Occupation Has Consequences

In the wake of the Hamas led offensive in the occupied regions of southern Palestine the world has once again decided that “Israel has a right to defend itself”. We pretend that Israeli civilians being attacked is an “unprecedented terror attack” because we want to have some excuse to ignore decades of Israeli aggression and violent oppression of Palestinians in both Gaza and the occupied West Bank. The insistence that nothing prior to this attack can be considered when talking about Israel is a calculated attempt to hide the full context of what led to this escalation, how Hamas even came to be, and why Israel is now seeing the consequences of its actions on a scale Netanyahu always wanted.

Christians who support Israel are the same sorts of people who love to quote verses about “you reap what you sow” when people they hate are suffering any given anguish. Many are using those verse right now as Palestinian families are exterminated by Israeli airstrikes. Yet for decades the Israeli state has understood that it would eventually have to deal with “blowback”, consequences, for its crimes against the Palestinians. That is why Tel Aviv has kept an eye on Iran and Lebanon. Because the Jewish ethno-state knows that its violent oppression of Palestinians would make it enemies among its neighbors. Leaders like Netanyahu however didn’t just know that consequences were coming, they have engineered among Palestinians the harvest they wanted all along. For Netanyahu the existence of groups like Hamas has always been politically profitable. Having a boogeyman to scapegoat whenever necessary is what all authoritarians want. And now that we know that Egypt warned Tel Aviv well in advance of this weekend, it is clear that Netanyahu saw the consequences coming. It was an excuse for the total war he wanted to launch. War being historically how Netanyahu has solidified his hold on the government in Israel. How Netanyahu has gained support among Israelis who believed their government all along when they were told they would never suffer the consequences for the occupation and apartheid policies. While Netanyahu appears to have allowed the consequences to come home to the Israelis, it cannot be ignored that the Israelis themselves went along with their government for decades under the promise that they would be shielded from accountability. What Israel saw when the ghetto walls of Gaza were breached was an uprising of people who have been denied their rights, their humanity and their homeland. As violent as this has been, this is the harvest that Israel made possible. The harvest sprouted from the seeds Israel alone spread across Palestine.

As a Jew, I am reminded of the conversations I was able to have with survivors of the Holocaust in Croatia. Partisans who used extreme violence to fight back against the Nazis and Ustaša alike. People who had participated in the reprisals that took place before Tito ended the resulting communal violence in Yugoslavia. Of the three of them, none seemed truly remorseful for taking revenge. At no point did I blame them for that hardness either. Having listened to what the Ustaša did to them, I was in no place to judge what they wanted to do in return. The Croatian fascists had planted a harvest that they believed they would never have to reap. That eventually the Jews, the Serbs, the Roma would be gone. That under the guidance of their Nazi counterparts, Croatia was going to be Catholic only. But each family member they murdered in the forests and mountains, each family member they sent to camps was a seed their fascist sins planted in the hearts of those who remained. Once sprouted, somebody had to pay. An exchange was to be made. And this part of the Holocaust, the part that came after the fascists were defeated, isn’t isolated to the stories I listened to. In Germany the survivors also put forth revenge actions. Be it poisoning SS inmates under American guard or planning to poison German water supplies, the price of the crimes committed against them carried over even after the war had ended. Many would illegally immigrate to Palestine. And many of those would use the crimes European states committed against them as reason enough to force Palestinians to pay the price.

Only in the comfort of privileged distance do we find it convenient to say that killing citizens of an occupying force, which Israel is, is morally unjustified. It has not been our families murdered by Israeli occupation. It has not been our brothers abducted by the Israeli occupation forces, and it has not been our sisters who have endured sexual assault and victimization by Israeli soldiers and settlers. We get to watch Gaza burn while pretending that each new death in this Israeli carpet-bombing campaign isn’t a new seed being planted for a future harvest of bloody revenge. By ignoring the over 80 years of violence perpetrated against the Palestinians we get to “stand with Israel” in feigned outrage over mislabeled “terrorism”. Only when we have decided to ignore Netanyahu’s fascism, Israel’s original sins and the longstanding blockade of Gaza can we get atop our soapbox and shout about how violence is never the answer.

Until Palestinian suffering is recognized, until Israel faces true consequences for its crimes, the Western world will have to get comfortable playing the role of hypocrites. That is unless we somehow decide to start telling our governments to withdraw support for Israel and end financial backing of its murderous campaign against Palestinians. Let Israel face the horror of what occupation looks like. Force Netanyahu to come outright with his desired crimes against humanity so he and the rest of Israel’s leadership can be tried like the Nazis at Nuremberg. But given the Democrats’ current response, appeasement of the genocidal government in Israel, the status quo, seems more likely.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Right To Resist

(part of A Bridge Too Far series)

(Jewish Partisans in Croatia During WW2)

This message is not to Palestinians or Muslims. This message is to those who claim to practice Judaism. This message is to those who claim to support the cause of a homeland for the Jewish people. This is a message to my brothers and sisters as well as those who support Israel. It is not a polite suggestion. It is not a message of condemnation. This is a reminder of where we came from. This is a reminder of why we, the Jewish people, should have more empathy than anyone else for the plight of the citizens of Gaza. For their present situation greatly mirrors the tragedies through which our ancestors lived. This is a reminder of our faith, our heritage, and our history.

 

 

When my ancestors watched their country be devoured by the barbarism the world called fascism there was little time to react. Yugoslavia was breaking apart. Croatia had made a pact with Hitler to help his armies take the Balkans. Everywhere my ancestors looked all they could see was a world gone mad. For them... the hope of a better life for their children was rapidly disappearing. The belief that the next generation would live in a better world than they did was all but shattered. Yet the will to fight for that hope, the will to sacrifice for that dream, had not been taken from them. 

The fascist began their assault with mass executions and gathering survivors into camps and ghettos. Among those who had fled the massacres were people like my great grandmother. These were people who either were prepared to fight for their homes, their families, or just mere survival. Ahead of them was a long war that looked hopeless. They were ready to fight with no ability to resupply their ammunition, no ability to find food, and no chance for reinforcements. Yet the will to fight was still there. Like a fire deep inside their bones, that will to resist could not be extinguished. 

What the Nazis and Ustase did to my ancestors was beyond barbaric. They took them into the mountains and found ledges upon which to execute them. Others were sent strung up publicly so as to tell their countrymen what awaited all of Yugoslavia's Jews. While others were sent to camps to work for their captors till the release of death overcame them. And yet for those who survived there was a deep seeded desire to resist. The desire to live free, to have their lives back, could not be beaten out of them. Despite all the fascists bestowed upon us in their savage desire to destroy us, we resisted. We fought back. 

During the war against the fascists my ancestors were not granted the rights given to soldiers if they were captured. All those rules made in Geneva were useless to them. If the Ustase or Germans captured them they knew that only torture and death awaited them. They also realized that in defending their families through combat meant that they were endangering entire villages. Anyone that dared to help them (or simply not give up information on them) was fair game to the tyrannical Ustase thugs and Nazi soldiers. To the ruling factions, my ancestors were terrorist. And much like today, their resistance to the oppressive rule of fascism was punishable with actions well beyond the rule of law. 

Today we are proud of our ancestors and what they did to make sure we could be here today, alive and free. We look back on their struggle with pride that can not be taken from us. It is a legacy that has endured even the worst intentions of our enemies. The price they paid in blood has not and will not be forgotten. 

Yet today there are double standards that come with remembering the price our ancestors paid for our freedoms. We tend not to think of their struggle when we look at the plight of the oppressed today. This is especially true when it comes to how many Jews look at the struggle that the Palestinians face. And it is distinctly evident when it comes to the pain inflicted upon the citizens of Gaza.

We as a people have had to fight to survive countless tragedies in our past. As Tisha B'av approaches we will find ourselves reflecting upon the countless times our ancestors were persecuted. During this time we will fast and offer up prayers as we mourn those tragedies. We will also have the opportunity to recall how our G-d delivered us to this day. We will recall how even in our darkest hours He allowed us to reach a time when our people are safe and secure. And yet there is another aspect of our heritage that we should focus upon as Israel carries out Operation Protective Edge... the long history of resistance that has enabled us to reach this day. 

To our oppressors we were once the terrorists. In their eyes we were supposed to accept our fate and go silently into history, never to be remembered. We were painted as sheep to the slaughter by even our friends. Those who had watched us suffer offered us little more than tears as they whispered "oh the poor Jews". To some we had been cast as the meek and suffering oppressed. But for those who wanted us dead, to those we resisted by fighting tooth and nail, we were dangerous terrorists who needed to be slaughtered. 

History has shown how we fought back. History has remembered the millions who perished as the survivors resisted. History has not labeled us as either sheep to slaughter or savage terrorists. It has recorded our suffering and our desire to live. As it will do so for the oppressed that suffer today. 

It is the nature of all mankind to want to live free and full lives. When that is taken from us, we as a species do not lay down and await death silently. While some may accept that life as they knew it is over, most of us will bare our teeth and bristle our manes just like any other animal that has been cornered. We are not timid when we are oppressed. We are not silent when we are tormented. And we are not easily trained to accept our suffering. 

So why have so many of us accepted the suffering of Gaza?

Gaza today rest upon a thin strip of the land allotted to it by the mandate which created Palestine and Israel. The Palestinians living there were once allowed the opportunity to leave the strip and travel elsewhere. They were oppressed in other ways then, but at very least they weren't behind a wall. Since the construction of the "separation barrier" the citizens of Gaza have been virtually stuck in a ghetto. Like our ancestors in Warsaw, they were stuck behind a wall and kept out of sight of the rest of society.

Conditions in Gaza have only deteriorated as Israel has further restricted movement of the citizens of Gaza. Palestinians in Gaza have considerably less rights than those of Israeli citizens right on the other side of the wall. They are not permitted the right to move freely but are rather kept confined like animals in a cage. Like our ancestors in the ghettos of Europe who had to seek Nazi permission, the citizens of Gaza have to seek permission from Israel to leave Gaza (or Egypt when the crossing there is open). Checkpoints are meant to "protect" Israeli citizens from danger while at the same time stripping Palestinians of their basic human rights.

Health conditions also have drastically deteriorated after Israel has repeatedly bombed hospitals and health care centers. Doctors and nursing staff are far less prevalent in Gaza than in Israel. And the numbers of refugees puts a strain on any health care that remains. This does not account for the psychological trauma that goes untreated as Palestinians continue to live under constant siege (well documented at causing severe emotional and psychological trauma). In the ghettos of Europe all of these factors caused an increase in death and even depression and suicide amongst our ancestors.

Sanitation is crippled as Israel has launched aerial assaults and missile attacks on infrastructure across Gaza. Water is at times untrustworthy as treatment of it is not viable at all times. The source of life, the one thing all mankind needs, is denied to the Palestinians of Gaza by the siege Israel has placed them under. The diseases that come with such conditions were well known killers of our ancestors in the ghettos of Europe.

So at what point is it a right of the oppressed population in Gaza to resist the oppression they have been placed under? When does it become acceptable to us to see Palestinians firing rockets back at the nation who is bombing them daily? When do we stop labeling them as terrorists and start realizing that they are resisting in much the same manner as our ancestors did?

In every culture across the globe the death of a child, especially our own, is something that will provoke unmeasurable anger and retaliation. Israel has predicated this latest attack upon the death of three Israeli children. Yet when do we realize that Gaza has sacrificed countless numbers of it's own children to the siege Israel is and has placed upon it in the past? If it was your child that had taken a soldier's bullet or shrapnel from another country's missile would you remain silent?

For me personally the living conditions would have definitely made me defiant. I would obviously take every non-violent step toward dismantling my oppressor and shedding such wretched living conditions as those. But the death of my child, the death of any child, is enough to make me become the most wretched savage my enemy could ever meet. There is no form of punishment fitting for those who would slaughter the innocent for their own personal goals and desires. And for the most part, this reaction is as human as any other emotion. It is ingrained in all mankind to defend their offspring with every ounce of blood that flows through their veins.

Hamas may be far from decent in their politics and the way they fight their wars. But if it were your children being targeted by a ruthless enemy... would you not side with the devil himself if it meant your children could live?

The right to resist tyranny is as natural to man as any of the rest of our "human rights". The right to resist oppression is what led to our people out of Egypt, saved us from the pogroms, and kept us alive through the Holocaust. It is what has created the heritage of which we are so stubbornly proud. And it is the very essence of why Gaza remains defiant in the face of Israel's brutal war.

As we go through The Three Weeks and Tisha B'av let us remember the tragedies through which our people have overcome tyrants. Let us reflect upon the path our ancestors took to get us here today. And let us offer our thanks to G-d for His mercy upon us and our ancestors. But let us also take a critical look at Israel and it's actions in Gaza. Let us offer up our prayers for the suffering people of Gaza.

Most importantly, during this time of mourning...

Let us cry out for the citizens of Gaza. Let us stand with our suffering brothers and sisters. Let us defend them with our voices as we tell the world that what Israel is doing is wrong. And let us make that cry heard by our leaders and our people in Israel. Scream so loud that your voice reverberates across the distance between us and stirs up the hearts and souls of Israel.

We are here today because great men and women resisted those who would have wiped our heritage from the face of the earth. They stood up against tyranny during the darkest hours of our peoples' history. When nobody else would listen, when it seemed that nobody else even cared, they stood up and fought back. It is through their blood, their suffering, and their resilience that we were even given the chance to do the same.

Pray for Gaza.

Then scream for Gaza. 

Romani Of The Holy Land

The Fight For Citizenship In Israel

(Amoun Sleem, Romani woman in her home in Jerusalem)

Europe has long had an issue with the citizenship of the Roma within their countries. For France it has been an issue of where the Roma can be deported to. For Germany it is a historical soft spot in the nation's relationship with this minority. The further we venture east the worse the situation for the Roma gets. In Romania the Roma are culturally banned from calling themselves Roma and are forced to be called Gypsies. And in the Balkans the Roma are forced to live on the fringe of society while the rest of the population ostracizes the Roma amongst them. It is almost impossible to overlook the genocidal intentions of countries like Hungary and the Ukraine.

That is why I found it odd that the state of one of the world's most neglected people in my beloved Israel isn't much better than it is in France. An estimated 2,000 Roma live in Jerusalem alone. There they live in areas around The Lion's Gate area of the Old City. And for some time now the Roma in Israel has long been the most impoverished population in Israel. Even the Palestinians in Gaza have opportunities made possible to them that Israel's Roma do not.

In Israel the Romani people are predominately Muslim. However the Roma of Israel do not identify with the Arabs or the Palestinians in Gaza or the West Bank. This is in part due to the fact that Arabs throughout the Middle East do not treat the Roma as citizens or even human at times. The fact that the Roma in this region have taken on Islam as their religious identity does not separate them from the overt racism that plagues many of the surrounding nations. And that is why it is disheartening to see Israel still denying the Roma their citizenship rights.

(Barkat visiting the Roma in East Jerusalem)

In October the Mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat, became the first Mayor of Jerusalem to step out in the public eye and visit the Romani community in East Jerusalem. Barkat has begun the process to integrate the Roma into Israeli society. These are the first steps to helping the Roma become a meaningful part of the Israeli community. It will help Jews and Arabs alike if they are able to see the Roma as more than just "Gypsies".

With the same rights as other Israeli citizens the Roma can get better jobs. The Roma could begin to move up in society and may even become vital members of the Israeli Defense Force. Their rich heritage, their language, their art, and their culture can all become enriching parts of Israeli society. But the Roma can't do any of these things without first being full citizens of Israel itself.

So while Israel may not be attempting to deport the Roma it is failing to do the right thing. After all, the Romani people suffered just the same as the Jews in Nazi Europe. Roma were targeted by the Iraqi's during the Nazi years just the same as the Jews of Iraq. The Roma were oppressed by the Communist even worse than our Refuseniks. Now Israel has to do what is needed... give the Roma equal rights and equal opportunities.




Source Documents
(Note Not All Sources Cited)

Jerusalem Post
http://www.jpost.com/Features/InThespotlight/Article.aspx?id=289581

Al Monitor
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/culture/2012/11/the-gypsies-of-jerusalem-are-see.html