Tikun Olam-תקון עולם: Make the World a Better Place

Lately, I have not found much in the progressive media about the Israel divestment debate being waged largely within the mainline Protestant denominations, especially focussing on the Presbyterian Church. Thankfully, The Nation has weighed in with a comprehensive, subtle and balanced analysis of the issue, The Israel Divestment Debate. I’ve used a non-Nation (Agence Global) site since you can’t access the full article from The Nation site unless you are a subscriber.

What astonishes me is the rabidly hostile reaction of otherwise “progressive” Jewish groups (at least regarding their approach to the Israel-Palestine conflcit) to divestment. You’d think the Presbyterians had just called for Israel to be thrown into the sea. Here’s Rabbis for Human Rights:

IDF-operated Caterpillar armored tractor bears down on lone Palestinian protester (credit: Stop U.S. Military Aid to Israel)

Rabbis for Human Rights — a participant in EAPPI [the Ecumenical Accompaniment Program in Palestine and Israel recruits church members to "accompany Palestinians and Israelis in non-violent actions and concerted advocacy efforts to end the occupation] that has engaged in civil disobedience to prevent Israeli authorities from demolishing Palestinian homes and orchards — excoriated the Presbyterians for singling out Israel while ignoring “the homicidal ideologies that have so sadly taken hold among some of our Palestinian neighbors” and the “attempts to destroy our country that transcend the Occupation and precede it by decades.”

And here’s Rabbi Eric Yoffie of the Reform Movement:

“What we saw emerge very dramatically following the divestment decision of the Presbyterians is a certain mentality that says the occupation is the root of all evil,” says Yoffie. “We just don’t agree with that.” More fundamentally, says Yoffie, that mindset often minimizes terrorism. “They are very quick to use the word ‘evil’ when they apply it to the occupation, but they didn’t apply the word ‘evil’ to terror…. There’s simply no moral calculus that could reasonably lead to that conclusion.”

Yoffie should know better. The Occupation IS the root of all evil in the I-P conflict. If he wasn’t so ticked off by Christians assaulting Israel (at least in his own mind) he’d recognize that. And how can it possibly be that the Protestants don’t “apply the word ‘evil’ to terrorism.” That seems a preposterous assertion & I’m certain it is false. Just goes to show you that even erstwhile progressives like Reform Jews are bellowing like a gored ox.

Two progressive groups I otherwise believe in & admire–American Friends of Peace Now & Brit Tzedek–apparently turned thumbs down on divestment. I’m sure they did so because they’re frightened that it will entirely destroy their credibility to lobby within the mainstream Jewish community.

That being said, I do have some problems w. pro-divestment Jews quoted in the article:

For Jeff Halper, head of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions and an American-born Israeli Jew…even liberal Jews like Yoffie and groups like Americans for Peace Now are obstacles to peace, he says. “Both the liberals and the super-pro-Israel people see themselves as the gatekeepers of Israel. They resist criticism of Israel and of course criticism from Christians, even progressive Christians…. Liberal Jews are critical of Israel in a general way, but when it comes to taking a real stand, for example with divestment — saying, ‘Look, this occupation is evil’ — they tend not to go there.”

While I’m certainly critical of progressive Jewish responses to divestment–to say that they are “obstacles to peace” is ridiculous overstatement. They are certainly wrongheaded, but there’s a difference bet. being wrongheaded & being an obstacle to peace.

I do however, agree with the mainstream Jewish community’s criticism of the Palestinian allies of the Presbyterian church:

Sabeel’s “Principles for a Just Peace in Palestine-Israel” does state that “the ideal and best solution has always been to envisage ultimately a bi-national state in Palestine-Israel.” PC(USA) Middle East liaison Victor Makari shares this vision, telling the Jerusalem Report that his “preferred solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a shared democratic state.”

Divestment proponents say that for Jewish leaders to cry foul over alliances with Palestinian Christians who allegedly reject Israel’s legitimacy and a two-state solution is hypocritical, given their own alliance with Christian Zionists who reject the legitimacy of Palestinian claims to any part of what they consider Jewish land. “The institutional alliances with groups both Jewish and Christian, from the Zionist Organization of America to Pat Robertson, that reject out of hand the right of Palestinians to have their own state, are simply never questioned,” says Surasky.

It does the Presbyterians’ cause no good to be affiliated w. any Palestinians who do not support a 2-state solution. Neither the Jewish community nor most of the rest of the world support a one-state, or bi-national solution to the conflict. And trying to throw back in the Jewish community’s face that it makes alliances w. evangelicals who detest Palestinians just muddies the waters.

Take me for example, I support divestment. I oppose the Zionist alliance w. Christian Zionist evangelicals. I also support a 2 state solution. So what do the Presbyterians have to say to me on this score? Nothing, it appears.