On taking a side
Sharen Green believes it is time to do so
Simon Gray’s piece Supporting Both Sides (17 February), in which he urges Friends not to take sides in the question of boycotting goods from Israeli settlements, got me thinking hard. Quakers have, generally, always taken a side – the side of the oppressed, the downtrodden and the marginalised.
It’s not a question of supporting terrorism – whether it comes from a state which bombs schools and hospitals or from a frustrated youth strapping on some Semtex and blowing up a bus full of civilians. Of course each is a war crime. But I would like to take issue with Simon when it comes to comparing the labelling of goods from Israel and Palestine with that of potatoes from Herefordshire and Worcestershire.
A farmer in Worcestershire does not have to turn up at an illegal fence at a time prescribed by an illegal occupying force and hope that the teenager with a large gun in charge of the gate will also turn up and feel like letting him onto his own land that morning. S/he will not be forced to buy twenty per cent of his/her own water from that illegal occupying army at an inflated price while eighty per cent is siphoned off for use in Israel proper or on Israeli settlements in the West Bank, every single one of which is illegal under the Fourth Geneva Convention. The farmer will not have to queue up again that afternoon at that same agricultural gate at half past three with hours of good daylight left and go back to his village or risk being jailed for being on the ‘wrong’ side of the fence – declared illegal by the International Court of Justice in 2004 – at night.
The farmer from Herefordshire, also, is not sitting on land whose hapless owner has been forcibly evicted because the usurper claims the right to do that, according to an interpretation of an ancient book.
I have never read press reports that a Herefordshire farmer has polluted his neighbour’s well, set his corn on fire or violently prevented his neighbour from harvesting his own olive trees.
All these things have often been witnessed by human rights organisations in the West Bank, including by Ecumenical Accompaniers who are recruited and trained by Quaker Peace & Social Witness. I recorded many of them myself during my own service in Tulkarem (2006) and Jayyous (2009).
Simon rightly praises Neve Shalom/Wahat as Salam as an oasis of harmony (in Israel, not in the West Bank) where Israeli Jews and Israeli Arabs make a conscious decision to share their lives. I would commend anyone who supported the venture but there is no evidence that such support addresses unjust structures within Israel. Arab citizens of Israel do not enjoy equality with their Jewish neighbours – their own foreign minister advocates the ‘transfer’ of all Arabs out of the country.
I work with many Jews, both British and Israeli, for a just peace. I think we all consider ourselves true friends of Israel as well as to Palestinians because we speak truth to power.
Although I have seen young soldiers trying to treat Palestinians with decency at the agricultural gates, I fear they are not the norm. Human rights abuses are committed on a daily basis and the state supports the soldier who, for example, shoots at unarmed people at point blank range (see the autopsy reports on the Mavi Marmara attack).
Dozens of soldiers, it has been reported, have broken into people’s homes in the dead of night to beat up, blindfold and handcuff children as young as eight for allegedly throwing stones at an illegal barrier (see Defence for Children International evidence).
Unarmed Gazan fishermen are frequently fired on in their own waters (see Palestine Monitor reports). What is all this doing to the next generation of Israelis?
As my colleague Diana Neslen from Jews for Justice for Palestinians told members of the European Parliament in October: ‘The occupation must end and we regard any support, including permission for products from the occupation to be exported, as collusion with it.
‘This is why today we chose to lobby against settlement goods, above all because we are tormented by what is happening to the Palestinians and clear that Israelis and Jewish people who support the oppression of the Palestinians are losing their moral compass.’
Sharen is a former ecumenical accompanier.
Comments
Well said Sharon! Increasing knowledge in the outside world about the conditions that Arabs both in Israel and in the occupied Palestinian Territories are forced to live under will hopefully open people’s eyes. The Israelis and the Palestinians are not 2 roughly equal sides squabbling, rather a colonising force, generously funded by the rich world, is subjugating the indigenous people with all the mighty means at its disposal in the hope of eventually getting rid of them, in true colonial tradition. The state of Israel has shown it has no intention of seeking a solution despite its claims in the mainstream media. Meanwhile amazing peace and justice work is being done by all sorts of people, largely ignored by the world. I thought Quakers stood up for the oppressed and dispossessed, the equality of all people and justice. If this is what taking sides means, then of course I must take this side. Deliberately keeping people in fear and conflict is not good for anyone - the favoured population no more than the oppressed one. Lobbying against only settlement goods is a start (as the goods are clearly illegal), but insufficient. It will not have enough impact to persuade a state to change and it gives the message that the way Israel itself is run is acceptable, the flaunting international law and depriving people of their human rights being richly rewarded.
By eleanor1358 on 3rd March 2011 - 12:09
Our Friend Simon Gray, writing in the Friend of February 18th appears to misunderstand the purpose of a boycott of goods from illegally occupied Israeli settlements., Against all International laws and friendly appeals from the International community, the Israeli government still persists in expropriating Internationally agreed Palestinian territory. The effect is that now less than 13% of the original total area of 1948 Palestine is uncolonised by Israel. ( It is in five disconnected blocks , divided by a massive illegal wall .) This makes a two-state solution virtually impossible and a major cause of the failure of peace talks. The boycott is a non - violent method of bringing the issue to the fore to aid in the process of achieving a ’ just and peaceful settlement for all citizens of the region ‘.
By Donsaunders on 4th March 2011 - 9:14
well done sharen for putting the situation so clearly - i wonder whether those supporting israeli action in gaza and the west bank, albeit sometimes by their silence, are aware of the facts. based on your experience, your article and subsequent online comments from others, will surely help inform those who are currently in ignorance of what is happening. i can see the point against boycotts and sanctions, but while israel is being massively funded for it’s illegal activities and continues to maintain that it is israeli law (not international law) that holds sway in the region, other options to make a difference are thin on the ground. it is to be hoped that quakers can take this opportunity to build on their historical record of supporting the oppressed.
By triplejay on 6th March 2011 - 12:53
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