Brownfeld Glick

American Jewish Community Sharply Divided Over Israel’s Actions in Gaza By Allan C. Brownfeld Israel andJudaism

srael’s assault on Gaza was Brit Tzedek v’Shalom—voiced Ivigorously supported by concerns over Israel’s decision many leaders of American EGYPT HOPES TO IMPROVE ITS IMAGE to launch a wide-scale military Jewish organizations. A dele- operation. “This is the moment gation from the Conference of in which you need to stand up Presidents of Major American and say what you believe,” Jewish Organizations visited said Jeremy Ben-Ami, execu- the southern Israeli city of tive director of J Street. “We Sderot, where missiles from sat silent and quiet for too long Gaza had landed, to show soli- in this country.” He pointed to darity. The visiting group in- the vibrant debate being cluded Harold Tanner, a past waged in the Israeli press chair of the Presidents Confer- about the length and breadth ence, as well as its executive of the military operation. vice chair and current interim A statement issued by the chair, Malcolm Hoenlein, and group said that Israeli attacks Alan Solow, president of the “deepened the cycle of vio- Jewish Community Centers lence” and that “only diplo- Association, who has been macy and negotiations can end nominated to chair the Presi- the rockets and terror and dents Conference. bring Israel long-term security According to the Jan. 8, 2009 and peace.” Washington Jewish Week, Tan- The Israel Policy Forum ner and Hoenlein declared: (IPF) called on the Bush ad- “We’re paying this visit to ministration to act immedi- show our support and solidar- ately to reach a cease-fire. ity with the people and govern- “The cycle of violence runs ment of Israel as they confront counter to Israel’s long-term Hamas terrorism and the con- security,” said Nick Bunzl, tinuous rain of rockets on civil- IPF’s executive director. Brit ian populations. We take seriously the Jan. 9 noted that, “It would be wrong to Tzedeck v’Shalom, a grass-roots pro-peace threats issued by Hamas and their Iranian catalogue the history of the latest crisis and movement, issued a statement warning of sponsors to destroy the Jewish state...” ignore Israel’s share of the blame. Israel the possible negative consequences of Is- The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) helped to undermine Egypt’s Palestinian rael’s military operation: “We can already placed advertisements defending Israel’s ac- unity efforts, meant to win tacit Hamas ac- anticipate yet another failed attempt to re- tions in a number of newspapers. One, in ceptance of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, solve this fundamentally political conflict the Jan. 12 International Herald Tribune, by insisting it would not negotiate with a by military means.” aimed at residents of London, asked: “Imag- unified Palestinian team. It ignored oppor- According to The Forward, “The dov- ine if Hamas terrorists were targeting you tunities to strengthen Palestinian Authority ish groups’ ability to be heard in the cor- and your family. No country would allow chief Mahmoud Abbas against Hamas—by ridors of power received a boost recently such danger on its border, and neither will giving him the concessions he needed— when the groups were invited along with Israel. That’s why Israel is fighting back.” removing West Bank roadblocks, releasing other, more established Jewish organiza- Other Jewish groups took a far more nu- prisoners, rerouting the security bar- tions to meet with the transition team of anced position—shattering the efforts to rier—to show his public that negotiating President-elect Barack Obama.” promote the idea of “unity” in support of can improve their lives. Most of all, Israel On Dec. 18, Obama’s transition team Israel’s actions. Editorially, The Forward of failed to honor its written agreements to held a meeting with more than two dozen halt settlement construction and dismantle American Jewish organizations, repre- Allan C. Brownfeld is a syndicated colum- unauthorized outposts. That has arguably senting a broad range of views on the Is- nist and associate editor of the Lincoln Re- done as much to undermine popular trust raeli-Palestinian conflict. During the Bush view, a journal published by the Lincoln In- in the peace process among Palestinians as administration, liberal groups like Brit stitute for Research and Education, and edi- terrorism has done among Israelis.” Tzedek and the IPF were excluded from tor of Issues, the quarterly journal of the A number of groups—Americans for similar meetings. IPF didn’t “set foot in American Council for Judaism. Peace Now, J Street, Israel Policy Forum and the White House during the Bush admin- 42 THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS APRIL 2009 A Letter to My Fellow Jews—By David Glick

WHAT, I ASK, has come of us? “There is no humanitarian crisis by international observers. In response Israel turned Gaza into in Gaza,” say Israeli leaders Simon Peres and Tzipi Livni. Have a virtual open-air prison by totally sealing off its borders and we, who historically have been subjected to such horrific prej- cutting off supplies of food, water, medicine and electricity. Is- udice, persecution and even genocide, become so callous that rael’s recent bombing and invasion have magnified that crisis we are now morally blind to the violence and oppression that into what the U.N. has called a humanitarian disaster with a Israel is inflicting on the people of Palestine, a large number of dreadful loss of life and limb among Palestinians. In this latest whom are innocent civilians? assault, Israel lost 13 soldiers, while killing more than 1,300 We, who once were the victims of the Nazi genocide, which Palestinians and seriously wounding 5,300, among which were murdered six million Jews while the world was silent, have now more than 400 children. become the perpetrators of violence. After the experience of Israel’s collective punishment of the people of Gaza, its ex- the Holocaust, “never again” quite understandably meant that cessive, disproportionate use of force, and its indiscriminate we Jews would never again allow ourselves to be so vulnerable bombing of civilians are war crimes under the Geneva Con- that we would go to slaughter like lambs to the kill. vention. But “never again” must never be the sole possession of the We Jews who criticize Israel do so out of the values of our Jewish people. That cry belongs to the world—to all who suf- Jewish moral heritage. It is high time that we Jews reach back fer under the boot of an oppressor who visits violence and and embrace our proud tradition of social justice and honestly death upon them. admit to ourselves that the Zionist enterprise, in its urgency to It is the great tragedy of the Palestinian people that they are find a sanctuary, made the Palestinians pay the price for Eu- the victims of victims. Consequently the crimes and suffering rope’s anti-Semitism and the horrible crimes committed they have endured have gone unacknowledged by all those against us prior to and during the Holocaust. who disingenuously use the Holocaust to justify whatever Is- Palestinians could not understand why they had to give up rael does as self-defense. That manipulative use of the Holo- their homeland to remedy something for which they were caust desecrates the memory of all those who perished in the not responsible. And so one tragedy was heaped upon an- ghastly inferno of that Nazi hell. other. Let us be big enough to acknowledge this reality and The killing of innocent civilians is deplorable, whether by ask the Palestinians for their understanding and forgiveness, Hamas rockets or Israeli fighter planes and helicopter gunships. and in return genuinely commit to seek as just a remedy as But let’s be honest. Enough of the lies and self-deceptions. Is- possible. rael’s aggression against Gaza is not a legitimate act of self-de- To that end there are only two realistic solutions to this ter- fense. The rockets being fired upon Israel are an understand- rible tragedy. One is for Israel to completely end the occupa- able, if regrettable, act of resistance born of the despair of an tion and evacuate all settlements, return to the pre-1967 ongoing illegal and barbaric occupation that is at the heart of armistice lines and support the formation of a truly viable and the conflict. independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza, with Israel argues that it evacuated Gaza two years ago only to East Jerusalem as its capital, along with a negotiated settlement have Hamas rockets rain down upon its civilian population. But of the right of return. The other option is to agree to one sec- let’s be honest. Israel imposed a ruthless siege on Gaza after ular democratic state in all of Israel/Palestine, with equal rights Hamas, like it or not, won a fair and honest election monitored for all its citizens. David Glick is a psychotherapist in Fairfax, CA and a member of Let no more children die, whether Israeli or Palestinian, the Marin Peace and Justice Coalition and Jewish Voice for Peace. when the solutions are apparent to all people of good will.

istration,” said M.J. Rosenberg, IPF’s di- the establishment of a Palestinian state, organizations in the past were working rector of policy analysis. such as the Zionist Organization of Amer- too much together,” he argues. “Until re- According to one participant, the view- ica (ZOA). Those falling into the first camp cently, they supported whatever the Is- points articulated at the meeting fell into drew hope from the December meeting raeli government wanted. It is now a three categories, described by The that the Obama administration will be much more vibrant place.” Jerusalem Report of Feb. 2 as follows: “the more open to hearing and considering Evidently. Commentary’s Noah Pollak pro-peace, pro-Israel camp, which be- their viewpoints than the Bush adminis- called the peace groups “contemptible,” lieves in resolving the conflict through a tration...Few question that the dynamics “dishonest” and “anti-Israel.” James negotiated settlement, including J Street, in Washington, DC and thus throughout Kirchick of The New Republic called J APN, IPF, and Brit Tzedek; the centrists, the American Jewish community have Street an American Jewish “Surrender who also believe in a two-state solution changed dramatically.” Lobby.” Michael Goldfarb of The Weekly but are much harder on the Palestinians The IPF’s Rosenberg believes the idea of Standard called J Street “obsequious” to than on the Israelis, such as AIPAC and a single, unified voice for American Jews terrorists and “hostile” to Israel. the Jewish Institute for National Security with regard to Middle East policy is a “Whether or not one shares J Street’s Affairs; and those who completely oppose thing of the past: “The American Jewish views,” Eric Alterman argued in The Na- APRIL 2009 THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS 43 tion, “that language is obvious • In 15 cases, the army at- evidence of panic among those tacked medical facilities, in- whose positions as the self-ap- isit the Washington Report cluding a medical supply pointed spokesmen for Amer- warehouse, three mobile ican Jews has grown increas- on Middle East Affairs clinics and a mental health ingly tenuous, especially since online center. The groups assert their uncritical cheerleading that there were “direct at- for the disastrous U.S. invasion for more information or tacks” on the European Hos- of Iraq and Israel’s failed in- pital and the Dura Hospital, cursion into Lebanon three to subscribe to the print among other buildings. years later.” edition. • In most cases, the army Indeed, anyone critical of does not respond to requests Israel’s actions in Gaza re- for coordination with med- mains subject to the harshest ical teams to evacuate or attacks. When PBS commentator Bill Moy- The occupation of the West Bank and the transfer casualties. When it does respond, ers expressed criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza Strip in the aftermath of the 1967 War there are delays of anywhere from two to Gaza, the ADL’s Abraham Foxman accused had little to do with security and every- 10 hours. In one case, the groups state, a Moyers of “moral equivelancy, racism, his- thing to do with territorial expansionism.” family of 21, six of whom were injured, torical revisionism, and indifference to ter- In Shlaim’s view, “Israel’s record over the waited seven days until the army allowed rorism.” However, noting that Moyers “is past four decades makes it difficult to resist Red Cross representatives to evacuate one of the most admired figures in Amer- the conclusion that it has become a rogue them. ica,” the IPF’s Rosenberg predicted that state with ‘an utterly unscrupulous set of In an essay entitled “Eyeless In Gaza,” the “attack will harm not at all. It will, in leaders’...As always, mighty Israel claims to Roger Cohen, writing in the Feb. 12 issue fact, enhance his reputation just as Ed be the victim of Palestinian aggression, but of The New York Review of Books, notes Murrow’s was enhanced by the attacks on the asymmetry of power leaves little doubt that, “The high-tech security fence built to him during the McCarthy era.” as to who the real victim is...A rogue state wall off the West Bank and the near-her- Discussing Foxman’s attack on Moyers, habitually violates international law, pos- metic sealing of Gaza since the Israeli with- Alterman writes that “for the likes of Fox- sesses WMD, and practices terrorism—the drawal in 2005 are in the end attempts to man, any action Israel takes is de facto de- use of violence against civilians for politi- shut out reality. Palestinians have become fensive and solely in the interests of peace, cal purposes. Israel’s real aim is not peace- a vague abstraction to most Israelis not no matter how warlike. He goes so far as ful coexistence with its Palestinian neigh- within range of Hamas rockets; out of to attack Barack Obama’s choice of George bors but military domination...” sight, out of mind. Israel, shamefully, has Mitchell as the U.S. envoy to the re- even prevented international journalists gion—get this—Mitchell is ‘fair’ and e sat silent and from getting into Gaza to tell the story as ‘meticulously even-handed,’ and Foxman “W they see it...Israel has the right to hit back says he is ‘not sure the situation requires quiet for too long in this at Hamas when attacked—but not to blow that kind of approach.’” country.” Gaza to pieces, or deprive people of food, Despite such attacks, however, many water and medicine...Israel denies target- Jewish voices—in the U.S., Israel and On Jan. 14, Israeli human rights groups ing civilians, accuses Hamas of using civil- elsewhere in the world—have been issued a detailed report alleging serious ians as human shields and says it works in harshly critical of Israel’s actions in Gaza. human rights violations by Israel’s mili- ‘close cooperation’ with international or- Writing in the Israeli newspaper tary in its three-week campaign in Gaza. ganizations. But at some point—and I Haaretz, the respected Israeli author The coalition of nine groups, which in- would say a couple of hundred dead chil- David Grossman termed the Gaza opera- clude Physicians for Human Rights, the dren in Gaza are already well past that tion “just one more way-station on a road Israeli section of Amnesty International point—such denials become pointless. The paved with fire, violence and hatred...our and the Public Committee Against Torture facts speak for themselves...There is an- conduct here in this region has, for a long in Israel, charged that Israel’s conduct other right that Israel does not have: to de- time, been flawed, immoral and unwise.” “constitutes a blatant violation of the laws lude its people into thinking that peace is Professor Avi Shlaim, the Israeli author of warfare and raises the suspicion, which achievable without coming to terms with of The Iron Wall: Israel and The Arab we ask to be investigated, of the commis- the deeply entrenched Middle East realities World, wrote in The Guardian: “The only sion of war crimes.” that are Hamas and Hezbollah.” way to make sense of Israel’s senseless war In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Whatever one thinks of these critical in Gaza is through historical context. Es- Ehud Olmert and an accompanying report analyses of Israel’s actions in Gaza, the fact tablishing the state of Israel in May 1948 in- based on their own information gather- is that they reflect a growing division in volved a monumental injustice to the Pales- ing, the human rights groups offered Jewish opinion—in the U.S., in Israel and tinians...I served loyally in the Israeli army some of the most detailed allegations of in the rest of the world. The days when in the 1960s and have never questioned the human rights violations: groups such as the Conference of Presidents legitimacy of the state of Israel within its • In six cases, the army shot at medical of Major American Jewish Organizations pre-1967 borders. What I reject is the Zion- teams. Twelve medical personnel have can say that they represent Jewish opinion ist colonial project beyond the Green Line. been killed, and 17 were injured. clearly seem to be coming to an end. ❑ 44 THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS APRIL 2009