Forgive Them Father For They Do Not Know What They Are Doing
Dr. Yoram Shifftan
In this season of good will it
is particularly fitting to act in Christian spirit and to express understanding
for "Presbyterians and others" who propose to divest of Israel. They refer to "Illegal expansion of Israeli settlements and a new security
wall that encroaches on Palestinian land," (From churches, a
challenge to Israeli policies).
I trust that their motivation is
sincere and well-meant since how would they know that international law
actually calls for such an "expansion," i.e. for the encouragement
and facilitation of dense settlement of the land of Palestine with Jews and it
forbids the transfer of the land out of Jewish control in any way. The security
wall cannot "encroach on Palestinian land" since according to
international law it is built on Jewish land.
Indeed, how would they know when
the government of Israel itself has refused for many years to allow its
representatives to openly assert the dictates of international law with respect
to Palestine?
This is a refusal that persists
in the face of the international community focusing precisely on the
"illegality of the settlements built on Palestinian land". This
refusal feeds the motivation of countless anti-Israel acts, terrorist and more
civil acts such as academic and commercial boycotts. It feeds the
demoralization of the Jews and their belief in the injustice of their cause,
and it is the direct reason for major losses of Jewish life and assets.
But this refusal has another
significance: In the absence of statements from official Israel that international law encourages the expansion of settlements, the uprooting of
settlements becomes easier. Indeed, imagine the public outcry if the public
knew that international law actually calls for the urgent expansion of Jewish
settlement in the land of Palestine. Such knowledge by the public would have
reinforced the more general dictate of human rights that Jews should not be
uprooted from anywhere in the world.
Therefore I say with respect to
the "Presbyterians and others", forgive them Father, for they know no
better.
