Rabbis For Human Rights

Because Palestinian violence has been so devastating, Israel’s retaliatory actions seem to be justified. Whether they are effective or not is almost secondary to the need to respond. Suicide bombings cannot be left unanswered. In all of Israel’s actions, few here have questioned the moral issues involved. After all, we are at war. Further, it is reasoned that the Palestinians do not consider the moral implications of their actions. But every political and/or military decision has its moral equivalent. That the Palestinian Authority is little bothered by ethical restrictions should not mean that Israel need use the lowest common denominator as a yardstick to measure its behavior, and thereby justify its actions.

And those of us who remain silent when Israel goes beyond the biblical dictum of an “eye for an eye” and a “tooth for a tooth,” thus rendering Palestinians blind and toothless, are complicit partners in affixing to Israel the ultimate sign of immorality: “The mark of Cain.” The continued demolition of Palestinian homes in and around Jerusalem is a classic example of a government, which has lost its moral compass.

We are not talking about homes of Palestinain terrorists or their relatives’ houses in Jenin, Rafiah or Nablus. (Although even here, there is a callousness that is unacceptable. A number of months ago, Kamala Abu Sa'id, the 65-year-old stepmother of a wanted man, was killed during the demolition of his home in Gaza. Israeli soldiers just did not search the house well enough to guarantee that no one was inside. As a former soldier this is painful to see as it damages the army's sacred doctrine of "purity of arms.") As a political policy, Israel has determined to limit any growth of Palestinian neighborhoods in and around Jerusalem, even if it means that an additional room has been built on to a Palestinian home in Anata. Of course, building a Jewish community in Har Homa, which boarders Bethelem or taking over more land around Ma’aleh Adumim to the east of Jerusalem is perfectly legitimate, as is opting to set up a Jewish enclave in Arab Silwan, expropriating Arab land to do so.

It takes the army less than an hour to destroy a Palestinian home in the Jerusalem suburb of Issawiya because some family has added on a room illegally. (The destruction is usually total, including uprooting fruit trees surrounding the houses.) Yet, to dismantle an illegal settlement requires months of negotiations, and then when the crucial hour comes to do so, the army shows up without weapons so as not to hurt the Jewish population, even as rocks are hurled at our soldiers. Should an Arab protest the destruction of his home because a room was added on illegally, chances are that his family will be tear-gassed, shot with rubber bullets, beaten with billy-clubs, and may even be killed in some cases.

It has been proffered by some that we have to be careful in our criticism of Israel’s behavior, lest we undermine the state. But what could undermine the state more than actions that are devoid of any moral considerations? And what happens to someone who stands up for the moral integrity of the Jewish state? Well, if you are Rabbi Arik Ascherman, the executive director of Rabbis for Human Rights in Israel, an organization of over 100 Israeli rabbis from all streams in Judaism, you are put on trial for daring to block a bulldozer from destroying one of these homes in East Jerusalem.

There are those who claim that Israel’s survival is dependent upon it being five percent more moral than other countries, but its destruction will come about if it
strives to be ten percent more moral. The premise here is that we can afford to be morally self-critical up to a point; but must not become “holier than thou” apostles, otherwise we will endanger our own survival. Such reasoning is essentially illogical and morally unacceptable. What will eventually insure our destruction is if we are not just ten percent more moral, but if we are not one hundred percent more moral.

The continued destruction of Palestinian homes in the Jerusalem area, leaving innocents without a roof over their head, is heartless. Those familes, who after petitioning the city authorities to enlarge their house, and are almost always refused, do indeed take the law into their own hands. But, unlike the settlers, who have set up illegal settlements, no kid gloves are applied. The demolitions of homes here is not a retaliatory act, but a purely punitive one – cruetly for its own sake. Demolishing a home in the outskirts of A-Tor has nothing to do with deterrence or with security.

It is enough that we are attacked by the world community for the demolition of the homes of terrorists, or the wholesale destruction of houses in Rafiah, or the building of a security fence (a wall). Indeed, we should care little whether Arafat, whose hands are drenched with blood and whose mouth is awash with hypocricy, calls on the world to blame Israel for war crimes because of its demolition policy. Why should we add fuel to the fire by our ill-advised practical and moral policy to deny Jerusalem Palestinians the right to build in their neighborhoods, and then wantonly destroy their entire home and its surrounding environs for adding on a much needed room?

What is being done is being done in the name of the Jewish people. But, the blame ultimately rests with us, for our leaders and government sadly reflect the will of the people. And we have remained silent too long. The perception of Judaism and the image of the Jew is very muich determined by what is done in Israel. In the words of the great Jewish theologian, Abraham Joshua Heschel: “If we are not all guilty, we are all responsible.” The Talmud tells us: “Whosoever has the capacity to prevent his household from committing a crime, and does not, he is accountable for the sins of the entire household. . .” (Shabbat 54b).

If we do not stand up and say, “enough,” then we are all guilty of a morally shameful chapter in the life of Israel.

Originally published by Ha'aretz, 21 Shevat 5764; Friday February 13, 2003
Republished with Permission.