Speech for the Palestine Children's Relief Fund (PCRF)

I was scheduled to speak at a fundraiser for the Palestine Children's Relief Fund this month. Unfortunately, the event was cancelled. However, I decided to share my speech here, since I prepared it and hope that I can deliver it at a related event in the future.

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I am the Alberta representative on the national steering committee of Independent Jewish Voices. IJV is a humanitarian organization that believes in human rights for all people, and especially a just resolution to the conflict in Israel and Palestine, a resolution that would result in peace and justice for all people in that region. We oppose the ongoing, illegal occupation and are the first (and as far as I know, the only) Canadian Jewish organization to endorse Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel.

I was asked to speak a bit about my perspective on the most recent Gaza incursion from a Jewish perspective. That is rather difficult to do because, as goes the story, if you have two Jewish people, you have three opinions. Jewish people are known for intellectual discourse, debate, examination of issues, and, of course, being opinionated. Except, however, when it comes to this issue. Jewish people who are level headed and willing to stand up for the rights of the downtrodden anywhere else in the world, may suddenly find themselves choking when the question of Palestine is raised. So much so, in fact, that there are national organizations that claim to speak on behalf of all Jews in Canada, such as B’nai Brith and the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs.

Independent Jewish Voices exists to provide that alternative voice, to say that those organizations do not, in fact, speak for all Jews. As proof, our membership rose just recently during Operation Protective Edge. Our members were out in droves at the many anti-Zionist peace rallies held across Canada.

Indeed, Jewish people have many opinions, so I am going to speak a little about myself. I was raised in a fairly traditional, Modern Orthodox home, where our traditions and values were important. Unlike other Jewish families, Israel was not overly discussed or stressed, and I always had trouble wrapping my head around the conflict, since Jews and Arabs are both people of Abraham. Over the years I swung numerous ways on the issue and a few years ago, I think it was during Operation Cast Lead in 2008-2009, I became appalled at the number of civilian casualties the Palestinian people incurred, especially of children. It was disproportionate, inappropriate, and disgusting.

It was around then that I discovered and became a member of of Independent Jewish Voices and began speaking on their behalf at a number of events. As part of the Jewish community, the reaction has been mixed, from agreeing to disagree, to people outright walking out of my life as friends. However, I believe that no cause is worth standing up for if there is no threat of sacrifice, and if anything, my views separate the people in my life into two camps: those who are my real friends, and those who are not.

I am not a Torah scholar, but from a theological perspective I don't believe that the modern political State of Israel is the same as Eretz Yisroel which is described in the Torah. In fact, Israel was founded by working class, mostly Socialist Jewish people who had survived the Holocaust. It had nothing to do with religion, as such. As a Jewish person, I don't feel I need to have unwavering loyalty to a nation in order to maintain my Jewish identity.

However, this does not stop me from being accused of being a “self-hating Jew” or “anti-Semitic.” Both of these claims are absolutely ridiculous. First of all, I can't be a self-hating Jewish when I so openly identify with my Jewishness. The same applies to supposedly being anti-Semitic. And as far as that goes, Arabs are Semites also. So anyone who calls me anti-Semitic is actually being anti-semantic.

I am also not anti-Israel. I believe there needs to be a just peace for all people in that region. In fact, there is a growing, vocal peace movement from within Israel amongst Jewish people, such as the journalist Gideon Levy. Why? Peace is important for everyone’s security and safety. The occupation is bad for the future of both Israelis and Palestinians.

As a Jewish person, certain values are of utmost importance to me. One of these is the concept of Tikkun Olam, which refers to healing or repairing the world. The rift in the Middle East needs to be repaired or the world remains incomplete.

Supporting Gaza from a Jewish Perspective

Below is a video blog I recorded about why I support the people of Gaza, from a perspective drawn directly from Jewish religion and history. The purpose of this video is to debunk claims that Jewish people who support Palestine are "self-hating Jews." The text of the video follows under the screen.

My name is Paula and I am with Independent Jewish Voices, on the national steering committee representing Alberta. Independent Jewish Voices is a national human rights organization whose mandate is to promote a just resolution to the dispute in Israel and Palestine through the application of international law and respect for the human rights of all parties.

IJV is made up of Jewish people (and non-Jewish supporters) from across the country. We come from different walks of life, levels of religious observance, professions, and ages, but the one thing we have in common is that we believe that the occupation of Palestine is wrong and must stop. Politically, we provide an alternative to organizations such as B'nai B'rith and the Canadian Jewish Political Affairs Committee which claim to speak on behalf of all Canadian Jews. They don't.

I want to talk a little about my perspective as a Canadian Jew. What I really want to say that what is happening in Gaza is not in my name. I am a Jewish person who grew up in an observant household. As such, I am one who takes the concept of Tikkun Olam (repairing the world) very seriously. I also, fortunately, have a tendency to like to question things, such as why a Jewish person – and our government - should have some kind of obligation to support Israel without question and why those Jewish people who speak out against the policies of the Israeli government are often branded as traitors and as self-hating Jews. The latter is utterly ridiculous because those of us who take a principled stand on the Middle East as Jews self-identify as such.

As a Jewish woman, I believe that my religion and history demands me to stand up for the rights of all. A friend of mine on Facebook recently posted a status update that really summarized the things that Jewish people learn through our education while growing up that support my position concerning the massacre in Gaza, so I am going to paraphrase that here.

From a religious perspective, when we look at the Jewish Scriptures, the story of Moses and the Exodus from Egypt teaches that a righteous person must seek to liberate people who are not free.

The story of Queen Esther teaches about fighting bigotry, oppression, and genocide.

The apocryphal story of Judah and the Maccabees teaches about the duty to resist an occupying power.

From our history, when we look at those who fought in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, the Jewish Partisans, and the people who revolted in the Nazi concentration camps, it teaches about the need to honour people who are courageous enough to rise up against those who seek to destroy them, instead of just quietly awaiting their fate.

The actions of the righteous gentiles who saved countless Jewish lives during the Nazi Holocaust teach the necessity of opposing your own people when they are doing wicked things.

Finally, from the Talmud, the Oral Law of the Jewish people, we get the teaching from Hillel the Elder, who summarizes the commandments of the Torah, with one simple statement: “That which is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour. That is the whole Torah; the rest is commentary.”

And that's exactly it: the Palestinians are the neighbours in question in this discussion. I find it hypocritical that I could move to Israel tomorrow and get citizenship automatically, when people who have lived there for generations are denied the most basic of human rights.

I am not anti-Israel, I am not anti-Semitic, and I am not pro-Hamas, but I support Palestinian human rights first and foremost as a human, as a person, but as a Jew I feel very much called to take this stand, for the reasons I have discussed. Thanks for watching, and Shalom!

Speaking Out Again on the Middle East

On Tuesday evening, July 8, I spoke at an emergency rally concerning the situation in Israel and Palestine, on behalf of the Edmonton Coalition Against War and Racism and Independent Jewish Voices. The rally was a call for peace and a protest against the collective punishment of Gaza in retribution for the tragic deaths of three Israeli teenagers last week. Below is the text of my speech, as well as a video of me speaking.

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The Edmonton Coalition Against War and Racism condemns the collective punishment and violence against the Palestinian people by the government of Israel. We believe in the right to self-determination for all people without imperialistic interference, and this includes Palestine. We call on everyone to work for an anti-war government in Canada. There can be no solution without recognizing the rights of the Palestinian people.

I am also the Alberta representative on the National Steering Committee of Independent Jewish Voices (IJV). Independent Jewish Voices is a national human rights organization whose mandate is to promote a just resolution to the dispute in Israel and Palestine through the application of international law and respect for the human rights of all parties.

IJV is made up of Jewish people (and non-Jewish supporters) from across the country. We come from different walks of life, levels of religious observance, professions, and ages, but the one thing we have in common is that we believe that the occupation of Palestine is wrong and must stop. Politically, we provide an alternative to organizations such as B'nai B'rith and the Canadian Jewish Political Affairs Committee which claim to speak on behalf of all Canadian Jews. They don't.

In light of the recent tragedies we are hearing more Jewish voices calling out for an end to the occupation, even within Israel itself. To quote Gideon Levy, who is a Jewish writer for the major Israeli newspaper Ha'Aretz: “In the Jewish state, there is no remnant of the biblical injunction to treat the minority or the stranger with justice. There are no more Jews left who marched with Martin Luther King or who sat in jail with Nelson Mandela. The Jewish state, which Israel insists the Palestinians recognize, must first recognize itself. At the end of the day, at the end of a terrible week, it seems that a Jewish state means a racist, nationalistic state, meant for Jews only.”

My heart breaks at the recent, senseless, tragic murders of the three Israeli teenagers. It also breaks at the Palestinians who have been murdered by Israel in retribution, including a 16 year old who was burned while he was still alive. IJV takes the stand that all of these heinous crimes are the inevitable result of Israel’s brutal and illegal occupation of Palestine.

In a press release that IJV issued last week, our spokesperson Tyler Levitan did not mince words. “Make no mistake, the burden of responsibility rests with the occupying power – Israel. The blood of these youth is also on Canada’s hands, as Canada’s government unconditionally supports Israel’s violent military occupation of the West Bank and siege of Gaza, which repeatedly fuels more violence,” he said.

The bottom line is that the occupation is not only illegal and immoral, but bad for the futures of both Israelis and Palestinians. It is causing misery and death for both peoples, and they deserve better. It is time for Canada's government to stop supporting the policies of the Israeli government and to take a stand against the brutal occupation of the Palestinians. It is time for the Jewish community as a whole to open its eyes and accept that just because we have been oppressed does not give us the right to become or to support the oppression. We must stand up for the rights of all, including the Palestinians. Our religion and our history demands it.

Finally, Canadians must put an end to the lawlessness of the Harper dictatorship which claims to stand for law and order but acts in defiance of international law - giving its support and even directly participating in illegal occupations, war crimes, collective punishment, use of banned weapons, and many other heinous crimes against the Palestinian people and humanity.

Shalom.

Actions Have Consequences

The Jerusalem Post published a very gutsy article today. In it, writer Larry Derfner accurately points out how the actions of Israel have fueled anti-Semitism. He does not condone such actions, but draws the very obvious connections between oppression and acting out against the oppressors. The "talkbacks" are very interesting to read as well. Of course, Derfner is now being accused by some of being a "self-hating Jew."

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Rattling the Cage: Provoking anti-Semitism

02.26.2009 | The Jerusalem Post
By LARRY DERFNER

First we left the Gaza Strip in bloodied ruins. Then we raised up a politician who, with his appeal to racism, militarism, fear of alien "subversives" and the yearning for a strong leader, fits the classic, textbook definition of a fascist.

And now, what is the talking point for our hasbara (spin) campaign? The surge in global anti-Semitism.

It's hard to avoid the impression that for the champions of Israel Right or Wrong, the surge in global anti-Semitism - which is real enough - came as a godsend. Finally, Israel and its lobbyists could get off the defensive about civilian casualties, white phosphorous and Avigdor Lieberman, and go on the offensive against synagogue firebombings, chanting mobs and boycotts.

I'm not saying Israel and its cheerleaders are happy that Jews are coming under increasing attack in Europe and elsewhere. Environmentalists aren't happy about oil spills - but oil spills are a godsend for their cause. I'm saying that the chorus of condemnations of anti-Semitism from Israelis and pro-Israel nationalists has a dual purpose - to fight anti-Semitism, which is good, and to neutralize criticism of Operation Cast Lead and the spread of Israeli fascism, which is cynical and morally deadening.

THE CLAIM we hear is that anti-Semitism today is worse than it's been since the 1930s. That may be true, but it overlooks one little thing that's different about the Jews of today compared to those of the 1930s: power. The Jews back then had none, or at least none that could protect them, while Israel, the focus of today's rise in anti-Semitism, has awesome power. Incomparably more power than its enemies have, including the anti-Semites, who are legion.

In the 1930s, Jews didn't do anything to provoke anti-Semitism. They were weak while their persecutors were strong. But today? Today's surge in anti-Semitism began with a war in which the Jewish state killed its enemies at a ratio of 100-to-1, then made a political giant out of a former bouncer whose campaign slogan was "Only Lieberman understands Arabic."

To compare Israel's predicament today with that of the Jews of the 1930s is disingenuous in the extreme. Today's rise in anti-Semitism was provoked not by Israel's weakness, but by its abuses of power, first against the Gazans, then against Israeli Arabs. The difference is night and day.

It's also disingenuous to imply, as hasbara does, that the entire wave of anti-Israel sentiment in the world is tainted by anti-Semitism. (To pro-Israel lobbyists, it's fair and acceptable to acknowledge that Israel is not perfect. Anything beyond that is suspect.) There's a great deal of moral outrage at Israel, some of it fair, some of it not. On the far side of the unfair is the anti-Semitic.

In the 1930s, only anti-Semites were incensed at Jews. Today, while there are certainly masses of anti-Semites who are incensed at Israel, they're not alone. Today the world is filled with people who are not anti-Semites yet who are incensed at the things this country has been doing. Lots of them, myself included, are Jews.

I UNDERSTAND very well that Israel is by no means to blame for most of the anti-Semitism in the world. We are not to blame for Islamic fundamentalism, or the irrational Third World Left, or the age-old anti-Jewish instincts of much of Europe and Latin America. No matter how good, how fair we are to the Arabs, the reservoirs of anti-Semitism in the world are not going to dry up.

But since this country's actions were responsible for the recent surge in the level of those reservoirs, I think there's a way of at least bringing that level down, a way that might work as well if not better than stepping up the hasbara: Let's stop fighting immoral wars. Let's stop laying siege to a tiny, destitute country. (That might stop Gazans from firing rockets at us, too.) Let's stop holding 10,000 Palestinian prisoners. (That might also help us get Gilad Schalit back.)

And finally, let's stop electing fascists to the Knesset. And if this is too much to ask of ourselves, let's at least have the decency not to bring them into the government. And if even that's beyond us, if we're going to have fascists as cabinet ministers, if we go so far as to have one for finance minister or foreign minister, then let's not complain about the next surge in global anti-Semitism, because we will have provoked that one, too.

This is not the 1930s. We, the nation of Israel, are far from being powerless, and we are far from being innocent.

Walls

I wrote this song last year during Israel's previous siege on Gaza. It is about being Jewish and starting to critically examine what is going on in the Middle East. I had a choice to make, and I chose the side of peace. But not without a cost.



Walls

Been going through my mind, lately a lot
Have many questions about what I’ve been taught
Nothing’s as clear as it used to seem
As I stand idly by while humanity screams

I can’t sit on the fence anymore
When I have to choose between peace and war
And object to oppression where it arises
No matter what else it is disguised as

Something has to be done
Don’t know where to begin
Walls are meant to frame houses
Not trap people in

I’ve been told I should be ashamed,
I answer, “don’t do this in my name.”
I will acknowledge we’re of the same tribe
But in this case, I must step aside

I can’t sit on the fence anymore
When I have to choose between peace and war
And object to oppression where it arises
No matter what else it is disguised as

Something has to be done
Don’t know where to begin
Walls are meant to frame houses
Not trap people in

I cry for the children, the women, the men
Who face the same hardships again and again
Generations spent under a regime
Where freedom exists only in a dream

I can’t sit on the fence anymore
When I have to choose between peace and war
And object to oppression where it arises
No matter what else it is disguised as

Something has to be done
Don’t know where to begin
Walls are meant to frame houses
Not trap people in

We share the same blood
So I can’t understand
Why we have to keep killing
Over a piece of land
(We’re the sons and the daughters of Abraham)

I can’t sit on the fence anymore
When I have to choose between peace and war
And object to oppression where it arises
No matter what else it is disguised as

Something has to be done
Don’t know where to begin
Walls are meant to frame houses
Not trap people in

Not trap people in
Not trap people in
And it’s time to begin


© 2008 Paula E. Kirman

Israel/Palestine - What's a Jew to Do?

The recent violence in Gaza resulted in a number of rallies and events held in Edmonton. I was at many of them, and even participated a few times. The first rally for Gaza took place on January 4, and I sang the song "Walls", as I often do at these sorts of gatherings. I attended and photographed two other rallies, and filmed an educational seminar about the situation in Gaza, from a Palestinian perspective.

As well, in late January, Dr. Norman Finkelstein came to speak at the University of Alberta campus. He is a Jewish American academic who is highly critical of the Israeli government and policies towards the Palestinian people. He is also highly disliked amongst other Jewish people in particular, who view him as an anti-Semite or a self-hating Jew (which is ridiculous, because the man identifies publicly as being Jewish. He isn't anti-Semitic. Rather, his detractors are anti-semantic). There was a small backlash from the Jewish community, some of whom felt that he should not have been permitted to speak at the U of A. To some, being critical of Israel is akin to being anti-Jewish.

Being Jewish myself, I know how complicated the issue of Israel/Palestine can be. And I know that speaking out for the Palestinian people comes with a cost. I have been severely reprimanded by members of my family. I have concerns about some of my work arrangements, should those in the Jewish community find out and decide to take action. I've been called a traitor, a Jewish turncoat, told I should be ashamed of myself, and a few other choice things.

And yet I still speak out, participate, and sing. All because I think it is wrong for Israel to bomb the snot out of Gaza and in the process kill mostly innocent women and children. Because badly aimed rockets are being fired into Israel. Because the people are oppressed and are fighting back. The explanation I get, is that Hamas is using human shields, thus accounting for all of the deaths. Hamas is purposely firing rockets knowing Israel will fire back to those locations, where people are concentrated.

If this is true, and Israel knows the tactics that Hamas is up to - why play into it? Israel should have learned from the fiasco in Lebanon in 2006 that lots of dead women and children does not a victory make. A measured response does not involve trying to kill a mosquito with a sledgehammer, so to speak. Violence just begets more violence, and to say that Israel is correct in its actions is to basically justify murder. The human rights abuses committed by the IDF at checkpoints and the general entrapment of the people of in what is essentially a walled-off ghetto (sound familiar?) only breeds a culture of hate.

If saying these sorts of things makes me a bad Jew, then so be it. Part of my understanding of being Jewish is standing up for the rights of others and trying to make the world a better place (Tikkun Olam, as it is called in Hebrew). Too many Jews grow up being reared to have an unquestioning loyalty and patriotism towards Israel. How? Good old Jewish guilt. We are brainwashed into blind nationalism because of the Holocaust - Israel is our protection (and apparently gives us the right to treat other ethnic groups poorly). Israel is our homeland (even to those white-skinned Westerners who have never set foot in the Holy Land). "Hey - it says so in the Torah," cries the Jewish man who has not set foot in a Shul since his Bar Mitzvah and doesn't know Kiddush from Kaddish.

My Judaism is defined by who I am and the way I live my life, not by allegiance to a state. Zionism, to me, is a political ideology that sets Jewish interests above others. I believe in a two-state solution, with a strong and viable Israel and Palestine side by side. Critics of Hamas say that peace will not happen until extremism is eliminated. However, Israel is not immune to extremism either - I argue that bombing resulting in so many civilian casualties is quite extreme.

Criticism of Israel is not anti-Jewish. However, oppressing and trying to silence those dissenting voices, is. After all, arguing, debating, searching for meaning - these are all very Jewish things to do. However, this week, a concern was raised to me that my views on Israel may potentially polarize a faith community with which I am involved - one which is composed of people from different cultural and religious backgrounds. I strongly disagree. As reasonable, rational adults, we should be able to openly discuss our viewpoints and disagreements, without becoming hostile.

Shabbat shalom, salaam, and peace.