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MIDEAST: Rabbis Take on Settlers
By Mel Frykberg
AWARTA, West Bank, Oct 21, 2009 (IPS) - Away from the media spotlight that focuses on the widening chasm between
Israelis and Palestinians, a group of Israeli humanists is quietly working to break
down barriers with their Palestinian neighbours.
Rabbi Arik Ascherman, director of Israel's Rabbis for Human Rights (RHR), has
been used as a human shield, arrested, and beaten up several times by Israeli
security forces while defending Palestinians. He has also been stoned by
Palestinians who mistook him for a settler.
Every year during the Palestinian olive season in the autumn months,
Palestinian farmers have been subjected to escalated violence by some of the
half-million Israeli settlers who live in illegal settlements scattered all over
the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
Much of the Palestinian farmers' land has been expropriated by the Israeli
authorities for enlargement of settlements and to establish new ones.
The Israeli government recently began laying foundations in 12 settlements for new
buildings, while other construction continues in a total of 34 settlements.
Areas around the settlements have been declared closed military zones by
the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF).
Groups of vigilante settlers, often protected by the IDF, have set fire to
swathes of Palestinian agricultural land, cut down trees, beaten up farmers,
and killed some of their livestock.
Israeli and international supporters of Palestinian farmers have been arrested
by Israeli soldiers for allegedly breaching the closed military zones, and
attacked by settlers as well.
The settler violence is part of an established "price-tag" policy in retaliation
for every small settlement outpost evacuated by the IDF.
Ascherman and RHR have been in the forefront of fighting for justice for
disadvantaged groups both within Israel and in the occupied Palestinian
territories.
Each year during the olive season Ascherman leads a group of rabbinical
students, and Israeli and international volunteers to accompany Palestinian
farmers as they try to harvest their olives. IPS joined them as they
accompanied Palestinian farmers to their olive groves in the northern West
Bank villages of Awarta and Jit.
Hellela Siew, 65, an Israeli now resident in the UK, travels to Israel each year
to partake in the olive harvesting.
During a previous harvest she had to be taken to hospital after she was hit
over the head with an iron bar by an Israeli security guard from one of the
nearby settlements. On another occasion settlers threw stones and human
excreta at her and other volunteers, while shooting into the air.
"I'm an Israeli and Israel is my country and I don't like what the occupation is
doing in my name," Siew told IPS. "I come here because this is what I must do.
I don't fear the Palestinians, I fear the settlers. In fact I feel more comfortable
with the Palestinians than I do with many Israelis."
German-born Suzanne Moses, 80, fled the Nazis as a child after her mother
perished in the Auschwitz death camp. After years as a refugee in various
countries she settled in Israel as a young woman.
Moses has been volunteering on the olive groves for years. She spends back-
breaking hours in the scorching sun picking olives "because I love olives," she
jokes.
"Seriously, I'm against the occupation. I don't like the settlers and I'm actually
very worried about civil war in the future. The settlers are armed, and even if
there was an Israeli government willing to evacuate the settlements, the
settlers won't leave without a fight," Moses told IPS.
Shy Halatzi, 23, is a physics and astronomy student at Tel Aviv University who
served in the IDF. This was his third trip to the West Bank to pick olives.
"I had never been to the West Bank before apart from visiting the Dead Sea. I
was a bit apprehensive at first as I wasn't sure about safety. But I wanted to
understand the Palestinians better and see their perspective. Israelis don't
really understand what is happening here from our media.
"If every violation against Palestinians was written about, it would fill a book.
I feel my presence here is small compensation for what my countrymen are
doing," Halatzi told IPS.
The volunteers included some refuseniks, or young Israeli conscientious
objectors who refuse to serve in the IDF and are prepared to go to prison for
this.
But despite the dedication and commitment of these volunteers the
settlements continue to grow, and the settlers continue to be a law unto
themselves.
IPS asked Asherman if he thought that his organisation has made any
difference. "Today Palestinians are able to access some of their land at times.
Ten years ago this was almost impossible. The IDF also provides more
protection from the settlers than previously.
"I've also noticed a change in some Israeli hawkish Labour Party supporters
from the kibbutzim who used to be farmers themselves. Despite their politics
they can relate to the struggles of the Palestinian farmers," Ascherman told
IPS.
"I strongly believe we are helping to break down stereotypes and build
dialogue. I was blown away several years ago to find out that one of the
Palestinian guys I was working with belonged to Yasser Arafat's Presidential
Guard, some of whose members have carried out serious attacks against
Israelis.
"He was equally blown away to find out that I was an Israeli rabbi. I'm not so
naive as to believe that in the future he wouldn't consider violence. However,
I think he might have a new perspective should he reach that junction," said
Ascherman. (END)
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