Rabbis For Human Rights

In Judaism, we are guided by the biblical entreaty: "Justice, justice, you shall pursue" (Leviticus 16:20). Why is the word justice repeated twice?

Because, according to our tradition, one is to pursue a just cause by just means. This approach to problem-solving informs much of the work of human rights groups in Israel, as they strive to hold in check the behavior of those in power who would compromise such a simple but wise commandment. It should also serve as a paradigm for the behavior of other countries as well.

Yet, something strange has happened since that awful day in the US, September 11. The "coalition," such as it is, has pursued the just cause of ridding the world of Osama bin Laden and his comrades-in-arms. However, defying all logic, it has done so by adopting those methods that Israel has employed for which it has been - and still is - roundly condemned.

In the pursuit of justice, both the US and the UK have enacted laws that if Israel were to promulgate legislatively (rather than implement de facto, which is the case), it would come under the harshest of criticism.

Take the new anti-terror laws that have been passed by the US Congress, and the extended use of presidential powers. We are witnessing targeted assassinations, administrative detentions, military tribunals and the possibility of the application of "moderate torture." US Attorney-General John Ashcroft, not known for his civil liberties sensitivities, will oversee these new laws, which have granted virtually a free hand to law enforcement agencies. Anyone suspect of participation in terrorist activities will be subject to the long arm of a local police officer.

And who will those suspects be? Arab-Americans, because they will stereotypically look the part. Given the record of some police in the treatment of America's minorities, particularly Hispanic- and African-Americans, I would hate to contemplate how an American-Pakistani might be treated.

But it is not only domestic excesses that are a cause for concern, but also what is taking place in the battlefield of Afghanistan that is most troubling. It is entirely possible that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will eventually stand trial for war crimes attributed to him for his part in the Sabra and Shatilla massacres, where Palestinian civilians were mercilessly slaughtered by the Lebanese army under Israel's watchful, or rather not so watchful, eye. Human rights organizations in Israel have condemned Sharon for his role as defense minister at the time. But, lo and behold, the systematic killing of Taliban forces after they have surrendered, along with the brutal murders of Arab, Pakistani and Chechen volunteers for the Taliban, has already opened the floodgates for a massacre that will dwarf what happened in those refugee camps outside of Beirut in September of 1982.

Just as the Kahan Commission of Inquiry into those dark days concluded that Sharon should have known what the Phalangists were capable of doing, so too must US president George Bush be aware of the historical brutality of the Afghans toward each other. We will all be witness to a mass graveyard in Afghanistan, if American troops do not put a stop to this unmitigated slaughter - if they do not, once the Taliban regime collapses, continue to pursue their just cause by just means.

But something is happening in the international arena that has set the stage for the violations of basic human rights by such powerful democracies as the US and Great Britain, and that is the "turn the other cheek" attitude when it comes to certain countries that are deemed "important." Israel would never be chosen as a venue for the Olympic games, nor would it be elected to the UN Security Council. Yet China and Syria, despite their dismal human rights records, and whose unjust causes are pursued by unjust means, were respectively granted such lofty honors.

It would seem, therefore, that only Israelis are required to obey the levitical commandment. If taken to its logical conclusion, it would also seem that moral restraint is a concept for which we Jews have the copyright, even if we do not always balance the means with the ends. But as a Jew who takes his ethical dictates seriously, I call upon the US, the UK, and all other "enlightened" nations of the world to stop attacking us for excessive behavior in our pursuit of what we feel is a just cause, and [to start] turning inward - immediately putting the brakes on their own extreme actions in pursuit of their just cause.

After all, the Talmud teaches us: "Upon three things does the world rest - upon justice, upon truth and upon peace. And the three are one. For when justice is done, truth prevails and peace is established." (Ta'anit 4:2)

Originally published by The Jerusalem Post, 14 Kislev 5762, Thursday November 29, 2001
Original Online version can be found at: http://www.jpost.com/Editions/2001/11/29/Opinion/Opinion.38987.html
© 1995-2001, The Jerusalem Post - All rights reserved
Republished with Permission.