Rabbi Brant Rosen has come through again. He is the driving force behind Rabbis Speak Out, "a group of American rabbis
seeking to express their outrage at the war launched by Israel against
Gaza in December, 2008." They have released the important statement below that condemns Gaza as an "us versus them, zero-sum game."
31 brave rabbis have signed onto this call for humanity and sanity.
Finally, the moral and prophetic leaders of the Jewish community are
beginning to say 'enough!' publicly.
It is important to note that Eric Yoffie is not on the list. It is important to note that David Wolpe
is not on the list. Neither is David Saperstein. They are losing their mantel for moral leadership
in the wake of the Gaza crisis. This statement is the future. (Adam
Horowitz)
The statement:
As American rabbis and rabbinical students from various parts of the
Jewish world, we express our sorrow and outrage over Israel's latest
military operation in Gaza. Judaism teaches that all human beings are
created in the image of God and that one who takes a single life
destroys an entire world. We condemn the firing of missiles from Gaza
that forced so many Israelis to live in fear and we mourn the loss of
life that resulted from these attacks. However, we are devastated by
Israel's disproportionate use of force, killing more than 1,300 people,
including over 450 children. In the wake of such overwhelming civilian
carnage, we can only ask, in the words of the Talmud, "How do we know
that our blood is redder than the blood of our fellow?"
Jewish tradition also teaches that "when an arrow leaves the hand of
a warrior he cannot take it back." From this we learn that violence
unleashes a myriad of consequences that we cannot control or reverse.
We cannot begin to fathom the depths of trauma this action has caused
for those living in Gaza and the grief for scores of individuals,
families and loved ones around the world. Moreover we can only imagine
the growing fury it has inspired in Gazans, Palestinians and the
greater Arab world and the serious damage it has inflicted upon
prospects for peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
In the wake of the recent cease-fire the task before the new
American administration is all the more daunting – and all the more
critical. We urge our new President to turn back the policies of
previous administrations – policies which have given Israel a blank
check to take numerous measures that we believe are counter to the
cause of peace, including the expropriation of Palestinian lands,
destruction of Palestinians homes and businesses and the widespread
building of settlements in occupied Palestinian territory, to name but
a few. We sincerely hope the Obama administration will find the courage
to insist that the Israeli government end these actions and be prepared
to withhold military aid as necessary.
As Jewish spiritual leaders, we believe the pursuit of peace and
justice to be our most sacrosanct value. We reject the vision of this
conflict as an "Us vs. Them" zero sum game. We urge all who seek an end
to this tragic conflict to commit themselves to peace, reconciliation
and restorative justice. We call for a political solution that ends the
occupation, addresses the needs of Palestinian refugees and constructs
a positive future by and for Israelis and Palestinians in the holy land.
