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Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
Groups holding out for peace try to counteract a growing image of American Jews as pro-Sharon -- and, increasingly, pro-Bush.
Apr 25, 2002 | Jewish doves have a dilemma: How do you articulate a vision of peace and security for Israel while anti-Semitism is growing across the world and as American Jews increasingly back Ariel Sharon's hard-line Israeli government?
It's a question analogous to the one raised by the political discourse (or lack thereof) in this country since Sept. 11: With your nation under attack, is there room for any dissent without your being labeled an enemy of the state?
Liberal Jews are trying to figure that out now, and according to leaders of several Jewish organizations, discussions are underway this week about the best way to give voice to what they believe is the silent majority among American Jews in this time of crisis for Israel. A series of informal meetings have begun about how to delineate a position that supports Israel's right to defend itself but also makes a long-term, peaceful resolution -- including a separate Palestinian state -- chief among its goals.
But clearly, the doves have a long way to go.
Lewis Roth, assistant executive director of Americans for Peace Now, says there have been more discussions among many Jewish leaders and organizations about how to articulate an approach that differs from blind support for the Sharon government. He says his organization has been speaking to leaders like Rabbi David Saperstein, head of the Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism, to try to combat the political and grassroots power of some of the more powerful and conservative Jewish organizations.
"I think there are a lot of people who have been active on the Israeli peace issue for a number of years who maybe drifted away from a more dovish position at the beginning of the intifada who are now starting to come back to a more center-left position on things," Roth said. But Roth acknowledges that some organizations that were once considered supporters of the Oslo peace accords, like the American Jewish Congress, have tacked to the right and show no signs of supporting new negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, led by Yasser Arafat.
"I don't know that we've seen a stampede of people coming back, but there have been individual leaders who have been more vocal about a peace agreement," Roth said.
Some involved in these preliminary discussions remain skeptical that they can find a coherent alternative to the powerful voices of the Israel hawks in the United States. "I just don't think it's there yet," said one source involved in the discussions. "Will it ever be? I really don't know," he said, dejectedly.
"This has been a difficult time," says Saperstein. "Palestinian suicide bombers and Yasser Arafat's moral and political bankruptcy in terms of leading a path back to the diplomatic table has not left the people who believe in [former Prime Minister Yitzhak] Rabin's vision with a political program to follow."
Saperstein is among those American Jewish leaders who expressed dissatisfaction with this month's rally in support of Israel in Washington, D.C., complaining that conference organizers skewed the conference's political agenda toward Israel's hawks. Former Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu headlined the speakers' list at the rally, criticizing Bush's decision to allow Secretary of State Colin Powell to meet with Arafat, whom Netanyahu compared to Hitler and Osama bin Laden. When Defense deputy Paul Wolfowitz addressed the crowd and made references to suffering Palestinians, he was roundly booed.
Meanwhile, Saperstein says, Jewish leaders who believe in a political resolution that includes an independent Palestinian state have had a difficult time being heard at all.
"In the vacuum of their silence comes a sort of lowest common denominator: 'We have to support Israel,'" he says. "There is a deep frustration among many of us that there's not a voice in the middle who believes in peace. It's been very hard to get that message out in this climate."
