Archive for January, 2010

For those who are focused on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, any important world event seems related. This time it is the humanitarian disaster in Haiti.  An e-mail message from a colleague touted the work of an Israeli hospital team set up to assist Haitians with their acute medical needs, while pointing out the disappointingly poor response to the crisis exhibited by Arab countries of great wealth. At the same time, another website pointed to the irony of Israeli actions in Haiti thousands of miles away, while just a few hundreds of meters away Palestinians suffer.

The rapidity with which tiny, little Israel sent a medical team-an entire mobile medical hospital-to help Haitians is clear evidence of the resolve, capability and can-do spirit of Israeli Jews. The provision of this service to Haiti in her time of need is no publicity stunt; it is simply a reflection of Jewish moral fiber, of commitment to charity, to service to others, and to universal caring for Jews and non-Jews alike.

This is the true character of Judaism and of Jewish people. It is the calling of the Jewish people, a people who consider ourselves chosen to be a beacon to the nations. In so many ways, Israeli Jews, and Jews worldwide, are good role models.  Sadly, though, our moral character did not carry the day in our relationship with Christian and Muslim Palestinians. 

While Jews across the globe are rightly proud of the many amazing accomplishments of the State of Israel, founding a State of Israel at the expense of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians was inconsistent with Jewish moral principles. The violent expulsion of entire villages of Palestinian men, women and children-documented by Israeli historians but a history seemingly rarely taught in Jewish schooling- was a violation of the true spirit of Judaism. The destruction of Palestinian villages and the continued use of force to keep Palestinian families from returning to their homes are entirely inconsistent with Jewish moral character.

The mistreatment of Palestinian people by Jews was not caused by Jewish hatred of Arabs or by some Jewish plot to rule the land from the Nile to the Euphrates, as some would accuse. Scarred by the Holocaust, Jews hope only for peace and acted defensively and selfishly when we created a state for ourselves at the expense of others. Our actions were not only inconsistent with our principles, but in violating our cherished principles we sowed the seeds for even more hatred of and violence toward Jewish people.

Israel’s true nature is evident during Haiti’s crisis. Knowing the true nature of the Jewish people-warm, friendly, charitable, industrious, and religious- I am certain that the day will soon come when we will reach out to our Palestinian brothers and sisters, ask their forgiveness, and ask them to return to our shared country to rebuild their homes and villages and live together in peace. Knowing the true nature of Christian and Muslim Palestinians, the rejoining of these people will create a country of even greater accomplishments and moral leadership, a country that truly is a light of peace to the nations of the world.

 Feldman is author of Compartments: How the Brightest, Best Trained, and Most Caring People Can Make Judgments That are Completely and Utterly Wrong (www.compartmentsbook.com).  He is also author of A Jewish American’s Evolving View of Israel (http://www.acjna.org/acjna/articles_detail.aspx?id=529).

There were no suicide bombings in Israel in 2009.
That doesn’t mean no one was killed. Media reports, including in The Jerusalem Post, note that five Israelis were killed in Israel and the West Bank
last year. About 49 Israelis were wounded in attacks, not including those
injured during Operation Cast Lead at the beginning of last year.

I am surprised, though, that Israelis didn’t give
all the credit to the wall, which they call a fence, even though in reality it
is a “wall” where it is around people and a “fence” where it is around farmland
and open space.

Instead, some give credit for the lower casualties
and deaths to war in the Gaza Strip. Others say it’s because of better security
and the ability to prevent Palestinians from arming themselves. The focus is on
the perpetrators, not those engaged in peace.

How about giving some credit to the majority of
Palestinians who didn’t engage in violence, who didn’t engage in protests and
who watch Israel’s
government continue its policies of expanding the settlements in the West Bank
and around Jerusalem,
including on my land just north of Gilo?

During the same period, there were many Israeli
assaults, mostly by the military and some by the settlers, against
Palestinians. According to The Washington Post, 27 Palestinians were killed
in “conflict related violence,” down by half from 2008. That doesn’t include
the more than 1,000 killed during the war in Gaza.

It has become kind of an industry in Israel and Palestine.
I mean, of course, not the killings, but tabulating death tolls from violence.
It says something that it is easier to find out how many Israelis and
Palestinians were killed by each other than in car accidents or suicide.

It’s almost like dying from natural causes or
accidents doesn’t matter as much.

The Gaza Strip isn’t occupied by Israel any more,
although it is certainly controlled by Israel, with the help of Egypt – I’m not
sure if that is better than it would be if it were reversed and the Egyptians
controlled Gaza with Israel’s help.

But the West Bank and east Jerusalem are, and that’s where my focus is.
Why can’t we say the reduction in violence is a result of improved relations?
That we are starting to hate each other less?

Why isn’t that reduction in violence an impetus
for both sides to ramp-up (an American corporate term that has nothing to do
with building Israelis-only roads in the West Bank, by the way) peace talks?

Doesn’t anyone believe that if peace talks resume
in earnest, there will be even fewer deaths? “Earnest” means Palestinians speak
genuinely about peace and out loud against the violence, and Israelis stop
advocating settlement expansion and start looking at shutting some down while
easing restrictions.

Is it too much to believe that peace generates
more peace? And that peace is the better “wall” or the better “fence,”
depending on which side of the conflict you stand?

I own 33 dunams of land next to Gilo near the
Muslim village of Sharafat, the “Tarud” land (one of my mother’s
families from Bethlehem).
The Israelis are planning to confiscate it and build new homes.

I won’t resort to violence, although I bet many
others would if it was their land being taken. I will go to the courts and
fight and demand that everyone who buys or takes a home there be sued. The
court system is where much of this conflict should be taken, not to a violent
battlefield.

But I understand that it’s easier to do things in
the face of violence than it is in the face of peace. The unknown investors in Jerusalem who are licking
their chops at profiting from my land want it this way. The violence allows
them to continue to take and profit.

I know the extremists among the Palestinians also
are licking their chops knowing that although they speak out against the land
confiscations and settlement expansions, those actions give them perceived
public approval to engage in more violence against Israel.

Imagine if the land confiscations ended, and the settlements were really frozen, that peace talks
could blossom and even fewer people will die. Wouldn’t it be nice if next year,
we read stories that reports no Israelis and no Palestinians were killed? Peace
talks increased?

That’s the silver lining in the dark clouds above
our lives today. We can have that, or we can continue to look for the usual
dark linings in the rare silver clouds.

In the meantime, if you know of a good lawyer who
doesn’t mind representing Palestinian rights in lands controlled by Israel, have
them give me a call. I won’t engage in violence, encourage violence or enable
violence to achieve my rights.

It’s something we all should try, don’t you think?

Cross-posted
from the Jerusalem Post with the author permission.