Avnery on anti-Semitism & forwarded alerts other groups
[] Anti-Semitism (Avnery's acceptance speech for the Lev Kopelev prize.) [] Forwarded alerts & reports other groups Tomorrow's outpost tour & olive harvest & court case etc.
[] Anti-Semitism (Avnery's acceptance speech for the Lev Kopelev prize.) Uri Avnery 22.11.03
(Instead of my usual weekly article, this time I am sending my acceptance speech on receiving, together with Sari
Nusseibeh, the Lev Kopelev prize. The award ceremony took place last week in Cologne, Germany.)
Ladies and Gentlemen, The Ambassador of Palestine and the former Ambassador of Israel, (I am sorry that I am unable to
greet the present Israeli Ambassador, since he did not see fit to attend,) Dear friends,
Every time I stand on German soil, I ask myself: What and where would I be now, if Adolf Hitler had never been? Would I
be standing here with Sari Nusseibeh? Would I be an Israeli at all?
I was born not far from here, in Beckum, Westphalia. My grandfather, Josef Ostermann, was the teacher of the small
Jewish community there. But my family originally came from the Rhineland. My mother once told me the name of the place,
but I have forgotten it. Now there is no one left to ask. My father, who attended the "humanist" high school where Latin
was taught as the first foreign language, always maintained that we had come to Germany with Julius Ceasar. However, no
archaeological proof of this has yet been uncovered. The family was steeped in German culture. My father, an
enthusiastic music-lover, adored Brahms and Beethoven. His favorite piece was the overture to Wagner's Meistersinger. No
work of classic German literature was missing from our bookshelves, and I had read almost all of them before my 15th
birthday. Father knew both parts of Goethe's Faust by heart. When he was engaged to my mother in 1913, he stipulated
that before the wedding she must learn the first part of Faust by heart. Mother's condition was that my father must
learn to play tennis. They both fulfilled the conditions, but a day after the wedding my mother forgot every word of
Faust and my father never played tennis again. What caused this family, the family Ostermann, to leave Germany in 1933
forever, and to go to a far-away, foreign country, the country of the Nusseibeh family? One word: anti-Semitism. It is
true that my father had always been a Zionist. He was nine years old when the First Zionist Congress took place. The
idea excited him. As a wedding gift he received a document confirming that a tree had been planted in Palestine in his
name. But he never imagined that he himself would one day go there. (A joke current at the time: "What is a Zionist? A
Jew who takes the money of a second Jew in order to send a third Jew to Palestine.") The Zionists were then a miniscule
minority in the German Jewish communities. Among our relatives it was said that my father had become a Zionist only
because he had a contrary disposition. (It seems to run in the family.) Shortly after the Nazis' rise to power, my
father decided to emigrate. The immediate cause was small. My father was a court-appointed receiver of bankrupt
businesses. His honesty was proverbial, he was "straight as a die". One day, during a session of the court, a young
lawyer cried out: "Jews like you are not needed here anymore!" My father was deeply offended, and from that moment
Germany was finished for him. I still believe that a feeling of insult played a large part in the divorce between the
Jews and Germany. Where to? For a short while, Finland and the Philippines were considered. But Zionist romanticism
decided the issue. We went to Palestine, and since then, the destiny of my family has been irrevocably intertwined with
the destiny of the Nusseibeh family. I was then ten years old. When my father went to Police headquarters to give notice
of our departure, as required by law, the police officer exclaimed: "But Mr. Ostermann, what has entered your head?
After all, you are a German like me!" I tell this story frequently, in order to warn my Palestinian friends not to be
tempted to consider the anti-Semites as their allies. On the surface it seems logical: the anti-Semites hate the Jews,
the Jews are the majority in Israel, Israel oppresses the Palestinians, so the anti-Semites must be the friends of the
Palestinians. Nothing could be further from the truth. Without anti-Semitism, Zionism would never have been born. True,
the Zionist myth asserts that in every generation the Jews were longing for Palestine, but any such longing was limited
to prayers. As a matter of fact, throughout the centuries, the Jews made not the slightest effort to gather in
Palestine. A small example: 511 years ago, half a million Jews were expelled from Christian Spain. Most of them settled
somewhere in the Muslim Ottoman empire, which received them graciously. They settled down in countries like Morocco,
Bulgaria, Greece and Syria. But only a tiny handful of Rabbis settled in Palestine, then a remote corner of the Turkish
Sultan's domains. Muslims turn in prayer to Mecca, Jews turn in prayer to Jerusalem. But that has nothing to do with the
Zionist idea of a Jewish state. Modern political Zionism was clearly a reaction to the modern anti- Semitism of the
national movements in Europe. It is no coincidence that the term "anti-Semitism", which was coined in Germany in 1879,
was followed only a few years later by the word "Zionism", which was first used by a Vienna-born Jew, Nathan Birnbaum.
It was a response to the challenge. If he new national movements in Europe, practically without exception, do not want
to have anything to do with the Jews, then the Jews must constitute themselves as a nation in the European sense and
found their own state. Where? In the land of the Bible, then called Palestine. Thus started the historic conflict
between our two peoples, the people of Sari Nusseibeh and my people, a conflict that is today - in 2003 - more vicious
than ever. It began when the Zionists wanted to realize their aim, to save the Jews from Europe, and the Palestinian
Arabs wanted to realize their aim, to achieve freedom and independence in their homeland, in the same little country,
without having any idea of each other. Theodor Herzl, the founder of the modern Zionist movement, wrote in his diary,
after the First Zionist Congress in Basel in 1897: "In Basel I founded the Jewish State." At the time he had never been
to Palestine, he had no idea who lived there. A fellow activist coined the memorable phrase: "A land without a people
for a people without a land." For them, Palestine was empty, uninhabited. But the grandfather of Sari Nusseibeh was
living in Palestine at the time, together with another half million Arabs. They had no idea - and could have no idea -
that somewhere in Switzerland, in a town they probably had never heard of, a meeting was taking place, whose results
would change forever their own fate and the fate of their children and grandchildren, their family, their town, their
village and their country. Anti-Semitism set Zionism in motion, the Holocaust lent it tremendous moral power, even today
it sends masses of Jews from Russia, Argentina and France to Israel. The Palestinians have many enemies - but none is as
dangerous as anti- Semitism. If in some Arab countries an effort is made to import this foreign anti-Semitism from
Europe, it is a fateful mistake. Sari Nusseibeh and I, two Semites who speak closely related Semitic languages, must be
allies in the battle against this old-new mental disease. I believe that we are. I want to add at once: the curse of
anti-Semitism must not be abused in order to choke every criticism of my state. We Israelis want to be a people like any
other people, a state like every other state, to be measured by the same moral standards as others. Yes, here, in
Germany, too. No Sonderbehandlung, please.
The conflict has now been going on for more than a hundred years. On both sides, a fifth generation has been born into
it, a generation whose whole mental world has been shaped by it. Fear, hatred, prejudices, stereotypes and distrust fill
this world. We are standing on the edge of an abyss, and in both peoples there are leaders who command: Forward, march!
We are here because we want to save our peoples from this abyss, because we want to show them another way. The state of
Israel exists, nobody can throw us into the sea. The Palestinian people exists, nobody can push them out into the
desert. Our Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, wants to turn all of Palestine into a Jewish state. Muslim fundamentalists,
like the Hamas and Jihad movements, want to include all of Palestine in a Muslim state. That is the direct route to
catastrophe. We both believe in peace and reconciliation between our two peoples. Not only do we believe in it, we work
and struggle for it, each in his own way. Together we have taken part in many actions. On New Year's eve 2001, we
marched together, arm in arm, through the alleys of the Old City of Jerusalem, at the head of a large group of Muslims,
Christians and Jews. But our main task is to convince our own peoples that peace and reconciliation are possible, that
on both sides there is a readiness to pay the price of peace. These are not abstract aspirations. Gush Shalom, the
Israeli peace bloc to which I belong, published a peace agreement in all its details in 2001. Not long ago, Sari
Nusseibeh, together with the former Israeli security service chief, Ami Ayalon, articulated the principles of a peaceful
solution. Now a new group of Israeli and Palestinian politicians has worked out in Geneva the draft of a peace treaty.
The bloody confrontation that has been raging in our country for three years now is a symptom of hopelessness,
frustration and despair on both sides. Of course, there can be no symmetry between occupiers and occupied, rulers and
ruled. The violence of the occupation cannot be compared with the violence of the resistance. But the hopelessness and
distrust on both sides is comparable, and our task is to overcome it. We follow the age-old wisdom: Don't curse the
darkness, light a candle. Together with our partners, the thousands of peace activists of both peoples, we have already
lighted a lot of candles. I am an optimist. I believe that the darkness of despair is slowly giving way to the twilight
of hope, that it is getting lighter. In Israel, the conviction is gaining ground that the shedding of blood leads
nowhere. Thirty of our combat pilots refuse to follow immoral orders. The number of conscientious objectors among our
soldiers is growing. The Chief-of- Staff, until recently an extreme hawk, has talked back to his superiors and declared
that there is no military solution. The Geneva peace talks have had an impact, they show that there are indeed partners
for peace. Parents of fallen soldiers protest publicly against the senseless sacrificing of their children. A new wind
is blowing. A new hope is emerging. We shall do everything possible to make this hope grow, in order to bring about a
historic change.
As a member of Gush Shalom, I gratefully accept this award. I am especially proud that it bears the name of Lev
Kopelev. All fighters for peace and human rights in Israel, Palestine and the whole world belong to an international
community, for whom Lev Kopelev is a model figure. I thank you. We shall not disappoint you.
[] Forwarded alerts & reports other groups
# Peace Now tour to the existing settlement outposts # Olive Harvest Weekly Schedule - Starting Tomorrow! # South Gate
completely inaccessible in Jayyous # Indian American activist to sue Israel (Jayyous related) # Yesh-Gvul: marking the
border + refuser solidarity update
# Peace Now tour to the existing settlement outposts
Talking is one thing, Actions is another
Peace Now tour to the existing outposts
Peace now will hold a tour, tomorrow, Monday - November 24, 2003 to the Outposts in the Shomron area- to see with your
own eyes those points that have flourished in the past two years.
Departure: TLV 07:30 from the Northern Train Station JRS 08:30 The Liberty Bell Garden JRS 09:00 THE Knesset
Note: The Tour will be traveling in a bulletproof bus and accompanied by many Members of Knesset.
For further information:
Yariv Oppenheimer, Peace Now Spokesman yariv@peacenow.org.il Mobile: 054-200060 from outside Israel: 972-54-200060
***
# Olive Harvest Weekly Schedule - Starting Tomorrow!
Dear Members and Supporters,
Although the harvest for tomorrow is not yet finalized, we intend to leave for the village of Zvuva in the Jenin area
from the Gan Hapa'amon parking lot at 05h30, and from the Rosh Ha'ayin train station at 06h30. If you are interested in
participating please be in touch with the office today until 17h00. 02-563-7731. After 17h00 please be in touch with
Arik directly on 050-607034.
The harvest on Wednesday in planned for the village of Kafin in the Ariel area. Please join us!
Thursday, we plan to harvest in Distaria. Please be in touch to register. Please call Tamar from 9h30 to 17h00.
Olive oil is available from the RHR office 25 NIS per liter, 350 NIS per jerrycan
Rabbis For Human Rights Tel. 972 2 563-7731 Fax. 972 2 566-2815 Mobile 972 50607034 info@rhr.israel.net Website:
rhr.israel.net Website: rhr.israel.net ***
# South Gate completely inaccessible in Jayyous
For Immediate Release
November 23, 2003
FAMILY AND FARMERS ISOLATED BY NEW BARRIERS AT THE SOUTH GATE OF JAYYOUS
[Jayyous, West Bank] Early Sunday morning, the Israeli army placed nine metal stakes in the road leading to the south
gate in the _Separation Wall_ and strung rows of razor wire around these stakes, creating a barrier that will prevent
access for the Abu Amar family and farmers from Jayyous who pass through the gate daily. Zarifi, the mother of the Abu
Amar family, has spent the past two days in the village due to being denied access to her home by Israeli soldiers. This
morning, the military created a passage in the razor wire coils for Zarifi to return to her home a half a kilometer
beyond the gate to meet her children and then pass back through the gate and new wire barrier. The military told the
family and International Solidarity Movement volunteers present that the south gate would now be closed indefinitely to
anyone other than the Abu Amar family. The soldiers said that the 20 farmers with 700 dunams of land isolated beyond the
south gate must now access their land through the west gate, the second and only other gate in Jayyous. The Abu Amar
family is one that has already been completely cut off from the village of Jayyous by the Wall. This one family must
pass through the gate daily to travel between the village and their isolated home to get to school, to access the
village to purchase food and to receive water. Since August there have been 3 tank-loads of water passed through the
Wall to the Abu Amar family, but this will no longer be possible with the new barriers erected today.
Please take action and let the Israeli authorities know that this violation of basic human rights cannot stand and
demand they grant access for the family of Abu Amar and the farmers of Jayyous.
Israeli District Command Office Phone: +972 97 922 234 / +972 97 759 219
Israeli Ministry of Defense Email: sar@mod.gov.il or pniot@mod.gov.il Fax: +972 3 696 27 57 / +972 3 691 69 40 / +972 3
691 79 15
For more information contact:
Tracie (English): +972 65 203 543 Henry (English): +972 67 343 298 Allam (Arabic): +972 66 391 832
***
# Indian American activist to sue Israel (Jayyous related)
International Solidarity Movement volunteer Radhika Sainath, from Orange County, California is suing the state of Israel
on Thursday, November 27 for unlawful imprisonment, negligence and breach of obligations. Leading human rights lawyer
Shamai Leibowitz will be representing Ms. Sainath, who was seized by Israeli soldiers last November in the olive groves
of the West Bank village Jayyous.
Ms. Sainath will testify against the gross misconduct of Israeli authorities in handling her arrest, during which she
was prohibited from calling her lawyer, not served with an arrest warrant and transferred to multiple holding centers
over 48 hours, causing her to suffer mental trauma and agony.
Eight other internationals and 1 Israeli were detained along with Ms. Sainath after observing hundreds of Palestinians
pray at the site of olive trees bulldozed for the creation of the “security” Wall. Three of the internationals were
deported.
News agencies, Israelis, and Internationals are invited to attend this hearing in support of Radhika Sainath.
Judge David Geldstein 12PM Thursday, November 27 Tel Aviv Magistrate Court 1 Weizman Street, Tel Aviv
For more information call:
Radhika Sainath 065 203 596 Attorney Shamai Leibowitz 064 414 505
11:00 am Sunday, November 2 Tel Aviv Magistrate Court 1 Weizman Street, Tel Aviv
***
# Yesh-Gvul: marking the border + refuser solidarity update
Actions Section Bloodshed without end? Only if we blunder on without purpose!
Confronted with a government that: Insists on building settlements and giving a stamp of legality to "outposts; Seeks to
imprison the Palestinian population within enclosed ghettoes; Continues to post soldiers at roadblocks where they are
sitting ducks; Erodes education, health and welfare, out of a preference for stones and soil over human beings -
We proclaim that there is another way!
Friday 28/11, at 12:30, we shall MARK THE BORDER (in central Israel) to remind Israelis heading east of there that they
are crossing the border and entering occupied territory. Join us, because change is possible, but not from your
armchair.
Transportation: Jerusalem (Binyanei Ha'umma) 11:00 Tel Aviv (El Al terminal, northern railway station): 11:00
There's a Limit to the week 16 - 22/11/2003
Criminal section
The Liars
The cat was out of the bag this week. We can hardly argue with the tabloids Maariv and Yediot Aharonot (among others)
who affirmed that the IAF commander, the IDF chief-of-staff and the Minister of Defense, all knowingly lied about the
air force strike at the Nusseirat refugee camp which killed 12 innocent bystanders. They lied to the pilots of the air
force and the public at large. They even lied to the IDF spokeswoman (probably out of the macho conviction that a woman
can't keep a secret). Now they're trying to tell us it was a "technical" lie. The missiles fired must have been
rubber-coated. Their chutzpeh(look it up) is without limit.
But there are limits to restraint. This week Yesh Gvul's legal department urged the army's Judge Advocate General (who
shows such touching concern for the consciences of the "shministim" draft resisters) to order the army's criminal police
to launch an investigation into the killing of innocent civilians.
Link to Guardian's article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1089989,00.html
Sitting ducks
This week two IDF soldiers were killed at the roadblock on the "tunnel road" to Gush Etzion. The roadblock guards an
Apartheid road ("for Jews only" (near the sealed-off Palestinian villages of al-Khader and Hussan, which are blocked to
make sure they give no trouble to the Gush Etzion settlers. The two soldiers were killed there, just as others were cut
down earlier at Ein Yavroud and Netzarim, where they were posted to protect the settlers. How much longer will Sharon
and Co. offer up soldiers' lives on the altar of occupation?
Prison Section
Reservists: Yiftah Cohen, a student of law, philosphy and literature, was sentenced to 21 days in Military Prison #4 for
his refusal to take part in repression of the civilian population in the Gush Etzion area (see "Sitting Ducks")
Tom Mehager and Gil Avimelech are still held at Prison #6 Guy Shalev, Ezra Peres, Tzachy Lavi, Ariel Handlass and Shahar
Ido remain at Prison #4 Messages of support to: dash@seruv.org.il Full details: http://yesh-gvul.org/english/prison/
Held in Isolation:
Yoel Perlman, a pacifist serving a fourth sentence, is held in isolation at Prison #4. He is to be courtmartialed on
Nov. 27 2003.
Messages of support to: lipperl@actcom.co.il
Konstantin Susskin, a pacifist, is likewise held in isolation at Prison #4:
Letters of support to Yoel and Konstantin to: Agaf Bidud, Military Prison #4, POB 02507, IDF, Israel
In all fairness The IDF advocates gender equality ! A woman pacifist is equally deserving of imprisonment!
Inbal Gelbert was jailed for 12 days after refusing to enlist in the army. Gelbert's requests for a referral to the
"conscience committee" have yet to elicit a response. She awaits the army's decision. In "open detention":
Yoni Ben Artzi, a pacifist, was convicted by a courtmartial and now awaits sentencing;
Haggai Matar, Matan Kaminer, Shimri Tzameret, Adam Maor and Noam Bahat await the military court's verdict in their case
We look forward to seeing you on Friday 28/11, at the "green line". ***
If you do not really believe us and feel Gush Shalom is exaggerating then go to the following Haaretz page: http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/360916.html