[Peace-discuss] FW: An Open Letter to American Jews by a refusenik

[Al Kagan]

FYI

>Delivered-To: akagan at alexia.lis.uiuc.edu
>Date: Tue, 2 Apr 2002 23:52:14 -0500
>To: SRRT Action Council <srrtac-l at ala.org>
>From: Mark Rosenzweig <iskra at earthlink.net>
>Subject: [SRRTAC-L:7790] Fwd: FW: An Open Letter to American Jews by 
>a refusenik
>Reply-To: srrtac-l at ala.org
>Sender: owner-srrtac-l at ala.org
>Status:  
>
>>
>>Subject: FW: An Open Letter to American Jews by a Israeli  'refusenik'
>>
>>
>>What follows is a very powerful letter.  I post it for your 
>>information and in the hopes that it may inform your attempts to 
>>provide a fuller range of views to your patrons and illuminate the 
>>blacked out, censored, ignored areas of contestation in 
>>Israel/Palestine.
>
>
>
>>Mark Rosenzweig
>
>
>
>
>>
>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>An Open Letter to American Jews
>>>
>>>By Assaf Oron
>>>
>>>Passover Eve, 2002
>>>
>>>Dear People,
>>>
>>>Yesterday I was informed of an interesting phenomenon: a
>>>peace-supporting Jewish organization called Tikkun published an ad in
>>>favor of us, the Israeli reservist refuseniks, and was immediately
>>>bombarded with hate mails and phone calls from other American Jews. What
>>>is more interesting is that even other Jews considering themselves
>>>supporters of peace have denounced the Tikkun ad, to the extent that
>>>some of the Tikkun Advisory Board members are resigning in order to
>>>minimize the personal damage to themselves. This has so saddened,
>>>alarmed and angered me, that I find myself setting aside a half-day at
>>>the eve of Passover, and writing this open letter to you all. As is my
>>>habit, it is quite long, so please bear with me.
>>>
>>>Most of the 'civilized' attacks, so I understand, were seemingly aimed
>>>at this or that detail of the Tikkun ad. This is nothing new to me. Over
>>>the past two months since we came out with our own ad, I've heard and
>>>read so many specific arguments about specific aspects of our act. They
>>>range from petty nit-picking to plain ludicrous, and each and every one
>>>of them can be refuted to dust in a matter of minutes. But the moment
>>>you refute them, new specific arguments sprout up like mushrooms.
>>>
>>>It is clear that there is something very general and non-specific behind
>>>all this criticism. Therefore, if you allow me, I will start from the
>>>general and only later turn to a couple of these specific issues.
>>>
>>>The general theme is the tribal theme. A very very loud
>>>voice (and in Israel nowadays, it is the only voice that is allowed to
>>>be fully heard) keeps shouting that we are in the midst of a war between
>>>two
>>>tribes: a tribe of human beings, of pure good - the Israelis - and a
>>>tribe of sub-human beings, of pure evil - the Palestinians. This voice
>>>is so loud, that it has found its way even to the op-ed pages of the New
>>>York Times (William Safire, March 24 or 25). To those who find this
>>>black-and-white picture a bit hard to believe, the same voice shouts
>>>that this is a war of life and death. Only one tribe will survive, and
>>>so even if we are not purely good, we must lay morality and conscience
>>>to sleep, shut up and fight to kill--or else, the Palestinians will
>>>throw us into the sea.
>>>
>>>Does this ring a bell to you? It does to me. As a little child growing
>>>up in Israel under Golda Meir and Moshe Dayan, all I heard was that the
>>>Arabs are inhuman monsters who want to throw us into the sea, they
>>>understand only force, and since our wonderful IDF has won the Six Day
>>>War they know not to mess with us anymore --or else. And of course, we
>>>must keep the Liberated Territories to ourselves, because there's no one
>>>to talk with. Then came the Yom Kippur war, and for a child of 7 it was
>>>the perfect proof that indeed the Arabs want to throw us into the sea,
>>>and what a great opportunity it was for our glorious IDF to teach them a
>>>lesson. I prayed for the war to continue to its natural and final end
>>>--the complete surrender of all Arab armies. I was too small to
>>>evaluate, then, how the war really ended; all these cease-fires and
>>>talks were too complicated and boring, much more boring than a war. And
>>>it seemed humiliating that WE should withdraw in these cease-fires; I!
>>>remember that the re-opening of the Suez Canal was portrayed in our mass
>>>media as a kind of defeat.
>>>
>>>A few years passed and a funny thing happened: those
>>>throw-us-into-the-sea Arabs came to talk with us, and in exchange for
>>>all of Sinai they would sign a full peace. The IDF chief of staff (the
>>>late Motte Gur, later a Labor Party minister) shouted that it is a hoax,
>>>that we should not believe Sadat, but the politicians had to sign.
>>>Already a teenager, I went and protested against the withdrawal from
>>>Sinai. It seemed strange to me that most of the demonstrators were
>>>orthodox Jews.
>>>
>>>After all, it was a purely logical issue: the Arabs are not to be
>>>trusted, that's what we've learned from day one. Well, lucky for the
>>>country, the government and the majority of the people employed a
>>>different logic, and the peace with Egypt was not missed.
>>>
>>>But the throw-us-into-the-sea paradigm immediately
>>>found new fields for play. There was an inconvenient reality on the
>>>Northern border, and even though the forces on the other side
>>>(Palestinians! Phew!) had strictly adhered to a secret cease-fire for
>>>about a year, they were Arabs and therefore could not be trusted. So we
>>>talked ourselves into invading Lebanon and setting up a friendlier
>>>regime there. The mastermind of the invasion was defense minister Ariel
>>>Sharon, and Shimon Peres, then head of opposition, voted together with
>>>his party in favor of the invasion. Only later, when it turned sour, and
>>>after many refuseniks already sat in jail, would the main opposition
>>>turn against the whole affair. For me at 16 it was also a turning point.
>>>When I understood that the government had lied to me in order to sell me
>>>this war, I turned from 'center-rightist' to 'leftist'. Sadly enough, it
>>>has taken me almost 20 more years, in a slow and painful process, to
>>>understand how deeply! the lies and self-delusion are rooted in our
>>>collective perception of reality.
>>>
>>>Anyway, when Peres withdrew most of our forces from
>>>Lebanon in 1985, the Arabs could still not be trusted. And so, to soothe
>>>our endless paranoia and suspicion, we created that perpetual source of
>>>death and crime ironically known as "the Security Zone." It took many
>>>years, a lot of blood and Four Mothers - against almost all politicians,
>>>generals, and columnists - to finally pull us out of Lebanon.
>>>
>>>In the long and hard way, we learned that even the Lebanese are human
>>>beings whose rights must be respected.
>>>
>>>But not the Palestinians. Because the Palestinians are
>>>too painfully close, like a rival sibling (and - may I add - because
>>>they have always been so weak), we have singled them out for a special
>>>treatment. Having them under our rule, we've allowed ourselves to
>>>trample them like dirt, like dogs. We've been doing it even to our own
>>>Palestinian citizens (especially before 1966), but we have perfected our
>>>treatment in this strange no man's land created in1967, and known as the
>>>Occupied Territories. There we have created an entirely hallucinatory
>>>reality, in which the true humans, members of the Nation of Masters,
>>>could move and settle freely and safely, while the sub-humans, the
>>>Nation of Slaves, were shoved into the corners, and kept invisible and
>>>controlled under our IDF boots.
>>>
>>>I know. I've been there. I was taught how to do this,
>>>back in the mid-1980's. I did and witnessed as a matter of fact, deeds
>>>that I'm ashamed to remember to this day. And fortunately for me, I did
>>>not have to witness or do anything truly "pornographic", as some friends
>>>of mine experienced.
>>>
>>>Since 1987, this cruel, impossible, unnatural, insulting reality in the
>>>Territories has been exploding in our face. But because of our
>>>unshakeable belief that the Palestinians are monsters who want to throw
>>>us into the sea, we reacted by trying to maintain what we've created at
>>>all costs. This meant of course employing more and more and more force,
>>>with the natural result of receiving more and more and more force in
>>>return. When a fledgling and hesitating peace process tried to work its
>>>way through this mess, one major factor (perhaps THE factor) that
>>>undermined it and voided its meaning was our establishment's endless
>>>fear and suspicion of The Other. To resolve this fear and suspicion, we
>>>chose the insane route of demanding full control of The Other throughout
>>>the process. When this Other finally decided that we?re cheating him out
>>>of his freedom (and having too many mental disorders of his own to
>>>accommodate ours as well), violence erupted, and all our ancient
>>>instincts woke up. There they are, we said in relief, now we see their
>>>true face again. The Arabs want to throw us into the sea. There's no one
>>>to talk with ('no partner', in our beloved ex-PM's words), and they
>>>understand only force. And so we responded as we know and love, with
>>>more and more and more force. This time, the effect was that of putting
>>>out a fire with a barrel of gasoline.
>>>
>>>And that's the moment when I said to myself, NO, I'm not playing this
>>>game anymore. But what about the existential threat, you may ask? Well I
>>>ask you, have you not eyes? Don't you see our tanks strolling in
>>>Palestinian streets every other day? Don't you see our helicopters
>>>hovering over their neighborhoods choosing which window to shoot a
>>>missile into? What type of existential need are we answering in
>>>trampling the Palestinians?
>>>
>>>Prevention of terror, I hear you say. Let me use the wonderful words of
>>>my friend Ishay Rosen-Zvi: "You are 'fighting against terror'? What a
>>>joke. The Israeli government, in its policies of Occupation, has turned
>>>the Territories into a greenhouse for growing terror!!!"
>>>
>>>We have sown the seeds, grown them, nurtured them - and then our blood
>>>is spilled, and the centrist-right-wing politicians reap the benefits.
>>>Indeed, terror is the right-wing politician's best friend.
>>>
>>>You know what? When you treat millions of people like sub-humans for so
>>>long, some of them will find inhuman strategies to fight back. Isn't
>>>that what the Zionists, and other Jewish revolutionaries, argued about a
>>>hundred years ago in order to explain the questionable strategies of
>>>survival that Jews used in Europe? Didn't our forefathers say, "Let us
>>>live like human beings, and see how we'll act just like other human
>>>beings?"
>>>
>>>So here's the deal. I hope that the first part of this letter made it
>>>clear that I don't buy the 'they want to throw us into the sea' crap.
>>>It's just a collective self-delusion of ours. But more importantly, I
>>>don't see tribes. I see people, human beings. I believe that the
>>>Palestinians are human beings like us. What a concept, eh? And before
>>>everything else, before EVERYTHING else, we must treat them like human
>>>beings without demanding anything in return. And no (to all die-hard
>>>Barak fans), throwing them a couple of crumbs in which they can set up
>>>pitiful, completely controlled Bantustans in between our settlements and
>>>bypass roads, and believing it to be a great act of 'generosity', does
>>>NOT come close to answering this basic requirement. This requirement is
>>>NOT negotiable; moreover, in a perfect demonstration of historical
>>>justice, it is a vital requirement for the survival of our own State.
>>>
>>>After that, and based on the lessons of modern history, especially that
>>>of the Arab-Israeli conflict (as was briefly described above), I do
>>>believe that the Palestinians will calm down, and that the elusive
>>>'Security' and peace will finally come upon us (as it did, incidentally,
>>>for almost two whole years between Wye 1998 and Camp David 2000). I
>>>don't have any insurance policy for that (well --almost none, except the
>>>solemn promise of the entire Arab world), but remember - I have this
>>>funny notion that they are human beings.
>>>
>>>In any case, we are seeing now all too well what type of insurance
>>>policy the opposite paradigm is providing us.
>>>
>>>In the meanwhile, I refuse to be a terrorist in my tribe's name.Because
>>>that's what it is: not a "war against terror", as our propaganda machine
>>>tries to sell. This is a war OF terror, a war in which, in return for
>>>Palestinian guerrilla and terror, we employ the IDF in two types of
>>>terror. The more visible one are the violent acts of killing and
>>>destruction, those which some people still try to explain away as
>>>'surgical acts of defense.' The worse type of terror is the silent one,
>>>which has continued unabated since 1967 and through the entire Oslo
>>>process. It is the terror of Occupation, of humiliation on a personal
>>>and collective basis, of deprivation and legalized robbery, of
>>>alternating exploitation and starvation.
>>>
>>>This is the mass of the iceberg, the terror that is itself a long-term
>>>greenhouse for counter-terror. And I simply refuse to be a terrorist and
>>>criminal, even if the entire tribe denounces me.
>>>
>>>That leads me to the first specific subject: are we, the refuseniks,
>>>being persecuted and denounced, or are we enjoying the wonderful Israeli
>>>tolerance and democracy and exploiting it to make trouble?
>>>
>>>Well, I must admit that this is not yet the USSR or Pinochet's Chile,
>>>and at least the Jews here enjoy a relative democracy (describing it as
>>>vibrant or tolerant would be a gross error, but that is a different
>>>subject altogether; maybe in another letter). I first must point out
>>>that the government and IDF also enjoy the image of 'letting us speak',
>>>and it serves them well. Secondly, in a rather sophisticated manner the
>>>establishment (with the generous and voluntary help of the mass media)
>>>is effectively shutting us up.
>>>
>>>The media has decided for us that there is no opposition. Thus, a
>>>demonstration of 20,000 is reported in 5 seconds at the late-night
>>>edition, and a demonstration of 500 outside a military prison is
>>>completely ignored. The fact that right now there are over a dozen
>>>refuseniks in jail - the largest number in twenty years - is hidden from
>>>the Israeli public. The story of Captain (res.) Itai Haviv and Sergeant
>>>(res.) Yair Yeffeth, who demanded a full military trial in which they
>>>could prove that refusal is innocence and that the order to serve in the
>>>Territories is illegal, was not told anywhere except for a brief mention
>>>in the back pages of Haaretz.
>>>
>>>So the public, of course, didn't learn that the IDF evaded answering
>>>these demands, and that Itai Haviv will spend the Seder night in prison
>>>following a 'disciplinary hearing.' I hope the readers are intelligent
>>>enough to know that if the media wanted, these stories would make the
>>>headlines.
>>>
>>>Still, you keep hearing about us. That's the key word, ABOUT us. But you
>>>don't hear us. You just hear people explaining, analyzing, mostly (in a
>>>ratio of 99 to 1) attacking us. We have become the perfect 'hate hour'
>>>figures, to reunite the tribe against (have you read 1984?) Petty
>>>'volunteer' groups who organized against us, a mayor who called upon
>>>local governments not to hire us, and a group of  industrialists who
>>>called employers to fire us, have all won their moment in the spotlight.
>>>No one cared to mention that these are blatantly illegal calls (no, 'the
>>>law' is remembered only when we 'break' it). No one has tried to set
>>>limits to this discussion.
>>>
>>>Moreover, the prime minister in one of his rare public addresses blamed
>>>us for the wave of terror (us, not his catastrophic policies).
>>>
>>>The IDF chief of staff can't stop talking about us; he sees us as a
>>>bunch of inciters with a hidden agenda. So, ironically, the only thing
>>>protecting us from long-term 'gulag' imprisonment and from losing our
>>>jobs is public opinion - the rather large pockets of support and
>>>sympathy among key sectors in the Israeli public, and yes, support ads
>>>such as the one published by Tikkun. The moment the government or IDF
>>>will think the lights are out, and no one sees or cares - they will find
>>>or invent the 'legal' clause (Israeli politicians are experts in this)
>>>and throw those they believe to be our 'leaders' to jail for long terms.
>>>
>>>Remember, even poor Abie Nathan was thrown in for two years, just
>>>because he dared speak with PLO personnel about peace. But that's
>>>nothing, because the moment our government will sense a "lights out"
>>>situation - a huge terror attack, an American attack on Iraq - there
>>>will be a horrible bloodbath in the Territories, compared to which the
>>>last year and a half will be remembered as a happy picnic. And that
>>>brings me to the second specific issue, that of the Nazi allusion.
>>>
>>>Some readers thought that the way the Tikkun ad said "obeying orders"
>>>was an allusion to Nazi murderers' claim that they were "just obeying
>>>orders."   Rabbi Lerner has rightly pointed out to  these readers, that
>>>automatic execution of orders is a characteristic of all dictatorship,
>>>not just the Nazi one, while refusal on moral grounds is a sign of
>>>democracy. I agree, but let me be less polite and politically correct.
>>>After all, it's just my country that's going up in smoke as I write.
>>>What is this? Does Israel have the exclusive monopoly of labeling all
>>>its rivals as Nazis, and everyone else has to shut up, even when reality
>>>starts speaking for itself?
>>>
>>>Parties that support the essentially Nazi idea of deporting all
>>>Palestinians from the country, have been part of our Knesset and our
>>>"legitimate" political map since 1984. Recent opinion polls show that
>>>35% of the Jewish public now supports this 'solution', as it is
>>>sometimes called. Leaders, Rabbis, and just plain folk feel free to call
>>>openly in the mass media to eradicate Palestinian cities with or without
>>>their tenants. Last weekend, Gen. (res.) Effi Eitam, fresh out of the
>>>military and all ready to take the leadership of the religious public
>>>and become a deputy or alternative to Netanyahu, received a flattering
>>>cover story on Haaretz supplement. He unfolded his chilling ideology,
>>>calling to expel those Palestinians who don't want to remain in the
>>>Galilee and West Bank as serfs, to Jordan, and from Gaza to Sinai. And
>>>he said this: why should we, the country poorest in land resources, bear
>>>the burden of solving the Palestinian problem? Well I don't know about
>>>you, but I remember some of the Nazi rhetoric in that dark period
>>>between the Kristallnacht of 1938 and the beginning of the war, when
>>>Jews were expelled from Germany but could find no safe haven anywhere
>>>else. When I see a retired IDF general and rising political star use the
>>>exact same Nazi rhetoric on Israel's most 'liberal' newspaper, without
>>>any criticism by his interviewer or the editors - my hair just stands on
>>>my head in horror.
>>>
>>>Let's move from the political scene back to the ground. My friend,
>>>Captain (Res.) Dan Tamir, decided to refuse to serve in the Territories
>>>about a year ago, after he realized what he'd done as a reserve
>>>regiment's intelligence officer a few weeks before that. He realized he
>>>had laid out the plans to convert a large Palestinian town into a closed
>>>ghetto. You can find his full statement on our website,
>>>www.seruv.org.il. The vast majority of Palestinians in the Territories
>>>now starve in such ghettos; in those days of mercy when they are allowed
>>>to leave them by foot and perhaps catch a taxi, these taxis are
>>>forbidden from using most of the paved roads in the region.
>>>
>>>But why listen to a "leftist"? Let's hear it from senior IDF officers.
>>>
>>>One of the top commanders in the Territories was quoted in Haaretz (Jan.
>>>25) as saying that in order to prepare for potential battles in dense
>>>urban neighborhoods, the IDF must learn, if necessary, how the German
>>>army 'operated' in the Warsaw Ghetto. A week later, the reporter
>>>confirmed this quote and the fact that this is a widespread opinion in
>>>the IDF, and went further to morally defend it. A small number of
>>>people, including myself, tried to raise a scandal over this. One letter
>>>to the editor was published in Haaretz. A much tougher letter, which I
>>>wrote, was never published, nor was my plea for a phone discussion with
>>>an editor ever answered. The issue just died down. No one in Israel or
>>>in the Jewish public abroad was interested. Where were all these holy
>>>souls, who now scold Tikkun because they indirectly allude to the Nazi
>>>horror, where were they all when a senior IDF officer proudly called,
>>>'in order to beat the Palestinians, let's be Judo-Nazis??'
>>>
>>>In my letter to Haaretz I went further. Knowing the IDF mentality and
>>>adding one to one, I concluded that the IDF is operationally prepared to
>>>invade refugee camps - an utter, indefensible war crime - and through
>>>this leak to the press it is starting to pressure the government and
>>>prepare the public opinion for the invasion. The letter was not
>>>published. It was sent on February 2. A few weeks later we all saw the
>>>horrors of the refugee camp invasions and the bloody revenge attacks
>>>that followed culminating on Passover eve.
>>>
>>>And you know what? Army generals and colonels morally and professionally
>>>pat themselves on the back, because these invasions "prevented terror",
>>>and killed only dozens and not thousands. (Note: in fact, the major
>>>reason limiting the bloodshed was the "terrorists" responsible decision
>>>not to turn the camps into all-out battlegrounds. But this may change in
>>>the next round.)
>>>
>>>In truth, I have little hope that the Israeli public will wake up.
>>>
>>>The Israeli public, in its fear and confusion, has made a decision
>>>(aided by the politicians and mass media) to go to sleep and wake up
>>>only 'after it is all over'. But it won't be over, because while our
>>>mind sleeps our muscles tighten the death grip, instead of doing the
>>>only sensible thing (which requires an open mind) - which is to let go.
>>>Will you guys join the hypocrite mobs who sing lullabies to Israel and
>>>pounce upon the refuseniks, upon Tikkun, to shut us up? Or will you
>>>finally take responsibility and be the true friends that Israel needs
>>>now - even if it means not being "nice" to Israel for a while?
>>>
>>>As you sit tonight at the Seder table, please remember the dozen or so
>>>refuseniks that spend this Seder in a military jail. More importantly,
>>>please remember the thousand or so people, three quarters Palestinians
>>>and one quarter Israelis, who were here with us a year ago and have been
>>>murdered. Most of them could have been here with us, if you and we had
>>>acted sooner. We have now acted, done what little we can do. Please
>>>think of the many thousands that may be doomed soon, if you continue
>>>sitting on the fence.
>>>
>>>May you have a happy Holiday of Freedom, Please help us struggle free
>>>from fear, racism, hatred and the deaths they produce.
>>>
>>>Yours,
>>>Assaf Oron
>>>
>>
>>
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>--

-- 


Al Kagan
African Studies Bibliographer and Professor of Library Administration
Africana Unit, Room 328
University of Illinois Library
1408 W. Gregory Drive
Urbana, IL 61801, USA

tel. 217-333-6519
fax. 217-333-2214
e-mail. akagan at uiuc.edu