality it was the Denver-Israel friendship mission.
Judging from the mayors post-trip sentiments and concrete actions, it was a mission accomplished.
The mission took place Oct. 20-27, 2013, and was coordinated by JEWISHcolorado in cooperation with the mayors office. The itinerary was tailored to address the mayors economic, political, cultural and religious interests.
The 14-member entourage included city staffers and Jewish community and business leaders. Half were Christian, half were Jewish, and half the Jews had never been to Israel before just like the mayor. Participants included:
City Attorney Doug Friednash;
Janice Sinden, the mayors chief of staff;
Katie Behnke, managing partner of the Starboard Group;
Joe Blake, CSU chancellor emeritus;
Christie Isenberg, president of Concert for Kids;
Walter Isenberg, co-founder, president and CEO of Sage Hospitality;
Bruce James and Rob Kaufmann, shareholders with Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck;
Melanie Pearlman, executive director of the CELL;
Jonathan Perlmutter, principal of Jordon Perlmutter & Co.;
Doug Seserman, president and CEO of JEWISHcolorado; and
Mark Sidell, president of Gart Properties.
The mayor and Friednash sat down with the IJN to discuss the highlights of the trip and its significance for the governance of the City and County of Denver.
This was Friednashs third trip to Israel. He went first as a teenager on IST, then as a Wexner Heritage Fellow 18 years ago.
HANCOCK said he went to Israel without any preconceived notions:
I dont know if I had any impressions of Israel before, other than what I read I the news like everyone else. Its a state thats in the midst of turmoil because of competing factions, the West bank, the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian conflict. So thats the only real story that Americans get about Israel, other than our enduring support for the state.
He came out of the trip with definite impressions:
First, this was personally and professionally the most powerful international excursion Ive ever taken.
Two, I got a peek at the soul of the Israelis, as a people of compassion and a real honoring of humanity. If I say was impressed, the words dont come close to describing what I took away from my experience with the people of Israel.
While the mission was personalized to address Mayor Hancocks interests and passions, business was the overarching theme.
It was still a business mission. The mayors mission encompasses the business or economic element of it, the cultural aspects of it, as well as the political aspect of it.
The spiritual element is one that you just cant bypass in Israel.
[The other mission participants] were looking at connectivity opportunities around their businesses, how their businesses might play a role.
We had a hotel owner and management company owner with us who was looking at how hotels were run, looking at some of the places we stayed, the things we saw.
It was interesting to hear his comments about how they are building hotels and resorts in the middle of the desert, and theyre thriving, people are there.
Mayor Hancock met with several mayors in Israel, including Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai, Ramat HaNegev Mayor Shmulik Rifman, Karmiel Mayor Adi Eldar and an unexpected meeting with Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat.
We didnt know if we were going to be able to see any of these mayors because it was the week of elections. Shmulik Rifman was not up for reelection, so he was able to join us for many legs of the trip, Hancock said.
THE unscheduled meeting with Jerusalem Mayor Barkat was a pleasant surprise and yielded an insightful conversation between the two mayors.
In the IJN interview, Friednash turned to Hancock and said, The thing that struck me as you sat with him was the commonality of democracy, commonality of issues that you both face and deal with. It was very similar.
Hancock: He and I could have talked for hours. He talked about education, we talked about raising the cultural institutions as the heartbeat of the city. He talked about infrastructure development, about governing in a very diverse community. Tourism is the hallmark of who they are and where they derive a lot of their resources. And you sit there, thinking, Boy, thats us! To Dougs point, its very similar to what we are doing here in Denver.
Hancock thought it was interesting that the mayor of Jerusalem needs to promote Jerusalem as a tourist destination. Go imagine having to promote Jerusalem as a destination. You ARE a destination!
Barkat also talked about safety measures and security on the streets. Thats what I probably spend 60 to 70% of our time on here in Denver, Hancock said.
He also talked about education being of paramount importance and a priority for his administration. Ive often talked about educating our children as a top priority in this city. He ties it into the economic vitality of the city the ability and success of properly educating their children.
The priority of education in Israel was also evident in the Ramat HaNegev region with Mayor Shmulik Rifman.
Hes actually building in partnership with a lot of private philanthropic money from Denver early childhood education centers to prepare the kids, Hancock said.
Friednash added, We went to one of the schools it was amazing.
The Denver mission was in Israel the week of municipal elections, so the fact they were able to meet with any mayors at all was lucky.
The Tel Aviv mayor told me, The election is tomorrow. I asked, Are you worried? He told me I wouldnt be here if I was worried.
And then he ordered a beer! Friednash quipped. He was pretty relaxed, actually.
Friednash was taken with Tel Aviv: To me, was one of the most incredible things the economic renaissance theyve had. It is a major economic city. Its a powerhouse; what theyve done is really incredible.
A BIG part of that economic renaissance is the proliferation, support and success of business startups, which have become a hallmark of business development in Israel.
Hancock explained Israels startup phenomenon:
I think theres a connection between their young people going into the military early, going to college older, and coming out with a sense of independence.
That is breeding this entrepreneurial spirit. These young people have experienced so much from military through college. By the time theyre done with college, they are more mature, more independent minded.
They want to be vested; they want to be successful and theyre driving a lot of the startup environment in Israel. There is a lot of good, creative energy and innovation there.
Its a highly educated population there. Youve got a lot of engineers, Friednash added.
Both agree that Denvers has its own budding culture of encouraging startups. Hancock: The model for a lot of what you see going on around the nation comes from that region of the world the Israel start up. The incubators, the Plug n Plays, the Battery621s that are here in Denver.
We have the satellite office of the US Patent Office, and that recognizes that Denver is situated to be the start up point for this country, Friednash said.
The goodwill didnt end when the Denverites boarded the plane to leave. A week-and-a-half after their return, on Nov. 6, in Hancocks office, Mayors Hancock and Rifman signed Friendship Agreement between Denver and Ramat HaNegev.
Karmiel, Israel is our sister city. Before you become a sister city, you typically become a friendship city. We typically dont have more than one sister city in a country, so we can name friendship cities, which are just short of being sister cities.
We will share information. We will promote tourism. We will promote cultural and educational exchanges between our cities.
According to Hancock, common interests between Denver and Ramat HaNegev include water and environment issues, alternative energy sources.
Mayor Rifman has been here three times in the two-and-a half-years since Ive been mayor. He was with us for most of the mission. So weve built this friendship. Hes a good guy.
And he clearly has a great relationship with JEWISHcolorado, Friednash added.
AMONG the most moving experiences for Hancock and the other mission participants were their interactions with immigrants from African countries.
We met with members of the Eritrean and Ethiopian communities. These are young men and women who escaped their war torn countries, who escaped being abused and forced into military style oppression and trafficking.
A couple of young men told us about their journeys across the desert, escaping trying to get to Israel. One young man drank his own urine to keep from becoming dehydrated. These are powerful stories of determination and survival and perseverance.
One young lady who ran the community center started to tell us her personal story and literally got three seconds into the story and couldnt finish it. She tried to tell us about her familys escape from Ethiopia. She was a child when she left, but she witnessed what happened to her mother.
Asked if he is satisfied with the way these immigrants have been integrated into Israeli society, Hancock said, I dont know of any immigration system where there is no dissent. But let me tell you something: What we found when I talk about getting a peek into the soul of the Israeli people I am referring to how I saw them make accommodations for and accept these different cultures from around the world.
This is a state thats constantly in fear of being attacked from many of the places that these people are coming from.
Friednash explained, The common thread that underlied all those experiences is that you see at Yad Vashem a total loss of humanity, then you see the tikkun olam, the repair of the world that the Israelis are invested in; its really doing so much to better the world, and it goes largely unrecognized.
Hancock: When you hear these stories of the Israeli military picking up these refugees on the way to their country, and the first place they go is to the hospital, to make sure theyre OK. They get investigated to see who they are, what they are doing in Israel.
They basically go sit on the road and wait for the military convoy to come through. Once they realize theyre not a threat to Israel, theyre given a place to live, to begin the process of asylum in Israel.
I dont think its perfect by no means, but what I saw was compassion; I saw a real honoring of humanity and process where theyre trying to get better in honoring these souls that are trying to find their way to Israel.
Hancock is an ordained Baptist deacon, a devout Christian.
The Christian aspect of Israel, for Hancock, was profound.
All the things that I read about and studied in my Christian journey came to life, whether it was the Sea of Galilee, the Mount of Olives, the reading of the beatitudes, being baptized in the Jordan, almost dying floating in the Dead Sea. (I dont swim I fell face first in the Dead Sea.) And of course going to the Holy Sepulchre where I saw the place of the crucifixion. I walked in and touched the tomb.
While he was there, Hancock contacted his pastor and said, Weve got to bring young people and members of our church here. We are planning to do so in 2016. You really have to see it and experience it in order to get it.
To have our Jewish brothers and sisters there, to be able to talk about it just a powerful, powerful experience all the way around.
For Friednash, as a Jew, it was incredibly moving to see this through the mayors eyes and the other Christians on our trip. It had a lot of meaning for all of us.
As mayor, Hancock has visited a number of countries, states and cities. This trip, he says, was different:
When you go on these trips, most of them for me are professional to promote the city, to create trade opportunities, business connections, as well as meeting with mayors. You do a lot of the ceremonial stuff, and have high-level conversations.
This was a trip where we blended a lot of the professional, the political, the cultural, business connectivities, the spiritual connectivities.
This was the first trip where all the elements of a human experience came together for me. And Israel offered that almost effortlessly. The moment we landed, you could almost feel the cultural, historic powerhouse that Israel is. I really enjoyed it.
Copyright © 2013 by the Intermountain Jewish News
