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Gaza and a Liturgy for Justice
We passengers on the U.S. Boat to Gaza represent a cross-section of America. Yet, if there is an emblematic trait that sets us apart from “mainstream” America, it is a common, radical determination to take risks to bring Justice for the oppressed — in this case, the 1.6 million people locked in an open-air prison on a narrow strip of land called Gaza.
While most of those calling us “radical” hurl the word as a barb, we welcome the label — but radical as derived from the underlying meaning of this word, “root.” Like radishes, we are rooted in soil, the soil of Justice.
“Extremist?” Yes, we confess to that too — as Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. did in his Letter From the Birmingham City Jail.
Replying to those who threw the “extremist” epithet at him, Dr. King acknowledged that he was, indeed, an extremist — “an extremist for love.”
He placed this kind of extremist squarely in the tradition of the Hebrew prophet Amos (“Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream”), as well as Jesus of Nazareth, Martin Luther, Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson (“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal”).
“So,” wrote King, “the question is not whether we will be extremist but what kind of extremist will we be. Will we be extremists for hate or will we be extremists for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice – or will we be extremists for the cause of justice.”
A Different ‘Liturgy’
Our kind of extremism can be seen as rooted in a liturgy that rejects pseudo-worship, which prophet Isaiah warned that God finds sickening:
“Trample my courts no more! … Your incense is loathsome to me. … Make Justice your aim: redress the wronged, hear the orphan’s plea, defend the widow. … I will strengthen you … a light for the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring prisoners out of confinement, and from the dungeon those who live in darkness.…
“Do not dwell on things of the past. See, I am doing something new. Now it springs forth; do you not perceive it?”
And, finally, another passage from Isaiah typically read on the Jewish high holy day of Yom Kippur, which often is observed by many secular Jews, as well.
“What is the fast God desires of you? To feed the hungry, clothe the naked, break off the handcuffs from the prisoners...”
Nice image, no? Breaking off the handcuffs from the prisoners. Whether literally or figuratively, that takes work.
And, as the passages from Isaiah suggest, this is central to a genuine liturgy — the doing of Justice, not merely rhetoric about how nice it would be.
From the Greek Word For…
Even though we were able to sail only ten or so nautical miles toward Gaza, it was good to spend two weeks plus in Athens.
Being in Greece again, after more than three decades, brought memories from the ridiculous to the sublime — from the 2002 film “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” to the lines from Homer memorized during four years of studying classical Greek more than a half-century ago.
I could not find anyone old enough to try out my 2,500 year-old Greek on. But the incessantly repeated dictum of the proud Greek pater familias in the film kept coming back to me: “It comes from the Greek word for…”
To the ancient Greeks who coined the term, liturgy meant work in service to others. Leitourgia referred to the people and the root ergo “do” denoted public service.
In ancient Greece, it was de rigueur for “people of means” to use a good portion of their own assets for the common good — “to give back,” as we might put it today.
Whether or not the early Christians were consciously following Isaiah’s admonition against fulsome prancing in ostentatious religious displays, they also applied the word liturgy to the public work of the early church.
And a good thing too: for liturgy/worship should be the Church’s central public activity — the work, the doing which serves others, while affirming what the worshipers truly stand for and who they are.
Thus, in its purest and most faithful sense, liturgy requires a lived commitment to Justice, without which it is not true worship.
Jesus poured scorn, too, on the hypocrite religious leaders of his day: “Their words are bold but their deeds are few. … They widen their phylacteries and wear huge tassels.” (Phylacteries are small leather boxes containing scripture and worn during morning prayers).
In the view of Jesus, these well-adorned religious leaders oppressed, rather than helped, the poor. I’m sure glad that sort of hypocrisy doesn’t happen any more!
Tzedakah is a Hebrew word commonly mistranslated as charity. But it is based on the Hebrew word tzedek meaning righteousness, fairness, justice.
Unlike philanthropy, which is completely voluntary, tzedakah is seen in Judaism as a religious obligation to be met by all — rich and poor.
Liturgy and the U.S. Boat
We had no tassels on the boat, nor phylacteries. But in my view, we had lots of authentic liturgy.
Even some of my boat-mate friends may be surprised to see it put that way. Jews, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, agnostics, atheists — all devoted to help bring Justice to Gaza, to break off the handcuffs and open the prison by lifting the Israeli blockade.
For those of us Christians, the spirit — if not the words — of Martin Luther, the Protestant reformer, hung in the background, helping to explain why we did all we could to place ourselves “where the battle rages.”
“If,” wrote Martin Luther, “I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at the moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing him.
“Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved, and to be steady on all the battlefield except where the battle rages is mere flight and disgrace if one flinches at that point.”
For me, it was a special grace of the U.S. Boat to Gaza experience to find myself in the familiar company of so many Jews from New York City — some of them fellow Bronxites.
It brought back the companionship, camaraderie, and humor that were an integral part of my first 22 years on Bainbridge Avenue and 194th Street. The comfort level was there from the start, and it was not just nostalgia.
The more aware I became of the particular courage it takes to weather the inevitable charges of being “self-hating Jews” — even from one’s family and close friends — the more respect I gained for my Jewish co-travelers, many of whom gave adroit but unflinching leadership to the entire enterprise.
Whether “observant” Jews or not, they personified in a special way the prophetic Judaism that stood for the idea that only justice yields peace — the Judaism that pulses with compassion for “the orphans, widows, and the exploited poor.”
What a wonderful reminder that relying on Israeli kill-power rather than Justice for the Gazans is not truly Jewish. Nor is it safe. As one of my mentors, Daniel Maguire, Professor of Moral Theology at Marquette University, has put it:
“A tribal ‘Jewish‘ state that ignores the prophet Zechariah’s warning that Zion cannot be built on injustice and bloodshed will, as the prophets of Israel warned, fall into the pit it is currently and frantically digging.”
35 Comments so far
Show AllSuperb and intelligent piece by McGovern. But does this mean the flotilla project has been completely scuttled?
During World War II, Greece was occupied by the Nazis who confiscated physical and financial resources. Then Britian imposed a blockade. Between these two types of economic warfare and collective punishment, hundreds of thousands of Greeks died of starvation. The only reprieve was from neutral nations of Sweden and Turkey, using funds raised by private citizens, to send food to Greece. With that history, it is suprisiing that Greeks now cooperate in imposing a blockade on Palestinians as an act of economic warfare and collective punishment. People writing to Greek embassies and Greek media should remind Greeks that in the not-too-distant past, they had been blockaded and had benefited by small ships funded by neutral nations and private citizens.
Thank you for the reminder Serious Citizen.
I second that.
Can someone tell me why they chose to dock in a Greek port? Did they not know that a Greece that is flat broke is sucking up to the Israel and moneyed interest?
This thought crossed my mind, too. But travel plans are made far in advance and often events intersect in a mysterious way.
The whole thing has been a real testimony to the way that America and Israel meddle and use immoral leverage to do their will. It's been a blatant exposure of how America will sell the interests of their citizens OVER the interests of their International "partners" and for what? For what? The interests of power and leverage and an unwillingness to expose the real harm that is being done to real, actual humans. Because what is being done here is an effort to cover-up the systematic mistreatment of a people, based on their lineage, based on a sureness that Christianity and Judaism are "superior" to Islam.
Read the article slowly.
They have risked much here and what must be exposed is America's absolute complicity in this inherently unfair situation.
We CAN do better than this.
"Oh beautiful for pilgrim's feet whose stern impassioned stress a thoroughfare for freedom beat across the wilderness."
But there are no more wildernesses and we must turn and face the challenge of our times. How to share the earth equitably and live in peace and justice with people who are not like us but are our brothers and sisters.
ONLY the exposure and the talking about this basic inequity can cause the discussion that America and Israel are working so hard to forestall.
LET'S HAVE THAT TALK!
I think many of us here at Common Dreams are having that talk.
No doubt because Greece was the only country that would let them dock in the first place.
Actually, Greece was chosen because it has, in the past, been clearly on the side of the Palestinians. With the economic crash, their government has betrayed itself and it's people. Greece can no longer be trusted in any way at all. Neither for law nor for justice. They have betrayed their history and disgraced their ancestors.
there are two more cases out of the old testament that apply to the state hiding itself behind the name, "israel";- one is the golden calf...modern jews have fallen once more into idol worship,... the other is joseph and his brothers, where the coat of many colors represents palestine, and joseph, the palestinians...
This is one of McGovern's best articles.
I had the pleasure of interviewing Ray approximately one year ago for a documentary which has not yet been released. Despite the religious metaphors employed here he was very sensible and down-to-Earth.
Unfortunately, unlike fellow CIA veteran Bill Christison (RIP), whom I also interviewed, Ray did not confess to being ashamed to have worked for the CIA; he remained adamant that the Soviet Union posed a real threat to Western Europe (I disagree); he did however acknowledge that the CIA has morphed into something truly awful.
When I interviewed Robert Steele, another former spook, he went so far as to say that the CIA should be abolished. In the end analysis his opinion wasn't all that different from Ray's -- both believed that the CIA should be an intelligence gathering agency, not a violent instrument of Wall Street and Washington. Obviously the problem is much deeper -- if the CIA didn't do it, some other agency would. Indeed, in the modern era, the CIA is not necessarily the big boy on the block -- there is an acknowledged 16 (!) different intelligence agencies in the US alone.
Even Harry Truman -- a genocidal maniac -- expressed regrets over the "evolution" of the company. He wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post stating --
"I think it has become necessary to take another look at the purpose and operations of our Central Intelligence Agency—CIA. At least, I would like to submit here the original reason why I thought it necessary to organize this Agency during my Administration, what I expected it to do and how it was to operate as an arm of the President."
It was printed in the first edition of the Post, then pulled. Of course, the same article states --
"With all the nonsense put out by Communist propaganda about "Yankee imperialism," "exploitive capitalism," "war-mongering," "monopolists," in their name-calling assault on the West, the last thing we needed was for the CIA to be seized upon as something akin to a subverting influence in the affairs of other people."
Both Truman and Eisenhower expressed regret over their roles in institutionalizing the National Security State. Ike did so in his famous "military industrial complex" speech. Yet both men were also primary architects of the beast. The "Truman Doctrine" funneled boat-loads of weapons to fascists in Greece, Italy and other countries, arming the men the "allies" had been fighting only months before. In 1947, 74,000 tons of military equipment were sent to the Greek islands, including massive stocks of napalm. The project was global in scope. Republican Senator Taft lamented that “Mr. Truman [has] urged the Congress to authorize a program of military collaboration with all the petty and not so petty dictators of South America.”
Ike was even more adventurous. He green-lighted the coup in Iran, which Truman had rejected out of fear that it would destabilize the Middle East . He backed the coup against Arbenz in Guatemala, as well as the coup against Lumumba in the Congo. Che Guevara bitterly condemned the latter in a speech at the UN.
I am continually disappointed that men of power wait until they retire to challenge power systems. I suppose there's a certain logic to it. They probably realize that they will end up dead if they do so while holding office.
But better late than never. Ray is a shining example of the idea of redemption; he worked for one of the most despicable organizations ever known, yet has gone on to "repent" by noble actions, not just words.
Some may be put off by his Catholicism and his appeal to religious concepts. Personally, though I do not subscribe to any religion, I have found it more useful to appeal to people's "better angels" than attack their spiritual beliefs. There are more than enough fierce atheists performing that task, with little success, in my view. Religious dogma and "literalism" are indeed extremely dangerous, but spirituality combined with wisdom is generally positive. In my film "Human Resources" I explore the dangers of a purely mechanistic view of the Universe. You can watch it here if interested --
http://metanoia-films.org/humanresources.php
Anyway, kudos to Ray and other freedom fighters for confronting the massive injustice known as Zionism. Israel directly confronts us with the problems of literalism, tribalism and supremacism. I am especially thankful for the people of Jewish heritage who are rethinking their position on this issue and taking action. Joel Kovel's "Overcoming Zionism" is a must read for Jews who may be flirting with a renunciation of Israeli policy. He points out that, historically, Jewish culture has taken on two diametrically opposed forms -- a groundbreaking universalism as expressed by figures like Marx, Freud, Einstein, Emma Goldman and Rosa Luxemburg, and a dangerous tribalism as expressed by the Israeli state.
"I am continually disappointed that men of power wait until they retire to challenge power systems. I suppose there's a certain logic to it. They probably realize that they will end up dead if they do so while holding office."
I always say that if we could just get them to say it before they are in "geezerhood" it might be more impactful. I thought the McNamara interview had some elements of this, too.
I'm going to be cynical here. They've already done made their fortune on it, sitting on boards, "advising" (implicitly agreeing that war works and war furthers purposes, or they wouldn't be there...).
Durrutix, I've been to the Metanoia site and it's amazing. there is some really good work there.
I think the reason that so many of us in Peace & Justice work turn to a spiritual framework is because if you don't have a centering spiritual practice you become consumed by anger. You need some anger but too much is pointless and you become what you protest (witness Zionism).
Again, thanks for your work in this arena.
Thank you Molly. I appreciate it.
@ Durritex, I have seen 'human resources' and shared the link with other media venues over the last year. I found it was well worth the time to watch. Thank you.
Thank you aesop.
Durrutix,
Wonderful comment! I enjoy reading your comments and always seem to learn something new from them. Your thinking resonates so much with me.
And thanks for the link to your film. Time constraints only allowed me to watch about 30 minutes of it so far, but I am looking forward to finishing it soon. Inspiring work... Thank you!!
Once again, thank you Eric. I hope you enjoy the film.
This is indeed a thoughful, even lyrical mediation from McGovern.
I haven't tried to research the details of how this flotilla was organized and planned. I assume, however, that the organizers did not expect to be mugged and stifled by the Greek authorities right out of the gate.
Put the other way around, if the Zionist Israeli government is so well-connected that all feasible starting points for peaceful civilian ships are blocked off, taking the "flotilla" approach is futile and ill-advised at best.
To pursue this approach, organizers must either find viable launching points, or somehow contrive to assemble a flotilla clandestinely, and declare its existence only when it's safely underway in international waters.
I regretfully disagree with what I call the face-saving "sweet grapes" parthian argument that the flotilla is a "success" even if it's literally dead in the water.
I'm sympathetic to those who seek to recast frustration and disappointment into triumph by declaring a moral and "symbolic" victory-- asserting that "the whole world is watching" the aborted flotilla, and that its illicit suppression has effectively publicized the plight of the Palestinians and the reprehensible brutality of the Israeli government.
That sounds good, and it's a comforting idea, but to me it's wishful thinking.
But it's too much of a stretch to believe that world public opinion will be impacted by third-party governments scurrilously intervening to assist Israel's dirty work as they would be if a confrontation actually occurred as close to the target destination, Gaza, as possible.
It would be like arguing that the Freedom Riders achieved their mission if all of their buses had been disabled at their northern points of origin by racists and segregationist sympathetic to the Southern status quo.
I don't mean to vicariously urge on violent confrontation by saying to the flotilla participants, "Let's you and Israel fight!" But if all of the "action" begins and ends far away from the beleaguered Palestinian lands, the focus and impact is perforce attenuated and dissipated.
I continue to applaud the courage and determination of the flotilla planners and participants, and I hope the organizers find a way around this vexing obstacle, or find a new strategy that gets them closer to their destination and goal.
Great post. Though I disagree that a "symbolic victory" is simply that. Quite often, "symbolic victories" can translate into something profound and meaningful.
Having only perused this website for a couple months, my main question is -- why aren't you writing articles for Common Dreams? Certainly your comments are far more insightful than most of the articles published here.
Indeed that applies across the board. Quite consistently, the comments on this website vastly surpass the articles both in terms of knowledge and literary talent.
It seems strange that these overlooked talents should be confined within the latest stupid liberal article as chosen by some unknown entity. NO?
No offense to Abby -- as I am very impressed with much of the content. That's why I'm here.
But really -- can't we do better?
Obedient Servant sez: "I regretfully disagree with what I call the face-saving "sweet grapes" parthian argument that the flotilla is a "success" even if it's literally dead in the water...But it's too much of a stretch to believe that world public opinion will be impacted by third-party governments scurrilously intervening to assist Israel's dirty work as they would be if a confrontation actually occurred as close to the target destination, Gaza, as possible."
You know, if everyone on the first flotilla had been killed by the Israelis it would have had a much greater impact on world opinion, so the first flotilla was a failure because it didn't achieve the maximum impact possible.
The Freedom Riders were also a failure because, despite all they did, racism and discrimination are still rampant in the U.S. today. People still get stopped for driving while black, or latin, or muslim, or... Incarceration and unemployment rates are still much higher for non-"caucasians". So, the Freedom Riders and Reverend King did not achieve all their objectives and were therefore failures.
Nelson Mandela was also a failure because...
I guess you can see where I'm going with this. The same logic you use to declare the flotilla a failure can be used to make it look like anything that didn't achieve all it possibly could is/was a failure.
The fact that we are discussing this now is a small part of the second flotilla's success. Who can say how much greater the effect has been worldwide, including in Greece? Google shows thousands of news articles about it, and now about the "flytilla". That looks like success, albeit a limited one, to me.
Your reductio ad absurdum rebuttal is as may be, but I don't dispute that "success", "failure", or "impact" are relative terms, subjective and in the eye of the beholder-- at least until "current events" turn into "history".
Hopefully a free and internationally recognized sovereign state of Palestine will become history. We have a dream!
I agree. Ctrlz - Great post.
Thanks.
"It would be like arguing that the Freedom Riders achieved their mission if all of their buses had been disabled at their northern points of origin by racists and segregationist sympathetic to the Southern status quo."
Had their buses been disabled, they would have marched like they did on many occassions. It's early yet. Israel told the aid workers to go through the Egyptian border. I am thinking they may take their protest there. We'll see how Israel will deal with that. And more importantly how the US government chooses to respond if Israel refuses entry at that point.
So many words here from the Prophets, leaders, and words, supposedly, out of the mouth of the Creator that Israel professes to follow seems more like the fundamentalists here in the states. Lies with their words and deeds opposed to the teachings in their books. I don't know about using it as a tool to beat Israel over the head with. Tony
Reality check. The Israelis did not have to attack a flotilla because they were successful in preventing it from happening. Another example of their cleverness.
This is one of the most ridiculous, dishonest articles I've ever read. "We passengers on the U.S. Boat to Gaza represent a cross-section of America." What a lie. You represent a tiny fringe of bigoted, violent extremists that virtually all Americans consider lunatics and betrayers of everything America stands for. What blatant lies. Are you really so out of touch with reality as to think that any decent person in the U.S. (or anywhere else for that matter) supports Hamas and their attempts to eliminate human and civil rights? Don't fool yourself.
And how dare you attempt to use the esteemed Rev. King to justify your extemism and bigotry. You couldn't be more mistaken, and if King were here today he would be openly criticizing you and defending Israel. “When people criticize Zionists, they mean Jews. You're talking anti-Semitism.” -- Martin Luther King
Mike as in Microphone and P for Propaganda: An apt moniker!
If Rev. King were alive today he'd be on one of those boats.
Your quote is an old and long ago exposed hoax that has been discredited.
"Antiracism writer Tim Wise checked the citation, which claimed that it originated from a “Letter to an Anti-Zionist Friend” in an August, 1967 edition of Saturday Review. In an article on January, 2003, essay he declared that he found no letters from Dr. King in any of the four August, 1967 editions. The authors of this essay verified Wise’s discovery. The letter was commonly cited to also have been published in a book by Dr. King entitled, “This I Believe: Selections from the Writings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.” No such book was listed in the bibliography provided by the King Center in Atlanta, nor in the catalogs of several large public and university libraries.
Soon afterwards, CAMERA, a rabidly pro-Israeli organization, published a statement declaring that the letter was “apparently” a hoax. CAMERA explained how it gained so much currency. The “letter” came from a “reputable” book, Shared Dreams, by Rabbi Marc Shneier. Martin Luther King III authored the preface for the book, giving the impression of familial approval. Also, the Anti-Defamation League’s Michael Salberg used the same quotes in his July 31st, 2001 testimony before the U.S. House of Representative’s International Relations Committee’s Subcommittee on International Operations and Human Rights."
http://electronicintifada.net/content/israels-apologists-and-martin-luther-king-jr-hoax/4955
The fact that Salsberg tried to use it again in 2001 and just points out that the propaganda machine thinks if they say it often enough it'll become fact. Not going to work. You've called "wolf" too many times, without there being any threat of a "wolf".
Excellent refutation.
And how dare you attempt to use the esteemed Rev. King to justify your extemism and bigotry. Especially when you are using outdated and esposed and discredited material to make your case.
Iceland and Palestine Sign Political Cooperation Deal
http://tinyurl.com/3tzw7ny
Icelandic Minister for Foreign Affairs Össur Skarphédinsson and Dr. Riad Al Malki, the foreign minister of the Palestinian home rule, signed an agreement in Ramallah last night on the political cooperation between the two states.
The agreement involves the establishment of an Icelandic-Palestinian committee of cooperation in the fields of economy, development, culture, trade and education, a press release from Iceland’s Foreign Ministry states.
Skarphédinsson also declared that the Icelandic government will support the proposal on Palestinian independence when it is submitted at the United Nations.