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| Source: Oxfam International |
"Violence
is a blunt, destructive instrument. It causes harm to those who use it
as well as those it is used upon. There is great need for safety,
justice, and mercy in Palestine and Israel. The National Council of the
Fellowship of Reconciliation deplores the indiscriminate use of
violence in Israel and Palestine. We strongly urge all parties to
return to the ceasefire, and focus attention to resolving the needs of
the people regardless of religion or race or national identity."
The following is a critique written by Rabbi Lynn
Gottlieb, FOR Freeman Fellow, in response to the above statement:
Beloved colleagues:
Is
this really the time to remind Palestinians about indiscriminate
violence? They are experiencing one of the worst intentional mass
killings initiated by Israel, with almost 2000 people killed, 80% of
them civilians, over 400 children in less than a month, the intentional
targeting of civilian infrastructure including 141 schools, 6 hospitals,
10,000 houses, factories, farm land, roads and animals. 1/4 of the
country is displaced, there is no drinking water, the targeting of the
electric plant has caused almost total black out, and the intentional
use of dum dum bullets fired at people's legs while they are trying to
flee has crippled many. And on and on.
Blockade,
siege and dispossession has been an intentional policy on Israel's part
which has been documented by Goldstone Report, Baruch Kimmerling, Ali
Abunimah, Ilan Pappe, Miko Peled, Mohammed Omer, and so many many
others, including dozens of delegates who have seen Israel's occupation
policies over many decades. A statement against indiscriminate violence
that equates Palestinians and Israelis, the two parties to the conflict,
borders on an ethical failure to the truth.
The
FOR's statement also does not address the monstrous US policies that
propel this conflict, the fact that Israeli and US companies are
profiting like bandits from drones, surveillance, weapons, etc.
Connecting the dots between US colonial imperialism, police violence,
warehousing people, Islamophobia and racism is completely absent from
this statement. The fact that FOR has NOT embraced BDS this time around,
while promoting SA BDS and FOR's role in the civil rights movement, is
deeply disturbing and needs serious reflection.
Please
consider rewriting an NC statement that is more in line with decades of
FOR work on the Middle East and current with the struggle to overcome
occupation and siege. Would you consider skyping with your FOR partners
in the struggle for justice to see what they need from the FOR? I, for
one, cannot pass on the current statement. It would be
counter-productive, esp. at a time when I have brought in young Jewish,
Muslim, Christian and Palestinian solidarity activists to talk about the
growing multifaith movement for justice in Palestine. With deep
respect for FOR's work for peace and justice.
Co-founder of Shomer Shalom Network for Jewish Nonviolence
Order my book Trail Guide to the Torah of Nonviolence
by emailing lgottlieb@forusa.org
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