Inside Rockland

Battle brewing, part 2

January

So to be fair, I’m also posting Alan Levin’s letter to the County Legislature above the break line.

THIS IS ALAN LEVIN’S LETTER TO THE ROCKLAND COUNTY LEGISLATURE, VERBATIM.

To: All Rockland County Legislators:
Regarding: The Proposed Resolution “In Support of Israel…..”I respectfully request that this proposed resolution be voted down or at least postponed during which time a respectful and more meaningful resolution can be prepared (if it is decided there needs to be one at all).

The situation in the middle east and the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian people is long and very complex. It is not the place of the Rockland County Legislature to vote on a summary of its history, especially one that tells only one side of the story. The history presented in the resolution represents only those points used by the Israeli government to justify its recent actions in Gaza. As in all conflicts, there are very compelling facts and analyses that tell a very different story. It is unfair and, in fact, destructive, to present only one view as true.

There is no mention of any of the narrative from the Israeli peace movement let alone the Palestinian point of view. Many Jewish organizations oppose the Israeli military action both on humanitarian grounds and because they feel it further jeapordizes the safety and future of the Israeli people. Just as many (most?) people in Rockland County oppose the U.S. actions in Iraq and do so because of humanitarian concerns and because they believe that such military adventures are hurtful to U.S. interests, many Jews and Israelis oppose Israel’s resort to the current massive violence.

The following issues are only a short list of important facts and issues that are very related to what is now going on. My point here is not to argue that these are true and the other wrong. Only that it is not helpful to pass a resolution that ignores these things that are part of the conflict. There is no account in the County Resolution of 40 years of Occupation of Palestinian territory, thousands of prisoners held without trial (many tortured), targeted assassinations during the cease fire periods (that kill family members and neighbors), home demolitions, increasing the size and number of settlements, the blockade of basic food, medicine and fuel, checkpoints that prevent people from going to school and hospitals, the ongoing billions of dollars a year in military supplies by the U.S. to one side of the conflict, ongoing violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians.
Such one-sided resolutions only serve to increase the level of violence and give support to the right-wing views both in this country and Israel that have contributed to so much of the crisis.

For your consideration, please read the resolution at the end of this message, passed by an inter-faith network from the Boston area, comprising religious leaders from the Christian, Jewish and Muslim faiths.

I fully understand and appreciate the fears and concerns that motivate the resolution placed before you. As an American Jewish man, I have deep feelings for the people of the region. I ask you, for that very reason, to consider the actual intention and effect of whatever resolution you pass.
Respectfully,
Alan Levin
Nyack

P.S. A short petition, posted less than two days ago, has already gathered over 50 signatures of Rockland County residents.
“The undersigned feel very strongly that the currently drafted resolution before the Rockland County Legislature regarding the conflict in Israel/Palestine is one-sided and promotes further misunderstanding and inflames conflict rather than peace and justice. We ask that any decision be postponed and a public meeting be held to discuss drafting a resolution that truly represents support for peace and justice.”
————(The following resolution of an interfaith group, could easily be changed to say “We Members of the Rockland County Legislature, having deep and symbolic” ……)
We, members and leaders of the Muslim, Jewish, and Christian communities in Greater Boston – all having deep and symbolic ties to the land and peoples of the Middle East – are anguished by the events unfolding in Israel and Gaza. Recognizing the legitimate needs of all peoples, including all those living in the Middle East , for dignity, peace, safety and security ñ- regardless of religion, race, or national origin—we issue this joint statement with the hope and belief that our interfaith voices will be heard clearly, above the din of war.

As guiding principles,
• We acknowledge the long, complex, and painful history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

• We acknowledge the wide range of deeply-held beliefs, and intensely-felt narratives on all sides

• We acknowledge that all sides are capable of assigning blame to others, and asserting justification for their cause

• We observe that violence by any side begets more violence, hatred, and retaliation

• We deplore any invocation of religion as a justification for violence against others, or the deprivation of the rights of others

• We decry any use of inflammatory rhetoric that demonizes the other and is intended, or is likely, to promote hatred and disrespect

• We believe the conflict can be resolved only through a political and diplomatic solution and not a military one.

In the face of many competing narratives, we recognize that the overriding common need of the peoples of the region is the prompt implementation of a just and lasting peace. Toward that end, and particularly in response to the current hostilities,

• We call upon the United States and the international community immediately to intercede to help reestablish a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, toward the goal of a permanent cessation of hostilities

• We call upon Hamas immediately to end all rocket attacks on Israel, and upon Israel immediately to end its military campaign in Gaza

• We call for an immediate end to all strikes on civilian centers and citizens, both Israeli and Palestinian

• We call for lifting of the blockade on Gaza as to all non-military goods, for an immediate and significant increase in humanitarian aid to address the needs of the people of Gaza , and for all parties involved to join in taking responsibility to address those human needs

• We call on all parties involved in the conflict to work sincerely and vigorously toward a just and lasting peace that addresses and promotes the national aspirations of both the Israeli and Palestinian peoples

• We call on President-elect Obama to make clear that as President he will urgently assert US leadership to achieve a comprehensive diplomatic resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian and Arab-Israeli conflicts
Through this joint statement we affirm our commitment to engage with one another, even, and especially, during times of great stress. We also affirm our common humanity and our common belief – as Jews, Muslims and Christians – that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict must cease, that there is no military or violent solution, that all human life is valued, and that all parties must cooperate to make the peace – a just and lasting peace desperately needed and deserved by all the peoples of the region.

Signed:

Salwa Abd-Allah, Executive Council, Muslim American Society of Boston
(MAS Boston ), Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center (ISBCC)
Tariq Ali, President, Harvard Islamic Society
Hossam AlJabri, President, MAS Boston-ISBCC; Trustee, Interreligious Center for Public Life (ICPL)
Rev. Dr. Jim Antal, President, United Church of Christ Mass. Conference

Abdul Cader Asmal, Past President, Islamic Council of New England and Islamic Center of Boston ; Trustee ICPL

Rabbi Al Axelrad, Hillel Director Emeritus, Brandeis University

Diane Balser, Executive Director, Brit Tzedek víShalom
Dorothy C. Buck, Ph.D., Director, Badaliya
Rev. Nick Carter, Ph.D., President, Andover Newton Theological School
Dris Djermoun, President, Islamic Center of Boston (Wayland)
Diana L. Eck, Professor, Harvard University
Imam Talal Eid, Islamic Institute of Boston ; Chaplain Brandeis University
Ashraf Elkerm, Board Chairman, Islamic Center of Greater Worcester
Rev. Dr. Terasa G. Cooley, Unitarian Universalist Mass. Bay District Executive
Mercedes S. Evans, Esq., Committee on Contemporary Spiritual & Public Concerns (CSPC Committee) (Civil Rights)

Imam Abdullah Faruuq, Imam, Mosque for the Praising of Allah (Roxbury)
Michael Felsen, President, Boston Workmen’s Circle
Lisa Gallatin, Executive Director, Boston Workmen’s Circle
Zekeriyya Gemici, President, MIT Muslim Students Association
Rabbi David Gordis
Rabbi Arthur Green, Rector, Rabbinical School, Hebrew College , Newton
Rev. Raymond G. Helmick, S.J., Instructor, Conflict Resolution, Boston College
Arnold Hiatt
Rev. Jack Johnson, Executive Director, MCC
M. Bilal Kaleem, Executive Director, MAS Boston-ISBCC
Anwar Kazmi, Executive Council, MAS Boston-ISBCC
Alexander Kern, Executive Director, Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries
Nabeel Khudairi, Past President, Islamic Council of New England
Idit Klein, Executive Director, Keshet
Margie Klein, Co-Director, Moishe/Kavod House
Mary Lahaj, Muslim Chaplain, Simmons College

Geoffrey Lewis
Imam Taalib Mahdee, Imam, Masjid Al-Quran, ( Dorchester )
Rev. Bert Marshall, Church World Service, New England Director
Jerome D. Maryon, Esq., President, CSPC Committee
Michael J. Moran, Pax Christi Massachusetts
Sister Jane Morrissey, SSJ, Pax Christi Massachusetts
Merrie Najimy, President, American Arab Anti-discrimination Committee, MA
Imam Khalid Nasr, Imam, ICNE-Quincy
Imam Basyouni Nehela, Imam, Islamic Society of Boston
Rashid Noor, President, Islamic Center of New England
Rabbi Sara Paasche-Orlow
Rabbi Barbara Penzner, Temple Hillel B’nai Torah
Rev. Rodney L. Petersen, Ph.D., Executive Director, Boston Theological Institute
Dr Asif Rizvi, President-Elect, Islamic Council of New England
Rabbi Victor Reinstein, Nehar Shalom
Rev. Anne Robertson, Executive Director, Massachusetts Bible Society
Qasim Salimi, President, Boston University Muslim Students Association
Robert M. Sarly, Trustee, ICPL

Rev. Mikel E. Satcher, Ph.D., Pastor, Trinity Baptist Church
Professor Adam Seligman, Boston University
Rabbi Sanford Seltzer, Chair, ICPL
Enid Shapiro, Trustee, ICPL
Rt. Rev. M. Thomas Shaw, SSJE, Episcopal Bishop, Diocese of Massachusetts
Alan Solomont
Rabbi Toba Spitzer, Congregation Dorshei Tzedek

Rev. John K. Stendahl, Pastor, Lutheran Church of the Newtons
Sidney Topol
Rabbi Andrew Vogel, Temple Sinai
Peter D. Weaver, Bishop, United Methodist Church , Boston Area

(Organizational affiliations for identification purposes only)