Boulder Daily Camera Letters to the Editor

Friends,

Here's the unedited text of a letter to the Boulder Daily Camera, followed by the shortened version that the Camera actually printed. The writer, a Jewish Israeli, attended the Friends of Sabeel Conference in Denver last month that I also attended. It was an excellent conference, as she indicates. I hope at some point to have an opportunity to share some of my notes, tapes and impressions from the conference. Among the speakers were Naim Ateek, Jeff Halper, Marc Ellis, Muhammed Abu-Nimer, Three Jerusalem Women, Craig and Cindy Corrie, Phyllis Bennis -- an all star cast indeed.

Peace, Salaam, and Shalom,
Margaret Brown, Coordinator--Sabeel Hawaii

* * *

To the Editor,

This past weekend, I attended the Friends of Sabeel conference on Israel and Palestine at the Montview Presbyterian Church in Denver. Beforehand, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the Allied Jewish Federation of Colorado sent misinformation to the conference sponsors telling them to be aware that the narrative presented would be one-sided. Jewish friends to whom I mentioned that I would be attending this conference said they understood that Sabeel was a "really bad anti-Jewish organization". Since I was personally familiar with one of the speakers who is a very well-respected conflict resolution academic from American University in Washington D.C., I suspected that it was unlikely to be an ingathering of hateful people.

Here's the question. Did any of you 'brave', 'open-minded' "Jewish representatives" attend? Were you willing to find out if your assertions were actually true? How open are you to actually ever listening to the other? Well, I went and as a Jew and an Israeli, I was a little worried about what exactly it would be like and who else would be there. There were a small number of Jewish attendees, but apart from a couple speakers, I may have been the only other person who was a Jewish Israeli who served in the IDF.

I kept waiting to hear hatred, or general anti-Jewish rhetoric. Through five or more different talks and workshops I waited. All I heard were people who have respect for all human beings, who are deeply upset at what is happening to the Palestinian people and who empathize with Israeli suffering as well. This does not mean that I agreed with every opinion shared, but that is true within the Jewish community as well. Aren't Israelis well known for having too many separate opinions on everything? These were people who were there because they are sincerely trying to find a way to a peaceful and just solution to this terrible conflict.

Sabeel is an organization that very clearly condemns suicide bombings as well as Israeli violence. How many of our Jewish "representatives" are willing to condemn Israeli violence? For some reason, they are willing to allow individual Palestinians to dictate their own morality. I refuse to allow another person or group to define for me what is ethical and just. I won't let the suicide bombers and their supporters do it, and I won't allow the so called "pro-Israel" Jewish Americans to define it either.

I personally define myself as pro-Israel. I challenge the rest of the Jewish community here to do what it takes to redefine who is really "pro-Israel" and to reject those who are stuck in an old narrative that can only see Jews as victims for evermore. We should be proud of what Israel has accomplished and of the fact that it is a powerful country in all senses of the word. And as a powerful and resourceful country, full of talented and caring people, Israel should also begin to take responsibility for its actions and the consequences its policies have had on actual people as we expect all powerful countries to do.

We all need to look at ourselves and decide if our Jewish identity and sense of security really has to be intrinsically attached to a violent oppression and suppression of people who live right next door to us in the Middle East. Considering the fact that there are large numbers of Jewish Israelis, sons and daughters of holocaust survivors, bereaved parents and family members in Israel who are putting themselves on the front line daily to end this abusive relationship with the Palestinians, I can see no justification for the ADL and the Allied Jewish Federation to try and silence all voices but their own.

I left this conference feeling so ashamed of what these Jewish organizations had done, by sending those horrible letters to the sponsors of the conference in order to get them to revoke their support. It seems to me that spreading such narrowminded views and aggressively trying to silence an organization founded on principles of non-violence is more hurtful to our image as Jews than... Well, who else should we talk to if not groups like these? Who else?

Respectfully,
Sarah Rosenberg
Lafayette, CO

(Below--as printed by the Boulder Daily Camera):

To The Editor:

This past weekend I attended the Friends of Sabeel conference on Israel and Palestine at the Montview Presbyterian Church in Denver.

Beforehand, the Anti Defamation League (ADL) and the Allied Jewish Federation of Colorado sent misinformation to the conference sponsors warning them that the narrative presented would be one-sided, and that Sabeel was inherently anti-Jewish.

Since I was personally familiar with one of the speakers who is a very well-respected conflict resolution academic from American University in Washington D.C., I decided to attend. I may have been the only person in attendance who was a Jewish Israeli who served in the IDF.

I kept waiting to hear hatred, or general anti-Jewish rhetoric. That never really happened.

Although I did not agree with every opinion expressed, mostly I heard people who are sincerely trying to find a way to a peaceful and just solution to this conflict. People who have respect for all human beings, who are deeply upset at what is happening to the Palestinian people and who empathize with Israeli suffering as well.

I challenge the rest of the Jewish community here to do what it takes to redefine who is really "pro-Israel" and to reject those who are stuck in an old narrative that only sees Jews as eternal victims. We should be proud of what Israel has accomplished. Israel is a resourceful country full of talented and caring people. Many Israelis put themselves on the front line daily to end this abusive relationship with the Palestinians. Israel is now in a place to take responsibility for the consequences its policies have had on other people.

I can see no justification for the ADL and the Allied Jewish Federation to try and silence all voices but their own. Their voice has certainly not brought peace.

Sarah Rosenberg