Sunday, August 10th, 2008
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I wrote this letter to Jeff Halper, head of ICAHD (The Israel Committee Against House Demolition,
on the eve of the Free Gaza Voyage that will set sail from Cyprus for Gaza on August 12th. The
aim of the voyage is to break the Gaza siege.
Shalom Jeff,
I received your statement entitled "An Israeli Jew in Gaza" about the impending Free Gaza
voyage from the ICAHD.
I will be following the events surrounding the voyage with keen interest and wish you all success
on this very important mission. In my opinion - barring any physical harm that might befall
anyone, which I hope will not, it is a win-win operation: If you break the seige, the voyage will
have accomplished its objective. If you are detained or arrested, the event will draw public
attention and force Israel to come to terms with the fact that there are people who have Israel's
security needs in mind, but at the same time feel that the siege of Gaza is above and beyond
what Israel needs to employ to ensure the security of the Western Negev.
I hope that there will be additional such demonstrations by land or sea that are sponsored and
attended explicitly by Israelis. I would gladly join them. This present voyage will show the world
that there are international activists who are against the Israeli siege of Gaza. I believe that it is
equally important - and perhaps even more so - to show the world that there are many Israelis
who feel that what the Palestinians are seeking today is identical to what we Jews sought in 1948
- liberty and self-determination in our own homeland, and that our conflict will only be resolved
when the Palestinians accomplish this and have their own state alongside ours. This voiage is
voicing criticism of Israel on the part of foreign citizens. I hope that there will be more criticism
and widespread action to end the occupation on the part of Isralelis from within.
Recent events in Bil'in and Na'alin and the rebuilding of Palestinian homes by the ICAHD are
small, but significant victories, and I feel it is important that Israelis also play an active role in the
struggle to end the occupation. The world needs to know that there are Israelis who do not
support the settlement enterprise and the siege of Gaza and who feel that these actions have
usurped the banner of Zionism from its original purpose and code of ethics for which it stands.
As a person who grew up in the Zionist movement, I feel that what is being done today in the
occupied territories is a direct negation of what Zionism stands for.
I hope to see a massive lineup of Israelis at the Gaza border or along the separation wall in the
West Bank, with a similar one on the other side. I would like to see all the various peace
movements in Israel and in the occupied Palestinian territories: a gathering of all the grass roots
organizations demanding that the politicians abandon their cul-de-sac policies and pursue a real
peace.
I realize such demonstrations require financial backing, publicity, and organization. I also realize
that perhaps something like this had been done in the past that I don't know about. But be
certain that if there were another such voiate with a ship flying an Israeli flag, I - together with
many others - would be waiting in line to get on it, and if there were a mass demonstration near
the Gaza border, I - together with many other Israelis - would join in the line.
I like to believe that people in the long run are going to do more to promote peace than our
governments. Indeed, I think that people want peace so much that one of these days
governments had better get out of the way and let them have it.
-- Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969)
Again, wishing you all much success in your present mission.
Bracha Ben-Avraham
Moshav Ben-Ami, Western Galilee
I like to believe that people in
the long run are going to do
more to promote peace than
our governments. Indeed, I
think that people want peace
so much that one of these
days governments had better
get out of the way and let
them have it.
the long run are going to do
more to promote peace than
our governments. Indeed, I
think that people want peace
so much that one of these
days governments had better
get out of the way and let
them have it.