PERSPECTIVES CIVIL RIGHTS CURRENT EVENTS AN EVOLVING VIEW THE MAGAZINE OF PROMISED LAND MUSEUM SUMMER 2022
In A History of Jews in America, American professor and author Howard Sachar writes that Jews “made up at least 30 percent of the white volunteers who rode freedom buses to the South, registered blacks, and picketed segregated establishments.” In The South, Jews also accounted for a high percentage of civil rights attorneys throughout the 1960s. In 1964, more than 50 percent of the whites who challenged Jim Crow Laws in Mississippi were Jewish. Even in the early 1900s, Black-Jewish relations were particularly strong in the United States. It was W.E.B. Dubois, Lillian Wald, Stephen Wise, Julius Rosenthal, Rabbi Emil G. Hirsch, and Henry Malkewitz who created the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909! Outside of the United States, Jews were also participants in the South African Anti-Apartheid Movement. Nelson Mandela’s Jewish defense attorney, Isie Maisels, wrote in his autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom: Mandela writes that he found the Jews in South Africa “to be more broadminded than most whites on issues of race and politics, perhaps because they themselves have historically been victims of prejudice.” The Jewish people have leveraged their history of being persecuted to do good in the world. Now, however, there are Palestinian people in The Holy Land who are struggling to improve their lives under Israeli occupation. Can the Jewish commitment to Tikkun Olam — Hebrew for “repairing the world” — extend to the Israel-Palestine conflict? Jewish Participation in U.S. Civil Rights Judaism teaches us that the suffering of any people is a tragedy. PERSPECTIVES • THE MAGAZINE OF PROMISED LAND MUSEUM 2
04 CIVIL RIGHTS Evidence of Israeli Apartheid 06 ISRAEL’S ILLEGAL SETTLEMENTS 07 UNEQUAL ACCESS TO WATER 08 REMEMBERING PALESTINIAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST TANYA REINHART AND HER LEGACY 10 ARAB AMERICANS SUPPORT PALESTINIAN RIGHTS and Draw Attention to their Cause 12 GAIN A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF PALESTINE 14 A TIMELINE OF THE ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT 16 WHAT A JEWISH COMMITMENT TO HUMAN RIGHTS LOOKS LIKE 17 ABOUT THIS PUBLICATION INSIDE THIS ISSUE COVER IMAGE: Designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, the Dome of the Rock is an Islamic shrine, located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, has been called Jerusalem’s most recognizable landmark. The original dome collapsed in 1015 and was rebuilt in 1022–23. It is now the world’s oldest surviving work of Islamic architecture. The building’s inscriptions contain the earliest epigraphic proclamations of Islam and of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. THIS PAGE: People protesting in Palestine
CIVIL RIGHTS PERSPECTIVES • THE MAGAZINE OF PROMISED LAND MUSEUM 4
Evidence of Israeli Apartheid The UN Apartheid Convention of 1973 defines the crime against humanity of apartheid as the perpetration of serious human rights violations with the “purpose of establishing and maintaining” a system of “domination by one racial group… over [another] and systematically oppressing them.” In March 2019, Israel’s then prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “Israel is not a state of all its citizens…[but rather] the nation-state of the Jewish people and only them.” Amnesty International, the world’s largest human rights organization, has declared Israel an apartheid state against Palestinians. They argue that Palestinians have been “trapped for decades in a system that treats them as a lesser, non-Jewish racial group […]. Whether they live in Gaza, East Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank, or Israel itself, Palestinians are treated as an inferior racial group and systematically deprived of their rights.” Amnesty International has categorized Israel’s systemic apartheid as territorial fragmentation, segregation and control, dispossession of land and property, and denial of economic and civil rights. This issue of Perspectives will explore the condition of civil rights experienced in Israel-Palestine today. 5 SUMMER 2022
Israel’s settlements are declared illegal under international law: Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits an “Occupying Power” from transferring “parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.” These settlements are built upon land that Israel occupied in the 1967 Six-Day War. According to B’Tselem, there are over 500,000 settlers in the West Bank alone and 100 “outpost” settlements, which have been built without Israeli government’s official approval. Even though the Israeli government considers these 100 outpost settlements illegal, it continues to provide these illegal settlers with both resources and military support not provided to Palestinian families. These settlements and outposts control more than 40% of the West Bank’s land, breaking both Israeli law and international law. Additionally, nearly 300,000 settlers transferred into East Jerusalem territory occupied after 1948. The United Nations General Assembly Resolution 194 (III) enshrines the right for refugees to return, including Palestinians. However, Israel, while allowing Jewish families whose connection to Palestine goes back over 1,000 years, does not allow non-Jewish Palestinian families to return to their homes and villages. An independent commission by the U.N. Human Rights Council reported in June 2022 that Israel “has no intention of ending the occupation” and is pursuing “complete control” of the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The report said “ending the occupation alone will not be sufficient” to ensure equal human rights for Palestinians. West Bank, 07.06.2010, Photo Credit: Keren Manor, ActiveStills.org ISRAEL’S ILLEGAL SETTLEMENTS PERSPECTIVES • THE MAGAZINE OF PROMISED LAND MUSEUM 6
Israeli control of Palestinian water continues to challenge Palestinians’ human right of safe access to clean water. The United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 64/292 in 2010, which recognized “the right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation as a human right.” However, the Israeli state controls access to water in both Israel and in Palestine. The Center for Economic and Social Rights, an international human rights organization, states that “the Israeli confiscation of water resources is a defining feature of the Israeli occupation and a major impediment to a just resolution of the Israel-Palestine conflict.” Access to water is not equal for Jewish Israelis and non-Jewish Palestinians. According to the Coalition for Peace with Justice, Gazans must spend an average of one quarter of their family income on water supplied by Israel. Israeli control of planning, zoning, and security in the West Bank’s Area C resulted in destroying more than 600 structures, 36 water cisterns, and the forced eviction of 870 Palestinians, affecting 1,600 others. Amnesty International’s report on Apartheid in Israel/Palestine has found that these planning policies are intended to “create unbearable living conditions to force Palestinians to leave their homes to allow for the expansion of Jewish settlement.” After years of negotiations, As-Samu’a in South Hebron was permitted to access some limited additional quantities of water, but only on the condition that this water not be distributed to residents through their existing internal piped water distribution network. The Separation Wall has also isolated water cisterns from Palestinian cities. While Israelis in West Bank settlements have swimming pools and ample water for agriculture, Palestinian families suffer from restricted access to water, a basic necessity. Unequal Access to Water SUMMER 2022 7
Israeli linguist and Palestinian rights activist Tanya Reinhart passed away in 2007. In light of the 2021 U.S. protests calling for the support of Palestinian rights and the February 2022 rallies in support of Ukraine, Reinhart’s work is as timely as ever. Reinhart served as a rare voice that both identified as Israeli and sympathized with the struggles of Palestinians fighting for civil rights. She never backed down when it came to fighting for justice in the academic arena. In May 2002, many years before a call for the academic boycott of Israel was proposed by academics worldwide, Reinhart lay down the foundations of what later became a boycott movement. She wrote in a letter, arguing against anti-boycott arguments of fellow academic Baruch Kimmerling, that she had “no doubt that you supported the South Africa boycott. Where we may differ is in the question whether the Israeli case is sufficiently similar.” Amnesty International recently released a report deeming Israel an apartheid state. That claim could gain legal leverage as implications are revealed in the coming months. In her 2002 letter, Reinhart states that, “much before its present atrocities, Israel has followed faithfully the South-African Apartheid model.” She briefly writes about the 1993 Oslo records, but ultimately concludes that “no matter what you think of the Oslo years, what Israel is doing now exceeds the crimes of South Africa’s white regime.” COLLABORATING WITH AN OPPRESSIVE SYSTEM Reinhart goes on to say that Israel’s policies in the Palestinian territories have “started to take the form of systematic ethnic cleansing, which South Africa never attempted. After thirty-five years of occupation, it is completely clear that the only two choices the Israeli political system has generated for the Palestinians are Apartheid or ethnic cleansing (‘transfer’). Apartheid is the ‘enlightened’ Labor party’s program (as in their Alon or Oslo plan), while the other pole is advocating slow suffocation of the Palestinians, until the eventual ‘transfer’ (mass expulsion) can be accomplished.” The 2002 letter concludes with Reinhart’s statement that “if in extreme situations of violations of human rights and moral principles, the academia refuses to criticize and take a side, it collaborates with the oppressing system.” The loss of Reinhart was major for not just academia but Palestinian activists everywhere. Jewish-American Palestinian rights activist Anna Baltzer’s December 2017 TedX talk — that warned against the danger of neutrality — could be argued to have taken inspiration from Reinhart’s work and research. To this day, Reinhart’s legacy continues in academia. Some would argue that she made a huge professional sacrifice by laying the foundations of academic boycott. Remembering Palestinian Rights Activist TANYA REINHART AND HER LEGACY The loss of Reinhart was major for not just academia but Palestinian activists everywhere. PERSPECTIVES • THE MAGAZINE OF PROMISED LAND MUSEUM 8
ARMED WITH EXTRAORDINARY SPIRIT Reinhart published many books during her academic career, but in the last pages of her 2006 book, Road Map to Nowhere, Reinhart writes about Palestinians, describing them as “armed only with the extraordinary spirit of people who have clung to their land for generation after generation, they stand in the path of one of the most brutal military machines in the world. This daily struggle is our hope.” Reinhart had the unique perspective of living through the years — as only a four-year-old girl in 1948 — when Israel first gained statehood. Born in Palestine in 1944, Reinhart grew up in Haifa before it was officially part of the State of Israel. She earned her bachelor’s degree in philosophy and Hebrew literature and later a master’s degree in philosophy and comparative literature from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She taught at Tel Aviv University for 20 years, later threatening her own career as key supporter of an international academic boycott of Israel. She spoke at the University of Sydney’s “Sydney Ideas” forum in October 2007, describing the reasons she was – like many Israeli opposers of Israeli policies – ultimately brought to exile. To an audience in Sydney, she acknowledged the responsibility she felt “to continue the fight, together with my comrades, within Israel,” but claimed that after the 2006 Lebanon War, “morally, I can no longer stay in Israel. I love the country, but I cannot stay there. I’m going into exile, like Edward Said, but mine is an exile of choice.” A SUPPORTER OF PALESTINIAN RIGHTS The phrase “exile of choice” is a fitting one for a linguist and supporter of Palestinian rights. For many Palestinians in the territories, exile is not a choice. Many Palestinians legally cannot return to the places they were born because of limitations on movement between Israel and Palestine. Even some Palestinian Israelis who live within Israel’s formal borders are internally displaced refugees (so called, “present absentees”) who are not allowed to return to their homes within Israel. Perhaps one of Reinhart’s most valuable offerings to the Palestinian struggle was an analysis of the failure of the subsequent “peace process” after the 1993 Oslo records on the Palestinian struggles for human rights and statehood in her book. She writes about this struggle in her book, Israel/Palestine: How To End the War of 1948. The idea that although the 1948 Arab-Israeli War is officially over, the results of it still haunt people in Israel and Palestine to this day is a powerful one. In Reinhart’s book Road Map to Nowhere, she explores most interestingly the U.S. pressure on Israeli policy-making and Israel’s annexing of Palestinian land in the West Bank. She describes this land theft as “the second naqba” (a wordplay on the dispossession of 1948). During her time in academia, Reinhart also criticized the international economic embargo in Gaza (specifically against the Hamas government). In 2006, she called it a “starvation blockade.” A LEGACY TO REMEMBER Clearly Reinhart’s gift with words and capacity for empathy made her a valiant supporter in the pursuit of Palestinian rights that now appears on the world stage. Her death in 2007 was a major loss for not only Palestinian rights supporters but also academia. Rather than promote conflict, Reinhart hoped to drive awareness to the IsraeliPalestinian conflict through her boycott of Israel that spanned across academic institutions internationally. She hoped her words would ultimately lead to change in Israel and Palestine. SUMMER 2022 9
In light of the attacks in Gaza starting May 9, 2021, thousands of Arab-Americans protested in the streets of Dearborn, Michigan, during the same month. The crowd protested in response to President Joe Biden visiting the city to tour a Ford Rouge Plant. The protesters criticized the Biden administration’s U.S. foreign policy toward Israel and the response to recent attacks in Gaza during the eleven days of fighting, which caused the most destruction of any attack since 2014’s Operation Protective Edge. Through their protests, participants hoped to draw attention to the Israel-Palestine conflict and the importance of supporting Palestinian rights. “We are here today to make sure that President Biden knows that the Dearborn community and the Arab American community and all of Michigan, that we are not going to stay silent while he waltzes into our city while saying he is giving unwavering support to the Israeli government,” Palestinian-American attorney Amer Zahr said outside the Dearborn Police station to a crowd during the protest. The words may sound harsh. Although, some have argued that his attitude and general lack of urgency in the pursuit of brokering peace talks in Israel and Palestine is problematic when it comes to supporting Palestinian rights. HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN PALESTINE Palestinian families suffer many human rights violations. Many Gazans don’t have access to clean water. Palestinians are not free to travel; they are frequently detained at the border and imprisoned. For example, according to The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories (B’Tselem), at the end of September 2020, there were 4,184 Palestinian security detainees and prisoners being held in Israeli Prison Services (IPS), including 254 from the Gaza Strip. 545 Palestinians were in IPS prisons in 2020 alone for being in Israel illegally. Palestinians have different passports (that limit movement), and their cars have different license plates. This blog post by Jewish-American Palestinian activist Anna Baltzer, shows photos of the discrepancies on Palestinian Authority vehicles. Palestinians are at risk of losing their land to Israeli settlers. Israeli settlers have been accused of harassing Palestinian children on their way to school. Israeli settlers, perhaps correctly, point out that what the Israeli settlers do to Palestinians is not nearly as bad as what was done to Palestinian families in the 1948 formation of Israel. Some have called the situation “apartheid.” And there is a chance that the legal definition of apartheid (in light of a report by Amnesty International) may stick in the coming months. In 2021, the United Nations criticized Israel for insisting on internally probing its own war crimes, refusing to take accountability for its actions in the Palestinian territories in international courtrooms. It’s no longer a question whether supporting Palestinian rights is important; it is becoming a question of what is being done to drive awareness. The protest in Dearborn, Michigan, is one example. Arab Americans Support Palestinian Rights and Draw Attention to their Cause PERSPECTIVES • THE MAGAZINE OF PROMISED LAND MUSEUM 10
ANGER AND HURT ON BOTH SIDES “The anger that is being sustained in Dearborn toward Biden is (due to) his sheer disregard and lack of attention to what’s happening right now in real time in Palestine,” Sahar Faraj, an organizer with the Palestinian Youth Movement, told The Detroit Free Press in May 2021. “For the people of Dearborn, for Biden to approve the sale of $735 million in weapons funding for Israel, then come to the largest population of Arabs in America? Yeah, he’s going to hear that.” According to The Detroit Free Press, protestors held signs that read: “Joe Biden loves genocide” and “Not another nickel, not another dime, no more money for Israel’s crimes.” Biden has repeatedly defended Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas. But what of Palestinians’ right to security from the far great attacks Israel inflicts on Palestinian families (attacks committed with American support; families who were made refugees in the founding of Israel and are kept as refugees from their homes to maintain a Jewish majority)? U.S. House representative Marc Pocan (who has historically been critical of Israel’s actions in the Palestinian territories and highly publicized his visit to the West Bank in November 2021) supported U.S. funding of the Iron Dome. He claims that Iron Dome has the potential to deescalate rocket fire that could come from Hamas. If Israel has the means to defend itself, perhaps it can ultimately prevent another war from happening — like the attacks that occurred in May. But is there an equivalent effort to give Palestinians defensive weapons to protect Palestinian families from the far, far more lethal Israeli jets and rockets? ENOUGH IS ENOUGH When supporting Palestinian rights and judging the actions of each party in the Israel-Palestine conflict, the hurt runs deep on both sides. At the rally at the police station in Michigan, former Detroit health director and former governor candidate Abdul El-Sayed told the crowd that as a public health expert, he was upset to see Israel attack a COVID-19 testing lab in Palestinian territories. “As an American, I am unwilling to watch my country, watch my tax dollars get spent for that any longer,” ElSayed told The Detroit Free Press. “Today, we are standing up…to say that enough is enough, that if you believe in human rights, you better stand for human rights... Today, the rights of the Palestinian people are being denied. Who knows who it’s going to be tomorrow.” A NETWORK OF ACTIVISM AROUND THE U.S. The Michigan protest calling for the recognition of Palestinian human rights violations this past May is one of many country-wide protests that have occurred since May 2021 in cities like New York, Houston, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and Portland. About 60 pro-Palestinian protesters marched in Detroit alone. Speakers at the rallies are planning protests and more political activity in 2022. SUMMER 2022 11
GAIN A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF PALESTINE WITH THESE TOP RESOURCES Have you felt challenged when understanding Palestine and the history of occupation? Perhaps you don’t know where to look. In today’s world – with so much information about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict – it’s difficult to know where to start. So, where do you go to learn more–and get an objective point of view? UNDERSTANDING PALESTINE Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) opposes anti-Jewish, antiMuslim, and anti-Arab bigotry and oppression. JVP seeks the following solutions: • An end to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem • Security and self-determination for Israelis and Palestinians • A just solution for Palestinian refugees based on principles established in international law • An end to violence against civilians • And peace and justice for all peoples of the Middle East JVP offers a living document with educational resources on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for those looking to learn more about the history of the occupation of Palestine and the current reality. In this comprehensive document, the voices of the Palestinian liberation movement are amplified. Understanding the Israel/Palestine conflict requires, among other things, a knowledge of the Palestinian struggle. The resources in “Palestinian Guide 2021” are a primer for those looking to stand in solidarity in 2022. HISTORY OF OCCUPATION Decolonize Palestine is an online resource offered in the living document for those looking to expand their introductory knowledge and debunk myths. Readers can choose from articles, a database of myths about Palestine, and a comprehensive reading list. One notable article includes a history of Palestine Pre, Post, and during Nakba. Gaza Unlocked is an online resource that has a blog, infographics, and videos featuring the stories of firsthand accounts from Palestinians living in Gaza. Each year, college-aged students are unable to finish their education PERSPECTIVES • THE MAGAZINE OF PROMISED LAND MUSEUM 12
because they cannot leave Gaza to study in the West Bank or elsewhere. Their stories discuss how the Gaza blockade also restricts imports and exports, access to land and water, and the movement of people in and outside of Gaza. PALESTINIAN VOICES The best sources of information may be direct sources. For example, Christians might think the best way to learn about Christians would be to talk to Christians (and not depend on Jewish or Muslim sources for what Christianity is like). By the Golden Rule, it may be better to understand Muslims by talking to them or visiting a mosque than by asking someone at church. To understand Palestinians, direct access to Palestinian voices is valuable. Information from Palestinian voices may sometimes be censored on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. JVP recognizes the need to hear from Palestinians directly. JVP’s living guide offers a list of organizations, artists, activists, and professionals driving awareness to the Palestinian struggle. Here are a few of those voices. – Issam Adwan (tw: @Issam_Adwan) is the Gaza project manager for We Are Not Numbers (tw: @ WeAreNotNumbers, ig: we_are_not_numbers), an organization that helps young artists – some in Gaza – tell their stories of fear and triumph. – Noura Erakat (tw: @4noura, ig: nouraerakat) is a Palestinian-American activist, human rights attorney, and professor. She is a social critic of Israel and the author of Justice for Some: Law and the Question of Palestine. – Sumaya Awad (tw: sumayaawad) is a Palestinian writer. She is the Director of Strategy at the Adalah Justice Project (tw: @adalahjustice, ig: adalahjusticeproject), a Palestinian advocacy organization that aims to shift public discourse and policy on Palestine. – Mohammed El-Kurd (tw: m7mdkurd, ig: mohammedelkurd) is a Palestinian poet and writer from Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem. He writes about dispossession in Jerusalem and colonization in Palestine. BOYCOTT, DIVESTMENT, AND SANCTIONS Understanding Palestine requires a basic knowledge of some movements. One of them is Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS). BDS is a movement to end international support for the oppression of Palestinians in Israel. The living guide offers a variety of tools and resources for those just getting started with BDS. The BDS National Committee (BNC) is the broadest Palestinian civil society coalition that works to lead and support the BDS movement. Some current members of the BNC are the Council of National and Islamic Forces in Palestine, Union of Palestinian Farms, and General Union of Palestinian Women. The website offers a primer on the movement as well as ways to get involved. The living document also provides a link to BDS Toolkit and Videos created by the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR). The website offers a short video series, webinars, and PowerPoint presentations that contain topics such as, “What is BDS and How Does it Work” and “How to Prepare a BDS Campaign.” APPROACHES TO ZIONISM Zionism is a nationalist movement with a primary goal as the creation and support of a Jewish national state in Palestine. It originated in eastern and central Europe in the latter part of the 19th century. JVP’s living document contains a variety of links to resources on the topic, including Wrestling with Zionism. This resource is a JVP-incubated theatre project about the history of Jewish Zionist and anti-Zionist thought an action. You’ll also find a comprehensive list of YouTube videos including a conversation on the end of Zionism with Philip Weiss and Ali Abunimah. One notable resource is an article in progressive political magazine, In These Times. A conversation with scholar Benjamin Bathaser concerns the history of Jewish, workingclass anti-Zionism in the 1930s and 40s. AMPLIFYING THE MOVEMENT FOR PALESTINIAN LIBERATION In addition to a number of noteworthy podcasts (such as +972 Podcast and Women Behind the Wall) and books (namely On Palestine by Noam Chomsky and Ilan Pappe and Palestine as Metaphor by Mahmoud Darwish), many films also address the Palestinian struggle and can help you understand Palestine. If you haven’t seen the Oscar-nominated short film, “The Present,” then you should watch it, along with the documentary “Free, Free Palestine: Biden, Israel and the Fight for Palestinian Liberation.” The living document also contains a link to the JVP Film Library, with over 70 films concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Above all, the “Palestinian Guide 2021” is really just the beginning. The resources here can prove helpful while learning more about Israelis and Palestinians moving toward security and self-determination. SUMMER 2022 13
April 9, 2022 Israeli forces kill a Palestinian in a refugee camp in Jenin, and 13 others are wounded. April 15 Israeli forces raid Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third holiest site, as thousands of worshippers gathered for morning prayers, injuring at least 158 Palestinians and arresting 300-400 Palestinians. April 19 Thousands of Israeli Jewish settlers marched to the illegal, evacuated settlement outpost Homesh in the occupied West Bank. At least 40 Palestinian protestors were injured. April 21 2 Israeli air raids in the central Gaza Strip, damaging several homes in al-Bureij refugee camp. April 27 Israeli forces raided Jenin in the occupied West Bank, killing 1 Palestinian and injuring 3 other youths. April 29 Israeli police forces injured at least 42 Palestinians on the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. April 30 A Palestinian man and an Israeli guard are killed after Israeli forces raid Al-Aqsa Mosqu. April 26 Israeli forces raided the Aqabet Jaber refugee camp in the occupied West Bank city of Jericho, killing 1 Palestinian and arresting 2 others. 2 more Palestinians were killed this week during Israeli raids in Jenin. May 7 In the occupied West Bank, Israeli forces demolished the house of a Palestinian accused of killing an Israeli settler. May 8 2 Palestinians are killed by Israeli soldiers when allegedly attempting to enter Israel and an illegal settlement in the West Bank. May 11 Veteran Al Jazeera journalist and Palestinian-American Shireen Abu Akleh was killed by Israeli forces. She wore her press vest and was covering the Israeli army raids in Jenin of the occupied West Bank when Israeli forces shot her in the head. Another Al Jazeera journalist, Ali al-Samoudi, was also wounded. May 13 Israeli forces used a teenage Palestinian girl as a human shield during a military raid in Jenin: while arresting her brother engaged in a gun battle with Israeli forces. When more Palestinians began shooting at the Israeli military vehicle, Israeli forces ordered the girl to stand in front of the vehicle for 2 hours until she collapsed. May 14 Israeli forces attacked pallbearers and crowds among the thousands of mourners gathered for the funeral of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, injuring at least 33 and arresting at least 6. May 14 Palestinian prisoner Khalil Awawda reached the 70th day of his hunger strike in protest of his detention without charge or trial. May 17 Over 70 Palestinians were injured by Israeli police at the funeral procession for Walid al-Sharif, who died from his injuries during the Al-Aqsa Mosque raid. May 22 The Israeli Foreign Ministry denied entry to the Chairperson of a European Parliament delegation for relations with Palestine, who intended to travel to the occupied Palestinian territories to review the circumstances of the killing of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh. May 22 New Israeli policy, called Procedure for Entry and Residence for Foreigners in Judea and Samaria Area, went into effect, further restricting movement in the occupied West Bank. May 23 Palestinian Foreign Minister al-Maliki said Shireen Abu Akleh’s murder, along with other Israeli violations, was submitted to International Criminal Court prosecutor in a formal ask to investigate the murder. Note: This timeline highlights some events and does not account for the many daily stresses and injustices occurring in people’s lives. A Timeline of the IsraeliPalestinian Conflict April 2022-June 2022
June 2 Israeli forces killed 3 Palestinians in al-Midya village west of Ramallah, a raid on the Dheisheh refugee camp of Bethlehem, and a raid on the village of Yabad in the occupied West Bank in reaction to a shooting attack in Tel Aviv allegedly by Diaa Hamarsheh, who was also killed. June 7 An independent commission by the U.N. Human Rights Council reported that Israel “has no intention of ending the occupation” and is pursuing “complete control” of the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Reports said “ending the occupation alone will not be sufficient” to ensure equal human rights for Palestinians. June 9 Israeli forces raid Halhul in the occupied West Bank, killing 1 Palestinian and injuring seven others. June 9 Hundreds of Palestinians in Hebron protested high cost of living, rising food prices, and failure of the Palestinian Authority to address the crisis. June 24 24 U.S. senators asked for U.S. direct involvement in the investigation of the murder of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh. However, the U.S. State Department affirmed that Israel would lead the investigation as planned. June 29 Armed clashes broke out during an Israeli army raid on Jenin in the occupied West Bank; 1 Palestinian was killed by an Israeli sniper and at least 2 others were arrested. June 24 The U.N. confirms that the bullets which killed journalist Shireen Abu Akleh were fired by Israeli forces and that there was no activity by armed Palestinians in the vicinity of the journalists. June 29 Outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett announced that he will not run in the next election. June 25 Israeli soldiers killed 1 Palestinian in the occupied West Bank; Israeli military claimed the shooting was in response to a group of Palestinians throwing stones along a highway. June 21 Israeli settler stabbed and killed a Palestinian man while attempting to occupy private Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank. May 23 U.S. Representative Rashida Tlaib introduces historic resolution calling on the United States government to officially recognize the Nakba and honor the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 194, which enshrines the right of return for Palestinian refugees May 25 Israeli forces kill 1 Palestinian and wound at least 80 others during an army raid in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus. May 29 Thousands of Israelis marched in occupied East Jerusalem and al-Aqsa Mosque to mark what Israelis call the flag march, commemorating Israel’s 1967 illegal capture and annexation of East Jerusalem. Marchers’ chants included “Death to Arabs” and “Let your village burn down.” May 29 Israeli settlers attacked the village Burin in the occupied West Bank. May 29 Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian homes and vehicles in Sheikh Jarrah. Israeli forces raided the al-Sumoud refugee camp and fired rubber-coated bullets, stun grenades, and tear gas canisters at crowds in Jerusalem’s Shuafat refugee camp. May 29 Israeli forces arrest 56 Palestinians in Jerusalem and other areas in the occupied West Bank. May 29 The Red Crescent (of the International Red Cross) reported more than 140 injured in the occupied West Bank, with over a dozen caused by live bullets shot by Israeli forces. May 29 Tens of Palestinians were injured by Israeli forces in the Nablus area of the occupied West Bank. May 22 New Israeli policy, called Procedure for Entry and Residence for Foreigners in Judea and Samaria Area, went into effect, further restricting movement in the occupied West Bank. May 23 Palestinian Foreign Minister al-Maliki said Shireen Abu Akleh’s murder, along with other Israeli violations, was submitted to International Criminal Court prosecutor in a formal ask to investigate the murder. May 23 During an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, 2 Palestinian youths threw Molotov cocktails at Israeli army vehicles. Israeli forces shot and killed 1 of these youths.
The Jewish people have a twothousand-year history of persecution. This history, founded in Torah (Leviticus 19:9-18), “Love your neighbor as yourself,” has led many Jews to a commitment to civil rights. It is a lesson, the lesson, of the Holocaust, not “never again to Jews” but “Never again.” Not to anyone. We see this commitment in Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel as he stood alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama (https://jwa.org/media/ abraham-joshua-heschel-on-selmamarch-1965). We see this commitment in Jews today who are on the front lines in support of justice for non-Jewish Palestinian families, for equal treatment for Israeli Jews and non-Jewish Palestinians. Our museum highlights many of these righteous Jews, both groups and individuals. Given Jewish commitment to human rights, groups of Jews around the world are among those leading the effort to end the mistreatment of Palestinian families. These organizations include Independent Jewish Voices organizations in Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom, organizations that speak out for human rights and a just and peaceful solution. Individual Jews—from young progressives, to established journalists, to Israeli soldiers and conscientious objectors, to elder Holocaust survivors—have dedicated themselves to the very Jewish cause of peace and justice for all people, not just Jews, in the Holy Land. Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), one of the fastest-growing Jewish organizations and perhaps the largest and best organized focused on peace and justice in Israel/ Palestine, is devoted to seeing Israelis and Palestinians achieve a just and lasting peace though justice. JVP offers many educational resources for learning about Israel/ Palestine, including Facing the Nakba, an educational project about the history of the Nakba. Joining and supporting JVP’s efforts is a great pathway for anyone who wants to do more to achieve justice and peace in Israel and Palestine. This issue of Perspectives is dedicated to civil rights. Visit the museum’s Civil Rights gallery and explore the many Jewish voices highlighted in the museum exhibits, who are speaking out in the accordance with Jewish values, faith, and tradition. What a Jewish Commitment to Human Rights Looks Like DR. STEVEN FELDMAN is a U.S.-based dermatologist and Curator of the Jewish Museum of the Palestinian Experience. PERSPECTIVES • THE MAGAZINE OF PROMISED LAND MUSEUM 16
ABOUT THIS PUBLICATION This magazine has been developed by the Promised Land Museum, a project of Voices for Justice in Palestine. The Promised Land Museum was founded to provide a Jewish Perspective on the Israel/Palestine conflict. This perspective is rooted in Jewish values, to treat our neighbor as we would want to be treated. The mission of Voices for Justice in Palestine is to work for a just and sustainable peace in Israel-Palestine. We educate the public, advocate for change based on equal rights, and directly support peace builders in Israel-Palestine. If you are interested in contributing to a future issue, visit us on social media or contact us via email at voicesforjusticeinpalestine@gmail.com. SUMMER 2022 17
@Promised Land @promisedlandmuseum @LandMuseum @PromisedLand PromisedLandMuseum.org For more information or to share this message of peace with your community, contact Voices for Justice in Palestine, PO Box 2081, Chapel Hill, NC 27515. voicesforjusticeinpalestine@gmail.com
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