EDITOR: The struggle against a Palestinian State continues unabated
Despite the total failure of Abbas and his attempts at the UN, Israel and the Israeli Lobby in the US are just as aggressive as they were in September, doing all they could to discredit the Palestinian claims. It is interesting that the Israelis, having taken Palestine over militarily, having made most of them refugees which are denied return, and having oppressed millions of Palestinians for many decades, are now speaking of the idea of two states, which is what they supposedly support, as some disaster which needs to be avoided at all costs. After all, they have spent the last seven decades making sure it doesn’t happen… only some fools in the White House still believe, or pretend to believe, that this is a viable idea!
To hear American Jews speaking of the Palestinians ‘need to prove they are ready for a state” is enough to give one a heart attack, or make some feeble-minded people anti-Semitic. To read Barak, responsible for so many dead Palestinians, including some he murdered with his own hands, telling Palestinians that they have again failed his test, is even worse!
Barak: Israel won’t accept Palestinian state that perpetuates Mideast conflict: Haaretz
At Union for Reform Judaism conference near Washington, Defense Minister says supports formation of viable, democratic Palestinian state through direct peace talks with Israel.
By Natasha Mozgovaya
Israel won’t accept a Palestinian state that is created through unilateral diplomatic moves and which seeks to perpetuate the ongoing Mideast conflict, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said on Thursday.
Speaking at the Union for Reform Judaism’s biennial conference near Washington DC, Barak, who is due to meet U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday, indicated that while he supported the creation of a viable and democratic Palestinian state.
However, he said, Israel would not “agree to the creation of a Palestinian State, if the raison d’être of that Palestinian State is to continue the conflict, and to deny our basic national rights.”
“I believe that an agreement – based on [Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s] Bar Ilan and Knesset speeches, President Obama’s two speeches from May of this year and the Clinton parameters – can still be achieved – and thus, saving us the alternatives which are much much worse,” the defense minister said, reiterating that Israel would “not accept unilateralism.”
In reference to the final borders of the Palestinian state, Barak said that “Israel’s own final borders which require major painful concessions will include the large settlement blocs creating a solid Jewish majority within that line and an independent, democratic, viable Palestinian state on the other.”
The defense minister also spoke of a recent wave of contentious legislation in the Israeli parliament, saying that while he understood the concern shared by U.S. Jews, he “will stand rock solid against any attempt to curb freedoms or undermine our democracy.”
“I will not allow politicized, targeted legislation to undermine the value of the supremacy of the law. The only Jewish democratic state in the world must remain exactly that: a Jewish and democratic state!” Barak said.
The defense minister went on to address the so-called Arab Spring and its possible effect on Israel, saying “Israel is in close proximity to what has been described as a historic political earthquake”, adding that on “the hazy horizons lurks an unstable, unpredictable global economy.”
“Across the Middle East – in under a year – regimes have fallen and dictators continue to be disposed of. Are we looking at the beginning of a democratic Middle East? Or will the Arab spring turn into a stormy Islamist winter?” he asked.
Barak also referred to the possible effects turmoil in Egypt may have on its peace treaty with Israel, saying: “Whatever the outcome, respecting and maintaining the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel is a strategic necessity; good for Egypt, good for Israel, and good for the entire region.”
In his opening comments, the defense minister, shying away from such hot-button defense issues like Iran, complimented the American reform Jewish community, saying: “Your presence and voice is essential to our decision making. It gives us all one more perspective, and one more view to think about. We welcome the debate and value your input.”
“The intense love between Am Yisrael [the Jewish people] and Eretz Yisrael [the Land of Israel] has not subsided”, he declared.
“The State of Israel will continue to invest in that love and understanding. I look forward to many more years of also sitting down and listening to you, continuing the important dialogue between the people of Israel and the reform Jews of America,” he said, adding that it was “an honor and a privilege to be surrounded by the loud and proud family of the Reform Movement of America.”
Also addressing the conference on Thursday, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said that the Palestinians needed to prove they deserve an independent state before on is recognized, criticizing what he said was a Palestinian culture of “resentment.”
U.S. Jewish lawmaker: Palestinians have to prove they deserve a state: Haaretz
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor criticizes Palestinian ‘culture of hate,’ says ‘so-called’ Arab Spring poses risk to Israel’s peace treaties.
By Natasha Mozgovaya
The Palestinians need to prove they deserve an independent state before on is recognized, a leading U.S. lawmaker said on Thursday, criticizing what he said was a Palestinian culture of “resentment.”
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor made the comments during the Reform movement’s biennial conference at Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in Maryland south of Washington DC, which was participated by 6,000 U.S. Jews, including rabbis, Reform movement officials, lay leaders, and students.
Addressing the week-long conference on Thursday, the Republican leader discussed what he called the Palestinian “culture of resentment and hatred,” adding: “As we say in Hebrew, Am Israel Chai, and what people of Israel want is to live in peace. If Palestinians want to live in a state of their own they must demonstrate they are worthy of state.”
Cantor also addressed the “so-called Arab Spring,” saying the popular unrest movement brought disappointment and Islamism and that, “to put it mildly, presents challenges for interests to the U.S. and raises questions whether they’ll preserve peace treaty with Israel.”
The prominent lawmaker also took an apparent jab at the U.S. ambassador to Belgium, Howard Gutman, who raised controversy by linking the raise of anti-Semitism to the unsolved Palestinian-Israeli conflict. “Any justification of any form of anti-Semitism must not be tolerated or condoned,” Cantor added.
Another speaker addressing the conference was Jewish Agency chairman Natan Sharansky, urged participants to commit themselves to programs related to Israel.
“It is you, American Jews, who discovered the way to strengthen the Jewish identity – by visiting Israel,” he said, adding: “It’s very important to strengthen institutions of Reformed movement in Israel.”
Union for A stall at the Union Reform Judaism Biennial Conference, Dec. 15, 2011 Natasha Mozgovaya
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However, the Jewish Agency chief made it clear he expected U.S. Jews to support such programs, saying: “You think I am criticizing Israel government? I am criticizing you!” adding: “It’s up to you to support these institutions.”
Sharansky also addressed concerns among U.S. Jews regarding a recent series of controversial Knesset bills, assuring conference participants that “there is no chance there will be passed legislation undermining legitimacy of your movement.”
“There is legislation you don’t like and most of them I don’t like,” he said, “but to say there is no democracy in Israel? Does it mean lawmakers can’t propose bills I don’t like? But which of the legislation that made you mad passed? Some was stalled, some blocked by the Prime Minister or stuck at the Supreme Court. That’s real democracy,” he added.
Concluding his remarks, Sharansky reiterated the Israeli demand for an immediate release of Jonathan Pollard, saying he was “aware that this is a complicated matter for the American Jewish community.”
“But today when there is a growing consensus in favor of Pollard’s release amongst former Pentagon and CIA officials, legal authorities, the Israeli government, and American Jewish leaders, the time has come to vigorously and loudly demand his freedom,” Sharansky added.
“Twenty six years is more than enough. Your great leader, Rabbi Alexander Schindler visited Pollard regularly and called on the President to release him. He said Pollard had indeed committed a crime, but his punishment was excessive and the time had come for his relapse. If this was true 12 years ago, how much more so is it true today?” he asked.
Reform movement shows political diversity
With 5 days of speeches, training, study, prayer, music and schmoozing, the various areas of the building housing the Reform movement’s conference this week mirrored the diversity of discourse among American reform Jews.
There were more traditional panel’s, like Thursday’s session with the Weekly Standard’s conservative editor Bill Kristol and RAC, Director Rabbi David Saperstein (“Kristol agreed after all President Obama’s record on Israel is not all bad”, Rabbi Saperstein noted ironically after the debate),
Other sessions, however, bore a slight resemblance to the “occupy” movement camps, with young people sitting on the floor in the hallways, vigorously discussing social, political and communal issues.
In yet another hall, participants wandered between the long rows of booths filled with Judaica and prayer shawls (especially colorful for women, with matching yarmoulkes), babies’ bibs with “Future lawyer” or “little mensch” on it; representatives promoting “Birthright”, Jewish college “Alpha Epsilon Pi” fraternity to trips to visit the Jewish community in Cuba; web sites meant “to help your community grow” and even pianos.
Irvin Ungar, publisher and antiquarian book seller, brought to the conference his 8,800 dollars book – splendid Haggadah by Arthur Szyk. It’s not the first Jewish event this year where he tries to find buyers for a costly project, but he says it’s his personal mission, “to make Szyk, who was the leading anti-Nazi voice after he came to the U.S. in 1940, and was forgotten after his death, famous again.”
Movie director Nathan Lang came from San Antonio for a different reason – to convince community leaders to attend a screening his new documentary, “God in the Box”.
Lang and his crew went across the country with a big black booth that people were invited in to talk about what God means to them. Later, theologians, pastors, rabbis, historians were asked to explain why people see today the God as they see him (Why not her? Why should the young black woman see the God as an old white man, as one of the participants complained).
Lang, himself a member of a Reform congregations, says the making of the movie made brought him closer to tradition again – but, as many Reform Jews, he explains it’s a very different connection to it than following a strict set of rules.
“I am not a particularly religious person – and it’s great I am allowed to feel comfortable with my spirituality without being required it go every week to the synagogue or eat particular food,” Land said.
“But I love being Jewish, it’s part of my heritage”, he said. “This film made me realize that we hear a lot in the news about religious extremes – while the majority are just common people, spiritual people, who don’t make news because they don’t protest in front of the abortion clinic.”
And no, he hasn’t been to Israel yet, but would love to go.
Another biennial participant, Jessie Weiser (26) from Boston, may serve as a foil to the claim that Reform movement is just a step from a total assimilation. Her parents are reform Jews, and now, when they still live in Phoenix, Arizona, while she lives in Boston, Massachusetts, but she is as deeply involved as they are – and they love to share news about the new community projects and initiatives.
For her, as one might guess, the first priority isn’t Israel, but finding some creative ways to engage youth like herself. And no, she doesn’t feel the Reform movement is “Judaism lite”.
“You might not be demanded to do certain things, but you are committed on a very deep level, and there is real richness to your Judaism experience – when you combine the social justice and tradition, there is something truly magnetic and vibrant”, she said.
Rabbi David Saperstein said this Biennial was marked by a leadership transition – Rabbi Eric Yoffie, who led the Union for Reform Judaism since 1996, is succeeded by Rabbi Rick Jacobs (who got from Rabbi Yoffie one short advice – to “change everything”).
“This is a major transition in the life of the movement,” Rabbi Saperstein told “Haaretz.”
“We are welcoming a new leader, a new visionary. Three previous leaders had a major impact on the development of the movement. Rabbi Eisendrath puts an emphasis on a social justice, Rabbi Alexander M. Schindler made Israel a much bigger part of the Reform movement’s life and worked on an outreach to bring more people to the meaningful Jewish life,” Saperstein said.
“Rabbi Yoffie stressed youth engagement, the camp system, Israel trip program, got us focused on Torah studies. Now every stream has outreach program to mixed families, many to gay families. Rick is deeply committed to engaging young people, bringing them into a community in a more profound way, not only for one trip,” he added,
This biennial features some prominent speakers – House Majority leader Eric Cantor, Israeli defense Minister Ehud Barak – and Friday, President Barack Obama will address the gathering.
One of the most thought provoking speakers at the conference was Rabbi Richard G. Hirsch, recipient of the Eisendrath Award, who pondered in his remarks on the Jewish identity, relationship between Israel and the Diaspora and the potential role of the Reform movement in the future in both worlds.
“Why does Diaspora Jewry need Israel?” he asked. “If Jewish identity is contracted to a religion only, or limited to a personalized religious expression without a sense of Jewish peoplehood, we run the risk of being reduced to another American religious sect. The Jewish soul cannot flourish without the Jewish body. Without the closest ties to the Jewish land, Jewish culture and the Hebrew language, Jewish identity will disintegrate. Without our presence in force in the State of Israel, Israel would be incomplete, just as without Israel we would be unfulfilled”.
“Why does Israel need the Diaspora?” he continued. “If in America a process of “religionization” is contracting Jewish identity, in Israel a process of “nationalization” is contracting Jewish identity,” Hirsch added.
“Yes, there is assimilation in Israel. Assimilation in Israel leads to what has been defined as post-Zionism—the desire of many for Israel to be a normal state like all other states. The post-Zionists tend to be indifferent to the weakening ties to world Jewry and the Jewish heritage,” rabbi Hirsch said, adding: “Reform Judaism potentially has a key role to play in this process.”
“Of all groups in Jewish life, we are capable of having our feet planted firmly in both worlds—Israel and the Diaspora, peoplehood and modernity. Israel desperately needs a strong viable movement of liberal Judaism in order to counter the benighted trend toward extremism among the ultra-Orthodox and the trend toward right-wing radical religious and political positions among the so-called Zionist Orthodox. Even though the majority of Israeli Jews define themselves as secular, in reality most of them observe Jewish life-cycle events and holidays such as the Passover seder. For those in search of meaning and purpose in an enlightened framework, Progressive Judaism represents not a rejection but a reinvigoration of Judaism. That is why our movement is expanding significantly and why we are destined to become an increasingly vital factor in Israeli society,” he said.
Rabbi Hirsch compared Israel to Broadway and the Diaspora- to Off-Broadway and called for a deeper involvement of the movement in Israel.
“Can we continue to consider ourselves as an authentic world movement if we thrive only in a non-Jewish environment and not in a Jewish environment? In order for our American movement to have the proper commitment and identity as Jews, it needs to help nurture the Israel and World movements. Is Israel an exemplary society? NO! But neither is American society. Does the Israel reality seem far distant from the dream? To be sure. But would the Jewish people be better off today if there were no Jewish state, if we lived only with the dream of the biblical prophets?”
Palestinian envoy’s wife ‘forced back to Jerusalem during cancer treatment’: Guardian
London ambassador says Israeli refusal to renew wife’s residency papers led to trip that hastened her death
Julian Borger, diplomatic editor
Samira Hassassian, who died this year of cancer. Photograph: Guardian
Israeli authorities made the wife of the Palestinian ambassador in London interrupt a course of chemotherapy in order to return to Jerusalem or risk losing her residency rights, a trip that hastened her death from cancer, her family claim.
Samira Hassassian was infected by a virus on her plane journey back to London in May and died three months later, aged 57. Her husband, Manuel Hassassian, the Palestinian envoy to the UK since 2005, said the Israeli government had extended her Jerusalem identity papers in 2010 for a year after she was first diagnosed with breast cancer in late 2009, but refused to grant a second extension this year, although the disease had by then metastasised to her bones and she was several weeks into intensive chemotherapy.
“They forced her to go back,” Hassassian said. “The doctors had told me she had maybe until the end of the year, so this trip just expedited the process, but it also caused her pain and suffering.”
The Israeli embassy in London denied that Hassassian had been refused a second extension. A spokesperson said an extension was granted by the minister of interior, although by then she was already back in Jerusalem.
“If there is a health issue there is no question that she would have had to travel. There is no such policy. It is the strangest allegation I think I’ve ever heard,” the spokesperson said.
Samira Hassassian’s London oncologist, Professor Paul Ellis, wrote a medical opinion to support her appeal for an extension on March 29, saying: “She is right in the middle of very intensive treatment and it is definitely not a good time for her to travel. There is the potential for significant infection and she is also extremely disabled by fatigue and nausea.”
The embassy spokesman confirmed that a copy of Ellis’s letter was in interior ministry files but said it had been unnecessary as an extension was not in doubt. He also suggested that Manuel Hassassian had insisted his wife return unnecessarily to Jerusalem for political motives.
“What kind of husband sends his wife on such a trip when her health and life are at stake? This really is quite low,” the spokesman said.
Hassassian said the decision to return was taken by his wife, a US-trained chemist, lecturer in business studies and patron of Palestinian cinema. He says she was determined not to lose what she saw as her rights.
“As far as she was concerned, she was not going to die. She saw herself as battling with cancer. But to force her to go back or lose her rights was inhuman,” Hassassian said.
The Israeli embassy claims Samira Hassassian had gone to Jerusalem to seek a second opinion from Hadassah hospital. Her family say she had consulted doctors there so that her condition could be assessed while she was in Jerusalem but that was not the aim of the trip and she would not willingly have broken off a course of chemotherapy to make the journey.
Samira Hassassian’s daughter, Nadine, said the ailing woman had tried for several weeks to persuade the Israeli consulate in London to grant a second extension.
“She sent a letter but got no response. They never got in touch with the doctors. On the phone, they told her it wouldn’t work. She has to go back to Jerusalem,” she said. Manuel Hassassian said that after that, his wife had tried going to the consulate in person, but was not allowed in.
In the face of the Israeli refusal to grant a medical extension, the family said Samira felt she had no choice but return to Jerusalem or lose her East Jerusalem identity papers and the travel documents that those papers entitled her to, and potentially lose the right to return to Jerusalem to live. She flew to Jerusalem in April and returned to London in May, dying on August 19.
Palestinians from East Jerusalem living abroad have to return every two years to renew their residency rights. After seven years overseas those rights are revoked permanently even if the Palestinian involved was born in the city to a family with historical roots there. The rules date back to the 1967 annexation of East Jerusalem, when Palestinian residents were given the status of residents rather than citizenship. They have the option of applying for Israeli citizenship, but many refuse for political reasons, seeing it as recognition of the annexation.
Palestinians and Israeli civil rights groups describe the bureaucracy surrounding residency rights as a weapon in Israel’s efforts to reduce the Palestinian population of the fiercely contested city and undermine future challenges to its sovereignty there.
“This has been the consistent policy of Israeli governments, leftist and rightist alike,” Sarit Michaeli, of human rights organisation B’Tselem, said. “I lived for 11 years in London and in the US but when I moved back as an Israeli Jew I was able to renew all my residency and citizenship rights. Had I been a Palestinian that would have been impossible.”
The Israeli revocation of residency rights has waxed and waned over the years. It reached a peak in 2008 with nearly 4,600 revocations, according to B’Tselem, but last year the number was only 191. It is unclear whether the decline reflects a less rigorous enforcement of the policy or whether fewer Palestinians now meet the criteria.
Civil rights groups say that the physical isolation of East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank by a security barrier has also served to reduce its Palestinian population, as have the discriminatory granting of building permits and the demolition of houses without permits.
Hassassian said after his wife’s burial he made a point of returning her Jerusalem identity papers and laissez-passer to the Israeli interior ministry.
“They have their papers back now,” he said. “They know she does not exist any more.”