Yael Dayan tells American Jews to end their unconditional support for Israel. ican community express their Jewish identity by supporting Israel wholeheartedly, this support should not be given in ignorance, she said. To provide historical background, Dayan noted that, in the past, Jews were made to feel a common denominator because it was imposed on them by the hatred of the outside world. This changed in 1948, she said, and now Jews create communities that are not the result of the hatred of others. Today the desire of Jews all over the world to preserve what is different about them, but still be equal with others, causes problems. Thus, from Day 1 Israel was a Jewish democracy, Dayan said, but as time has passed, more and more clash points between living in a Jewish state and living in a democracy have become apparent. One of these clash points is the inequality among people—even Jews—living in Israel. Dayan traced some of today’s problems to Israel’s first prime minister, David BenGurion, who exempted about 500 people from serving in the military because they were very religious. This number has since grown to about 40,000 people, and these ultra-Orthodox Jews have become Israel’s ruling class. Today in Israel there are different levels of Jews, she continued, and the different levels do not have the same rights. For example, only Orthodox Jews are allowed to marry. Non-Orthodox Jews and others who want a legal cermony must travel abroad. Also, Ethiopian Jews who were brought to Israel with great fanfare are now not permitted to attend official schools because of their color, and women are not allowed to worship equally with men in synagogues. If their children went to Israel and did not have a Jewish mother, Dayan told her American listeners, they would be second-class citizens. MARCH 2011
Dayan also discussed the illegal occupation of Palestine, Jewish settlers up-rooting olive trees that had belonged to Palestinians for generations, the need for a twostate solution with Palestine, and the need for peace. Her message to the American Jewish community was direct: “We come to you every year—we find another kind of emergency fund...If it’s not a war we say it’s a wave of Ethiopian immigrants. We take your federation donations. It’s terrific.” Israelis need Americans to give the same kind of support they give in times of crises and war, Dayan said: to stand together to fix the wrongs in Israel. When American Jews visit Israel, government officials give them a carefully arranged tour, emphasizing the tensions and dangers the tiny country faces. American visitors are told they must support Israel to protect it from the Arabs countries that surround it and from a world that hates Jews. They are shown Jerusalem, but not Tel Aviv—which is a democractic, pluralistic and diverse model for what Israel could be. Furthermore, Dayan said, Jews are sworn to silence. When they criticize Israel the reaction is: How can a Jew talk like this? But, she argued, “We’re not there any more. We know right from wrong...We are all Jewish but we are also all democratic...” When asked what a lay person in the United States could do to help, Dayan responded that American Jews must stop their unconditional support of Israel. There are many strong Jewish organizations in the United States, she noted, and they seem to underestimate their own power. But first American Jews need to break their silence. “The cry, the demand should come from here,” she concluded. —Melva Underbakke
olence as systematized by Dr. Bernard Lafayette, an associate of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The evening included a welcome and ecumenical peace prayer by Deacon Marti Martinson; an introduction to LTN by Mai Abdul-Rahman of the APWA; a dance by the Glade Dance Collective that expressed the impact of the occupation and Israel’s separation wall on the lives of ordinary Palestinian women; a very personal and emotionally interpretive reflection by Tarek Abu Atta of LTN; a slide-show of the efforts and staff of the LTN Ramallah office; and musical numbers from Deacon Perry King (of UNMC) and Kent Bedune (of Church of the Savior) that included songs about Rachel Corrie and world peace. The crowd spontaneously joined hands during the last song, “If I Had a Hammer” by Pete Seeger. Attendees raised approximately $6,000 for the efforts of LTN. For more informations visit <www.universalist.org>, <www.ltneighbor.com> and <sabeeldc. org>. —Arthur Martinson
West Bank, Gaza Water Crimes Susan Koppleman comes from an American Jewish Zionist family—and for the past four years she’s been working for LifeSource in Ramallah, a Palestinian-led collective of people addressing the Israeli-generated water crisis in the West Bank and Gaza. On Dec. 10, she gave a PowerPoint presentation to the Middle East Fellowship of Southern California. In 1967, she explained, Israel took control of the West Bank water supply and has denied permission to Palestinians who want to dig wells or pump water. As a result, the people are forced to buy water from tanker trucks which is 12 times more expensive and susceptible to water-borne diseases.
Universalist National Memorial Church Hosts Love Thy Neighbor The Universalist National Memorial Church (UNMC), American Palestinian Womens Association (APWA), and Sabeel DC Metro cohosted a Dec. 18 fund-raiser and community awareness meeting for Love Thy Neighbor (LTN) at the church on 16th St. in Washington, DC. LTN is a tax-exempt organization in Bethesda, Maryland and Ramallah, Palestine dedicated to promoting and facilitating grass roots nonviolent initiatives in support of peace and justice in Palestine/Israel, and to educating about the nonviolence effort of the region. According to LTN’s Web site, its curriculum is based on both the 6 Principles and 6 Steps of nonviTHE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
STAFF PHOTO SAMIR TWAIR
STAFF PHOTO M. UNDERBAKKE
activisms_52-63_March 2011 Activisms 1/18/11 7:27 PM Page 59
Susan Koppleman discusses the water crisis in the West Bank and Gaza. 59