STEALING MORE LAND FROM THE ARABS
 by Rabbi Michael Lerner

Israel settlers who grabbed a Palestinian orchard and have now begun construction of a Jews-only settlement to link the Jewish section of Hebron with nearby settler city of Kiryat Arba, have no doubt that God has given them the entire land of Israel. Though they wait for pretexts to give them political cover to begin building their settlements, they openly proclaim their goal of strengthening Israeli control over all of the West Bank and Gaza, effectively precluding Palestinian self-governance in any part of Palestine.

The particulars of this land grab seemed particularly understandable. The media had dutifully reported the settlers’ account: that Palestinians had assaulted a group of Jews as they were returning from Shabbat services. What else to do, then, but to teach these Arabs a lesson by grabbing some land that didn’t "really" belong to Palestinians any way, because God, according to the settlers, had already given this land to the Jews.

Matters may have seemed more complicated to Westerners when we found out by Nov. 18, that in fact there was no attack on Jews in prayer, that in fact the attack had been on the occupying army and security guards. Now, from the standpoint of the settlers, and from the standpoint of the Sharon government’s propaganda mill, every attack by Palestinians is an unforgivable act of terror. But from the standpoint of the rest of the world, the word "terror" loses all meaning if it applies to every attack on an army. If an army is occupying a people who have done everything they could to indicate that they wish to be free and self-governing, we normally call the armed resistance to such an army an act of the national liberation struggle, not an act of terror. Terror is an assault that is not directly involved in hostilities.

It is as a national liberation struggle that much of the world views the Palestinian struggle. They note that when we Jews fought our national liberation struggle against the British, we often used terror as a tactic, but because in the immediate post-Holocaust years most of the world sympathized with the plight of the Jewish people, terror was viewed as "understandable" and a natural part of the process. In the post 9/11 world, however, even non-terror acts of struggle by the Palestinians are viewed as illegitimate.

It’s in that context that the Israeli settlers can continue a process that has been going on since that Israeli conquest of the West Bank in 1967. Over and over again, dunam by dunam, ultra nationalist and/or religious Jews have been grabbing land and creating Jewish settlements to ensure that the Palestinian people would never be able to create an independent state and to ensure that this land would become the eternal property of the Jewish people.

Lest anyone doubt that this land grab is protected by the Israeli army and encouraged by Israeli society, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon immediately called for an expansion of the Jewish settlements in and around Hebron. Normally, the pattern set by both Labor and Likud governments has been different: the government seeks to appease world opinion by calling for a dismantling of the new settlements on land stolen from Palestinians, then refuses to back its call by army force, then later provides funding to expand the settlement. But as the political climate has moved further Right and Ariel Sharon now has to defend himself from being labeled "moderate" by the far-right supporters of Benjamin Netanyahu, Sharon now can speak more honestly about his agenda to expand the Land of Israel.

Friends of Israel around the world can only watch these events with deepened sadness. From our perspective, Israeli security will only be possible through a new dynamic of open-hearted reconciliation and generosity on the part of Israel toward the Palestinian people. Every time Israelis steal more land, build more settlements, and talk with the arrogance of conquerors, they deepen the conviction of Palestinians and the entire Arab world that nothing but force will ever liberate the Palestinian people. Those of us who believe that the Palestinian people would be best served by adopting a strategy of non-violence find it harder to get an audience for this perspective when Israel is able to get away with its acts of violent uprooting of Palestinians from their land.

Article Appeared in:
Jewish Journal - Broward South 
P.O. Box 1189
Deerfield Beach, FL 33441

January 2, 2003
Pages 18 & 23