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NEWS & LETTERS,
January-February 2002
Aftermath of terror in Israel
Jerusalem—The cycle has begun again.
After a month of quiet between
Israel and Palestine, Prime Minister Sharon began to worry that he would have to
sit down and actually negotiate with the Palestinians, so he ordered yet another
assassination and then awaited the reprisals that would get him off the hook. It
didn't take long. It began with the shooting of
Israelis in the territories, and then last night's horrifying scene—a
Palestinian who emptied an M-16 into an Israeli crowd celebrating a bat mitzva.
"In response," Israeli warplanes fired missiles into Turkarem as tanks
reoccupied large parts of Ramallah. And so it goes. Whose turn is it? The senseless and tragic
bloodletting still fresh in everyone's mind, it was with some trepidation that
the Coalition of Women for a Just Peace came together this morning to
demonstrate against the occupation. Why trepidation? Because Palestinian acts of
terrorism somehow give legitimacy to attacks on Israeli peace activists by
rightwing war-mongers. It's a tradition that did not even begin in the Mideast. DISABILITY ACTIVISTS Thus, we were surprised and
pleased to have some 40 women and men, despite the tradition, who came out to
demonstrate today under the banner "Money for the disabled, not for
settlers." This is a reference to the month-long strike of the severely
disabled in Israel, whose government stipend is shamefully low, keeping them in
poverty. We were even nervous about whether the disabled themselves would accept
our presence near their strike location, but several approached our group and
voiced support. I think it helped that Pnina Fierstone, a veteran peace activist
who is severely disabled herself, was holding up one end of our banner. After an hour in the crisp
winter air of Jerusalem, we put away our signs and went indoors to talk to the
strikers and express our solidarity with them. I had a good conversation with
Alex, a lovely guy who agreed that the government should help the
down-and-outers, but not at the expense of the settlers. Finally he mentioned
that his son, too, lives in a settlement. IDEOLOGY FOLLOWS VESTED
INTERESTS Every government since the
occupation began 34 years ago, Labor and Likud alike, has given Israelis
economic incentives to move into the territories. By now, ideology follows
vested economic interests. From the striking disabled we
drove to the regular Women in Black vigil, and were about 75 today in Jerusalem.
Last week we had been joined by contingents from Michigan, France, and India.
This week we were just us. There were the usual driveby
shooting-off-at-the-mouth passersby, but nothing exploded. That is a victory of
sorts. So it was an efficient,
two-demonstration day for us, besides the other Women in Black vigils all over
Israel. I hope there will be a big turnout tomorrow for Peace Now's
demonstration called "Sharon is Assassinating the Peace." —Gila SvirskyJan. 18, 2002 |
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