Brit Tzedek v'Shalom
Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace
Israel: Is Peace Possible?
March 19, 2004
Sermon by Rabbi Hillel Gamoran, Temple De Hirsch Sinai
I wish to thank Rabbi Penzias, Rabbi Weiner, Rabbi Rice and Temple De Hirsch for inviting me to occupy your pulpit tonight in behalf of Brit Tzedek v'Shalom. I am deeply grateful.
I grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio in a Zionist home. My father was the only Zionist in his office at the headquarters of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations. My mother was president of the local chapter of Hadassah. I was a member of the Zionist youth group, Young Judea. I remember walking from house to house in Cincinnati asking the folks to empty their blue boxes to plant trees and to buy land in Palestine. I remember dancing when Israel became a state in 1948. The dream of two thousand years had finally been achieved.
But has it? For over three years Israel has been enmeshed in a cruel, senseless and violent war with the Palestinians. Hundreds of Israelis have died as a result of suicide bombings, and thousands of Palestinians have lost their lives at the hands of the Israeli Defense Forces. The Israeli government¹s response to violence has been more violence. And the Palestinians, who suffer hardship and degradation on a daily basis, continue their awful program of destruction and murder. Israel dominates every aspect of Palestinian life in the territories. Its checkpoints control entrance into Israel; Israel controls travel between towns and villages within the West Bank. Men can't get to work, expectant mothers to the hospital, children to school, without crossing Israeli checkpoints. Curfews and sieges make life unbearable in the Palestinian communities.
And so young men and women are convinced that they should become martyrs to their cause taking with them as many Israeli lives as they can. And so Israel assassinates more terrorist leaders along with innocent civilians, and the cycle goes on and on and on.
Only this week a horrible suicide bombing by Palestians in Ashdod was followed by Israeli bombing in Gaza.
About a year and a half ago, an organization called Brit Tzedek v'Shalom, the Alliance for Justice and Peace was founded. Soon after its formation it established a goal to Bring the Settlers Home to Israel.
The settlers live in territory occupied by Israel after the 1967 war. The territories were not annexed by Israel. Palestinians in the territories are not citizens of Israel. They cannot vote in Israeli elections. The territories are simply occupied by Israel. One of the reasons Israel has not withdrawn from the territories is because of the 200,000 settlers who live among the four million Palestinians there. Israel should withdraw from the territories because the settlements weaken Israel. Israel spends a billion dollars a year to maintain its troops to defend the settlements. A smaller Israel would be much more defensible. There is nothing that Israel could do to increase its stature and support in Europe and in America than to withdraw to the international border. Israel should evacuate the settlements because they are wrong. The death and misery that they have caused must be brought to an end.
Brit Tzedek sees the settlements in the West Bank and Gaza as the primary obstacle to a peace agreement with the Palestinians. As of tonight over 10,000 people have signed our petition to bring the settlers home. Recent surveys have shown that 75% of the those who live in the territories bought their homes there, not for ideological reasons, but simply in order to find a better quality of life for themselves and their children. My nephew bought his home in Modi¹in rather than in Israel proper because of the subsidy granted by the government. He could not have afforded to buy a three bedroom house in Israel. Current surveys suggest that the overwhelming majority of settlers would be willing to live in Israel if proper incentives were offered.
Imagine what could happen if the settlements were evacuated. The Palestinians could construct a state of their own in the West Bank and Gaza and Israelis could live in safety. Right now the economy of Israel is in shambles; tourism is non-existent and lives are lost on a regular basis. And the economy of the Palestinians is in much worse shape. Unemployment exceeds 50%; poverty and malnutrition abound; many in the population have lost all hope.
Three months ago an important development took place. A group of prominent Palestinians and prominent Israelis concluded 2 1/2 years of tough negotiations with the signing of an agreement in Geneva. This is a detailed accord for peace between the two peoples. Some have called it the eighth day of Taba. You will recall that during the closing days of the Clinton and Barak governments, the parties engaged in strenuous negotiations to settle the matters uncompleted at Camp David in July of 2000. Those negotiations in Taba broke down after seven strenuous days. They came near to an agreement, but could not close certain gaps. Now a pact has been reached.
1) Israel will be recognized as the state of the Jewish people and a demilitarized State of Palestine will be established along the 1967 borders with Israel. The State of Israel will include slightly expanded borders around Jerusalem and Tel Aviv that will allow 75% of the West Bank settlers to remain in place. In turn, Israel will cede equivalent portions of land near the Gaza Strip and southern West Bank to Palestine.
2) Jerusalem will be divided in accordance with its already separate Arab and Jewish neighborhoods, with each state having sovereignty over its holiest sites.
3) The Palestinians will have an unlimited right to return to the new State of Palestine, but return to Israel will be decided by Israel. The refugees will be entitled to compensation and reparations.
4) A multilateral force will maintain security inside the emergent Palestinian State and on its borders. Jerusalem will be the capital of both the State of Israel and of Palestine. The Temple Mount will be under the control of Palestine; the Wall in Israeli hands; Palestinians will renounce all claims against Israel and will cease all violence against the Jewish state.
The Geneva Accord is detailed. It goes into every dispute between the parties and seeks to settle them. There is, however, one major problem with the Geneva Accord. The Palestinian Authority has been noncommittal regarding it, and the government of Israel opposes it.
We of Brit Tzedek v'Shalom encourage endorsement of the Geneva Accord. We believe that the Accord shows that there is a Palestinian side with which to negotiate. Not every detail of the Accord may be accepted, but it stands as a basis for what can be achieved.
My dream as a young person was for the Jewish people to have a state of its own where Jews who have been the subject of discrimination and persecution for centuries could build a national home. This dream of a Jewish State is now threatened, not by the horrible suicide bombers; they destroy individual lives, but they do not threaten the survival of the state. No, the threat to Israel is that the Palestinians are increasing in population at a much faster rate than the Israelis. In fact, demographers estimate that within eight years, there will be more Palestinians living between the Mediterranean and the Jordan River than Jews. Israel needs the Palestinians to create their own state to save Israel. What would become of Israeli democracy if Jews were a minority within the land they control? For the sake of Israel, for the sake of the Zionist enterprise, for the sake of the Jewish future, the Palestinians must create a state of their own.
There is hope today. Brit Tzedek is working with other groups within the American Jewish community to encourage Israel to adopt a formula for peace. The policy of retaliation is a proven failure. Israel must turn toward negotiation. The American Jewish community has a vital role to play in this process. Let us encourage the presidential candidates to place peace in the Middle East near the top of their agendas. Let us show our support for negotiations by joining Brit Tzedek. Let us join the thousands who have signed the petition to Bring the Settlers Home to Israel.
Friends, I believe with all my heart that what divides people in the world today is not so much Christian and Jew, or Black and white, or rich and poor. I believe that the most important way in which people are divided is between those who believe that problems can be solved peacefully and those who maintain that the only way is by might and power. If you believe that it is possible to sit down with your neighbors, face to face, and find grounds for compromise, then I urge you to make your voices heard. Peace is possible; peace is necessary; peace is so sensible that it will come. My prayer is that it come soon.
Amen.
Sermon by Rabbi Hillel Gamoran, Temple De Hirsch Sinai
I wish to thank Rabbi Penzias, Rabbi Weiner, Rabbi Rice and Temple De Hirsch for inviting me to occupy your pulpit tonight in behalf of Brit Tzedek v'Shalom. I am deeply grateful.
I grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio in a Zionist home. My father was the only Zionist in his office at the headquarters of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations. My mother was president of the local chapter of Hadassah. I was a member of the Zionist youth group, Young Judea. I remember walking from house to house in Cincinnati asking the folks to empty their blue boxes to plant trees and to buy land in Palestine. I remember dancing when Israel became a state in 1948. The dream of two thousand years had finally been achieved.
But has it? For over three years Israel has been enmeshed in a cruel, senseless and violent war with the Palestinians. Hundreds of Israelis have died as a result of suicide bombings, and thousands of Palestinians have lost their lives at the hands of the Israeli Defense Forces. The Israeli government¹s response to violence has been more violence. And the Palestinians, who suffer hardship and degradation on a daily basis, continue their awful program of destruction and murder. Israel dominates every aspect of Palestinian life in the territories. Its checkpoints control entrance into Israel; Israel controls travel between towns and villages within the West Bank. Men can't get to work, expectant mothers to the hospital, children to school, without crossing Israeli checkpoints. Curfews and sieges make life unbearable in the Palestinian communities.
And so young men and women are convinced that they should become martyrs to their cause taking with them as many Israeli lives as they can. And so Israel assassinates more terrorist leaders along with innocent civilians, and the cycle goes on and on and on.
Only this week a horrible suicide bombing by Palestians in Ashdod was followed by Israeli bombing in Gaza.
About a year and a half ago, an organization called Brit Tzedek v'Shalom, the Alliance for Justice and Peace was founded. Soon after its formation it established a goal to Bring the Settlers Home to Israel.
The settlers live in territory occupied by Israel after the 1967 war. The territories were not annexed by Israel. Palestinians in the territories are not citizens of Israel. They cannot vote in Israeli elections. The territories are simply occupied by Israel. One of the reasons Israel has not withdrawn from the territories is because of the 200,000 settlers who live among the four million Palestinians there. Israel should withdraw from the territories because the settlements weaken Israel. Israel spends a billion dollars a year to maintain its troops to defend the settlements. A smaller Israel would be much more defensible. There is nothing that Israel could do to increase its stature and support in Europe and in America than to withdraw to the international border. Israel should evacuate the settlements because they are wrong. The death and misery that they have caused must be brought to an end.
Brit Tzedek sees the settlements in the West Bank and Gaza as the primary obstacle to a peace agreement with the Palestinians. As of tonight over 10,000 people have signed our petition to bring the settlers home. Recent surveys have shown that 75% of the those who live in the territories bought their homes there, not for ideological reasons, but simply in order to find a better quality of life for themselves and their children. My nephew bought his home in Modi¹in rather than in Israel proper because of the subsidy granted by the government. He could not have afforded to buy a three bedroom house in Israel. Current surveys suggest that the overwhelming majority of settlers would be willing to live in Israel if proper incentives were offered.
Imagine what could happen if the settlements were evacuated. The Palestinians could construct a state of their own in the West Bank and Gaza and Israelis could live in safety. Right now the economy of Israel is in shambles; tourism is non-existent and lives are lost on a regular basis. And the economy of the Palestinians is in much worse shape. Unemployment exceeds 50%; poverty and malnutrition abound; many in the population have lost all hope.
Three months ago an important development took place. A group of prominent Palestinians and prominent Israelis concluded 2 1/2 years of tough negotiations with the signing of an agreement in Geneva. This is a detailed accord for peace between the two peoples. Some have called it the eighth day of Taba. You will recall that during the closing days of the Clinton and Barak governments, the parties engaged in strenuous negotiations to settle the matters uncompleted at Camp David in July of 2000. Those negotiations in Taba broke down after seven strenuous days. They came near to an agreement, but could not close certain gaps. Now a pact has been reached.
1) Israel will be recognized as the state of the Jewish people and a demilitarized State of Palestine will be established along the 1967 borders with Israel. The State of Israel will include slightly expanded borders around Jerusalem and Tel Aviv that will allow 75% of the West Bank settlers to remain in place. In turn, Israel will cede equivalent portions of land near the Gaza Strip and southern West Bank to Palestine.
2) Jerusalem will be divided in accordance with its already separate Arab and Jewish neighborhoods, with each state having sovereignty over its holiest sites.
3) The Palestinians will have an unlimited right to return to the new State of Palestine, but return to Israel will be decided by Israel. The refugees will be entitled to compensation and reparations.
4) A multilateral force will maintain security inside the emergent Palestinian State and on its borders. Jerusalem will be the capital of both the State of Israel and of Palestine. The Temple Mount will be under the control of Palestine; the Wall in Israeli hands; Palestinians will renounce all claims against Israel and will cease all violence against the Jewish state.
The Geneva Accord is detailed. It goes into every dispute between the parties and seeks to settle them. There is, however, one major problem with the Geneva Accord. The Palestinian Authority has been noncommittal regarding it, and the government of Israel opposes it.
We of Brit Tzedek v'Shalom encourage endorsement of the Geneva Accord. We believe that the Accord shows that there is a Palestinian side with which to negotiate. Not every detail of the Accord may be accepted, but it stands as a basis for what can be achieved.
My dream as a young person was for the Jewish people to have a state of its own where Jews who have been the subject of discrimination and persecution for centuries could build a national home. This dream of a Jewish State is now threatened, not by the horrible suicide bombers; they destroy individual lives, but they do not threaten the survival of the state. No, the threat to Israel is that the Palestinians are increasing in population at a much faster rate than the Israelis. In fact, demographers estimate that within eight years, there will be more Palestinians living between the Mediterranean and the Jordan River than Jews. Israel needs the Palestinians to create their own state to save Israel. What would become of Israeli democracy if Jews were a minority within the land they control? For the sake of Israel, for the sake of the Zionist enterprise, for the sake of the Jewish future, the Palestinians must create a state of their own.
There is hope today. Brit Tzedek is working with other groups within the American Jewish community to encourage Israel to adopt a formula for peace. The policy of retaliation is a proven failure. Israel must turn toward negotiation. The American Jewish community has a vital role to play in this process. Let us encourage the presidential candidates to place peace in the Middle East near the top of their agendas. Let us show our support for negotiations by joining Brit Tzedek. Let us join the thousands who have signed the petition to Bring the Settlers Home to Israel.
Friends, I believe with all my heart that what divides people in the world today is not so much Christian and Jew, or Black and white, or rich and poor. I believe that the most important way in which people are divided is between those who believe that problems can be solved peacefully and those who maintain that the only way is by might and power. If you believe that it is possible to sit down with your neighbors, face to face, and find grounds for compromise, then I urge you to make your voices heard. Peace is possible; peace is necessary; peace is so sensible that it will come. My prayer is that it come soon.
Amen.