On Thu, 20 Jun 2002, Alexandre Fenelon wrote:
> Reasonable point of view (I think)
> http://www.antiwar.com/hacohen/h-col.html
[Which are so rare it's worth posting in full, I think. Since antiwar.com makes their money from donations rather than ads -- and since I've left their donation address attached -- I think they would count this as a favor rather than as an offense.]
June 17, 2002
Letter From Israel Ran HaCohen
How Jews Can Support Israel Support the People, not the Government
The United Jewish Communities of North America has recently decided to
give its financial support also to Israeli settlers in the occupied
territories (Ha'aretz, 14.6.02).
At first, out of warm Jewish solidarity, I got very worried.
Persistent rumours, especially since September 11th, say that the US
government is not very fond of using charity money to support illegal
purposes these days. After all, the Israeli settlements are
internationally regarded as illegal, breaching the IV Geneva
Convention, article 49, which states rather clearly that "the
Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian
population into the territory it occupies". Even the Israeli
government is now deeply concerned that the International Criminal
Court may convict settlers as war criminals. So I truly hope the UJC
have good lawyers.
But later, edified by my own feelings of Jewish solidarity, I realised
that the urge felt by Jews world-wide to support Israel in these
difficult days is quite understandable. So I started thinking how Jews
really could, and should, support Israel. Not by supporting Sharon's
vision of eternal war, but by supporting us, the Israeli people, whose
vision is coexistence side-by-side with the Palestinians in peace,
security and prosperity.
Support the Settlers
The idea of supporting the settlers is not such a bad one. I mean:
from a humanistic-universalistic point of view, of course it is the
Palestinians who deserve our help, much more than the settlers. But
since this seems unrealistic for many a Jewish donor ("your own poor
come first", says the Talmud), supporting the settlers might be a good
alternative. But let me explain how exactly.
A recent opinion poll (Ha'aretz, 6.6.2002) found out that 65% of the
Jewish population in Israel supported dismantling the settlements. My
devoted readers should not be surprised: this is a consistent and
stable result, as all opinion polls show again and again.
Now you may think that the Israelis inside the Green Line support
dismantling settlements, but those in the settlements oppose it. This
sounds logical, but it is not true. Remember that by far not all
settlers are ideologically motivated. Some moved to the occupied
territories for promises of better life: fresh air, beautiful view,
rural serenity. Many others, probably most of the settlers, were
transferred to the occupied territories by the dull coercion of
economy: while flats within Israel are extremely expensive, houses in
the settlements are generously subsidised. Having to choose between an
unaffordable small flat in Jerusalem and an almost-free spacious house
in a nearby settlement, with a generous state mortgage, a generous
state bonus, a generous reduction on income-tax as well as generously
improved public services (education, health, infrastructure), many
lower middle-class families opted for the latter. One can hardly blame
them for that.
Settlers Cheated and Doubly Betrayed
In view of the Intifada, non-ideological settlers probably a majority
in most settlements, especially in the bigger ones now find themselves
both cheated and doubly betrayed.
Cheated, because they were promised high quality of life and now find
themselves literally in a war zone, risking their lives, injured and
killed almost daily. They are constantly targeted by Palestinian
militants, who ever more often try to penetrate the settlements and
kill them even in their own homes. Whether we like it or not, these
are facts that even Sharon's murderous "Operation Defensive Shield"
failed to change. Moreover: if, as is now planned, a fence is to cut
off the occupied territories from Israel, the settlers will become
even more of a target for Palestinian militants, who may not be able
to enter Israel itself.
Betrayed once, because the State that urged them to move to the
occupied territories does not even consider letting them leave. Well,
of course they may leave "it's a free country" but they cannot.
Whoever was wise enough to hire a flat, left as soon as the Intifada
broke out; young couples moved back to their parents inside the Green
Line; some settlements are half-empty; but the great majority of
settlers, who own their house, cannot sell it for a reasonable price
no buyers and are thus prisoners in their own homes.
Betrayed twice, because public opinion turned against the settlers as
if they and not the government that sent them and holds them hostage
were the ultimate source of evil. The rhinocerised nationalistic daily
Ha'aretz attacks settlers on a daily basis (e.g. a recent article by
its Editor-in-Chief), urging them to leave "for their own sake", as if
people who somehow managed to buy a cheap housing unit in a settlement
could simply leave it behind and buy another house somewhere else.
It's Not (Just) Sharon
Don't blame Sharon. A Prime Minister who openly says that as long as
he is in power, evacuation of settlements will not even be discussed
in cabinet, a retired General for whom human beings are just pawns,
cannot be expected to act differently. Especially not after his
"dovish" predecessors have done the same.
Shortly after the first Oslo Accord (1993), the 13 families of the
tiny settlement Dugit in the Gaza Strip nature-loving fishermen locked
their houses, started a sit-in demonstration in front of the Prime
Minister's Office in Jerusalem and demanded an alternative strip of
coast inside Israel. It's time for peace, they said, we don't want to
be a bone in Gaza's throat. PM Rabin rejected their demand. Dugit is
still there, largely expanded meanwhile on confiscated Palestinian
land, defended by battalions of soldiers, with Palestinian militants
attacking it on a daily basis.
Later on, Knesset Member Haggai Merom (Labour) prepared lists of West
Bank settlers wishing to leave for fair compensation 30 to 50% in some
settlements, he said. Then-president Weizmann rejected their request
to meet him; PM Peres rejected their demand too.
A couple of years later I happened to meet Shimon Peres. I asked him
why. "It won't have mattered," he told me. "Even if a settlement of
5,000 had been left with only 500 settlers, we would still have to
build the by-pass road leading to it".
Not convincing? Very convincing. Peres could not even think of
settlers in terms of human beings with rights and wishes. For Peres
(or Barak, or Sharon), the settlements are there as an excuse for the
by-pass roads, and the by-pass roads are there to divide and cantonise
the Palestinian territory, destroy Palestinian contiguity and prevent
the option of a viable Palestinian state. The settlers are merely
pawns in this game, just like the soldiers sent to protect them by
turning Palestinian life into hell.
So Here Is What You Can Do
Jews in America and world-wide should therefore use their money to
support settlers who wish to leave the occupied territories and return
to Israel. This should not even be a "political" issue: the settlers
(and their children) are held hostage by the Israeli government,
exposed to deadly violence. You do not have to be a dove to support
people's right not to live in the middle of a battle-field (unless
they want to). Sums and conditions can be negotiated, using as
guidelines the compensations paid by Israel to the settlers evacuated
from Sinai when it was returned to Egypt.
The advantages of such an initiative are numerous.
* On a human level, it respects the free and legitimate will of
settlers who wish to leave.
* On a moral level, it does justice to innocent Israeli citizens who
conformed to Israeli law and policy, moved to the occupied
territories, and now feel abandoned, cheated and betrayed.
* On a national level, it respects the overwhelming majority in
Israel that supports evacuation of settlements (without even harming
the minority of settlement-supporters).
* On a regional level, it can show Arabs that Jews world-wide are
supportive of peace, not of the disputed settlements. Empty
settlements can then be sold to house Palestinian refugees.
* On an international level, it conforms to the international as well
as American position that the settlements are illegal and form an
obstacle to peace.
Now, dear United Jewish Communities of North America: you have
collected $265 million in your recent "Israel Emergency Campaign". 65%
of the Israelis support evacuating the settlements. Will you take 65%
of the sum $172 million and offer it to settlers wishing to leave? Or
will any other Jewish institution take up the glove? You'll find an
overwhelming majority of Israelis and Palestinians behind you, and you
will enter History as the initiator of a quantum leap towards Peace in
the Middle East.
Text-only printable version of this article
Ran HaCohen was born in the Netherlands in 1964 and grew up in Israel.
He has a B.A. in Computer Science, an M.A. in Comparative Literature
and is currently working on his PhD thesis. He teaches in the Tel-Aviv
University's Department of Comparative Literature. He also works as a
literary translator (from German, English and Dutch), and as a
literary critic for the Israeli daily Yedioth Achronoth. Mr. HaCohen's
work has been published widely in Israel. "Letter from Israel" appears
occasionally at Antiwar.com.
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