By Joel Magalnick, JTNews Correspondent
The window for a two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians is quickly closing. That, and a bit of hearty optimism for some kind of resolution to the intifada that has gripped the Middle East were what approximately 700 left-leaning individuals came away with from B’rit Tzedek V’Shalom: The Alliance for Justice and Peace’s second annual conference at the end of October.
Seattle’s two delegates from B’rit Tzedek, Barbara Lahav and Rainer Waldman Adkins, returned from the Boston conference with more hope for peace than just a few months ago, but also with the knowledge that they will have to work hard if they wish to influence the hearts and minds of American Jews across the ideological spectrum.
“The difference between B’rit Tzedek V’Shalom and some of the other ‘left’ organizations is that it really comes from a very pro-Israeli situation,” said Lahav. This conference was “a way for like-minded people around the country to come together to talk about and exchange ideas about bringing to the American Jewish population the peace movement of B’rit Tzedek V’Shalom and the main point of the organization.”
This conference, like any other organization’s, featured knowledgeable speakers and days filled with workshops. However, in the past few months, B’rit Tzedek has begun “supporting the activism of the People’s Peace Initiative, the Ayalon-Nusseibah effort,” said Adkins, “because it sees these two as being supportive of one another.”
This initiative, created by Ami Ayalon, former head of Israel’s Shin Bet security service and Dr. Sari Nusseibah, president of al-Quds University in East Jerusalem, proposes serious concessions by both sides of the conflict. Approximately 170,000 Israelis and Palestinians have lent their signatures to the initiative, and U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice have both expressed their support for the accord.
In addition, the Geneva Accord, an agreement between high-level Palestinians and former Israeli government figures, has also been put forth by B’rit Tzedek as one of its own platforms.
The accord has been blasted by Ariel Sharon’s government, called “delusional” by Prime Minister Ehud Barak, and dismissed by Oslo peace negotiator Shimon Peres, but a signing ceremony will take place on Dec. 1 in Geneva, Switzerland.
“The Geneva Accord, the Ayalon-Nusseibah initiave, and B’rit Tzedek V’Shalom platforms are all extremely similar,” said Lahav. B’rit Tzedek’s original mission was a signature campaign called “Bring the Settlers Home,” which petitions members of Congress to pressure the Israeli government to absorb Jewish settlers back into Israel proper. Adkins said the local chapter expects to be able to present the group’s position — with 10,000 signatures — to Rep. Jennifer Dunn’s office in the very near future.
The conference featured former Labor Party leader Amram Mitzna, who resigned earlier this year after his party’s devastating showing in Israel’s elections.
It also drew political attention and guests from the political left, including Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass) and representatives of several Democratic presidential candidates.
Adkins said that B’rit Tzedek’s grassroots-type of activism, which has attracted nearly 700 people to this conference, has also reached Israelis. He noted that this type of organizing had not been a part of Israeli politics.
“That’s one way the People’s Peace Initiative has given the nudge, because it is from the bottom up,” Adkins said. “[Israelis] have explicitly and clearly bought into that….They see themselves as partners with American Jews” in this approach.
Adkins said frustration with the government has fueled the initiative.
“There hasn’t been a sufficient sense that their concerns and that their viewpoint is being consulted, so these initiatives that are going on now come from the other direction,” he said. “They have to build a movement that the government will have to heed.”
Lahav agreed with that assertion.
“Sharon promised security,” she said. “That’s why he was elected. Sharon can’t bring security, and neither can anyone else. And that’s what the Israelis are understanding, that this isn’t going to go away.”
Lahav compared the peace process to South Africa in the 1990s, and noted that the two parties recognized there would be a body count, but that should not stop them from creating a resolution.. She said the Israeli government set up former Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas for failure by not giving him any support.
“The Israeli government didn’t give him an inch,” she said.
Lahav noted that Seattle’s Jewish community, which a year or two ago who might have unequivocally been against giving any concessions to Palestinians, are “coming to terms with the fact that what’s happening now between the Israelis and the Palestinians doesn’t lead to any solution,” Lahav said. “I’ve seen a real change in the community here.”
It is this sea change that Adkins said sets the tone for B’rit Tzedek’s efforts to build coalitions with other pro-Israel groups while pushing the Geneva Accord movement, as well as connecting with politicians here and in Washington, D.C.
“We find that a lot of political representatives are afraid to take a stand that can be construed as being pro-Israel and pro-peace, because they think they’ll be hit by a sledgehammer,” Adkins said. “Our job is to demonstrate to them that’s not the case, that it is possible to be pro-Israel, to really care for Israel, and also understand the relationship between Israel’s security and a just peace.”
Lahav said that with the conference over, and people’s support of these three peace movements, what she sees as necessary for the future has become clear.
“We get what has to happen now,” she said. “The question is, are we going to let the extreme lead us into extinction, or are we going to say there is a compromise? It’s not the best deal, it’s not Judea and Samaria, but it’s a future for the Jewish people.”