[Jewish] Join me in signing the Call to Bring the Settlers Home to Israel

[ajos02 at hampshire.edu]

Hey JSU members,

First, a warning that this e-mail again discusses the petition to Bring the 
Settlers Home.  If you are only on this listserve to find out about Shabbat 
dinners or don't want to hear political discussion about Israel than I suggest 
you read no further.

Okay, you choose to keep reading.  Good choice if I do say so myself.  This e-
mail is a reply (hopefully a short one) to some of Jessica's comments.  Her 
entire e-mail is included below and thus I am just going to reference parts.

Jessica wrote that those who signed the petition "didn't think realistically 
about the remaining settlers, who do not wish, under any circumstances, to 
leave their homes due to their religion or race."  Guess what, I did think 
about the remaining settlers.  For one, I realized that the settlers are not 
being asked to move because of religion or race (though it's a given that a 
majority if not all the settlers are Jewish) but because of the location they 
choose to live in.  Of course, certain settlers will choose not to move, this 
is their choice.  However nowhere, not in my e-mail, the petition 
(http://bringthemhome.btvshalom.org/), or the Brit Tzedek v'Shalom website, is 
there any suggestions that the settlers who choose to remain will not be 
protected by the Israeli army.  Jessica essentially eluded to army withdrawal 
in her suggestion that remaining settlers would be left vulnerable to violence.

***Warning Personal Rant***  
Personally, I question the justice of asking the Israeli army to protect 
settlers in the West Bank and Gaza when these are areas that many Israeli 
citizens and members of the world community do not believe settlers should have 
moved to in the first place.  Protecting the settlements costs a lot of money 
and drains the already hurting economy of Israel.  It is painfully ironic that 
some (sorry I can't give numbers but I would guess the number is significant) 
of the settlers do not even serve in the army because of religious beliefs and 
yet call on the army to provide them with protection.  However, we must 
remember that the army is not only protecting Israelis from Palestinians it is 
also Protecting Palestinians from Israelis.  Daniel Gordis wrote an excellent 
article entitled Olive Picking in the Wild West (Bank) in which he discusses 
the phenomenon of settlers ruining Palestinians olive harvests and thus their 
major source of income.  However, no need to take my word for it, you can read 
the article yourself at (http://www.topica.com/lists/gordis/read).

Okay, I think I'm off my personal high horse.  Jessica continues by suggesting 
that some people leaving the settlements will serve as encouragement for 
Palestinians to increase their violence against those who reamin in the 
settlements.  (Back on the Horse: Remember there was no violence against people 
in the settlements when there were no settlements.)  She may very well be 
correct.  I'd also argue that increasing settlement population will increase 
the violence.  They only other option is freezing settlement populations and 
presumably violence levels where they stand now.  Any option and we still get 
violence.  However perhaps, through having people leave settlements, 
establishing a Palestinian state, and promoting trade and economic growth 
between the two countries, we can have the peace we all desire.

Jessica ended her e-mail with "I do not believe that signing this petition is a 
move towards peace, or simply a "financial incentive."  Rather, this petition 
promotes a forceful use of US resources in legitimizing the use of violence to 
achieve one's goals.  Who will then be responsible for the blood of the 
remaining men, women, and children who did not "chose" to leave their homes due 
to their religion?"

I end my e-mail urging you to read the petition (linked above), and read it 
carefully, and decide for yourself whether what it calls for is a step towards 
peace or a misuse of force.  Jessica asked who will be responsible for the 
blood of those who remain.  I ask that we all take responsbility for the blood 
which has been spilt already and do our best to create peace in our day.

Im Chalomot Shalom (With Dreams of Peace),

Ari Shapiro



Quoting jlz98 at hampshire.edu:

> 
> > Dear JSU members,
> 
> 
> This petition (and the latest email response to Jesse's email) makes the
> claim 
> that making a financial incentive for the 200,000 Issaeli settlers in the
> west 
> bank to leave their homes is an innocent approach which does not "mention" 
> using force to remove people from their homes. 
> 
> At best, this is simply uninformed. 
> 
> Let's say this plan starts to take effect in its ideal intention, and
> thousands 
> of Israeli settlers begin to move back to Israel "proper."  This is going to
> 
> promote "peace and justice?"
> 
> For those of you who signed this petition, I guess you didn't think 
> realistically about the remaining settlers, who do not wish, under any 
> circumstances, to leave their homes due to their religion or race. Do you
> think 
> that it is not using "force" to be left vulnerable to the repeated attacks,
> 
> bombings, and shootings that the Palestinians have used to express their 
> perspective?  Do you think that mass evacuation of the Israeli settlements
> and 
> a slow and steady degradation of financial support is going to suddenly
> inspire 
> a change of heart and a change of approach?  It seems to me, that if one
> simply 
> looks at the history of violence, and the history of a Palestinian leadership
> 
> that openly legitimizes violence as a means to acheiving its goals, that this
> 
> is an extreme incentive to foster an increased level of violence and terror
> 
> upon the remaining settlers who do not wish to move from their homes and 
> homeland due to their religious beliefs or their race. 
>  
> 
> I do not believe that signing this petition is a move towards peace, or
> simply 
> a "financial incentive."  Rather, this petition promotes a forceful use of US
> 
> resources in legitimizing the use of violence to achieve one's goals.  
> 
> Who will then be responsible for the blood of the remaining men, women, and
> 
> children who did not "chose" to leave their homes due to their religion? 
>  
> 
> Jessica Zambias
> former signer of JSU  
>  
> 
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