Breakthrough Story #2

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#006699" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="057285a1erlcgo.png"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" ><B>TurnTheTide</B></FONT><B>    </B><B> |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="TurnTheTide"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div>  <A HREF="id57.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Breakthrough 1 Crash Course"><U>Breakthrough #1 Crash Course</U></A>   |   <B>Breakthrough Story #2</B>   |   <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Breakthrough Story 3"><U>Breakthrough Story #3</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id66.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Breakthrough Story 4"><U>Breakthrough Story #4</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id39.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Breakthrough Story 5 "><U>Breakthrough Story #5 </U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFCC66" TEXT="#080000" background="056d2c00dkelyh.png"> <div> <B> </B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="index_site_map.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="TurnTheTide"><U><B>LINK TO SITE MAP</B></U></A></FONT></div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <I><U><IMG SRC="0daa3c40.jpg" border=0 width="163" height="196" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></I></div> <div> <B>Bishop Desmond Tutu</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Almost instinctively, the Jewish people have always been on the side of the voiceless.... The occupation represents a dangerous and selective amnesia of the persecution from which these traditions were born.</B></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I>Breakthrough Story #2</I></div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="breakthrough__1_the_end_of_a_path_for"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <I><B>BREAKTHROUGH #2: </B></I><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000CC" FACE="Arial" ><I><B>The end of a path for American Jews: a Choice must be made.</B></I></FONT></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>Why our interior world and</B></div> <div> <B>exterior world don't match</B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I><B>“My interior world and my exterior world don't match.”</B></I></div> <div> Frustrated, <B>Hilda Bernstein Silverman</B> faced a choice she didn't want to make. Events in the Holy Land had left her deeply shaken. She was unsure how to react or what to do next. A path followed by American Jews for decades was ending. At a time when the state of Israel was in crisis, Silverman said her sympathy was more and more with the “other side.” </div> <div> The path that was ending was the uncritical, habitual, "anything goes" support of Israel.</div> <div> Israel had come to a fork in the road it had followed its entire 54-year-journey as the 20th century homeland for the Jews. Most American Jews never questioned where the road was taking Israel. Never questioned Israel's destination as a people whose journey began thousands of years ago; as a nation they believed would put into practice Jewish ideals of justice and freedom; ideals that no amount of oppression had been able to erase from the hearts of Silverman's ancestors. </div> <div> Now Silverman was questioning everything. </div> <div> The immediate choice Silverman was making was whether to attend the “Stand with Israel” rally April 15, 2002 in Washington, D.C. It was an event at which she would see many old friends.  </div> <div> She chose not to attend. </div> <div> “I chose instead,” she says, “to send the $225 I would have spent on round trip air fare to my sisters and brothers in the Israeli movements for a just peace who recognize…that Palestinians yearn to breathe free just as we do---and that as a people they have done nothing to deserve the immense suffering that the Sharon government is unleashing upon them with massive lethal weaponry and tacit approval provided by the United States.”</div> <div> Silverman identifies herself as a 63-year-old political activist. She has spent the past two decades dealing with the Israel/Palestine conflict.</div> <div> “In the Passover Haggadah,” she says, “we read that it is as if we personally came out of Egypt. </div> <div> "At some deep psychological level I feel as if I personally came out from the place of Nazi destruction where I had personally cried out for help to an unseeing, unhearing, uncaring world.</div> <div> “Surely that is part of the reason why recent weeks have been so painful for me. Every day I am the recipient of such desperate messages---coming in a different time, from a different place and about different circumstances--but with profound urgency, nonetheless. As with many in the Jewish left, and especially in the feminist left, I am in regular Internet communication with Palestinians and Israelis on the ground who describe in horrifying detail the wanton cruelty and deliberate destruction by Israeli forces of Palestinian life and civil institutions throughout the West Bank. </div> <div> “And the accompanying message is always the same: `Tell the world what is happening here!'”</div> <div> Silverman remembers that the Jews in Germany wrote similar requests when the Nazis were taking over, and the irony is almost too much to bear. </div> <div> “My universe is divided,” Silverman says, “between those who know and those who don't.”  </div> <bR> <div> <B>The first breakthrough is that a growing number of Jews in America “know.”</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <div> They experience the conflict Silverman experiences. Their inner world and outer world do not match. </div> <div> Silverman quotes Kibbutznik Menachem in the book, <I>The Seventh Day: Soldiers' Talk About the Six-Day War</I>: </div> <div> "If I had any clear awareness of the World War years and the fate of European Jewry it was once when I was going up the Jericho road and the refugees were going down it. I identified directly with them. When I saw parents dragging their children along by the hand, I actually almost saw myself being dragged along by my own father."</div> <div> Silverman describes attending the “magnificent Workmen's Circle commemoration of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising” performed in Cambridge. </div> <div> “People are singing their hearts out, but this year I find the words jarring. There are songs of pride about Jewish honor being upheld by fighters armed only with stones and rifles against the Nazi tanks. I start to cry. I cry through the entire second act. </div> <div> “One of my friends in the chorus later confesses only half facetiously that she got through the experience by pretending she is a Palestinian.</div> <div> “Days later I read of Palestinian pride that in the ferocious battle of the Jenin refugee camp a 13 year old boy threw stones at Israeli soldiers after he had run out of ammunition. Stories of such heroism are circulating widely among this devastated but still-proud people…</div> <div> “Throughout this crisis there have been credible reports both of Israeli assaults on medical personnel and institutions and of denial of access to medical care---with Palestinians routinely being left to bleed to death in the street. In addition, the obscene destruction of every aspect of Palestinian civilian infrastructure---educational records, medical equipment, cultural artifacts---and widespread looting and vandalism give lie to the claim that this is simply a fight to `root out terrorism.' </div> <div> “Perhaps the most cynical indication of the contempt some Israeli soldiers hold for Palestinians trapped in their homes with many small children was their use of a captured Palestinian cable TV station to show hard core pornographic movies!”</div> <bR> <div> <B>The first breakthrough is that Jews who have invested in Israel all of their lives are now asking for an accounting.</B> </div> <bR> <div> <I><B>“If Israel insists on maintaining the occupation, I will take action. I will demand my trees back. You owe me.”</B></I></div> <div> <B>Alec Durbo,</B> a Jewish writer from Washington, D.C., wrote in an op-ed essay in Ha'aretz Daily June 2, 2002 that he was going to demand his trees back if the occupation continues. </div> <div> “For the past 55 years, or to put it another way, for my entire life, Israel has asked me and other American Jews for one thing: help. I think it's time Israel realized that it might owe a debt to the 60 percent of Jews who choose not to live there…</div> <div> “From my perspective, Israel is holding the world's Jews hostage…so that 200,000 Jews can live in defiant comfort in the West Bank, Gaza and Golan, (while) the rest of us see deteriorating relations with our neighbors and an increasing sense of danger.”</div> <div> Durbo's father worked for United Jewish Appeal and then for Bonds for Israel. </div> <div> “We didn't see too much of him because his work was important. As I got older, I donated money and purchased trees….the relationship (was) entirely one-sided: You asked, we responded. Now, I'm asking… </div> <div> “As far as I'm concerned, the flawed idealism of Zionism has run up against a wall…</div> <div> “If you fail to relinquish your semi-military communities, there will be only war and division. And, as you further endanger those of us outside Israel, you risk losing your base of support.”</div> <bR> <div> <B>WHO IS HOLDING WHOM HOSTAGE?</B></div> <div> The question of who is holding whom hostage is one that concerns many Israelis, according to Gershon Baskin, Israeli co-director of the Israel/Palestine Research and Information Center. The Center, a leading “think-tank,” recently issued a report in which Baskin said:</div> <div> “More and more Israelis are beginning to believe that some 250,000 settlers are holding more than 5 million other Israelis hostage. While the Israeli desire and resolve to make the Palestinians feel the pain of their war against Israel has not been reduced, more and more Israelis are understanding that their strategy is not working. Palestinian resolve is not on the decline…</div> <div> “The Palestinians know that they are much weaker militarily than Israel and there is no possibility to defeat the Israeli army on the battle front. They believe, however that they are much stronger than Israel politically and morally. They believe that justice is on their side and that history sides with them as well.</div> <div> "<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000CC" FACE="Arial" ><B>They say that Israel is the last occupying power left in the world and that the success of the Palestinian struggle for freedom from the occupation is inevitable…” </B></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>Former Illinois Republican Congressman Paul Findley</B> (1961-83) believes that all Americans, not just Jews, are “hostages.” Findley, a member of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee for 16 years, said the problem of the Israeli occupation of Palestine and the Jews-only settlements and highways starts and stops at the U.S. capital. </div> <div> In a letter to the American public written September 11, 2002, Findley states that the war between Israel and Palestine would be ended promptly if the U.S. would suspend all aid to Israel until the occupation was ended. </div> <div> “If Bush suspends U.S. aid, he will liberate all Americans from long years of bondage to Israel's misdeeds. The suspension would force Sharon's compliance or lead to his removal from office, as the Israeli electorate will not tolerate a prime minister at odds with the White House.”</div> <div> The “bondage” continues, according to Findley, because the Israeli U.S. lobby is so “powerful and intimidating.” </div> <div> “Nine-eleven had its principal origin 35 years ago when Israel's U.S. lobby began its unbroken success in stifling debate about the proper U.S. role in the Arab-Israeli conflict… On Capital Hill, criticism of Israel, even in private conversation, is all but forbidden, treated as downright unpatriotic, if not anti-Semitic…</div> <div> <B>“No one in authority will admit a calamitous reality that is skillfully shielded from the American people but is clearly recognized by most of the world: America suffered 9/11 and its aftermath and may soon be at war with Iraq, mainly because U.S. policy in the Middle East is made in Israel, not in Washington…”   </B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >  </FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>Bishop Desmond Tutu</B>, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his battle against apartheid, sees the hostage problem as a world problem, just as South Africa's apartheid policy toward Blacks was a world problem. Tutu visited Israel and Palestine and declared the Israel occupation of Palestine was a “chilling reminder” of apartheid in South Africa.  </div> <div> In an article in the International Herald Tribune June 14, 2002, Tutu said, “Yesterday's township dwellers can tell you about today's life in the occupied Palestinian territories. To travel only a few blocks in his homeland, an elderly grandfather waits to beg for the whim of a teenage soldier. More than an emergency is required to get to a hospital; less than a crime earns a trip to jail… The indignities, dependence and anger are all too familiar…” </div> <div> Tutu described the paradox of the Israeli oppression of Palestine…</div> <div> <B>“Almost instinctively, the Jewish people have always been on the side of the voiceless. In their history, there is painful memory of massive round-ups, house demolitions and collective punishment. In their scripture, there is acute empathy for the disenfranchised. The occupation represents a dangerous and selective amnesia of the persecution from which these traditions were born…”</B></div> <div> The end of apartheid, Tutu said, stands as one of the crowning accomplishments of the last century. </div> <div> “We would not have succeeded without the help of international pressure. There is no greater testament to the basic dignity of ordinary people everywhere than the divestment movement of the 1980's… Students played an especially important role by compelling universities to change their portfolios. Eventually, institutions pulled the financial plug, and the South African government thought twice about its policies… </div> <div> “A similar movement has taken shape recently, this time aiming at an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories… Moral and financial pressure is again being mustered one person at a time. In the United States, students at more than 40 campuses are demanding a review of university investments. Europe faces efforts ranging from consumer boycotts to arms embargoes….” </div> <bR> <div> <B>In the United States more Jewish organizations are going public</B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000CC" FACE="Arial" ><B> with plans to support peacemaking strategies in Israel, rather than war-making strategies.</B></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <div> They believe that Israel's present defiance of the United Nations, the International Criminal Court, the Geneva Conventions and the consensus of world religious organizations represents the greatest threat to the long-term security of Israeli citizens - and to Jews worldwide. Israel's future existence as a nation may depend on American Jews changing their coddling “anything goes” attitude to a healthy dose of “tough love.” </div> <div> Jewish pro-Israel groups are launching national campaigns to pressure the U.S. Congress and the Israeli government to end the occupation of Palestine and the Jews-only settlements linked by Jews-only highways. Four of these organizations, described in detail in the Link section, are: </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700dc00000000.png" HEIGHT="15" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The Tikkun Community: Rabbi Michael Lerner's “new social movement.” </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700dc00000000.png" HEIGHT="15" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Brit Tzedek v'Shalom: Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace. </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700dc00000000.png" HEIGHT="15" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">A Jewish Voice for Peace: “Jew to Jew” Why We Oppose the Occupation. </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700dc00000000.png" HEIGHT="15" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Am Kolel Social Action Committee: Break the Silence campaign </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700dc00000000.png" HEIGHT="15" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Boycott of Israeli goods having an effect. </div> <div> For details on each, go to Island #2: “Waking up in America: We're Asking for an Accounting” in the Introductory Links Guided Tour. <A HREF="id22_wake_up_call_to_am__jews.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Link Tour"><U>To go there now click here. </U></A>  </div> <bR> <div> <B>CONCLUSION</B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000CC" FACE="Arial" ><B>by Hilda Bernstein Silverman:</B></FONT></div> <div> <B>“What is presented as a way to save Jewish lives can only have the opposite effect. Surely Jews in Israel and elsewhere are less safe now than at any time in recent memory. What would it take for U.S. Jews to travel to Washington with a different message---to heed the cry of Israeli peace and justice activists: 'The Occupation is killing us all!' --- before there is still more bloodshed and devastation on both sides?</B> <B>Now that's a rally I could wholeheartedly participate in!” </B></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Breakthrough Story 3"><U><B>Go to Breakthrough Story #3</B></U></A><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000CC" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Breakthrough Story 3"><U><B> </B></U></A></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id22_the_guided_tour_includes_three_island.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Link Tour"><U><B><U>RELEVANT LINK </U></B></U></A><B><U>RESOURCES TO BREAKTHROUGH STORY #2  IN ARCHIVES</U></B></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id22.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Link Tour"><U><B>1. LINKS TOUR</B></U></A><A HREF="id22.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Link Tour"><U><B> </B></U></A><B>OF ISLANDS OF PEACE IN SEA OF TERROR</B></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>