Time to end the silence

Op-ed: Israelis cannot continue to ignore crimes committed against Palestinian civilians

Talia Sasson|Published: 10.06.10 , 19:09

The talk in the media about the freeze that is no longer, and the one yet to come, Abbas’ decision to end-or-not-to-end the talks, the window of opportunity that may disappear at any moment, complex Israeli interests, urgent US interests, a US president who exerts pressure, and a world that holds its breath – is all just background noise.

Their ears are sealed. Their heart has hardened. They have no need for words. They remain silent and act, cutting down flourishing olive trees for everyone to see. The cut down trunks pointing heavenward spread across many miles; fields are being burned; farmers are violently removed from their fields, which they worked for dozens of years and serve as the main source of livelihood for their children at home.

The hand that uproots these trees rushes to install new irrigation systems for vineyards planted in robbed fields, as carefree tourists are invited for tastings at a boutique winery.

And those who are responsible for what is known as “law enforcement in the territories” – the Israel Police and mostly IDF soldiers – for the most part excel in observing events from a distance, while suffering from major farsightedness. Their hearing abilities are not that impressive either.

So while the government talks peace – nobody knows whether seriously or not – some of the settlers use the language we have known for 43 years now: Violent takeover of land. There is now law in the West Bank; what we have are the strong and the weak, and people who set facts on the ground on behalf of an entire country, which prefers to close its eyes – by the time it wakes up, all hope might be lost.

Simple, natural sense of justice

Perhaps nobody would wish to help us at that point - country that looks the other way and doesn’t wish to see what’s happening with our neighbors, as result of our countrymen’s actions on our behalf and on behalf of Zionism, whose name they tarnished. Because these days, while we talk peace (mostly on the radio,) in the West Bank they are talking about war against civilians, and a handful of settlers closes the door in the face of a seemingly democratic state, while sealing its future and the future of our children.

A responsible prime minister and a defense minister who performs his job in an elementary fashion must stand up to this. They must put an end to the reckless abandonment we see everywhere recently and prevent acts that will forever stain Israel’s society and their own reputation. If not today, then tomorrow. There will be those who remember this in future generations.

Putting an end to these acts of abomination is first and foremost the job of the people entrusted with preventing such acts. Yet what is our role, the public who hears all this yet remains silent? Is this a matter of political views, or an issue that challenges the simple, natural sense of justice of every person?

How can a people that suffered from racism more than any other nation on earth, and that was able to build a memorial for every Righteous Gentile who saved one soul from the terrible horror, close its ears and refuse to hear the civilian cries of its neighbors regarding robbed land, humiliation, repression, robbed livelihood, and the trampling of human rights by fellow citizens in the name of loving the land?!

At the very least, we shall say the following: We, who sit here safely, must not remain silent. At the very least, we must not remain silent. The time has come to cry out.

Talia Sasson is a member of the Yesh Din public committee and drafted the government report on West Bank outposts in 2005