STANISLAUS CONNECTIONS

Working For Peace, Justice, and A Sustainable Environment

June, 2002

A Modesto Peace/Life Center Publication

Peace

The Blame Game

By KEN KOHLER

I am personally familiar with the ‘blame game’. My mother and father fought constantly and there was physical and emotional abuse in our home. All fights recounted all prior offenses and there was fighting everyday of the year when I was growing up. Until I was able to leave the home and go to college, I was involved in it. I decided that my mother was in the right and I took her side against my father. My sister took my fathers’ side. This, of course, created conflict between my sister and me and with my sister and my mother. The conflict between my mother and father ended when my mother died of cancer in 1975. My mother was Catholic so divorce was out of the question. My parents communicated in the language of anger just as so many do. Yet I believe that they did love each other on a certain level.

Could it be that on a certain level there is respect between the Palestinians and Israelis and others in who find themselves in conflict? If so, how can we access that level to stop the violence?

Beneath all anger is fear. If any relationship is to survive it must have a foundation of trust. My parent’s marriage was a microcosm of what occurs with cultural and national conflicts. Domestic violence is reflected in the society. To have peace we must conquer the violence that exists in our personal lives first. We need to learn to disengage and communicate without violence.

Sadly, even those of us committed to nonviolence and peace are vulnerable and can be drawn into the ‘blame game’. The most recent example is the crisis in the Middle East. Emotions run high. We believe that, if we ascertain who is right and who is wrong, justice will prevail and the other side will have to submit. While fingers are being pointed, violence continues in the name of justice up to and including suicide bombers. Each side using violence hoping to make the other side capitulate. Each act of violence prompts a reaction from the other side which is also violent creating a never-ending circle of violence. No one is speaking for peace, everything is polarized. No one is speaking for non-violence. The order of the day is might makes right, and the end justifies the means. Both religions, Judaism and Islam, despite many theological differences seem to agree on an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. While both sides ascribe to this, neither has a claim to the halo of justice and right—too many wrongs have been committed on both sides. Those of us in the peace community have an obligation to support peace and to be nonpartisan. We must condemn violence, promote peace, not find fault. Finding fault will not promote peace.

In 1948, a United Nations resolution granted Israel the right to establish itself as a state and also gave the Palestinians the right to form a separate state. The Arab world rejected this partition and blood has been flowing ever since. The debate over whether there should have been a partition or not was resolved in the UN. This is a dead issue and the Arab world needs to accept it and move on. Had the Arab world accepted the partition agreement and non-aggression treaty, thousands of lives would have been saved.

Now we are where we were in 1948 with the Palestinians requesting a separate state. A separate state will certainly now be formed and many maintain that this will end the fighting. It will not. It did not in North and South Korea, Northern and Southern Ireland, and India and Pakistan to name just a few. It is sad that people cannot live together without having to form their own country for their own religions and politics. This is a ghettoization of the world that must stop if there is ever to be true peace. Peace will only exist when the man on the street on both sides of the conflict affirm that they want war no more. They will no longer play the ‘blame game’, they will put away revenge from their hearts and know that both sides have suffered grievously and enough.

Justice can only be served when violence ceases, no matter what the perceived justification for the violence. Arafat and Sharon can sign agreement after agreement but they will only be paper until the average citizen agrees that enough blood has been shed. The best solution is intermarriage between Israeli and Palestinians so that their children can sow the seeds of peace for both people. It will take courage because both families may initially cut them off. When the grandchildren come however the thaw will also come. The children need to be taught the good found in Judaism and Islam, and not raised exclusively in one or the other, irrespective of prior tradition. A new tradition must be born for a new peace to be born.

Many believe that world peace is not possible because of ongoing world conflicts. However, in my lifetime, I have seen the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the fall of Communism in the USSR. These two events pave the way for peace but we must believe in peace first as a reality, not as an abstract idealistic concept. The Peace Song says let peace begin with me. It can begin no where else. We must put the politics of revenge behind us wherever we find it, bringing those to justice who violate the rights of others, but doing this in the spirit of peace, not for revenge.

The legacy that our grandchildren will inherit is up to us. Will it be the same horrors we have today, or will we commit to a path to give them a better world? The choice is ours today, and they will either love us or revile us for what we chose.

AIPAC Legislative Director sheds light on recent Mid-East happenings

By TINA ARNOPOLE DRISKILL

“If (Sharon) had a partner for peace, the people of Israel would demand peace. A majority of Israelis would end the occupation, if they felt there was someone to end it with,” insists Bradley Gordon, Legislative Director of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the American organization that advocates on behalf of Israel in Washington. Mr. Gordon spoke recently at a joint gathering of Modesto’s Congregation Beth Shalom and Stockton’s Temple Israel.

Mr. Gordon cites Camp David II from the summer of 2000 emphasizing, “Israel was prepared to cede the entire Gaza Strip, all of the West Bank and all Arab neighborhoods” in Jerusalem, as well as sovereignty of the Temple Mount and two thirds of East Jerusalem as a capital to the Palestinians. They also offered land swaps and a call for the abandonment of all but 3 settlements, consolidating 80% of the settlers into 3% of the West Bank. Among the other offers was a commitment of $30 billion to build cities on the West Bank for the Palestinian population.

He further points out, “The heartland of ancient Israel is one and the same as the West Bank,” and “Israel is willing to gave back the exact area we (the Jewish people) come from.

“All Israel wanted from Arafat” in return, says Gordon, is an “end to the conflicts,” a renunciation “of any claims to Israel” and “a commitment to denounce violence and terror.”

It is Arafat’s refusal to accept these offers or any part of them that has prompted the Israeli government to lose faith with the Palestinian Authority under Arafat’s leadership.

Evidence has shown “Arafat is paying the people who are doing the terror and violence,” Gordon attests. His signature has been exposed on a listing of expenses to buy month-long supplies of chemical and electrical components needed to make 4 to 5 bombs per week.

Gordon quotes Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia as saying, “The time has come to move Arafat to titular leadership.”

In response to criticism of Israel’s Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Gordon feels he showed “incredible restraint” over the 19 months prior to March, when he “finally reacted” in light of the more than 12,000 live fire attacks, in excess of 4000 wounded, and hundreds killed by suicide/homicide bombings. He further contends Sharon “did what any leader of any democratic nation would do...defend their citizens.”

He points out Israel purposely “went door to door in order not to bomb entire populations” in its attempt to round up terrorists and disrupt the terrorist network “for the time being.” The efforts have uncovered 35 bomb making factories, several of which were in Jenin.

He claims the United Nations fact finding mission was rejected by the Israelis, when they learned the appointees included a member of the International Red Cross. to which Israel has never been permitted membership, and two remaining individuals who had no military knowledge or experience.

Although President Bush was “not elected on the strength of the Jewish American vote,” Gordon names him as “the most pro-Israel” member of the US government. Despite the fact that the “White House was urged to ask Congress to stand down on issuing resolutions in support of Israel,” they have chosen to go ahead, and last month (May) the US Congress voted almost unanimously (less 1 vote in the House and 2 votes in the Senate) to support Israel’s “right to continue to defend itself militarily.”

While world ambassadors insist the “US must do something to restrain Israel,” Gordon, who says he “has never felt so much anti-semitism or anti-Israeli sentiment,” calls for the unity and solidarity of “one Jewish voice in America.”

Sadly, he cited a recent warning by the police chief of Berlin to its citizens suggesting that they not wear anything outside their homes identifying themselves as Jews.

Gordon is doubtful of any “assurance that a Palestinian State would be any less violent toward Israel than it is today,” but feels (alluding to Arafat) that “someday a Palestinian will want to do something for his own people” and that “at some point Palestinians and Israelis will live in peace, because it is the only thing they can do.”

(Mr. Gordon’s first job was as a Middle East political analyst for the Central Intelligence Agency [CIA]. Since that time he has served as Staff Director of the

International Operations Subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and as Assistant Director of the US Arms Control and Disarmament Agency for Nonproliferation policy. He was the US Ambassador for the Fourth Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in Geneva. He served as legislative advisor for foreign policy to Senator Rudy Boschwitz (R-MN) and was the staff member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee responsible for the Middle East and South Asia. He graduated cum laude from Brandeis University, received his Master of Arts degree in political science from the University of Vermont and was awarded the Master of Philosophy degree from Columbia University. While at Columbia, he was a National Defense Foreign Language Fellow in Arabic and was selected Research Assistant for the Middle East Institute. He also is fluent in Hebrew.)

 

Peace is around the corner

By MARION PARGAMIN

Jerusalem

(Edited from a longer article).

Quite extraordinary event happened to me during the Walk organized by Tovana, the group of Vipassana meditation in Israel. I feel it is important to share this very personal experience with other people.

The Walk, which took place in the first week of April was intended to provide an opportunity for Palestinians and Israelis to walk together, to develop dialogue and self introspection, inspired by the ancient traditions that guided people like Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King.

What I experienced on the last day was very much in the spirit of peace and coexistence, of calm and serenity created by the Walk in the midst of the atmosphere of insanity and violence around us.

For 8 days, participants walked together from Tel Aviv-Yaffo to Jerusalem, passing Jewish and Arab towns and settlements, in silence and awareness, declaring a commitment to deep listening and nonviolence.

I joined with a group of Palestinians and Israelis who practice meditation and mindfulness together according to the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk and famous peace worker.

The last day of the Walk, was Holocaust day eve, a day of deep emotion for the Jewish community. We went from Ein Kerem, through Jerusalem to the foot of the old city walls. After a sleepless night I joined the Walk later.

When I get to Jaffa gate, I find myself in front of a very agitated elderly Arab man exchanging insults with an elderly religious Jew is standing at a bus station a few meters lower down.

Border Police patrolmen are trying to calm them down, so they won’t fight. They are extremely angry.

I stand beside the Arab speaking calmly to him without reacting to the other’s provocation, asking him to sit down .

I am quite impressed by the policemen’s restraint. They don’t defend one side or the other and respect both sides.

The bus arrives, the Jewish man boards and the situation seems to have settled down.

Then, a Jewish woman, there in the queue from the beginning of the argument and who did not get into the bus, insults the Arab who reacts immediately.

The police have gone and I am left alone to try and calm the situation.

I give my attention to the Arab who would have stayed quiet if he were not continually provoked by the woman. I try, from a distance, to reason with her without success.

She stops a police car and says something to the policeman who walks up to the Arab. I explain to him what is going on and he returns to the woman.

I am so happy that all the policemen in this situation act so calmly and help to restore peace.

Then, a Palestinian woman on her way to the Jaffa gate bursts onto the scene. She jumps to the conclusion that the old Arab is under attack and rushes in a frenzy to rescue him.

She yells some insults at the Jewish woman who was calming down, and the situation heats up again.

All my attention is now focused on her. She is like a bomb ready to explode.

I try to explain to her what is going on but she is furious with me, screaming out her hatred, her despair and her pain.

This is Palestine accusing Israel. At this moment I represent Israel for her.

This whole situation is greater than the two of us and takes on proportions beyond our present meeting.

She shouts out her sorrow about what is going on now in the territories, the military incursions into Palestinian towns. She talks in particular about Jenin where some terrible fighting is now taking place. She has family and friends there and says that our soldiers are war criminals.

She is convinced that we want to kill them all. Why do we hate them so much? They are not responsible for the Holocaust, why should they be paying the price?

She tells me about the refugees and their constant suffering for which we are responsible!

Pointing at the Jewish woman, she assures me that this Sephardi woman was treated with honor, as a human being, in an Arab country from where she comes, and look at how she behaves with Palestinians now!

It goes on and on; she shouts and spews her hatred for Israel at me.

I don’t try to argue with her at all. I don’t show any reaction to all these accusations.

I feel a huge compassion and an intense need to listen to her, only listen to her.

My patience is nourished by understanding that behind this overwhelming hatred is a deep suffering and pain aggravated by the present war situation.

It must express itself in some way so that healing can take place.

I am ready to listen to what appears to me as the worst accusations, distortions or calumnies, without reacting.

What reinforces my strength at this moment is that I have absolutely no doubt that the suffering and pain of the Israeli people is not less real and legitimate. I don’t let myself get tempted or trapped into guilt or anger. I am sorry for the tragedy on both sides. My compassion for her is not on account of the compassion and sense of loyalty I have for my own people, for myself.

For me this is not an issue of who is right and who is wrong.

I feel very very calm and peaceful deep inside. This is the only way to calm her fury.

I let her express herself for a long time without interrupting her.

As she continues to shout at me, I tell her that she has no need to speak so loudly because I am listening to her with all my attention. At the same time I find myself caressing her arm. She lets me do it and progressively lowers her voice, while continuing to let her despair overflow.

She says to me, “Do you understand why some of us come and commit suicide among you? You kill us anyway, so why not kill you at the same time?” She mentions the possibility of blowing herself up out of despair.

I tell her softly that I don’t want her to die. Nobody should come to this decision. We all suffer on both sides.

She goes on and on claiming that the Zionists only want to get rid of the Palestinians.

I say, “You see I am a Zionist and I don’t want to get rid of you. I wish we could live together as good neighbours.” She listens to me!

She tells me about the demonstration the week before near Ramallah. She complains about the Jewish organizations who took part in it. Then she asks me to donate some money to buy phone cards for Palestinians who need them. I give her money.

At this stage, the conversation is quite normal between us. She doesn’t shout any more, she is even listens to me.

She is almost calm when I notice the people of the Walk approaching us slowly, at the top of the street.

They are in a line, a hundred of them, one after the other walking in silence, slowly, quietly, aware of each step, creating an atmosphere of peace and safety around them. They are very present. They radiate calm and warmth.

I point them out and explain the reason I came here — to join a walk of peace in which Palestinians and Israeli are together. I tell her about the Walk, its message of coexistence and peace; peace at every step, here and now.

I suggest she come into the line with me. She hesitates and rejects my offer.

As they reach us, several people I know shake my hand warmly as they go by.

A young woman, very active in a group of rapprochement between the two peoples, approaches the woman I have been speaking with and gives her a kiss. They seem to know each other.

I notice that she is very moved by the Walk and the atmosphere it radiates. She seems calmer and calmer, nothing like the furious woman I met minutes before.

The end of the line passes by us and I want to join it. Again I invite her and again she declines. I tell her that I understand and respect her decision.

Before I go I say, “I am sure that someday we will succeed in building peace between us.” She smiles and replies, “Me too.”

To my total surprise, she comes close to me and kisses me on my cheeks!

She walks alongside the line for a while and tells me she likes this Walk; it makes her feel good, gives her relief and her mood is much better now.

I am very very moved. I feel overwhelmed by this encounter, especially by its unexpected ending.

Peace was there around the corner, I did not miss it!

“Terror is in the human heart. We must remove this from the heart. Destroying the human heart, both physically and psychologically, is what we should avoid. The root of terrorism is misunderstanding, hatred and violence. This root cannot be located by the military. Bombs and missiles cannot reach it, let alone destroy it. Only with the practice of calming and looking deeply can our insight reveal and identify this root. Only with the practice of deep listening and compassion can it be transformed and removed. Darkness cannot be dissipated with more darkness. More darkness will only make darkness thicker. Only light can dissipate darkness. Those of us who have the light should display the light and offer it so that the world will not sink into total darkness.”

                                                                        — Thich Nhat Hanh, after 11th September.

ACTION: Contact MidEast Citizen Diplomacy, Compassionate Listening Project, P.O. Box 17 Indianola, WA 98342; 360-297-2280; www.mideastdiplomacy.org

   

“By My Spirit”

What Will Make For Peace in the Middle East?

Statement by Delegation of U.S. Church Leaders to the Middle East, April 2002

“O sing to the Lord a new song,
sing to the Lord all the earth
Say among the nations, The Lord is king”

Psalm 96:1,10

We are a delegation of United States church leaders who visited Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, and Palestine from April 16 to 27 under the auspices of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. (NCCCUSA). Our journey to the Middle East has been a pilgrimage for peace.

In the course of the trip, the delegation met with Jewish, Christian and Muslim leaders, as well as key political leaders. In each country we encountered apprehension and fear, despair, and occasionally, hate. We also experienced the resilience of the human spirit, not born from political optimism but rather through hope in the judgment and mercy of the One God worshipped by Jews, Christians, and Muslims. We were heartened everywhere we went by the commitment of both religious and political leaders to seek to build bridges of dialogue and common action.

We emphasize the urgency of the crisis in the region and our sense that the Middle East and, indeed, the entire world, stands on the brink of a catastrophe if a comprehensive peace is not achieved soon. Continually, we heard pleas for outside intervention and of the urgent need for the United States to take decisive action to constrain the Government of Israel to abide by United Nations resolutions and to do so as a matter of the highest priority.

We are grateful that many local and regional religious bodies are profoundly engaged in efforts for peace, truth and reconciliation. In addition, King Abdullah II of Jordan spoke of his own commitment to interfaith dialogue. We pledged to him our support for those efforts and articulated our eagerness to work directly with him and those religious leaders he will soon bring to the United States.

We expressed our condolences and deepest sympathies to Israelis and Palestinians who have lost family members and friends to the senseless violence over the past months. Members of the delegation visited hospitalized victims in Jerusalem. Delegation members also participated in ecumenical food and medicine aid convoys to Jenin, Bethlehem, and Beit Jala where we personally witnessed the devastation caused by the Israeli Defense Forces. We were alarmed to find that the damage extends beyond fighting carried out against Palestinian resistance forces to include intentional destruction of Palestinian civil society. The impact of the Israeli invasion and destruction of Palestinian infrastructure has exacerbated the feeling of broken promises and shattered hopes. We urge the Government of Israel to cooperate fully with the United Nations investigation of events that took place in Jenin.

Throughout our journey the standoff at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem remained of grave concern. We offered our prayers and services and expressed our objection to the withholding of food, water and medical supplies to those inside the church. We discussed the situation with the leaders of the churches who are the custodians of this holy site as well as with Canon Andrew White of Coventry Cathedral in England, the only church representative directly involved in the negotiations between the Government of Israel and the Palestinian Authority to bring a peaceful end to the siege. We asked Israelis and Palestinians to respect the sacredness of the Church of the Nativity, and of all religious sites and buildings, Christian, Muslim and Jewish.

We call upon Israel and the Palestinian Authority to agree to an immediate ceasefire, to end all attacks upon civilians and civilian institutions, and to exercise the highest degree of restraint in responding to violations of the ceasefire. We condemn equally and unequivocally both the suicide bombings and Palestinian violence against Israeli society and the violence of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories. All are counterproductive to achieving peace with justice. Repeatedly, we were asked to understand the context of desperation and hopelessness that has led Palestinian young people to be willing to kill themselves and Israeli citizens. Similarly, we were asked to understand the depth of fear among the Israeli public that has led to an intense onslaught against Palestinian refugee camps, towns, and cities. Both societies are caught in a cycle of violence and revenge.

The delegation finds that the following are critical components of a just resolution of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict: an end to the cycle of violence;

We state these concerns out of deep love, affection, and respect for Israelis and Palestinians - and because of our commitment to making real the vision of a free and independent Palestinian state living alongside a secure Israel.

Israel is a state like any other state with the same privileges and responsibilities. It is entitled to full recognition of its legitimacy within the international community, including by the Arab states. It is responsible under international law to end the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza begun in l967, which holds the Palestinian people hostage. At the same time, Palestinians cannot expect to achieve the dignity, rights and respect they have sought for so long without ceasing acts of violence against the civilian population of Israel.

We are deeply concerned for the future of a viable, indigenous Christian presence in the Middle East. The Arab Christian population has declined precipitously in recent decades. Christian leaders shared with us their belief that a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is key to halting and, hopefully, reversing this decline. This must happen quickly before Christians are left with only tiny groups of people who serve as custodians of our most holy places. Christians provide vital leaven to the entire region. Thriving, growing communities of Christians will contribute to the healing and peace process, thereby providing a bridge to reconciliation and hope.

Our delegation leaves the Middle East convinced that an enduring peace can be achieved if the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories ends and if the establishment of a viable Palestinian state alongside a secure State of Israel follows soon. In the context of the World Council of Churches (WCC) “Decade to Overcome Violence,” we welcome the WCC’s 2002 focus on ending the illegal occupation of Palestine and supporting a just peace in the Middle East. The delegation urges NCCCUSA member churches to support the development of the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel sponsored by the WCC. We challenge our member churches and congregations to take action and become aware of and foster the ends of peace. We encourage our members to participate in the ongoing ecumenical prayer vigil for peace in the Middle East that was initiated on the First Sunday of Advent 2000.

The prophet Zechariah said, “The angel told me to give Zerubbabel this message from the Lord: ‘You will succeed, not by military might or by your own strength, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts.” (Zech. 4:6) The word of the Spirit in our day is a call to all people of faith to be witnesses to the way of peace. That witness begins with unceasing prayer. It calls us to be reconcilers, to stand for truth, forgiveness, and justice in every place. Only thus may we sing to the Lord a new song.

Issued April 30, 2002 and signed by members of the delegation from: the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. ; the 213th General Assembly, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.); the Armenian Orthodox Church; the Lutheran Office for Governmental Affairs, Washington, DC,, representing the Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; the Riverside Church, New York; the United Methodist Church; the National Baptist Convention USA, Inc., the Archdiocese of the Syrian Orthodox Church for the Eastern United States; the Episcopal Church; the Churches for Middle East Peace;and the General Board of Church and Society, United Methodist Church.

Websites help navigate Mid-East media sources

Submitted by RABBI PAUL S. GORDON

Shalom Chaverim,

As many of us have been watching the news reports on the current crisis in Israel, people wonder about the bias of the reporters and networks covering the stories. I would like to recommend a few websites and organizations that might help you navigate the murky waters of Middle East journalism. If you are interested in what the Arab media is saying about the conflict I would encourage you to explore the MEMRI (The Middle East Media Research Institute) web archive at www.memri.org. This organization does direct translations of news reports, media coverage and speeches of the Arab world.

There are also websites that track the accuracy of the news like CAMERA www.camera.or

 (The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America) and www.themedialine.org (The Media Line, Ltd.). CAMERA is a watchdog group that works on informing the public about media bias. The Media Line is a fairly new organization that works at getting accurate information about Israel out to the rest of the world. Both are valuable resources and I recommend spending some time at either site. It may change how you think about American journalism.

We can help with this war of information. Let your neighbors know that there is more going on in the world than what CNN reports. Go to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (www.jta.org), the Jerusalem Post (www.jpost.com) or Haaretz English edition (www.haaretzdaily.com) for information on what’s happening in Israel.

B’Shalom uv’racha

May you have peace and blessings in your lives,