The Sleeping Left Awakens
The left in Israel is coalescing against the government’s policies, making its voice heard on behalf of peace. A gathering in Tel-Aviv two weeks ago, intended to be a memorial for Yitzhak Rabin, turned into a massive rally on behalf of peace. Perhaps those of you abroad did not blink to hear that 200,000 Israelis turned out to demonstrate; let me point out that this constitutes 3.4% of the country. For those still unimpressed, consider that this is the equivalent in the United States of 8.6 million people going to a demonstration: Picture to yourself an 8.6 Million Person March. That’s a lot of attitude.
Women’s Peace Vigils
Women in Israel are turning out in greater numbers than ever to make ourselves heard for peace. At the Lebanese border today, a large group called “Four Mothers” (for the 4 who founded it) demonstrated under the banner “Leave Lebanon in Peace”. Yesterday 38 women’s peace vigils – most of them new! – appeared throughout Israel. In Jerusalem alone, Women in Black and Mothers and Women for Peace joined together for a vigil of some 80 women. Bat Shalom ran an ad in Yediot Aharonot (the largest circulation newpaper) that listed the location of all these vigils, and carried the text:
A Time to Make Peace
We, women and mothers, refuse to pay the price of the
Israeli government’s policies that lead to war and
violent confrontation with our neighbors. A just
peace based on territorial compromise is the only true
guarantee of security for the citizens on both sides
of the border. Women throughout Israel are creating
vigils and peace circles at crossroads, plazas, and
overpasses calling for continuation and deepening of
the peace process until peace is achieved. Join us!
Following the vigil locations were the names of the groups who organized them: Bat Shalom, Mothers and Women for Peace, Peace Circles, Religious Women for the Sanctity of Life, TANDI, Women in Black, and Women’s Forum for Peace in Haifa.
Incredible!
Ataf Iliyan Is Near Death
Ataf Ilayan is a Palestinian woman who is a member of the Islamic Jihad. When Palestinian prisoners were released as part of the Oslo Accords, Ilayan also went home. She was free until one month ago when Israeli police boarded a bus in a Palestinian- controlled area and re-arrested her, placing her in “administrative detention” – arrest without trial. Ilayan declared a total hunger strike – no food or water – until Israel releases her. She is now receiving a saline solution. She has left instruction that she be given no other nutrition.
Her lawyer stands by her bed and refuses to allow the doctors to force feed her. The newspapers do not carry word of Iliyan’s condition – typical of the press to ignore activities that would undermine the powers-that-be.
Bat Shalom issued the following press release about this case:
“Alian…was released from Israeli prison in the framework of international agreements, and her current detention is but an excuse to bypass these agreements and return her to jail.
“In the name of justice, Bat Shalom demands that the government of Israel and the Chief Prosecutor of the I.D.F. immediately release Ataf Alian or, alternatively, bring charges against her and enable her to defend herself in an open court in keeping with due process.
And, Sadly, ‘Ali Did Die
He was 7 and a half years old and had the misfortune to have been born into a war zone – Bethlehem. ’Ali Jawarish was with his cousins buying pencils for school when some bigger kids began throwing stones at Israeli soldiers posted nearby to safeguard Jewish worshipers at Rachel’s tomb. In response, one soldier kneeled, aimed, and fired a bullet into Ali’s head. The cradle of the three “great monotheistic” religious around the corner was no help.
By the time his parents reached the hospital, ‘Ali was dead. The doctors were sustaining him on life-support systems and asked gently if they could remove the organs for transplant purposes. “I didn’t want them to cut open his small body and hurt him all over again,” said the mother to a group of Bat Shalom women who came to pay a condolence call, “but I said they could.” She shrugged.
We were sitting on stools around a dismally poor room, other children on laps and underfoot, and one sleeping on a mattress in the corner. Yally, one of the women, enchanted the young ones with finger puppets, while we exchanged words of sympathy with the mother. Other Palestinian women crowded into the room expressed their anger at the Israeli army, the government, the situation. We could only agree.
“They gave his organs to three children,” continued Mrs. Jawarish staring off. “I said it was okay if they were Jewish – all children are innocent. In a way I lost one child, but now I have three new children.” It sounded like something she heard and was repeating.
We left the home and walked the alley back to the street. The walls were covered with graffiti and one picture of ‘Ali reproduced dozens of times – a slight, worried-looking boy with a cowlick in an oversized plaid shirt, his hands barely out of the sleeves to fit into trouser pockets. “If you kill one child, ten children instead will be born,” said the printing over the picture. So ‘Ali’s death gave life to 13 more: the 10 who will be born and the three who now have his heart, lungs, and kidneys.