The first time I landed in
Israel in 1993, an unexpected feeling swept over me: I felt at home. Although I
had never been anywhere near the Middle East, the knowledge that I was not an
exception in the crowd, but was surrounded by fellow Jews made a strange place
comfortable. I didn’t wonder how people felt about Jews or what they would
think of my unusually scattered family history. I didn’t have to explain
myself, I could just be myself. I didn’t look Jewish, I looked like I belonged.
That feeling is gone. On my
most recent visit to Israel in 2015, I spent time with Palestinians on the West
Bank and learned about their treatment by the Israeli government. I have been
reading about the most recent Israeli policies. I am deeply distressed about
what official Israel now stands for.
In the past few months,
encouraged by the election of Donald Trump, the Israeli government under Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has moved to significantly expand Jewish settlement
on Palestinian land. Netanyahu’s government is pushing for the first new settlement in over 20 years, as well as approving many illegal settlements that
had pushed beyond the borders of existing settlements. Even Trump, who
proclaimed himself a great friend of the current right-wing government, advised
Netanyahu in February against expanding settlements. This appears to have had
as little effect as the UN resolutions condemning settlements as against
international law.
The Israeli government has
become more active in limiting the rights of those who criticize its actions on
the West Bank. In February, an investigator from Human Rights Watch was prevented from entering Israel. Human Rights Watch has been critical of Israel’s
treatment of Palestinians, but also of the human rights record of the
Palestinian Authority.
Breaking the Silence is an organization of Israeli military veterans who are critical of
military actions in the occupied territories. By publishing soldiers’
testimonies, the organization seeks to inform Israelis about “abuse towards
Palestinians, looting, and destruction of property”. Netanyahu has attacked Breaking the Silence as not supportive of the battle
against terror. After some less formal attempts to keep members of Breaking the
Silence from speaking in schools, the government now supports a law
banning them from educational institutions.
The Education Minister issued
new guidelines
to schools about invited speakers, which includes this language: “Entry is
forbidden to external groups and speakers whose ... discourse harms the
legitimacy of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state. Moreover, entry will be
forbidden to speakers ... whose activities undermine the legitimacy of state
bodies (such as the Israel Defense Forces and the courts).” That language could
be applied to any critics of the military occupation, and is directed especially
at Breaking the Silence. Someone who says that Israel’s policies are
undemocratic could be barred from schools.
In early March, the Israeli
legislature, the Knesset, passed a law which
bars foreigners who support a political boycott of Israel from entering the
country. The idea of boycotting Israel because of its occupation of Palestinian
land and its treatment of Palestinians has spread in recent years across the
world. Called BDS for boycott, divestment,
sanctions, the movement, begun in 2005, “works to end international support for
Israel's oppression of Palestinians and pressure Israel to comply with international
law.” The new law applies not only to foreign nationals who have made public
statements in support of such a boycott, but also to those who work for an
organization which advocates the boycott. It applies to those who advocate a
boycott of products produced in any Israeli-controlled territory. That broad
definition includes the World Council of Churches, which urges only for a boycott of goods produced in
the settlements.
I do not support BDS. While I
believe that boycotting an entire nation because of its politics can be
justified, as was true for the apartheid regime in South Africa in the 1980s, I do not think that Israeli policies
have reached that level. That is my personal political judgment. But if I
decide to sign one of the many calls to support BDS which I have seen, I could
be barred from entering Israel.
I recognize that both sides
in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict unreasonably try to coerce support and
punish opinions they don’t like. Last week, Eddie
Izzard, a British comedian who ran 27 marathons in 27 days in 2016 in tribute to Nelson Mandela’s 27 years in
prison, was rejected by
the organizers of the Palestine Marathon because he performed in Tel Aviv the
day before.
One of Israel’s major
arguments against those who are critical of these policies is that it is better
than its neighbors. That may be true, but it’s not enough for me. No matter how
badly a nation behaves, it can always point to another nation as worse. There
is nothing new about any of the policies I discuss here. There is no bright red
line which a nation obviously crosses on its way from democracy to repression.
But I have read too much and
seen too much myself on the West Bank. That feeling of coming home in Israel in
1993 was delicious. It’s gone. Israel cannot be a home for me as long as the
Israeli state practices discrimination, censorship and occupation.
Steve Hochstadt
Berlin
Published in the Jacksonville
Journal-Courier, April 4, 2017
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