Rabbi Brian Walt

We are a privileged generation: we live at a time when there is a free and democratic Jewish state. The words of hatikvah articulate the simple truth -- a two thousand year old hope of Jewish autonomy has been realized. For many, and certainly for most Jewish generations, the dream of a state was intimately connected to the possibility of fully living a life of Torah; for many Zionist thinkers, the possibility of statehood was a dream of no longer being victim but instead of being creators of a just society of a free people. The wrongs which had been perpetrated against us would now be righted. With privilege comes responsibility.

Israel is in the full throes of spring and planting season has started. One of the most significant activities with which Rabbis for Human Rights-Israel has been involved has been acting as human shields as Palestinians go out to plant their fields. Each year, settlers harass these farmers and frequently the military does not intervene.

Democracies need to have an independent judiciary in order to defend civil liberties which can easily be trampled on by majority opinion swayed by alarmist media or politicians seeking to exercise power. But courts, too, can be caught up in the hysteria of the moment or be subject to political pressures. When that happens, democratic institutions are in severe danger.

The Supreme Court of Israel has issued a temporary restraining order stopping further work in Silwan by the private archaeological firm Elad. Elad has been accused of digging on private property of Arab landowners without permission, tunneling under Arab houses and causing structural damage. The issues are especially contentious because the Arab residents of Silwan see the intrusions as an attempt to move them from their neighborhood which lies just south of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

Rabbi Tzvi Weinberg, former chair of Rabbis for Human Rights, wrote this account of the hearing on Rabbi Arik Ascherman's arrest:

It is Friday noon (March 14, 2008), and I just returned from the law court in Jerusalem where five people came to support Arik after his arrest yesterday, and to protest the injustice of his detention. Besides my wife and myself, Rabbi Barry Leff and his wife and a 79 year old activist from Netanya who has participated in RHR programs were there.

Rabbi Barry Leff was a member of the RHR-NA Board before he made aliya to Israel. He wrote this account of the hearing on the arrest of Rabbi Arik Ascherman:

March 14, 2008
Redeeming Captives
Today I had the rare opportunity to perform a mitzvah I have not done before: redeeming captives.

I am not comfortable with the amount of attention around my arrest. Many Silwan residents have been arrested and I am not even the first Israeli to be arrested there. However, I am grateful for all of the support and if the fact that people know me helps to uncover the injustice and discrimination taking place in Silwan, than so be it. As advocate Gabi Laski said in court today, it is “eifa v’eifa.”

Rabbis for Human Rights’ Executive Director, Rabbi Arik Ascherman, was released from prison on Friday upon signing a restraining order agreeing not to organize demonstrations in Silwan in the next fifteen days. His lawyers said the restraining order will be appealed.

Rabbi Arik Ascherman was arrested Thursday evening while he was being investigated regarding events that occurred in Silwan on Wednesday morning We have been reporting the work of Rabbis for Human Rights in attempting to protect the Arab residents of Silwan, the neighborhood just south of the Temple mount, from being displaced.

The State of Israel has given the full responsibility and control over the archaeological sites in Silwan to Elad, an Association dedicated to the Judaization of Silwan. Elad has created a method of expelling citizens from their properties, appropriating public areas, enclosing these lands with fences and guards, and banning the entrance of the local residents.

Rabbis for Human Rights North America joins our collegues in Israel in extending our condolences to the families of the victims of the tragic shooting at the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva on March 6th. In a letter to the families of the victims, our Israeli colleagues wrote: "Together with the entire Jewish people and human rights supporters everywhere, we share your grief and pain and pray that God will comfort you. It is hard to comprehend the fact that the cycle of violence continues without end, and we can only hope that soon enough the day will come when all people will understand that we are all created in God's image and the most basic right – the right to live – will not be brutally taken away. We pray that the memory of your loved one will be a source of comfort and strength at this sorrowful time."

Just south of the Temple Mount is the mixed neighborhood of Silwan. Arab residents have long complained that they are gradually being pushed out of the area. Governmental and quasi-governmental agencies have expropriated lands as for archaeological sites.
RHR Israel reports:

The State of Israel has given the full responsibility and control over the archaeological sites in Silwan to Elad, an Association dedicated to the Judaization of Silwan. Elad has created a method of expelling citizens from their properties, appropriating public areas, enclosing these lands with fences and guards, and banning the entrance of the local residents.

Israel could well make allies of the Bedouin and indeed in varous times in its history it has done so. Now though, human rights issues relating to the Beduoin keep on arising. Here, for instance is the latest RHR-Israel report of activities against the Bedouin:

We invite all those who knew Ben to add their own memorials and comments. You can register at this site in order to post a comment. RHR-Israel also has a tribute to Ben.

There is a Hebrew idiom, “Sever panim yafot,” that describes the perfect attitude to strike on meeting another person. Like any idiom, it’s a phrase that is almost untranslatable. It means something like “a face that wishes good.” Pirke Avot, The Ethics of the Fathers, tells us to greet everyone “b’sever panim yafot” that is, with an expression that is inviting, with a face that communicates cheeriness that I have met you.

I always knew that when I would see Ben Hollander he would greet me with that look. He was always so happy to see me, inviting me to his home, asking after family and classmates, and it might be well into the conversation before he would share that he or a member of his family were suffering some difficulty.

Most news reports from Israel don’t cover peaceful demonstrations or joint Israeli-Palestinian activism; the media believes that what sells is conflict and bloodshed. So it falls to sites like this one to bring to people’s attention the joint activities and peaceful protests of many Jewish and Arab organizations.

The traditional Arab villages which are part of and in proximity to the Jerusalem municipality have had an especially difficult time as the new wall separating the West Bank and Israel has been constructed. Some villages have been literally cut in half with the separation wall running down their main roadway.

So there I am shaving on Thanksgiving morning and Arik Ascherman's is speaking on NPR. It was NPR's Thanksgiving story about food, agricultural bounty and thanksgiving. Today's story centered on the place of the olive harvest in the culture of Palestinians; this is the season of the harvest which goes on from late October till mid-December.

Interviewees talked about the process of pressing olives for oil, the harvest meals that center on olives and the memory of olive trees that Palestinians carry with them even when they settle abroad. One of the best lines of the piece is offered by Arik talking about Palestinians and Israelis working together on the harvest, "We are offering the olive branch as a symbol of peace, once again." It's a lovely piece to listen to -- the background music is especially beautiful.