From Jerusalem and Against the War
January 9, 2009
Israel
(7 comments)
by Louis Frankenthaler
In the interest of full disclosure: I live in Jerusalem, I am married. We have 2 young children, 6 & 9. I am a human rights worker, a PhD student (at Ben Gurion University) and I grew up in a Reform congregation in NJ. AND I am against the war. I am against the war from the first day and every day. (I am also against the Occupation, the settlements, and work to expose and stop Israeli human rights violations) Why? Not because I am some "radical leftist" or "self-hating-Jew" "or anti-Israel Israeli" which I am called when people want to delegitimize my opinion or avoid the complexity of the issue, but because I support democracy, universal principles of human rights and the rights of local people to their unique cultural expressions, including Jews of every variety, Palestinians, and others. So yes, believe me it is difficult being in the opposition here in Israel (I will not cite a list of difficulties, because they pale in comparison to the monumental suffering in Gaza and in the protracted suffering in southern Israel where, in both places, civilians are being targeted, killed and exploited.) My position, then, is that the war must end and that it is directly connected to the way in which Israel has been an occupier for more than 40 years, and that the argument that Gaza even after the 'disengagment' has remained under Israeli control, albeit without settlements and direct military force inside is critical to the context of the current war.
Similarly, it is impossible, illogical and a diservice to the discussion to separate the Gazan Palestinian and his/her situation from the West Bank Palestinian and his/her situation. The continued building of settlements, land appropriations, the barrier (remember that the struggle around the wall near Modi'in Illitis for land for Ultra-Orthodox housing in the settlement*) and direct military Occupation in the West Bank is directly connected to Gaza. Please do not stop reading now...(see a human rights report about abuse of Palestinian detainees by Palestinian authorites, written by a Palestinian HR organization), and this too is unavoidable, be it in internal "Jewish discussions" or discussions that involve Jews and Others, and Israelis and others as well as Jews outside of Israel with Israel.
Part of the complexity of the discussion, I imagine, for the Jewish community in the US is that there is a genuine tug, not of allegiance, as Reform Jews the first priority is the universal principle of human dignity and human worth... that is to say the difficulty is how to negotiate the real need to identify with the greater group to which one belongs while not becoming consumed by that group... So the debate about the war and the complexity of it which goes beyond who shot first, second, third and who will shoot last... Complexities are inherent in Jewish discourse, which is why what troubles me is that there is a tendency to conflate the Jewish voice with the Israeli voice, especially in times like this and to disregard and disengage from dissent.
I was asked by a reporter once, about what I hoped for after the Obama victory. I said I want a real friend of Israel, who will not be afraid to speak the truth and to push Israel in the direction it must go... I also then ask Jews in the world community to look at Israel as your 60 year old aunt or uncle, who is addicted to drugs. Yes you love Israel but love does not mean bringing another drug dose as a birthday present... it means telling your aunt or uncle to get treatment. Now. Please understand that I say this because I live here and want to continue living here even though I can leave at any time: Israel's addiction is the Occupation, all of it, every settlement, from the smallest outpost to Maaleh Adumim... Israel's recovery from its addiction may involve learning to live with left overs, maybe like Maaleh Adumim, and the victim of its addiction the Palestinians, may have to live with some of the loss, but that is for them to decide... the core issue now is ending the war and ending the Occupation only through this can we, can you in the Reform Jewish community, expect a democratic and pluralistic future.
*"The Modi'in Illit settlement was established in 1993 as an urban community intended to ease the housing shortage of ultra-Orthodox Jews from Bnai Brak and Jerusalem." From the 2005 human rights NGOs report.
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Louis Frankenthaler... I couldn't of said it better myself. You have expressed views that MUST be heard in our movement.
Yasher Koach sir!