08/10/06 Israel's Policy Of Destruction, Death Creates More Enemies
The Capital Times
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Tsela Barr, Esty Dinur, Betsy Lawrence, David Loewenstein, Jennifer Loewenstein, Ben Manski, Edward Oltman, Marc Rosenthal, Matt Rothschild, Allen Ruff, Judy Strasser
Dear Editor: As Madison area Jews, we condemn the indiscriminate and disproportionate Israeli attack on Lebanon and the Lebanese people. We condemn violence in all its forms, including the Hezbollah attacks on Israeli soldiers and civilians within Israel.
It is clear, however, that the Israeli military and political leadership used Hezbollah's latest provocation as a pretext for a major assault on Lebanon. According to the Israeli daily Haaretz, the current military action was planned more than a year before Hezbollah's recent provocation. Israel exchanged prisoners and took its own share of hostages in the past, and both sides made cross border incursions and carried out prisoner exchanges through negotiations and diplomacy. Until recently, that is.
With its mounting toll of civilian casualties and displaced people, and with damage to Lebanon's infrastructure amounting already to $2.5 billion, Israel's latest escalation will nevertheless fail to destroy or weaken Hezbollah. Indeed, what has happened, predictably, is that support for Hezbollah has dramatically increased, even among the Sunni and Christian Lebanese populations. Israel is creating enemies far more quickly than it is killing them.
By what stretch of the imagination can the current Israeli destruction of Lebanon help bring about peace and security for anyone in this region? As American Jews concerned for the safety and security of not only our loved ones, relatives, and friends in Israel, but for all those faced with increasing violence across the Middle East, we join the rest of the civilized world in condemning Israel's actions.
We also wish to speak out against all those in this country, including our political leaders, who have so readily and uncritically supported Israel's disastrous course of action. If Israel truly wants peace and security, it must pursue negotiations with all parties concerned. Only by talking to one's enemies can one bring about the conditions for an enduring peace.
As both Jews and American taxpayers in whose name these atrocities are being committed, we demand an immediate end to Israel's latest military incursions into Lebanon and Gaza, as well as an end to all Israeli aggression toward Palestinians and Lebanese. We ask all who share our concerns and desires for a just and lasting peace in the region to join us in calling upon the United States to end its unconditional backing for Israel's military adventurism and to exert pressure on Israel to end its reckless, destructive and ominous wars.
To find out more information and to get involved, go to www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org.