Black Jewish, Singing Spy Speaks at AA Synagogue
Darrell Blocker spoke on terrorism vis a vis the current tragedy in Israel based on his experience as a CIA terrorist operative.
After 37 years with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and now with the AJT, , Jaffe’s focus is lifestyle, art, dining, fashion, and community events with emphasis on Jewish movers and shakers.
Darrell Blocker may be one of the most unique men to speak from the bimah at Ahavath Achim Synagogue.
On Thursday, Oct. 12, the 28-year veteran of the CIA’s clandestine Intelligence Office serving at the Counter Terrorism Center, shared his personal journey of growing up in Augusta in an African American Baptist family, before converting to Judaism.
This recipient of the George W. Bush Award for Excellence in Terrorism is now vice chair of MOSAIC, a boutique crisis management and security firm. Blocker, as that night’s featured speaker, was interviewed by Cheryl Dorchinsky, founder and executive director for the Atlanta Israel Coalition. Blocker was introduced by long time friend Rachel Elovitz, as a row of Blocker’s University of Georgia college friends and AEPi frat brothers came to show support.
Elovitz began by explaining her background in an all-white Birmingham public school, all-white Jewish sorority, and meeting Blocker with a chai on his chest in 1984 in Athens…then reconnecting with him in Texas with his military uniform, and again 35 years later on Facebook.
She explained, “He is one of the nicest human beings, and note that he was on the short list for CIA Director. He was CIA Chief of Africa, and later, Hollywood movie consultant, expert on human trafficking, terrorism, and mensch. Imagine him sending me a UGA red bulldog shirt in Hebrew.”
Blocker explained that he learned tikkun olam from his parents as a basis for his interest in Judaism. He said, “I feel that I was born Jewish. I am asked ‘Isn’t being Black difficult enough, why do you need to add being Jewish?’ He replies, “Judaism is one of the best things that has ever happened to me.”
The tougher questions came and turned to terrorism: “The world turned a blind eye to ISIS in 2013-2016. Hamas is like ISIS, who thought Bin Laden was too soft. This recruitment for terrorists, some are from Syria, Iraq…it’s possible that in the end, some captured terrorists will be sources of information. Bad people doing the right thing, kids who got trapped maybe looking for redemption.”
Blocker ended that segment by saying that he himself has learned to compartmentalize this cruelty to humanity, and privately cries in the shower. He warned, “Stop watching the news nonstop. Save yourself the angst. Find a wind of time to stay current and don’t seek out more news.”
Another tough question, “Are Jews here at risk?” Blocker doesn’t think that Hamas has pull outside the region, except for lone wolves. “The U.S. can flatten the entire world in minutes. No one wants a wide scale war…of course, Iran has been interfering by proxy since 1979 dating back to the Ayatollahs; 70 to 80 percent of Iranians do not like their government.”
Dorchinsky followed by asking, “How did we not know anything [about the attacks]? Blocker, who is also a terrorism subject matter expert on Iran and North Korea for ABC News, relayed, “At the end of the day, there may have been signs, like Pearl Harbor and 9/11. Intelligence is not a panacea…alerts pour in from all over every hour and most don’t materialize.”
As far as the potential for the hostages to still be alive, Blocker stated that “certainly not all of them, but they have value for trading. Just think, Israel traded 1,000 Palestinians for one Israeli soldier. It’s about doing ‘moral algebra’…150 hostages are hard to move around, if we do this…then they might do [that]. Remember, it took us 10 years to catch Osama bin Laden.”
Dorchinsky made clear that politics were not part of the discussion. Blocker stated that he, like most CIA members, are “middle of the road independents.” He has served under six presidents, four Republicans and two Democrats.
He concluded. “We bring no baggage; we gather information for others to decide.”
Blocker, who is also an accomplished singer, joined others in singing, “Am Yisroel Chai,” and announced that he would soon be appearing in San Diego and Malibu for fundraising events.
He said, “This is life, up and down, crying and laughing. Let’s keep the House of David undivided…this is just six days after the Invasion, we are still in shock and processing.”
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