Jews Need to Speak Out on Abuse of Palestinians

Forgiveness is divine,

one gets what one gives, and

karma has memory better than elephants

(and cannot be paid off) - so guess what?

The choices of the "chosen ones" were their choice to to be subject of God's Laws, and nobody nohow (population) ever made themselves better than, or is above the rest of mankind, especially acting and speaking AS IF they were actually chosen by God -- Sorry it's the other way around.

Looks to me like somebody lost the details of the covenant with God, and needs some lessons in God fearing?

Namaste … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … Mahatma Gandhi … … … … … … … … … …
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WILL GOD HAVE TO SEND MOSES AGAIN TO FREE THE PALESTINIAN FROM THE NEW PHAROHS OF JERESULAM - THE ISREALIS.
IS THIS WHAT THE JEWS HAVE LEARNED FROM THE BEING SUPPRESSED IN THEIR HISTORY - TO SUPPRESS OTHERS

rsterling,

B'tselem is a good organization. I would believe their count of 87 checkpoints as being accurate. I was using a count from the BBC which was a bit old.

Regarding Rafah, Israel does not control the crossing at all. The EU monitors stopped manning the crossing since Hamas took sole control of Gaza as it violated their mandate. But all that means is that Egypt and hamas are now the only two entities controlling the crossing. There's no Israeli presence there. They aren't the ones who can open it nor are they the ones who closed it.

In fact, Egypt just opened it up Monday to let Gazan pilgrims pass through on their way to Mecca.

http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnL03643376.html
http://www.thenewstribune.com/tacoma/24hour/world/story/219450.html

I appreciate your thoughtful reply.

Cool- thanks for the recommendations.

Shaktimaan asks for accuracy.

According to BtSelem there are 87 permanent checkpoints "deep within the West Bank". This does NOT COUNT all the blockades, unmanned barriers, watchtowers and nor the many checkpoints along the border of the West Bank and Israel. The number I hear usually is over 500 total.

Regarding Gaza and the Rafah crossing, it is one of the tragedies and outrages that Israel DOES control the Rafah crossing. Israel controls the access of the EU monitors who are charged with monitoring this border. It is high time that Egypt and the EU open up that damn border and test Israel which supposedly "left" Gaza. As it is, Israel has Gaza 'hermetically sealed'. They have been doing this more or less for over a decade. Witness the subtitle of Amira Hass's wonderful book "Drinking the Sea at Gaza ...... Days and Nights in a Land under Siege". But it has now reached outlandishly criminal proportions. Yes Egypt is in some ways an accomplice ... hopefully that will change soon .... but for now it is accurate to say that Israel controls all access to Gaza and is putting the entire population under collective punishment.

As a Jew, and a committed Zionist who is sympathetic to the Palestinians plight I am always upset when people who are trying to make a positive change allow truth to become sacrificed in the push for change.

It would be impossible to overstate the importance that honesty plays in presenting a case and building support for a cause. Unfortunately this article makes a few statements that are less than true.

Israel does not control all of Gaza's borders, the border with Egypt at Rafah is not under Israel's authority. The article insinuates that Israel's shelling of Gaza's power station is a direct cause of shortages in Gaza now. Israel did shell Gaza's power plant in June 2006, however it was fully repaired by November 2006. Lastly, in the west bank there are not hundreds of checkpoints but around fifty. There are many more unmanned roadblocks and temporary obstructions, but in terms of this article's specific description of military roadblocks where Palestinians are searched and humiliated, their number is grossly exaggerated.

I say this not to excuse the oppression against Palestinians but to suggest that the movement is harmed more by falsities than helped. Truth is never an acceptable casualty.

Dshanky,

I've been studying the conflict for a few years and have read around a dozen books on the subject, spanning the spectrum from hardline pro-Israel to pro-Palestinian. If I could impress one thing upon you to remember during your education about this conflict it would be that it, like most long-term conflicts, is extremely complex and has two sides, both with legitimate grievances and legitimate claims. The best indication that someone has no idea what they are talking about is if they seek to lay the blame for this problem at the feet of either party exclusively. Unfortunately it is difficult to find a good, unbiased source for learning even the basic history here as many authors have an agenda... especially on the web. I would recommend reading a few books to start, it's well worth the time, as the common technique of well-meaning propagandists is usually to present a selective history, rather than to outright lie. Reading both sides will enable you to fill in the intentional blanks left by any single author.

If you want a single book that will give you a level, unbiased history of the conflict, the best I can recommend is "Scars of War, Wounds of Peace" by Shlomo Ben-Ami. He was the lead peace negotiator for Israel during the Camp David 2000 talks but don't let that throw you. He is respected by leaders in both camps and has more than enough criticism to go around, pulling no punches in outlining the shortcomings of both the Israelis and the Palestinians in their attempts, or lack thereof, at peace.

http://www.amazon.com/Scars-War-Wounds-Peace-Israeli-Arab/dp/0195325427/...

I'd also like to warn against going to sites like ifamericansknew to get an honest understanding of the conflict. Most websites that seek to "educate" about this are extremely slanted, but even by these sad standards ifamericansknew is outright embarrassing. Your best bet is to just read alot on the subject. The more you learn from all different sources the more the real picture will begin to come together.

Welcome to the party! I hope you enjoy your trip.

dshansky
www.ifamericansknew.org

For a comprehensive book covering Zionism from the late 1800s (yes, it started about 60 years before the British mandate):

http://www.amazon.com/Gun-Olive-Branch-David-Hirst/dp/0571219454

article on the nation by Hirst

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20040216/hirst

Regarding the article there are agreed not enough Jews speaking out, but the ones that do don't get any media. Hell if the ex-white house spokesman admitting he was told to lie about a felony done by the highest levels of our government doesn't make the news, why expect much of anything that swims against the stream.

P.S. I bet the MSM loves the Daily Show being off the air during the strike.

To dshanksky: "Overcoming Zionism" by Joel Kovel if I have to limit it to one book

I'm a jew about to go to Israel for the first time and pretty ignorant about all of this. Can anyone recommend a book or website or something on this issue?

In Israel, the Zionist fanatics (including those in the government like Lieberman) obstruct justice for the Palestinians, so there it's a "Zionist problem". However, in the US it is more than a Zionist problem, it is also a collective "Jewish community" problem. Daniel Goldhagen and Amira Haas have a view in common - collective guilt of the oppressing nation (here it being the Jewish "nation" both in Israel and the diaspora). As heroic Ha'aretz reporter Amira Haas vowed because she saw the passivity of ordinary Germans at the plight of the Jews in WW2, "I will not be an onlooker". In Nazi Germany an ordinary citizen who spoke out against oppression of the Jews risked execution. In our free speech society, there is no moral excuse for the Jewish collective's silent acquiescence in the murder of Palestinian society. Ever hear of Blue Box Bob? He's the Jewish National Fund's prop clown that visits the Jewish temples and synagogues about the United States collecting dimes and quarters from the little Jewish kids who are urged to donate to "help Israel". And these Jewish moms and pops urge their kids to donate, as they themselves do in much larger amounts. The Jewish National Fund uses the donations to pay the Israeli Land Agency for lands stolen from Palestinians in the West Bank and to build settlements. The Jewish National Fund sells the confiscated Palestinian farms and homes to... yep, Jews only.... and then pays for those "Jews only" roads and power lines. Good ole apartheid bought and paid for with donations by US Jews.... grass roots level US Jews.....not just the Zionist extremists.

Thank you, wise Mark Abram, for speaking out. I hope that all American Jews can somehow learn the difference between Zionism and Judaism and between criticizing Israel's actions and anti-Semitism. The citizens of our country have been thoroughly propagandized for over 50 years to believe Israelis-good / Arabs-bad, end of argument. That conditioning is hard to overcome, especially when the media go along with it.

I hope, too, that the resistance movements existing in Israel will continue to grow. I believe that peace will come not from continued American military/monetary aid, but from Israel accepting the Arab peace plan in return for a guarantee that no Arab country will commit aggression against it.

Ezeflyer the idea of resolving it by birth control scares me as you know they'd be making the Palestinians take birth control to limit their number of births as they are demographically more than the Jewish population.

I also question this idea about Israel being a US colony. Given the Liberty incident and the fact that we pay them $3 billion a year in our tax dollars I just don't buy it. If they were our colony then AIPAC would not need to exist nor would the neocons nor would we have to pay tribute from our tax dollars. Chomsky and others always put forth this idea (by the way Chomsky is an admitted Zionist and attended Zionist Youth camps as a child) and its a way to blame the US for the conflict and deflect the blame away from the Israelis. I agree with the authors when they say above:
"The lessons of Hanukkah seem forgotten by Israel as it has taken on the mantle of the oppressor."

Israel is the oppressor and its time that this is acknowledged otherwise grievances will never be addressed and peace will never occur.

the wonderingyou said:

"It continues to astound me that anyone who points out atrocities done by Israel somehow makes that person an anti-Semite....they’ve gotta get over the impulse to knee-jerk into believing that criticism of a government equates to denigration of a religion."

Unfortunately, in many cases this is a convenient excuse often used by even otherwise liberal jews who sympathize with Israel. Their psyches have been so understandably wounded by the Holocaust that this tiny country surrounded by large enemies can do no wrong even as it functions as a US colony and behaves somewhat like Nazis themselves.

But like in most of the world, Israel/Palestine's problems are overpopulation, resource depletion, extreme wealth concentration and centralization of power. Problems that cause and enhance conservative rule. They are solvable by birth control, direct democracy and a cap on personal net worth/power that is high enough to keep the profit motive but low enough to prevent totalitarian wealth/power concentration. Global warming, plagues, bloody wars, crime and famine will otherwise finish the job as expected.

I predict Israel will wipe itself off the map by its arrogant stupidity. Just keep making the people around you mad--let them acquire better weapon technology. After all, you are the chosen people of the one true god, who cares about you most of all.

Nazi Germany only happened because the Invisible Man who lives in the sky blinked.

The last entry was to correct the one before this one and thanks to all.

A "little correction" is in order. The words "the neo cons" should come between the words "except" and "here."

AIPAC is what must be confronted with its huge pile of money to buy off some politicians and scare the hell out others. Jews and Gentiles must confront the power of this gang all out to demand these war mongers by any other name stop damn misrepresenting Jews and doing so much to woefully distort and discredit US foreign policy and do so in a manner that is completely against real US interests. All can gain from this, except the neo cons here and in Israel.

AIPAC is what must be confronted with its huge pile of money to buy off some politicians and scare the hell out others. Jews and Gentiles must confront the power of this gang all out to demand these war mongers by any other name stop damn misrepresenting Jews and doing so much to woefully distort and discredit US foreign policy and do so in a manner that is completely against real US interests. All can gain from this, except here and in Israel.

Zionists shit on their 'G-d', on the Holocaust, on judaism in general in the interests of the triumphalism of a colonial settler society. WHo are the real anti-Semites?

Mark Abram,

It continues to astound me that anyone who points out atrocities done by Israel somehow makes that person an anti-Semite. It's like saying I'm anti-American when I rail against Bush's policies in Iraq. Jews (especially American Jews) who involve themselves in Palestinian solidarity movements have my deep respect and admiration, but c'mon: they've gotta get over the impulse to knee-jerk into believing that criticism of a government equates to denigration of a religion.

Excellent and timely article! Thanks to the authors for writing it and including positive suggestions, and thanks to CD for printing it.

Regarding actions .... in the Bay Area there will be a STOP AIPAC demonstration at AIPAC's celebration political dinner on December 17 in downtown Oakland. If you are in the Bay Area, please join us.

I have worked in the Palestine solidarity movement and many Jews have told me that they could not criticize Israel at a time of "rising antisemitism," and they specifically point to comments from people claiming to support Palestinians but expressing anti-Jewish hatred as evidence that the Palestine solidarity movement is motivated by antisemitism and hostile to them personally.

Ironically, I have never encountered such hatred from activists, people actually working in the movement, people who actually do something, whether they are Arab/Muslim, Christian, American, whatever. There are a fair number of Jews who are active in the movement. However, one often encounters these ugly remarks from people who profess to support the cause.

I suspect that much of the "antisemitism" is driven by outrage at Israel's actions and the influence of the "Israel lobby" in American politics, but it seems also to draw on the older prejudices and hatreds. In any case, such expressions are very unhelpful, or to put it another way, are very helpful to the "Israel lobby."

...or face blowback.

Its not the American military in the occupied territories baruch its the IDF last time I checked. In fact there is currently a rebellion amongst top military American generals about the idea of going to war for Iran. Israel's leadership wants us to fight in Iran on their behalf but the US military leaders don't want to go nor should they. Iraq was a disastor and the necons, AEI, and AIPAC crowd had a large role in pushing that war according to Walt and Mersheimer. They weren't the only ones pushing for war but without their input it would not have happened according to Walt and Mersheimer's thesis and book.

I do blame our congress though as they choose to take money from Pro-Israel PACS. Congress then in turn passes legislation that harms everyone in the region including ordinary Jewish Israelis in addition to Arabs at the behest of AIPAC. Lets also remember it was Israel that attacked a US naval ship the Liberty so why would that benefit the US military industrial complex?

"This country exists as the fulfillment of a promise made by God Himself. It would be ridiculous to ask it to account for its legitimacy."
– Golda Meir, Le Monde, 15 October 1971

Interesting quote, DenverCurmudgeon. This, from Jimmy Carter's book "Palestine, Peace Not Aparthied" paints quite another picture:

While visiting Israel in 1973, Carter was invited by Golda Meir to view the Knesset in session, then to speak with her after. This, from the book: "I asked if she was concerned about the secular nature of her Labor government. She seemed surprised by my temerity and dismissed my comments with a shrug and a laugh. She lit one cigarette from another and said that 'orthodox' Jews still existed and could assume that portion of the nation's responsibility. She was referring to the religious Jews in the Israeli parliament, who were sometimes a real thorn in her side."

So, in 1971 she used a religious icon, God, to prop up her defense, then in 1973 dismissed religion as someone else's responsibility. Seems like she and the neocons in the Israeli government speak out of both sides of their mouths. Nothing new, as the neocons in this country do the same, as do those who defend them.

Exactly! Bingo Bingo Bingo

And for those who really feel an affinity for the old sod, Egypt just might welcome them back. Who know? It's worth a try. I mean maybe the big guy upstairs was just playing a joke, about that promised land shtick.

Let us not forget the role that the american military industrial complex has in maintaining this status quo in Israel and Palestine. Follow the money.

Re whatfools' remarks:

Haaretz reports six Palestinians killed yesterday and four the day before.

Check it tomorrow for today's murders.

I would love to hear more Jews speak out against Israeli brutality. There seems to be an uncharacteristic reticence from them on this topic. The last time Jews were this quiet about tyranny was 1933-1945 in Europe. But then again, so were us gentiles.

Let's tell the truth; Gaza is the world's largest concentration camp, and the West Bank is a smaller-scale production of Manifest Destiny, using Palestinians as Indians. The frontier is marked with concrete, barbed wire, and checkpoints instead of steel rails and a string of forts.

The irony of ironies - the children, grandchildren and other relatives of those who suffered savage repression at the hands of the Nazis have created their own "Warsaw Ghetto" in Gaza complete with collective punishment and reprisal killings.

As to the West Bank, Israel's apartheid policies have become so stark that they now appear to surpass South Africa's excesses.

How the American gov't can give these sociopathic monsters its unconditional support is beyond comprehension.

Mark - not really. Whatfools's comment is small and nasty, yes, but he can't frighten people into silence. Many Jews have been brave and outspoken in the past, and many are again today. We need to recognize that the MSM are ignoring opinions on the other side, not reporting them, so it all looks monolithic when it's far from that. We can find the alternate views here and elsewhere. Many are afraid to help because they don't know what NGO is going to be declared "terrorist" tomorrow. That's what's scary, not minor winks like that fellow.

Vicious, hateful, stupid, ugly comments like that of Mr. whatfools are one reason it is hard for more Jews to speak out against Israel's abuse of the Palestinians.

I wonder how many Palestinians the Jews will murder on each night of Hanukkah. More than enough to light a menorah I'll bet.

Thirty Six years ago the prime minister of Israel said this:

This country exists as the fulfillment of a promise made by God Himself. It would be ridiculous to ask it to account for its legitimacy."
-- Golda Meir, Le Monde, 15 October 1971

The time has come for the American taxpayer to stop propping up the apartheid state of Israel and to give God an opportunity to back up his promised support of the "chosen people" in their perpetual war to hang on to (and expand) the promised land.

Have to agree with the authors here not only do they need to speak out they need to act and many are. Donating to NGO's is good calling Congress is better and telling AIPAC that they don't represent the views of the Jewish people is the best. I wish that standing up to AIPAC was mentioned.

Yet an unpopular president in America (in his seventh year) has decided to give negotiations a try with an unpopular Israeli leader and an unpopular Palestinian leader. Maybe three unpopulars working together will indeed work in some sort of reverse logic to get citizens on all sides to "speak out". Why not hope for that since so little else has worked?

Meanwhile, bravo to this author for asking for some on one side to see the problem from the other side.

Well go figure. If there's one thing Israel and Saudi Arabia have in common, it's BLATANT human rights violations. Actually, make that two because you know what? Neither of those countries have a middle class ! Get the picture ?