[2115] in peace2
re: Petition for Peace
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Jed Ela)
Thu Dec 5 01:13:38 2002
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Date: Thu, 5 Dec 2002 01:13:31 -0500
To: mitsi-officers@mit.edu
From: Jed Ela <jed@MIT.EDU>
Cc: peace-announce@mit.edu
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I'm not going to sign this petition.
I am a Jewish American peace activist who has had many hours of very
difficult discussions recently with Palestinian-rights activists,
over the issue of suicide attacks.
I deeply believe that there is no peace without justice. For months I
have wanted to stand with nonviolent Palestinian activists, for equal
rights and justice for ALL Israelis and Palestinians.
Yet at first I wanted to stand with them only if they denounced
suicide bombings. I am flatly infuriated by what I perceive as the
moral relativism of some of these people: "I personally would not do
it, but who am I to denounce the tactics of a desperate people
engaged in a liberation struggle."
I remain infuriated with this attitude and I myself will continue to
denounce these heinous and counter-productive attacks. I will also be
vigilant of those I stand alongside. I will point out and denouce any
anti-Semitism I perceive and I will stand ready as always to turn in,
to legitimate civil authorities, any person I witness committing a
violent act or materially supporting one.
But I will, nevertheless, join other nonviolent activists worldwide
to demand that Israel move first and immediately in making
significant, unilateral concessions. Israel is an organized
democracy, with a strong central government, and is therefore capable
of pullouts and concessions which simply cannot be expected of
desperate individuals and vigilante criminal organizations. As long
as there is a demand for vengeance, there will be someone to supply
it.
A "War on Terrorism" is every bit as futile as a "War on Drugs" and
many times more devastating to everyone involved: defining these
problems as "wars" only ensures we can never beat them. Suicide
attacks are vicious crimes against humanity. Yet like drug dealing
and all other crimes, they may be minimized both by strong police
action AND by preventive, roots-based solutions. In a healthy and
minimally repressive state system, they SHOULD be continually
addressed by both tactics. Yet the US and Israeli systems have
increasingly come to rely on repressive actions alone -- and as this
reliance has escalated, more and more innocents get hurt. The
accelerating cycle of repression and violence is failing the entire
world, and I can no longer support it. It is time to attack the roots
of the problem.
As a Jewish American who has thought long and hard over this issue I
am now ready to say, I stand with the people of occupied Palestine --
and oppressed people worldwide -- to demand equal rights and economic
justice. I WILL henceforth engage in and call for nonviolent tactics
such as economic adjustments and academic strikes. I WILL NOT stand
for my tax dollars being used to support an illegal occupation, no
matter what the unfortunate tactics of others engaged in this
struggle.
I WILL NOT stand for violence, in any form. But I will stand for justice.
Sincerely,
Jed Ela
--
Jed Ela
jed@mit.edu
MIT Visual Arts Program
265 Mass. Ave., suite 315
Cambridge, MA 02139
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<div>I'm not going to sign this petition.<br>
<br>
I am a Jewish American peace activist who has had many hours of very
difficult discussions recently with Palestinian-rights activists, over
the issue of suicide attacks.<br>
<br>
I deeply believe that there is no peace without justice. For months I
have wanted to stand with nonviolent Palestinian activists, for equal
rights and justice for ALL Israelis and Palestinians.<br>
</div>
<div>Yet at first I wanted to stand with them only if they denounced
suicide bombings. I am flatly infuriated by what I perceive as the
moral relativism of some of these people: "I personally would not
do it, but who am I to denounce the tactics of a desperate people
engaged in a liberation struggle."</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>I remain infuriated with this attitude and I myself will continue
to denounce these heinous and counter-productive attacks. I will also
be vigilant of those I stand alongside. I will point out and denouce
any anti-Semitism I perceive and I will stand ready as always to turn
in, to legitimate civil authorities, any person I witness committing a
violent act or materially supporting one.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>But I will, nevertheless, join other nonviolent activists
worldwide to demand that Israel move first and immediately in making
significant, unilateral concessions. Israel is an organized democracy,
with a strong central government, and is therefore capable of pullouts
and concessions which simply cannot be expected of desperate
individuals and vigilante criminal organizations. As long as there is
a demand for vengeance, there will be someone to supply it.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>A "War on Terrorism" is every bit as futile as a
"War on Drugs" and many times more devastating to everyone
involved: defining these problems as "wars" only ensures we
can never beat them. Suicide attacks are vicious crimes against
humanity. Yet like drug dealing and all other crimes, they may be
minimized both by strong police action AND by preventive, roots-based
solutions. In a healthy and minimally repressive state system, they
SHOULD be continually addressed by both tactics. Yet the US and
Israeli systems have increasingly come to rely on repressive actions
alone -- and as this reliance has escalated, more and more innocents
get hurt. The accelerating cycle of repression and violence is failing
the entire world, and I can no longer support it. It is time to attack
the roots of the problem.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>As a Jewish American who has thought long and hard over this
issue I am now ready to say, I stand with the people of occupied
Palestine -- and oppressed people worldwide -- to demand equal rights
and economic justice. I<u> WILL</u> henceforth engage in and call for
nonviolent tactics such as economic adjustments and academic strikes.
I<u> WILL NOT</u> stand for my tax dollars being used to support an
illegal occupation, no matter what the unfortunate tactics of others
engaged in this struggle.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>I WILL NOT stand for violence, in any form. But I will stand for
justice.</div>
<div><br>
Sincerely,<br>
Jed Ela<br>
<br>
--<br>
<br>
Jed Ela<br>
jed@mit.edu<br>
MIT Visual Arts Program<br>
265 Mass. Ave., suite 315<br>
Cambridge, MA 02139</div>
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