Letter From Israel
by Ran HaCohen
Antiwar.com
antiwar.com
June 17, 2002
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.
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