A response to Bush's Mid East speech June 24th, 2002.

by Rabbi Michael Lerner

Editor, Tikkun

[Received 6/24/02; posted here 6/27/02]

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But there are two substantial obstacles to all this: First, the Israeli political Right, which currently runs the Government of Israel, has no interest in withdrawal from the West Bank and Gaza. Many religious Zionists believe that giving up West Bank settlements would be a violation of God's will.

Second, Islamic fundamentalists have no interest in the creation of a secular Palestinian state living in peace with Israel. They would much prefer to see an Israeli occupation which will be worn down over the course of the next thirty to forty years of guerilla struggle against Islamic forces than to see a secular state that would restore hope for Palestinians and lessen the appeal of the fundamentalists.

So both have entered into a de facto alliance to prevent any such development. Ariel Sharon says that he will not reward terror by allowing any substantial steps toward withdrawal from the West Bank and Gaza as long as Israelis face terror. Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad understand the covert invitation, and respond by acts of terror against Israel , particularly at moments when the Palestinian Authority seems to be moving toward accommodation with whatever is the latest American or Israeli demand. Instead of responding by attacking Hamas, Hezbollah or Islamic Jihad, Sharon responds by repressive measures against the Palestinian Authority and the entire Palestinian people. Those measures increase despair, generate new recruits for the terrorists, and demonstrate the ineffectiveness of the Palestinian Authority. A perfect reward for the terrorists -- exactly what they are seeking.

Now George Bush has joined Sharon in endorsing the notion that any small bunch of fundamentalist extremists can veto a peace process. Of course, had the US insisted as a precondition for withdrawal that the Vietnamese end acts of violence against Vietnamese civilians who supported the US, we'd still be fighting that war. Or if the South African whites had demanded an end to all acts of anti-white violence as a precondition for majority rule, there would still be apartheid in South Africa. And since the Palestinian terrorists do not seek peace with Israel, but the destruction of Israel, George Bush has given them massive incentive to keep going with acts of terror.

Bush's call for democratic reform of Palestine might have more credibility if it had come from a President who had won the popular vote in the U.S., but it frames a direction which almost everyone can embrace. The Palestinian people would certainly benefit by replacing Arafat and other criminal elements who have supported terror against Israeli civilians. But as long as Israeli tanks roll into Palestinian cities every week, few Palestinians will believe that it is possible to have a democratic process that is anything more than a ratification of whatever Israel seeks to impose on them -- and if they vote at all, it will be for those who express the most extreme anger at Israel (just who we don't need in power if we want to negotiate for peace).

If the US wants peace, George Bush is going to have to summon the courage that allowed his father to stand up to the American friends of Israel's Right wing. In 1991 that meant demanding a settlement freeze, but in 2002 that will mean support for an international intervention to separate and protect the two sides from each other and to impose a settlement which minimally requires an end to the Occupation and the settlements, reparations for the Palestinian refugees (and to Israelis who fled Arab lands) as well as an end to the terror.. One way to reassure legitimate Israeli fears: offer Israel membership in NATO or a mutual defense pact with the US to guarantee protection from assault by neighboring states.

But there is only one path to mobilize Palestinians to join in a serious effort to crush Hamas and other fundamentalist terrorists -- and that is for the Palestinian people to feel Israel has had a fundamental change of heart and is now ready to treat the Palestinian people with the same respect and sensitivity to their needs and their fears that we Jews rightly demand for ourselves. And that will never happen as long as we punish an entire people for the outrageous acts of a few. In my view, both sides need to do real teshuva--repentance for the terrible cruelty and pain each has unnecessarily inflicted on the other. But in the actual reality of Israel's far superior military power, it must be the more powerful force that starts this process without demanding that it be reassured from the start that the other side will reciprocate. If the Jewish people were to not only end the Occupation and provide reparations, but also do it in a way that demonstrated real repentance, and we kept up an attitude of generosity and open- heartedness for many years, the justifiable Palestinian rage would eventually melt enough so that most Palestinians would be willing to stop, villify, and imprison those (and there are certain to be some) who will want to keep up violence no matter what Israel does. This is the only way to isolate the fundamentalists - every other approach guarantees their survival and future acts of terror.

Bush's vague promises of a state without territory, and without protection from further Israeli incursions, and conditional on overthrowing Arafat and stopping all violence, is a non-starter -- except perhaps as a temporary respite of pressure from the Saudis who may use the Bush speech as a pretext to claim that the US has demonstrated good intentions, and therefore deserves the go-ahead for US's desired war against Iraq. But for those of us who want peace and reconciliation in the Middle East, George Bush never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity.

All the more reason why we need to build a social movement capable of pushing US policy in a different direction. We call it The Tikkun Community--and our goal is to be is both pro-Israel and pro-Palestine, a movement that calls for both a new social policy and a new spirit of compassion and generosity.

Here is a first step: take the resolution below and get it endorsed by the local chapter of whatever political party you are part of (Democrats, Greens - and don't be so sure that you won't find some responsive voices even among Republicans), by local unions and churches and synagogues and mosques and ashrams, by social change groups involved in peace, justice, civil liberties, and human rights work, by civic organizations and neighborhood associations, by prominent and respected local personalities and educators, and by people seeking elected office (let them know if they want your vote in November that you want them to sign on to this or some version that raises these points that you yourself construct in accord with what you think will work in your locale) - and finally try to get locally elected officials to pass it as a resolution in your local city council or county supervisors or state legislature (or, if they won't, try to collect signatures to put this on the local ballot for a direct vote - it will be a wonderful way to create a local conversation that is really needed):

City Council or Board of Supervisors Resolution:

1. Call upon its representatives in Congress to ask the U.S . government to support an international intervention (either through the UN or through some other appropriate multinational force) to separate the two sides, provide protection for each, and impose a settlement on both sides which includes:

a. Return of Israel to its pre-67 borders, with minor border changes mutually agreed upon (including Israeli control of the Western Wall and Palestinian control of the Temple Mount)

b. Creation of an economically and politically viable Palestinian state in all of the pre-67 West Bank and Gaza with small border changes mutually agreed upon, and with its capital in East Jerusalem

c. An international fund to provide reparations for Palestinians and generous resettlement opportunities in the new Palestinian state

d. Recognition of Israel by Arab states and peaceful relations with all surrounding Arab and Islamic states

e. Sharing of the water and other resources of the area and joint ecological cooperation to preserve the ecological balance

f. Security cooperation by both Israel and Palestine with international participation and supervision to empower both sides to take decisive action to curb extremist elements that seek to block a peaceful resolution by resorting to provocation or violence against the citizens and/or territory of the other

g. International guarantees of the military safety and security of Israel and Palestine, either through inclusion in NATO, a bilateral mutual defense agreement with the U.S., or some similar arrangement guaranteed to protect Israel and Palestine from other states which may have hostile intention

a. to provide aid for families of victims of terror, violence and military actions in both Israel and Palestine

b. to create an of Middle East Peace in Washington D.C. which will provide public education to our elected representatives in support of peace in the Middle East consistent with the ideas in this proposition. The Office of Middle East Peace will be administered by and responsible to the City.

c. To provide education to our own citizens about the complexities of the Middle East situation, education which reflects the perspectives of those who are committed to points 1 a-g above.

Would you like to become active with The Tikkun Community - and get these ideas better known? We have a training for activists - July 4-7 in Northern California and at Omega Institute in the Catskills Aug. 12-16 (more info: 415-575-1200 ask for Liat). We are creating a national network of students and faculty - The Tikkun Campus Network, with a founding meeting Oct. 11-14 in NYC. And we are planning a major Teach-In to Congress April 27-29, 2003, in Washington, D.C. (we hope to bring people from every Congressional district). In the meantime, we hope that you will consider trying to get your local city council, or state legislature to introduce and pass the resolution above.

Also, please check 2 parts of our website [www.tikkun.org] regularly: The daily critiques of media distortions, and the Calendar. They are both on the homepage, in the section for The TIKKUN Community, at www.tikkun.org . 

If you would, join our media critique group (info there at the website - or email Samantha: Ashreynu@aol.com

Or would you like to form a local group? Contact Marisa: Marisa@tikkun.org

 

Michael Lerner is editor of TIKKUN magazine, author of Jewish Renewal: A path to Healing and Transformation (Harper/Collins) and rabbi of Beyt Tikkun synagogue in San Francisco. 

On the web: www.tikkun.org

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