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NEWS & LETTERS, October 2004Peace activist looks at the 'Other Israel'
New York--Adam Keller, a leading Israeli peace activist,
discussed "The Other Israel--A Different View of the Israeli-Palestinian
Conflict" at several locations in New York during September. In a talk at
Columbia University, he explained the history of the conflict since 1967, when
Israel annexed Palestinian-occupied lands, especially the last 10 years of
scuttled peace plans. He also highlighted the refuseniks--Israeli soldiers who
refuse to participate in the military occupation--and the youthful anarchists
who are putting their bodies on the line to protest Israel’s current
construction of a wall through the West Bank. The wall, he emphasized, is part
of Prime Minister Sharon’s plan to retain the West Bank even if Israel gives
up the Gaza Strip. Keller was an early refusenik during the Israeli
occupation of Lebanon; he was jailed three times since 1984 for refusing to
serve in occupied territory, and for counseling other conscientious objectors.
(All Israeli males are required to serve in the army for three years and then in
the reserves until age 45.) He is spokesperson for Gush Shalom (Peace
Bloc) and editor of the newsletter THE OTHER ISRAEL (available in English). Gush
Shalom supports a two-state solution to the seemingly intractable conflict, in
which an independent Palestinian state would be created in the West Bank and
Gaza, using the 1967 borders and sharing Jerusalem. When he spoke here, Keller was actually optimistic about
a two-state peace plan being implemented, because the military option has not
worked for Israel. The current cycle of bombings and retaliatory bombings is
untenable for both peoples, he said. Keller decried the killings, jailings, and destruction
of homes and villages that Israel has inflicted on the occupied territories in a
futile attempt to end the Palestinian struggle for self-determination. He also
decried Sharon’s ongoing construction of a wall through Palestinian villages
on the West Bank, which is cutting off farmers from their land, students from
their schools, workers from their workplaces, etc. Many Israeli peace groups
have staged demonstrations against the wall, including the Women’s Coalition
for Peace and the Feminist Collective. They have been shot at and tear-gassed
along with the Palestinians. Keller reported that a peaceful demonstration on
Sept. 13 included 400 Israelis and 2,000 Palestinians. Keller also mentioned that some youth have recently refused to go into the army at all, rather than entering but refusing to serve in the occupied territories. Although his position differs, he expressed pride in his son, Uri Ya’acobi, who has endured seven jail sentences for refusing to serve in the army. Five other youth who spent almost two years in prison were released on the day after Keller’s talk, but they immediately received new call-up orders, and he feared they would be returned to jail for continuing to refuse to serve. |
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