Israel has asked the U.S. to provide official endorsement of the separation fence route, as part of the “benefits basket” which is to be provided in exchange for the implementation of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s separation plan. This request was submitted as part of an attempt to satisfy conditions upon which Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has predicated his support for the separation plan.
American support for the fence would not be included in a letter of guarantees submitted to Israel in exchange for the execution of the separation plan; instead, the fence endorsement would be exhibited in a different way. Details of this endorsement arrangement are to be worked out in talks with the three U.S. envoys – William Burns, Elliot Abrams and Steve Hadley – who will arrive in Israel tomorrow. The three will also finalize details for Sharon’s meeting in the U.S. with President George W. Bush on April 14. [read more]
Rabbi Michael Lerner and Tikkun will be conducting a Teach-In to Congress on April 25-27, 2004 in Washington, DC. You can register here.
However, not all are welcome:
As long as you support a 2 state solution and don’t insist on using this occasion to raise impossible demands (like immediate implementation of Right of Return or One State solutions or cutting off of all aid to Israel), but instead can act in a disciplined way to convince the media and the Congress and the Kerry people that there is a serious group of people out there who could form a constituency for a two state peace approach that is not anti-Israel and doesn’t have that sense of anger and nastiness that can ensure that nobody listens to you , you are welcome.
This doesn’t sound like a teach-in to me. More like a shut-up and get with my programme.
Rabbi Lerner is not alone in his proclivity for censorship.
In a 17 March 2004 article, “Politics by Other Means“, Benny Morris offered a “review” of Ilan Pappe’s new book, “A History of Modern Palestine; one land, two peoples” (Cambridge University Press, 2003), which tells the history of Palestine from the point of view of its workers, peasants, children, women and all the subaltern groups that make the society and not its political elite. Morris’ “review” consisted of a series of ad hominem attacks and outright factual distortions. Ilan Pappe sent the following reply to the New Republic, who refused to publish it. [Pappe’s reply]
Purchase Ilan Pappe’s A History of Modern Palestine; one land, two peoples on Amazon.com.