At first glance, my work as a rabbi may look untraditional. Instead of serving a congregation, I do my rabbinic work by organizing for justice and equality for all the people of Israel and Palestine. This work includes supporting the Presbyterian Church (USA)'s efforts in Pittsburgh this past week to pass an overture calling for selective divestment from companies that profit from human rights abuses in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
As a spiritual leader, I feel blessed that this work allows me to engage with my Christian counterparts in deep and transformative ways.
My work alongside Christians is one way I live my commitment to interrupting today's violence and hatred. I no longer believe Jews are inevitably alone in the world, but in fact quite the opposite. I now see just how much we are there for each other, as Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu reminds us in speaking of the effort to end apartheid in South Africa: "We could not have won our freedom in South Africa without the solidarity of people around the world who adopted non-violent methods to pressure governments and corporations to end their support for the apartheid regime."
We together, Christians and Jews, are speaking out against injustice when we see it -- as our faith demands of us. That is what happened in Pittsburgh this past week.
I have never been so hopeful for the future of Israelis and Palestinians as I am after witnessing the strong show of opposition to the Israeli Occupation earlier this month by the Presbyterian Church (USA). The PC(USA) General Assembly passed a resolution to boycott settlement goods with 71 percent of the vote, while divestment from companies that profit from the Israeli Occupation was defeated by a razor thin margin of two votes.
While the call for divestment was not fully heard due to parliamentary maneuvers, it has never been so incredibly close. Unfortunately, the futility of the approved "positive investment" overture was not clear to the commissioners, who failed to see that until the infrastructure of occupation is dismantled, "positive investment" is just painting rubble with a fresh coat of paint. During the push for divestment from South Africa did anyone believe investing in banstutans would work to end apartheid?
We will be held accountable should we stay silent as the land theft, home demolitions, restrictions on movement, economic strangulation and other human rights abuses that are the daily realities of life under occupation for Palestinians continue. Instead, we will together continue to highlight the wrongdoings of specific corporations profiting from human rights abuses and urge them to cease their activities so that "positive investment" in Palestine can actually bear fruit.
When the Presbyterian Church (USA) voted earlier this month on selective divestment from companies -- Caterpillar, Hewlett-Packard and Motorola Solutions -- profiting from the Israeli occupation and for boycotting products made in illegal Israeli settlements, Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) was standing alongside Presbyterians and Palestinians in asserting that this sort of nonviolent financial protest is appropriate in order to pressure Israel to end its control over the Palestinian people.
Despite being overwhelmingly out-resourced by large Jewish institutions with ties to the Israel lobby, our JVP members succeeded in galvanizing a nearly identical amount of support for divestment as the opposition, and overwhelming support for boycott. This accomplishment is despite heavy-handed fear-mongering by Jewish establishment organizations that included threatening the future of interfaith cooperation and raising the specter of anti-Semitism.
The Presbyterian Church's decision to openly look at its investments and to call for divestment, let alone passing a boycott resolution that includes all Israeli settlement products, is so brave in part because this stand for human rights is distorted into accusations of anti-Semitism. The legacy of persecution against Jews runs deep and the prejudice is real even today. Accusations of anti-Semitism should not be taken lightly. But advocating for the end to an unjust policy is not anti-Semitic. Making financial decisions in alignment with one's own values is not anti-Semitic. Withdrawing money from companies that destroy homes and livelihoods and take human life -- this is not anti-Semitic.
Quite the opposite, it is by working together with a focus on justice and universal human rights that we can all truly transform the painful legacies of anti-Semitism within both Jewish and Christian communities. We can, each of us, call on our traditions' best values and our own gut sense of right from wrong, and together write a future of which we are all proud.
Mira Sucharov: I am a Zionist. And I am a Palestinian Nationalist.
Jeremy Ben-Ami: Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Put Allies at Odds
Joseph Siev: Reconstructing A Fractured Zionism
They won't do it, though.
The continuous whines of "never ending war", "destroy Israel", etc are completely specious considering Israel's nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.
You people have worn out the sympathy card.
1) Every single Arab country has destroyed their Jewish populations
2) Every single Arab country that surrounds Israel has made repeated full wars against Israel, trying to wipe Israel out
3) The Palestinians, when given national elections, voted for Hamas, the most deranged Jew-hating terrorists they could find to elect
4) The anti-Israel side feels the West Bank should be Jew-free. That Jews should be banned. Is that "peaceful?"
5) Israel won the West Bank from Jordan, not Palestinians.
I could go on and on, but these Jewish "voices for peace" seem to only support harming Israel, not bringing peace.
http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/week-s-end/giving-in-to-the-settlers-in-beit-sahur-1.263175
"Construction began in 2007. The first thing built was a climbing tower, the first of its kind in the territories, to the delight of local children...Land was then prepared for sports courts and a play area, and a large hall, a restaurant and a storage shed were added."...
European Union countries have attempted to assist and invest in Palestine. Often their efforts are torn down.
IMEMC 18 July -- On Tuesday, the Israeli army raided Al Qanoub area in Sa‘ir, eastern Hebron and issued a demolition order on two cisterns used to irrigate land
The two cisterns were built with the aid of the Improving Livelihood in the Occupied Palestinian Territories Program funded by the Netherlands Representative Office.
www.imemc.org
IOA bulldozers "destroyed an agricultural project financed by the European Union (EU) near Khader town south of the West Bankthe EU-financed water well that was meant to help in reclaiming the village land.,,, IOA bulldozers also damaged vast tracts of cultivated land and crops that were collected in preparation for sending them to the market.
The IOA destroyed another
www.palestine-info.co.uk
ENOUGH
ENOUGH
Too much.
“'The Gaza government on Sunday began the demolition of several homes in Gaza City, saying they are built on government land.
Abu Al-Abed Abu Omra, whose house is threatened with demolition, told Ma'an that police officers arrived late Saturday night and told residents to evacuate their homes in order to facilitate the demolition.
He said that there are more than 120 families living in the 15-dunams area under threat, near Gaza's Al-Azhar University, and they have been there since 1948.
Yes, Arabs who have lived in the same homes for at least 64 years are being threatened with expulsion and their homes destroyed.'
where's ure outrage…where's ure concern…why do yu& ure ilk remain silent….
where is the ISM….whre are all the current rachelss to stand in front of those dozers
“I support BDS because ... it cuts to the heart of something that is so important to so many Israelis. And that is the idea of normalcy, that Israel is really an honorary adjunct to North America and Europe—even though it happens to be located in the Middle East.
"At the moment, it is possible to lead a very comfortable, very secure, very cosmopolitan life in most parts of Israel—despite the fact that Israel is at war with neighbors. I don’t think Israel has a right to ... massively expand the settlements, and also have this state of normalcy within its borders. For justice to come, the status quo will have to first become uncomfortable.
"When concerts are canceled in Tel Aviv, when tourists don’t come to Israel, then, I believe, many Israelis will start putting pressure on their political leaders to finally negotiate a lasting peace ... The threat of isolation can be a very powerful tool for progressive change ..."
http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/4311/to_boycott_israelor_not/
BDS, while imperfect, appears to be the only viable non-violent answer to continued Israeli intransigence.
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/01/26-8
We cannot lecture the dispossessed about non-violent alternatives, and in return propose to do nothing more meaningful than “stay the course.”
i honestly don't think there is a way to harm israel economically.
What in the world makes you believe that being on the side of justice and peace, certainly as you define it, has gotten us anywhere?