Israel’s use of white phosphorus on Gazan civilians is thoroughly documented. It is beyond question. It is nauseating. So now it’s time to process the facts. It’s time for unequivocal and undiluted public criticism.
I’m turning to Henry Siegman (director of the US Middle East Project in New York, currently a visiting research professor at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, and former national director of the American Jewish Congress and of the Synagogue Council of America) and two of his recent essays:
Israel’s Lies (London Review of Books, January 2009), and
If a just and lasting peace in Israel-Palestine is to be achieved, it can only follow from universal acknowledgment of the truth of the awful tragedy of Gaza and the realities of official Israeli policies regarding Palestinian autonomy. The last time I checked, American Jews were still part of the universe. We simply cannot publicly claim to want peace but support Israel’s avoidance of it. It’s time to put up or shut up.
Until then, how dare we sing “Lo yissa goy” in a place of worship, or anywhere else for that matter.
If you aren’t sickened by the evidence, you should be. If you aren’t ashamed, you should be. If you haven’t spoken out, then speak out!
Then sing for peace.
Lo yissa goy el goy cherev, Lo yilm’du od milchama
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war anymore.
The shelling has stopped. There’s ceasefire, or ceasefires. After the nauseating devastation of the past few weeks, I want to do something in response to ceasefire. To preserve seven fragile days’ quiet. There’s so little to contribute from one pair of hands, one computer, one home, on this side of the world. Except more art. And another vigil.
I return to the hand. My hands. The Chamsa / Hamsa / Khamsa hand, hand of Miriam, Marjam or Fatima, shared icon of fortune. For me, the hand is a symbol of peace and friendship.
One hand outstretched each day, ready for relationship. Eight days a week, this week, for peace.
(left to right): 1. Susan Hajjar’s crochet Chamsa pattern; 2. my own double-knitted Hamsa leaf pattern (both on their way to the TikkunTree); 3. transparent (glue) Hamsa; 4-8. copper and alloy foil Hamsas.
(additional images of the Hamsa Vigil here).
The light of the moon will be like the light of the sun and the light of the sun will be intensified sevenfold like the light of seven days on the day when the Lord heals His people… (Isaiah 30:26)
“Why is the war so beautiful? Why can’t I take my eyes off it? These fireworks! It’s so entralling mama, I’m kneeling, wide awake, at the wide open window, enraptured by the horror! Oh, it’s so hard to keep my eyes closed!”
Nelly in Wajdi Mouawad’s Wedding Day at the Cro-Magnons
Studying war
Yesterday morning, after weeks of violence in Gaza, I attended a Torah study session that included (finally!) discussion about Israel’s war in Gaza. The biblical narrative was Parshah Shemot (Exodus 1:1-6:1), the origin of communal displacement and subjugation of a tribe, since the memory of the leader Joseph – so cherished by Israelites and Egyptians alike – has faded beyond all recall in Egypt. The business of memory and tribalism set me thinking.
The rabbi offered a two-pronged approach … first, a set of readings addressing “How Palestinians and Jews see each other”: excerpts from the Hamas Charter (calling for perpetual Jihad against Israel and the Islamification of Palestine) and from the Greater Israel Movement’s expansionist doctrine, the autobiography of Abba Eban (remarking that Jews in Israel cannot be accepted by Arabs without a transformation of Arab conceptions of mid-east reality), as well as recent reports from Egyptian officials of internal disagreement within the ranks of Hamas, and that the Syria-based leadership has taken a harder line on ceasefire than the Gazan-based leaders (International Herald Tribune, 1.16.09). And so we were led through a discussion of the challenge of extremism on both sides, the challenge of overcoming Arab world-views, and the challenge of diaspora – of judging the situation from outside it (whether the distant vantagepoint be occupied by Hamas leaders in Syria, or a small bunch of Jews in Philadelphia).
Then, a set of readings on the ethics of war; and discussion … on the ways in which Torah and Talmud address the use of violence: That Judaism authorizes killing in self-defense (“If he comes to kill you, arise and kill him,” Sanhedrin 72a); that war may thus be waged so long as one offers peace before attack (“When approaching a town to attack it, first offer them peace,” Deuteronomy 20:10), and even so, all violence undertaken will have to be accounted for to God (“Whoever sheds the blood of a human being by a human being shall his blood be shed, for in the divine image did God make humanity,” Genesis 9:6).
And the “discussion”? Little more than excuses for Israel’s decision to initiate war in Gaza …. rockets fired on Israeli civilians nearby, Israel’s efforts to warn Gazan civilians to leave areas under attack (I’m still dumbfounded that this was uttered in my presence), and lame confirmation that just war is tallied fairly. A safe, generalized, benign apologetics for war - rather than confronting the realities of the particular warfare Israel has been waging or an exploration of strategies for achieving peace.
No one was able to explain how Israel’s phosphorus shelling of congested urban areas is remotely “justified” under the texts in hand. No one replied to my local analogy – the destruction of an entire city block following the firebombing of a single nuisance home – MOVE house in West Philadelphia. No one could explain how Israel’s use of white phosphorus – whether as smokescreens or illumination for targeted assaults (as claimed) can – in light of the anticipated injuries to all civilians in the vicinity – be compared to anything other than Napalm strafing in Vietnam, and any other chemical warfare abhorrent to civilized men and women.
Chemiluminescence
Chemiluminescence (sometimes “chemoluminescence”) is the emission of light with limited emission of heat (luminescence), as the result of a chemical reaction (source).
So I want to know more about white phosphorus. How is it that even my unschooled imagination is alarmed by even the vaguest descriptions of the stuff, yet most of my fellow congregregants – and the rabbi – remained sanguine.
I’ve googled, read news accounts and UN reports. What do I know? Well, it looks harmless enough – like a piece of white fudge, or a bar of oatmeal soap (source; and information about white phosphorus as weapon). Glows in the dark … (like Moses’ face after receiving The Law?) .
Anyone can read about it’s general chemical properties, but seeing the stuff subjected to simple experiment is a much more effective way to understand UN criticism of Israel’s use of white phosphorus in Gaza.
And when white phosphorus takes to the airspace over Gaza’s congested cities … what does that look like? Like this – captured in still images, or in motion.
So what about those readings the rabbi provided to us for study? Unfortunately, the issue is not whether Israel is justified in defending itself, but whether the particular means it uses are legitimate. How it defends itself is the question.
The International Committee of the Red Cross urged Israel to exercise “extreme caution” in using “incendiary agents”) to illuminate targets at night or create a smoke screen for day attacks. According to the Red Cross, phosphorus devices should be treated as chemical weapons because they cause severe chemical burns. 111 nations, including most NATO allies, have signed a treaty banning the stockpiling and use of white phosphorus devices; neither the US nor Israel agreed to sign the document. Although cluster bombs and similar devices (like white phosporus munitions) are not explicitly forbidden by the Geneva Law, the rules of war prohibit the use of inherently indiscriminate weapons or weapons that are incapable of being used in a manner that complies with the obligation to distinguish between civilians and combatants. Those who use them in civilian areas (including Israeli Jews) therefore open themselves to charges of war crimes.
Well, I’ve devised another kippah for The Minyan, to be used as a thinking cap during reflection. A beautiful kippah, covered with billowing white and silver bursts of white phosphorus.
Try it on and see how it feels. It won’t hurt; it’s not Hercules’ cloak. It’s luminous. Would that it illuminated the difference between right and wrong. Without contrived apologetics for Israel’s outrageous abuse of its right of self-defense, and without contrived excuses for our inexcusable denial of the humanity of those Gazans, who – scorched beyond recognition by munitions launched by Israeli Jews – also reflect my idea of the image of the divine.
1.22.09 Update:
It’s always a challenge to know where to find reliable information, in order to judge the conflicting claims (Israel denies using white phosphorus innappropriately in Gaza) and reports. Additional information about evidence of Israel’s use of white phosphorus in Gaza can be found at Res ipsa loquitur (”The thing itself speaks”) legal blog, here, here and here.
“To take challah” is, literally, to “sacrifice” a piece of the bread dough from which a special braided Sabbath loaf is made (more information here). This afternoon I knitted a challah, formed it into a dove, and sacrificed it in the kitchen oven.
A Sabbath ritual? Performance piece? Performing peace?
Peace vigil.
The recipe for Sacrificial Dove Challah follows:
Materials:
challah dough
oversized chopsticks (the kind professional Chinese chefs use)
My family’s challah recipe (I think the source was a King Arthur Flour brochure, from the 70’s) – makes three loaves
2 c hot water
6 Tbls butter
2 pkgs yeast
2 Tbls sugar
2 tsp salt
3 eggs, beaten
6.5-7 c bread flour
1 additional egg, for glazing
Melt the butter in the hot water. Pray for peace.
When lukewarm, add the yeast, sugar, salt, eggs, and 2 c flour. Beat very well (an electric mixer is perfect for this). Add remaining flour until dough does not stick to the sides of the bowl, and knead for 8-10 minutes. Pray for peace.
Grease the bowl (more butter), return the dough to the bowl and allow to double. Pray for peace.
Punch down, “take challah” (pinch a walnut-sized piece and set aside to “sacrifice” in the oven floor), divide into three portions, braid (or knit) into loaves.
Cover lightly on lined or greased baking sheet, allow to rise again, paint with beaten egg, bake in preheated 400 degree oven for 25-40 minutes, until golden and hollow-sounding when tapped on the bottom. Cool on racks. Pray for peace.
Then share the challah in conversation about peace.
I thought long and hard about whether or not to sign the statement and then post it on Realistic Dove. The rationales for not associating with it were the same rationales that for decades have prevented left-leaning American Jews within the organized community from saying what they actually believed and felt. I offer a small sample of what buzzed around my mind not because what I do or what I think matters very much, but because it will shed some light on the liberal American Jewish psyche:
o–Don’t do it! A statement that rails angrily against Israeli behavior is so far beyond the pale of kosher discourse that it might as well be an anarchist manifesto. You don’t want to be too far out “in front of the community” because no one will listen to you anymore, no one will take you seriously.
o–Don’t do it! What will you say to L at the next board meeting? He will be really angry. What will you say to F or B in Organization X when they email you and tell you it is beyond the pale?
o–It doesn’t matter what “Jewish progressives” say or do. They are not politically relevant. Clever, calculated realpolitik that maintains allegiances with liberal groups in the President Conference is all that matters, because some day we will need the members of those groups to provide a counterweight to the conventional Israel lobby.
o–It doesn’t balance every criticism of Israel with a criticism of Israel’s adversaries. That is an inviolable law of the pro-Israel peace camp’s hasbara, which you have been practicing for decades.
o–It doesn’t begin to capture the nuances and complexities of the conflict. It leaves out Argument B and Historical Fact C and Historical-Assertions-That-May-Or-May-Not-Be-True D, E, F, M and Y.
But, in the end, I signed it. And I will share it. Even though I might have preferred that certain ideas be phrased differently, even though it doesn’t explicitly express compassion for the people of southern Israel, even though it doesn’t acknowledge that Israel had to do something about the Hamas rockets, it is very compelling. It speaks truth to power. Above all, it is angry. And anger is the most rational response to the Gaza assaults.
Me too. I can’t say it better. I’m angry, yes, but also deeply ashamed of the Jewish community’s apparent indifference to suffering inflicted on non-combatants by Israel’s assault in Gaza.
As human beings, we are shocked and appalled at the mass destruction unleashed by the State of Israel against the people of Gaza in its current military operation, following years of Israeli occupation, siege, and deprivation.
As Americans, we protest the carte blanche given Israel by the US government to pursue a war of “national honor,” “restoring deterrence,” “destroying Hamas,” and “searing Israel’s military might into the consciousness of the Gazans.”
As progressives, we reject the same justifications for the carnage that we heard ad nauseam from the supporters of the Second Iraq War: the so-called “war on terror,” the “clash of civilizations,” the “need to re-establish deterrence” – all of which served to justify a misguided and unnecessary war, with disastrous consequences for America and Iraq.
But as Jews of different religious persuasions, from Orthodox to secular atheist, we are especially horrified that a state that purports to speak in our name wages a military campaign that has killed over 1,000 people, a large percentage of them civilians, children, and non-combatants, with little or no consideration for human rights or the laws of war.
While the moral and legal issue concerning Israel’s right to respond militarily in these circumstance can be debated, there is near-universal agreement that its conduct of the military operation has been unjust and even criminal – with only the usual apologists for the Jewish state disagreeing.
As Jews, we stand united with another Israel, the patriarch Jacob, who cursed his sons Simeon and Levi for massacring the people of Shechem in revenge for the rape of their sister Dinah. Like Jacob, “we shall not be a party to the counsel of zealots. We shall not be counted in their assembly. (See Genesis 34. 49: 5-7).
As Jews, we stand united with the Jewish sages who rejected the zealotry of the Jewish “terrorists” at Masada, those who masked ethnic tribalism in the cloak of “self-defense” and “national honor.”
As Jews, we listen not only when the sage Hillel says, “If I am not for myself, who will be for me?” but also when he says, “If I am only for myself, what am I?” Hillel’s closing words also ring true in this hour of decision when a ceasefire is demanded of both sides: “If not now, when?”
Finally, as American Jewish progressives, and as human beings, we condemn Hamas and Israel for violating the human rights of civilians on both sides, although we do not necessarily declare these violations to be morally or legally equivalent. We affirm the rights of both Israeli and the Palestinian peoples to self-determination and self-defense, as we affirm the rights of both Israelis and Palestinians to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
The renewed violence in Gaza has left me in something of a state of mental and emotional paralysis.
Since the first Israeli strike in Gaza, I’ve been knitting birds … white doves, yellow birds, red birds, blue birds, birds, birds, birds, … my personal vigil, to create some semblance of an aviary for peace.
There are birds on needles, birds waiting to be stuffed, birds with wings, birds waiting for wings, birds without wings. Birds, birds, birds. I dream of birds illuminated by fireworks of Ketusha bombs, white phosphorus shells, and the light of reason.
Yes we did! We voted rationally, for Barack Obama, in record numbers, for all the right reasons.
When Jews do something for the first time, whether it’s eating a fruit for the first time in its season, saying the kiddush at the beginning of a holy day, or celebrating a milestone life-cycle event or holiday, we say a Sheheheyanu.
So regardless of your relationship to traditional practice, whether or not you pray with any regularity, doesn’t it seem right to say a Sheheheyanu for this extraordinarily special moment?
Baruch ata Adonai, elohainu melech ha-olam, sheheheyanu v’kee-y’manu v’hee-gee-anu lazman hazeh. (Transliteration from To Be A Jew)
Blessed are you, O Lord, King of the University, who has kept us alive, sustained us and brought us to this great period of history.” (Translation by the Magnes Zionist)
Bless all that has sustained us and brought us to this time.
And bless all who have helped to bring us to this moment in time.
We’re ready to go, Pennyslvania! Our turnout is expected to be extraordinary, so be prepared to wait with fellow citizens if you arrive at a busy time. Bring water, snack, and plenty of patience and good humor. Bring along children and relatives …. we’re making history this time around! And be sure to be on line at your polling place before 8 p.m.! You’ll still have the right to vote as long as you are on the line.
If you have any questions about where to go, what to bring, what to do, you’ll find answers at 877-5-PA-OBAMA (877-572-6226) or www.pavoterprotection.com.
For first time voters in Pennsylvania, welcome to the change train! Here’s a quick video just for you:
The TikkunTree Project
is a community art project to increase conversation about peace in the mid-east. It encourages "knittivism", the use of craft and needlework of all kinds, as an expression of interest in peace and social justice, without regard to religious affiliation. Please join us!
of the awful tragedy of Gaza and the realities of official Israeli policies regarding Palestinian autonomy. The last time I checked, American Jews were still part of the universe. We simply cannot publicly claim to want peace but support Israel’s avoidance of it. It’s time to put up or shut up.
Then do something about it.
