Jews for Peace in Palestine and Israel...appeal

[mac2]

Member of Jews for Peace in Palestine and Isreal ask for "tzedek"
Message: I found the following in my e-mail from Jews for Peace in Palestine and Israel website www.jppi.org

Partial speech by D’var Torah-Shabbat Vayyechi, January 10, 2004. Lawrence R. Hamilton

"Our religion is clear that if the choice is between killing an innocent person and allowing ourselves to be killed, we are obligated to allow ourselves to be killed. If you don’t like that, then you’d better fin d a different religion to belong to. Good luck in finding one, though, because I don’t know of any modern religious tradition that justifies the murder of innocent people.

The murders of civilians by Palestinian terrorists are despicable crimes that are certainly examples of hamas – the stripping away of the moral fiber on which life depends. But the answer to hamas is not for us to become instruments of hamas ourselves. And that is what Israel is doing when it uses massive military force – including F-16s and helicopter gunships – to kill hundreds of Palestinian civilians, most of whom are not terrorists. The biblical Simeon and Levi lashed out indiscriminately against a whole community. They refused to distinguish between the one man who they believed had wronged their sister and the entire community of men, women and children of which he was a part. Similarly, the government and military forces of Israel are repeating their mistake by refusing to distinguish between the perpetrators of terrorist crimes and the entire Palestinian community.

In addition to the killings, the massive destruction that has been inflicted as collective punishment on the Palestinian people in the West Bank and Gaza affects the innocent and the guilty alike and it is appalling. The Torah says, "When in your war against a city you have to besiege it a long time in order to capture it, you must not destroy its trees" (Deuteronomy 20:19). The rabbis of our tradition have expanded this biblical commandment considerably and have extended it to a whole category of actions that fall under the prohibition bal tashchit – do not destroy. According to Maimonides, whoever smashes household goods, tears clothes, demolishes a building, stops up a spring or destroys articles of food with destructive intent transgresses the command, "You shall not destroy" (Hilkhot Melakhim 6:10). Yet Israeli forces have demolished 6,000 Palestinian homes, destroyed tens of thousands of olive trees and citrus orchards and blown up food storage faciliti es, electric lines and water supply lines. And then there are the curfews and the closures that imprison 3.3 million people in a giant ghetto, and the omnipresent roadblocks that Israeli journalist Gideon Levy describes as rancid, filthy sties resembling animal holding pens where people trying to go to work, to school or to the hospital have to sit on the ground in the rain, cold or blazing heat, for hours and sometimes days, surrounded by dirt and garbage and without access to rest rooms or water faucets. And to complete the picture, recall that the biblical Simeon and Levi stole all of the possessions of the Shechemites. Their modern-day successors are following in their footsteps by confiscating Palestinian land, first to build settlements and roads connecting the settlements and now also to build a wall which cuts deep into the Palestinian territories and will cause harm to 38% of the West Bank Palestinian population, according to B’tselem.

All of these actions degrade the justice of Israel’s cause and betray the values of Judaism. They reflect a dehumanization of the Palestinian people, a refusal to treat them as fellow human beings created in God’s image. As such, these actions are instruments of hamas: they strip away the moral fiber on which life – Israel’s life, not just the Palestinians’ life – depends.

Some of you may be upset at me for saying all of this. It is certainly upsetting for me to have to talk about Israel in this way. And I’m sure that our ancestor Jacob was upset when he said what he had to say about his sons Simeon and Levi. He looked at what they had done and he said, in effect: "This is not what we stand for. This is not who we are." I agonized greatly about what would happen if I spoke those words today with reference to current events in Israel. I feared that it would put my friendship with many of you at risk. But I heard the voice of our ancestor Jacob speaking in today’s Torah portion and I felt that voice needed to be heard here today.

Moreover, I am not alone in questioning the policies of Israel’s present government. An increasing number of Israelis at all levels are doing so. In November, the chief of staff of the Israeli Defense Forces, Moshe Ya’alon, said that the government’s policies, far from defeating terror, increase hatred for Israel and strengthen the terror organizations. Soon afterward, four former heads of the Shin Bet came together publicly to warn that the government’s policies are leading the country to a catastrophe. In September, 27 veteran pilots and navigators signed a letter announcing their refusal to participate in air force activities in the territories. In December, 13 reservists serving in the elite Sayeret Matkal unit (famous for the dramatic Entebbe rescue) announced a similar refusal, stating, "We will no longer give our hands to the oppressive reign in the territories and the denial of human rights to millions of Palestinians." Most impressive of all are the courageous young men of conscience who are refusing to do military service in the occupied territories, even at the cost of imprisonment. For refusing to maim and kill, they are receiving longer prison sentences than soldiers who are actually convicted of maiming and killing Palestinians. They are among the great moral heroes of our generation and the harshness of their sentences only reveals the government’s fear that their moral stance will be listened to and emulated by others. There are many other grassroots organizations in Israel who are working on behalf of human rights and Jewish values: B’tselem, Rabbis for Human Rights, Physicians for Human Rights, Bat Shalom, the Committee Against Home Demolitions, Ta’ayush – just to name a few. All of them hear – and heed – the voice of our ancestor Jacob, who was the very first to speak out against the wrong done by his children.

My friends, I believe it is time for us to speak out as well. American Jewry has by and large remained silent, for fear of being seen as disloyal. That’s the easy way out, but I think it’s a big mistake. You’ve heard the expression, "Friends don’t let friends drive drunk." Because we care about Israel, we have a duty to stand with our Israeli brothers and sisters who are raising the alarm about the present moral crisis and its consequences. If we fail to do so, we will share part of the blame for the incredible human suffering that results.

I believe in God. I believe that God has brought our people into being and that, in faithfulness to the covenant, God will preserve our people until the end of time. And for that reason, I do not believe that we need to do evil, to commit hamas, in order to stay alive. Committing hamas can only lead to separation from God and from life itself. Neither can we afford to stand idly by in a world that is filled with hamas. Our calling, rather, is to be active in the pursuit of tzedek – justice – which is the opposite of hamas. Tzedek begins with the recognition that each human being is created in the image of God. The time of hamas is over. It’s time for tzedek. For Israel’s sake. For our own sake. For the world’s sake. For God’s sake."

I say, peace brothers and sisters.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

1. I wish more Israelis thought like this

It's a tragedy that this country can't understand that if you keep coming after a people with tanks and fighter jets that they feel stopping the violence will only permit their wholesale slaughter to occur. Even during the cease fires, the IDF continues assassinating SUSPECTED terrorists and anyone who may happen to be nearby. No trial, no evidence, just bombs. It's time to be the bigger person and stop the nonsense.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

2. Thank you for this

all I can say is Amain, Amin, Amen

[mmm]

3. a very sensitive and well thought position

common sense is a wonderful thing

[madrchsod]

4. your post should be in

foreign affairs- i/p section. excellent post in this sometimes uncivil forum. it gets pretty hot here sometimes and it refreshing to read a common sense article.