Non-Zionist Stories: A Christian Activist in Kansas City With a Wide Network

Next in my series of Non-Zionist Stories (modeled on the Zionist Stories AIPAC tells at its annual policy conference) is Andrea Whitmore of Kansas City. A forceful, spirited woman, “Andy” Whitmore deserves attention from anyone who cares about these issues because she is a member of a sprawling, heartland group of activists on the Israel/Palestine issue, mostly Christian, who are quietly building opposition to American policy. Born in England, raised in the Midwest, Andy is 63 and privileged. She had a career in publishing and as a teacher of English as a second language. She’s active in her United Methodist church. Her husband Doug (trained as an accountant, he owns and manages apartment buildings) also comes into the story. 

I asked her why she threw herself into the Israel/Palestine issue.  She wrote out an answer, then answered a few questions. Andy Whitmore:

About nine years ago, I was given a copy of The Origin of the Palestine Israel Conflict, by Jews for Justice in the Middle East. My son was friendly with an Egyptian-American colleague on the east coast who asked him to read the booklet. My son brought it home with him at Christmas and asked me what I thought. Sigh. And it changed my life. I remember the event because it was like Dorothy stepping into technicolor–you remember the scene in Munchkin Land after the house lands and the door opens. Bam. Complete worldview change. You’ll find it stunning how ignorant I was up to that that time. Leon Uris’ Exodus provided my view of the situation. I thought–when I thought–that everything Israel did was good. They were Jews, they had been persecuted, and even in this country there continued to be bigotry.

To back up a bit, I grew up in Toledo, Ohio. In high school, I was sort of an in-crowder, and was a member of a high school sorority (big back in the day) that many girls wanted to join though few were invited. One summer I met a girl a year younger who had a Jewish father and a gentile mother. We became friends. In the fall, her name came up for membership in the sorority, but out of hand the members chorused that she could not join because she was Jewish. We all really like her, they said–if only she weren’t Jewish.

Something came over me, and I made a speech. My friend was elected to membership and after that the matter of Jewishness never entered the discussion again, and several Jewish girls joined in subsequent years. A small thing, but it gives you a bit of background. That and the fact my parents were Londoners, my dad in the RAF and my mother a fire-bomb watcher across the road from Big Ben. I was born in England in 1944 but brought to the U.S. in 1950. I grew up on stories of WW2, the blitz, the concentration camps, etc. So my sympathies were entirely towards Israel. Then nine years ago I was handed the Origins book. It was written by Jews, so I was glad to read it. I remember sitting on the couch as I read. I remember nearly hyperventilating. I remember having to put the book down every couple of pages. This can’t be true, I thought. This is someone masquerading as Jews. I decided to find out, and looked up the booklet online, which led to [the pro-Palestinian website] cactus48, which led to contacting Bob Cork [an activist in Bradenton, Florida, who runs cactus48] which led to his contacting the Jews who wrote the booklet with my question—were these really Jews writing this, or someone else in perfidious disguise?

Well of course it was Jews. My world turned over. I’d been rooting for the oppressors thinking they were the oppressed, and all the while the real program from the beginning was the dispossession of the people who’d lived there for hundreds of years.

I began reading. I searched out people in Kansas City who are equally passionate about the situation, and who realize how critical for our own country it is to find a solution to it. We formed a group and now have a strong and dedicated core with an email list of over 700. I traveled with Interfaith Peace Builders with their October 2004 delegation to Palestine and Israel. My husband and I have hosted Jeff Halper and Salim Shawamreh in our home, and have become good friends with the glorious and beautiful [author] Anna Baltzer, who has stayed with us on several occasions while giving talks our group has organized for her in the Kansas City area. 

We don’t have any active Jewish members but we have cooperated with the local chapter of Brit Tzedek to bring speakers to town (Parents’ Circle, Rabbi Arik Ascherman, Combatants for Peace). The local BT is a sometimes-beleaguered group. The prevailing winds in this area are quite Zionist.

I co-chaired the Kansas City Sabeel Conference [Sabeel is a peace movement sponsored by Palestinian Christians], held in 2006. We had over 300 attendees from all over the country and an amazing group of speakers.

My interest led to my husband Doug’s interest. As result of the Sabeel Conference we became friends with the Rev. Dick Toll of Friends of Sabeel North America ( ), and as a further result, in December my husband began a three-month sojourn in the Palestinian village of Jayyous, which is in the Qalqilya district. There, Doug served as an Ecumenical Accompanier for the World Council of Churches. You can read his reports on CJME’s website if you like .

Doug now gives talks about his three months in Jayyous. He’s spoken to about ten church groups so far, with others scheduled. This past Saturday a woman at a United Methodist church said something interesting. She said that 20 years ago if anyone had approached the idea that there was a side to this conflict that was other than Israeli, people would have shouted them down. Times are changing.  My fear is that they are not changing fast enough, and that the Israeli government, or our own, will unduly attack Iran. If that happens the fallout (as it were) will be catastrophic for the Middle East and—well, the world. Once again the public is being propagandized towards war. I’m not as optimistic as you are, therefore, about the prospects for peace between Palestine and Israel. Time is running out.

But I’m hopeful in spite of all the bad news and will continue to work towards peace with justice.

Weiss again: I sent Andy a few questions.

Anger? Oh yes. How can people know this stuff is going on and not speak out?  My parents used to talk about the Germans–why didn’t the good Germans speak out?  There wasn’t an answer, only the question.

It’s an interesting (and frustrating) thing to me that some people see and do speak out, but most don’t. I don’t have any answers about why. I think maybe they aren’t sure of what they know. It’s hard for them to believe. They don’t have enough information and don’t take the time to get it. And if they have seen, as you did in Hebron, they rationalize. Maybe some people are just raised with a strong sense of justice. I don’t know. But once I knew, I had to speak out, as you do–though I’m sure there have been times when you wished you didn’t know. I have had those times!

Have I met many others who are at the same level of activism? No. You’ll never find huge numbers. We have a small core here in KC, maybe 15 at the same level, and a large interested email list and many, many church groups who are sympathetic. There is a “sister” group in a suburb of KC called Lee’s Summit, MO, that has a very dedicated core, though I’m not sure of that number. I’d guess about ten. But they are very active, very good. There’s also a group in Lawrence, KS, that’s very good. We exist all over the U.S. Doug and I are going to Atlanta in a couple weeks to speak at a Presbyterian peace event, and to a UMethodist church on the Sunday.

Once you become involved in a cause, you get to know not only those in your area who are involved, but also some of the many others throughout the country. Like my starting to know you. There really are many individuals and groups. Often they are organizers of Sabeel conferences. Jewish Voice for Peace is another group of activists. Activists are all over but they don’t have access to major media as a rule. [emphasis Weiss's]

What’s my manner? Most people like me. I can be impassioned but my son told me I have to dial it down so that people can ‘hear’ me, and I’m getting better at that.

Weiss again. I told Whitmore that I’d read about a Boston Sabeel event in the Globe last year, which included the disgraceful statement by Hillary’s big funder, Steve Grossman, that the Sabeel conference was “bad for Palestinians.” Whitmore said she’d been there:

In Boston, one of the most moving things about the Sabeel conference was when the many clergy in attendance led the 800 others from Old South Church to Copley Square, where JVP hosted a big rally, and Archbishop Tutu made a speech. That was networking at its finest–a display of unity calling for relief for the oppressed Palestinians.

Weiss: How old were you when you helped your friend get in the sorority?

15.

Related posts:

1. From Gaza City to Kansas City: Andrea’s friend tells her she’s an anti-Semite
2. ‘What has Israel become?’ they ask in Kansas City
3. Kansas City turns out for Gaza, Galloway
4. Non-Zionist Stories: Jerome Slater
5. Jack Ross Tries to Curb My Enthusiasm for New Anti-Zionist ‘Network’