Sabeel’s Rev. Naim Ateek Calls Israeli Apartheid by Its Hebrew Name: Hafrada

By Roxane Ellis Rodriguez Assaf

Sabeel’s conference on March 14 and 15 at St. Mary’s Orthodox Church in Livonia, Michigan, “Ending Israel’s Occupation of Palestine: What Role for Americans?” drew a range of enlightened speakers with disparate cultural and religious perspectives.

Rev. Canon Dr. Naim Ateek, the visionary Palestinian leader of Jerusalem’s Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center, brought hope in a time of despair with a concrete plan for peace. Borrowing from the term for South Africa’s policy of white supremacy, “apartheid,” Ateek referred to Israel’s actions as a policy of “hafrada”– Hebrew for “separation.”

The Sabeel Road Map

1) Ateek’s own road map begins with an end—the end of Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories. “Jesus lived his whole life under occupation,” he noted, and chose the path of nonviolence. Ateek’s nonviolent solution calls for Israel’s adherence to U.N. resolutions and for its withdrawal from “every centimeter of occupied territory.”

Recalling that, more than a half-century ago, Palestinians were expected to accept only 43 percent of historic Palestine to pave the way for a Jewish state, Ateek said, “We’re now asking for 22 percent.”

2) In turn, Israel must recognize the integrity of a sovereign, viable, independent Palestinian state.

3) Once there is a Palestinian state, Palestinians must reassure Israel once again of its legitimacy as a neighboring country. “In spite of its military power,” Ateek said, “Israel seems weak and fearful.” The paradox, he mused, is that “only the Palestinians can grant Israel peace.”

4) All existing Jewish settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories will become part of the new Palestinian state. These new towns and villages will accommodate Palestinians and returning refugees—albeit perhaps a symbolic number of returnees. This presupposes that the U.N.-sanctioned right of return for refugees is put into practice in accordance with international law. The handing over of the settlements intact would be only part of the compensation package due Palestinians from Israel.

5) Jerusalem will be shared between the two nations and among the three Abrahamic religions.

6) The region’s nations must think innovatively and move toward a dynamic relationship as a federation of Middle Eastern states.

7) The administration will institute an educational program of peace. “The only Jews many Palestinians know are soldiers,” Ateek pointed out, “and—even worse—settlers.” Not only have Palestinian children learned violence from this kind of exposure, Ateek said, but Jews are also propelled to violence by a genuine fear and distrust of Arabs. It will take several generations to undo the damage, he acknowledged, but through nonviolent action, Muslims, Jews and Christians can overcome the oppression that exists today.

8) The threat of religious extremism is real. “We Palestinians used to brag that the coming Palestinian state would be secular and democratic,” Ateek said. Now it looks like a new Palestinian administration could be Islamic by definition. “We must respect religion and religious freedom but confine it to the private sector,” he said.

The reverend concluded his inspiring keynote address with a philosophical contemplation: You know it is dawn, he said, “when you can look into the face of a stranger and see your sister or brother.”

Jewish Voices

“What’s a nice Jewish girl like you doing in a place like this?” is a question Cindy Levitt of Chicago’s Not In My Name asks herself. Choking back tears, she said, “You just want to apologize to every Palestinian you’ve ever met.”

Many mainstream Jews consider Not In My Name, with its humanitarian pursuit of justice and equality for Palestinians, a fringe group. Levitt is referred to in print as a (quotes included) “Jewish” woman and accused of being Jewish in name only. “You have to be willing in some cases to lose friends,” she said. “Criticizing Israel and its policies alone is not anti-semitic.”

Phyllis Bennis of the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, DC, and author of Calling the Shots: How Washington Dominates Today’s U.N., said that the current climate of escalating world violence will create three victims: first the Iraqis, then the Palestinians, and finally the U.N. This is not the only time in history a world power has taken the stance: “For us there is democracy, for you, the law of empire.” For Washington today it is “disarmament and democratization” in pursuit of what Bennis termed a “messianic vision of Americanism.” Yet, she argued, “no strategic, resource-rich country will be allowed to be a true democracy.”

According to Bennis, today’s vocal opposition to the war on Iraq is a tangible force keeping the U.N. Security Council honest. Describing global public opinion as the second superpower, she said, “The U.N. has never been as relevant as it is today in standing defiant.”

Instead of using its power to impose sanctions on Israel, to curtail its trade privileges, to withhold economic aid or to inspect its nuclear arsenal, Bennis said, the U.S. uses its vote in the U.N. to ensure that Israel never is held accountable for its violations of international law. Meanwhile, any quality of life the Palestinians once enjoyed, even under occupation, has been extinguished. Malnutrition among Palestinians has risen above the levels in Somalia and Bangladesh, Bennis said.

Evil Beasts and Anti-Semites

Media analyst Ali Abunimah, co-founder of both the Electronic Intifada and Electronic Iraq Web sites, said Israelis use scripture to justify their presence and to legitimize their methods. They quote from the book of Leviticus, which includes the instruction to “remove evil beasts from the land.” While this, he observed, fits the definition of genocide, “not one major newspaper in the U.S. took the time to take note of this.”

“These are not fringe groups,” Abunimah said of the parties represented in Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s cabinet. “They sit in the heart of government.” Recalling the uproar caused by the installation of a right-wing government in Austria, he said, “Austria never openly advocated genocide and the mass expulsion of people from their homes.”

Abunimah said he has not been published in a mainstream American newspaper in more than a year, so he understands the frustration of spending hours “whittling down 750 carefully weighed words,” only to wait and ultimately be rejected. Nevertheless, he urged attendees in a breakout session to persist on a local level and to be courageous in the face of accusations of anti-Semitism. He called the campaign to label anyone critical of Israel’s policies an anti-Semite a “vicious attempt to silence and intimidate,” saying, “It’s worse than I’ve ever seen it.”

Senior editor of Christian Century magazine James Wall said that Israeli control of the narrative and a “sneering attitude toward the Arabic language” among Americans contribute to the silencing of the media. And when there isn’t silence, he added, there is spin.

“As a sports writer for the Atlanta Monthly Journal and Constitution,” Wall recalled, “I spent a lot of time reporting about our teams.” In the same way, the nakba (Palestinian catastrophe of 1948) is kept from the public discourse. “Israel’s military occupation will someday be reported as one of the great tragedies of the 20th and 21st centuries,” he predicted. “Why not now?”

Wall offered some explanations. The “myth of balance” requires that reporters infuse “balance” into an inherently unbalanced story in which one side is occupying the other. As a younger journalist, Wall remembered being told, “You were trying so hard to be balanced, you never understood the suffering of the Palestinian people.”

The fear of being branded anti-Semitic, Wall said, is a trump card: “game over.” He warned attendees against becoming vulnerable to it by learning from the mistake of Democratic Congressman James P. Moran from Virginia. Moran was ousted from his party leadership post in March for responding to a question from a woman who had identified herself as Jewish with what he later called “irresponsible” remarks. He stated that the leaders of the Jewish community are “influential enough” to redirect the movement for war with Iraq and that the “support of the Jewish community” was in fact, at least in part, responsible.

Wall himself was hit with the slur in Illinois as campaign manager for Paul Simon in his race for the Senate. While Simon received money from Israel supporters, Wall was writing critically of Menachem Begin. The press pounced, and Wall was reined in.

The Bush Regime’s Six Pillars

Rev. Dr. Donald Wagner of North Park University in Chicago and founder of Evangelicals for Middle East Understanding hopes to “reclaim the faith-based ground that is being pulled from beneath us.” Not only is Islam being demonized, he warned, but the Christian community is also being fractured. At the same time, civil liberties are being rolled back at a rate unseen in the past.

He identified “six pillars [that] have come together to bring the Bush administration into power”: 1) the right wing of the Republican Party; 2) the oil industry and its multi-national construction companies; 3) the pro-Israel lobby; 4) the Christian-Zionist right; 5) the neo-conservative movement, with William Kristol at the helm; and 6) the arms industry.

“We need to begin thinking about regime change in the White House,” Wagner said. “I am appalled by the silence of the progressive voices in the Democratic Party.”

The Bottom Line

Dr. Bill Thompson, clinical psychologist at the University of Michigan and prolific manager of an e-mail listserv, addressed economic facts and factors. Presaging the ruthless killing in Gaza that weekend of 23-year-old International Solidarity Movement demonstrator Rachel Corrie of Washington state, Thompson stated, “Israeli intransigence has cost American life.”

In less direct ways than being crushed to death by an Israeli-driven Caterpillar bulldozer, Americans are spending much-needed billions to support Israel, a country the size of Massachusetts. Since 1949, the U.S. has spent more than $133 billion in support of the Jewish state, Thompson said, which breaks down to $123,000 per Israeli citizen. For every $250 spent on an Israeli, he noted, the U.S. spends $1 on a person in Africa. Israel now is asking for an additional $4 billion in aid and loan guarantees amounting to $8 billion.

The money is disbursed as loans, Thompson explained, because Congress meticulously oversees grant allocations. As a loan, Israel can spend the money as it pleases, then the commitment to repay can be—and is—waived. Whereas other countries receiving aid must buy American-made weaponry, Israel, which receives more U.S. aid than any other country in the world, is allowed to produce their own.

Ironically, he noted, this isn’t necessarily good for the Israeli economy. For each dollar the U.S. gives, Israel must spend $2 to $3 on training, Thompson said. Nothwithstanding its detrimental effects on Israel, however, Washington’s unconditional support of that country is undermining the founding ideals of the United States. “It destroys our moral authority in the world and at home,” he said.

One way to reverse the trend, Thompson suggested, is to “set up an Arab AIPAC.” A strong and sophisticated lobbying effort can counter the effects of an unwholesome union with a country that defends its actions with a stated goal of ethnic purity. “We have a long history of supporting despotic regimes,” Thompson pointed out. “If we cut off the flow of money, we will get their attention.” He suggested that individuals can start symbolically by refusing to pay the federal tax on their telephone bill.

Road Map Out

As a West Bank resident, Dr. Salim Tamari, director of the Institute of Jerusalem Studies at Birzeit University near Ramallah, sees the facts on the ground and is cynical about a genuine bid for a two-state solution. The combination of Israel’s dismantling of the Palestinian infrastructure and destruction of its security forces, he said, along with the Palestinians’ own lack of a strategic vision and turn toward despair and vindictive rage in the form of Islamic fundamentalism, have resulted in gridlock. Israel’s next obvious move, he predicted, is not to cede territory but to take it.

“Israel sees security not in separating Arabs from Jews, but in separating Arabs from Arab lands,” Tamari said. “We should be vigilant and aware that [transfer] is a possibility.”

Never Again

Rev. Richard Toll of Milwaukie, Oregon reflected upon his seminary days with Naim Ateek in the mid 1960s when, as a supporter of Israel, Toll began “learning what it means to be a Palestinian.”

Ateek’s optimistic projections provide a welcome reprieve at a time when many feel powerless over the call to war. “I cannot sit in the middle of the floor crying like I did and not knowing what to do,” Toll said. “We have to listen and pay attention to what we can do [in order] not to repeat what happened in World War II.”

Roxane Ellis Rodriguez Assaf is a free-lance writer based in Chicago.