[Peace-discuss] Re: [Peace] Fwd: Anti-Semitism

[David Green]

Dear Charlotte,

These are difficult issues, and I do really, truly
appreciate your concern and intentions. Please do not
let anything I might say keep you from exploring these
issues and proposals with other more optimistic Jews,
AWARE members, etc. Also, excuse me for this rather
rambling and probably disappointing response:

There have been many attempts over the years to engage
in constructive dialogue, most of them probably before
I moved here four years ago. Since I have lived here,
and especially since the current intifada began two
years ago, there have been precious few opportunities.
This is not without good reason, in my opinion:
supporters of Israel tend to be hidebound, programmed,
aggressive, defensive, argumentative--I can think of
many more adjectives. This is what goes with the
territory of cultural/religious self-righeousness and
a claim to eternal victimhood. No open minds
allowed--only debating points.

The fundamental differences on this issue are not
particularly conducive to interpersonal
understanding--that is not the goal of supporters of
Israel, and it has not particularly been mine either.
What we need are lots of people from different
backgrounds who understand the oppression of the
Palestinians and the racism of the Jewish
state--period--without using that to condemn every
Israeli, just as we would not have condemned every
white American southerner or South African.

As a group, AWARE can choose to emphasize or not
emphasize the rights of Palestinians as a part of its
peace agenda, and support appropriate collective
statements and/or action. But if so, there will be no
"understanding" to come out of dialogue with
supporters of Israel, and I'm not sure that there
should be. Nevertheless, I would be happy to show up
at whatever almost certainly
doomed-to-misunderstanding-and-invective event might
be scheduled, in order to at least lend some sort of
informed and rational perspective to counter the
conventional, well-programmed and incessantly repeated
Zionist nonsense. My one hope would be that some more
moderate or confused Jewish students might be
educable, but probably not in this particular
atmosphere. That is perfectly understandable.

I would make the following additional points, in no
particular order of importance:

1. For starters, let's be clear: AWARE is NOT
anti-semitic, period. No apologies, no defensiveness,
no elaborate explanations needed in order to criticize
Israel. Don't play that game--you won't be running
into any Holocaust victims or even descendants of same
in C-U, unless you come over to my house, or I direct
you to 2 or 3 others. You would be hard-pressed to
find any Jewish student who has ever experienced even
the most minor form of discrimination, beyond the
non-availability of kosher food (perhaps not a small
matter, but not life-threatening either).

Bu--those who criticize Israel for more than making
"mistakes" will always be accused of anti-Semitism,
explicitly or implicitly, by supporters of Israel who
believe in the esssential righteousness of Israel's
actions, that they are always in "self-defense." AWARE
members will be subject to such charges as well,
inevitably, if they choose to emphasize Palestinian
rights as opposed to Israeli security issues. I cannot
imagine that any serious "supporters of Israel" (I
like to put this in quotes, because what they really
support is continued murder and mayhem, with innocent
victims on both sides) in C-U are the least bit
interested in having any rational, respectful,
give-and-take dialogue with a group like AWARE. The
Israel line is now not just against the Palestinians,
but in favor of a war against Iraq, intensively
promoted by Israel's leaders and their American
associates and consented to by every major Jewish
institution in this country, so far as I can tell.
Good luck with that.

2. There are fundamental irreconcilable differences in
the historical perspectives that are brought to bear
on this issue. While it is important for critics of
Israel to gain a more accurate understanding of the
roots of this problem, views that are grounded in the
best available scholarship will not enlighten those
supporters of Israel who cast everything in terms of
victimization/self-defense/right of return to a Jewish
homeland, and have a thick pseudo-scholarly Zionist
narrative to support them.

3. History aside, the important issues have to do with
the lives of those Palestinians currently living in
the occupied territories and Israel. For at least 25
years, Palestinians have ceded 78% of Palestine to
Israel, and demanded that they be given the remaining
22% for a Palestinian state. The two primary opponents
to such proposals have been Israel and the United
States. I have seen no indication that the current
supporters of Israel accept the premises of a
two-state solution in a serious way--such proposals
are wrongly viewed as the beginning of compromises,
not the end, as they should be.

4. At the bottom of this problem is a pervasive white
racism among Jewish institutions and supporters of
Israel that has to be dealt with in a serious and
self-reflective manner, not as a part of "dialogues"
that will almost assuredly turn into debates,
arguments, and self-defensive posturing. If you had
attended a recent "teach-in" at Sinai Temple, you
would probably still be in shock at the sort of
blatantly racist views that were stated without any
comment except for my own, my wife's and Robert
Dunn's. Most Jews don't need dialogue--they need to
look in the mirror and listen to themselves talk. But
at another level, they need to be forced to engage the
daily suffering of the Palestinian people--no
rationalizations, no excuses, no victim blaming, just
look at it and feel it, especially through the eyes of
innocent children.

5. The fundamental question that needs to be
addressed, beyond Jewish support for Israel, is
American support for Israel. Even if the majority of
Jews demanded that American aid be stopped, it would
still continue so long as it is supported by the
political and economic establishments. There are
issues of economic interest, military interest, oil,
etc. This is not to mention Christian fundamentalism
and its support for an apocalypse-in-the-making at the
expense of Jews and Palestinians.

Well, these are my honest if profusely skeptical if
not cynical views, based on my own experiences,
frustrating as they may have been, for which I will
take some responsibility in terms of my own
emotional/temperamental proclivities, which are not a
monument to self-control. I think that perhaps you
have to be either Jewish or Palestinian to understand
the difficulty of addressing "mainstream" Jews and
institutional officials on these matters. I don't want
to sound overly-protective, but I often fear for those
who venture near this hornet's nest.

When it comes to Jewish college students (like my son
will be in two years), I just feel sorry that they
have to put up with such a toxic political culture
which is so difficult to get past with both one's
positive Jewish identity and political sanity intact.
I do not envy Jewish college students, but I'm hardly
losing sleep over them compared with Palestinian
children locked down in the occupied territories, if
they're lucky enough not to be starving or shot dead.

Well, it's time to stop ranting for a while. Thanks
for listening. You can towel me down at the next AWARE
meeting. Or just bring me a cheap bottle of wine, and
I promise I'll sit in the corner and mind my own
business.

Warmly and respectfully,

David Green



--- Charlotte Green <chgreen48 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Note: forwarded message attached.
> I originally sent this letter to Lisa Chason, and
> she
> suggested that I forward it to the rest of the
> group. 
> Lisa said that there is a highly respected group,
> which has been meeting for years in Amsterdam,
> called
> 'The Arab-Israeli Dialogue'--so there is a precedent
> for the idea outlined in the following letter.
> 
> __________________________________________________
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> ATTACHMENT part 2 message/rfc822 
> Date: Mon, 21 Oct 2002 20:19:22 -0700 (PDT)
> From: Charlotte Green <chgreen48 at yahoo.com>
> Subject: Anti-Semitism
> To: Lisa Chason <chason at shout.net>
> 
> Hi Lisa,
> I just had a conversation with a young, Jewish man
> as
> I was posting a flier re the Palestinian Truth Tour
> at
> the Red Herring Restaurant.  He felt that Israel is
> unfairly being blamed for the plight of the
> Palestinians, and that sympathy for their situation
> is
> causing strong anti-Semitic feelings in this
> community.  He told me about a murder about a year
> ago
> of a Jewish man close to campus.  He also thought
> that
> people involved in the divestment campaign condoned
> violence, including suicide bombers.  We had a
> decent
> conversation--I think he got frustrated because he
> didn't change my mind (and I didn't change his), but
> we listened to each other, and the conversation was
> respectful.  After talking to him, I thought that it
> is important that AWARE make a plain statement that
> we
> are not anti-Semitic.  It is not the Jewish people
> we
> are opposed to; it is Israel's policies toward the
> Palestinians.  Also, I feel that we must stress that
> we don't support the suicide bombers or terrorism of
> any kind.  
> 
> I'm writing this to you because I know you are one
> of
> the folks that is working on literature.  What do
> you
> think about incorportating these ideas in the
> pamphlet
> about Israel?
> 
> Another thought--I wish we could somehow open a
> respectful dialogue with people of the Jewish faith,
> who have a differing view from ours.  This is
> probably
> a wild idea, but what if we invited people from the
> local synagogue and/or Hillel to our meeting for a
> program?  A representative in support of Israel's
> policies could present his/her position on the
> Israeli/Palestinian conflict, and one of the AWARE
> members (David Green?) could present the Palestinian
> side.  We could have a question and answer period. 
> It
> would all have to be done carefully--we would insist
> on everyone respecting the opinions of those we
> disagree with.  Our goal would be to understand the
> needs, concerns, and viewpoints of both the Israelis
> and the Palestinians.  If we could pull it off, I
> think it would help us AWARE folks understand the
> issues that concern the Jews.  (I think we have to
> acknowledge that they do have real concerns.)  As a
> result, we should be able to better argue our case. 
> Also, it may help to defuse the fear of
> anti-Semitism
> in the Jewish community.  It's a way we could do a
> little peacemaking here in our own backyard.  I'd
> value your opinion on this.
> Thanks, Charlotte     
> 
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