I appreciate that The Recorder will print just about everything we send them, even though some things are hard to swallow. On the issue of Palestine and Israel, it is very important to me that we get the facts and the sides straight, because I personally know some of the Palestinians whose lives are threatened by the current situation. For that reason I am responding to the My Turn column written recently by Dan Brown (June 22).
Dan seems to understand that an Israeli diplomat would not contact him if it were not to influence him towards supporting Israel, and he declines to be “a mouthpiece for Israel.” What is strange is that he would believe the diplomat saying that he didn’t intend for Dan to be a mouthpiece either. What other intention could he have?
And what are Dan’s intentions in describing his interaction with this diplomat? Throughout his opinion piece he is critical of “so-called peace activists” and “two-faced Palestine sympathizers”, and he equates “condemnations of Israel and the subsequent rise in anti-Semitism.” He says that “peace activists in Western Massachusetts target Israel while ignoring worse examples among other recipients of American military aid….”, saying in effect that activists unfairly target Israel for criticism. He and the Israeli diplomat agreed that an Israeli band “Yemen Blues” should not have been “subjected to heckling.” That opinion reveals Dan’s rejection of the boycott (BDS) movement that includes urging artists not to perform in any venue that ignores the harm Israel is doing to Palestinians.
Dan’s language is also problematic. He says “that Jews are being singled out while others get a free pass, (like “Saudi Arabia, currently murdering 100,000 Yemeni with our tax dollars.”) Jews are being singled out? Those of us who support Palestinian liberation do not accuse “Jews” of anything. It is Israeli government or Zionist policies that we object to, not the Jewish people.
Dan questions whether the white members of the Franklin County peace community would accept it if Native Americans “knocked on their doors, condemned them as ‘European colonizers’ and demanded they hand over keys to the house. Would they pack their bags and go back to Europe? Of course not.” I and my peace community are offended by the suggestion that we would reject Native American claims to this land that we occupy. We accept that we are descendants of colonizers and that reparations are due to the survivors of colonizers’ attempts to eradicate them. Likewise, Israel is a colonizer country and owes reparations to Palestinians. This is what is meant by the Palestinian demand for the Right of Return.
I question Dan’s objectivity filter when he quotes the Israeli saying that “some of his country’s policies are abhorrent,” and “the religious right has undue influence in Israeli politics.” This doesn’t sound like language a diplomat would use while representing his country. Unless he is just trying to convince Dan that they are in agreement on other talking points.
Dan protests that he is against the occupation and settlements, yet he accepts the Israeli diplomat’s formula that pulling settlements out of Gaza in 2005 only resulted in “Hamas terrorism.” It also resulted in Israel being able to more effectively isolate the Gaza Strip and limit life-saving products like food, medicines, fuel and electricity, from entering the area.
Dan further protests that charging Israel with genocide simply reveals ignorance about what genocide really is. The proof that there was no genocide of Palestinians is that the Palestinian population is growing. Following that logic, the colonists who came to America did not commit genocide against the Native population, because some survived and today their numbers are growing. Not to mention that some Jews survived the Holocaust and their descendants are increasing.
Clearly, I don’t agree with Dan’s logic which has the result of justifying Israel’s policies toward and treatment of Palestinians while criticizing peace activists who condemn that treatment. Of course, as he says, Israel and its Palestinian neighbors are going to have to figure out for themselves how to live together.” However, they can only do that when the U.S. stops funding one side — the side Dan is listening to.
Sherrill Hogen lives in Charlemont.