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March 2001
Letters

 


Blaming the Victims?
I was shocked at all the letters in the last issue of Satya (February 2001) denouncing Hanan Ashrawi and Satya’s decision to print her essay, “Anatomy of Racism”(November/December 2000). The common theme of the letters—that the Palestinians are largely responsible for the violence directed against theme—is disturbing in its total lack of compassion for the victims. A recent Village Voice article described the pain and suffering endured by some of the 11,000 wounded, including 1,500 who are crippled for life. Yet we are told to blame the stone-throwing civilians, rather than those behind the lethal M16s, helicopters and tanks.

I think Ashrawi roils so many people because she speaks the truth so eloquently. “All we want,” she says, “is for the Israeli army to leave us alone, for the occupation to leave.” She speaks of dignity and rights, and calls on Israeli leaders to “chart the course of a future unfettered by inequities of the past.”

I want to hear what Ashrawi and other Palestinians have to say, and I applaud Satya for daring to publish her views. I challenge all compassionate people to stop blaming the victims and begin addressing their grievances.

Joan Zacharias
Chatham, NY

I applaud Satya’s publishing an article by Hanan Ashrawi, and I’m disturbed at three letters in the February issue which object to it.

One of the writers identifies herself as from ‘Jews For Animal Rights.’ But it seems she can’t extend her compassion to neighboring members of her own species who have been dispossessed of their homes, humiliated and deprived for decades of a chance for self-determination and a dignified life. Racist generalizations about ‘the Arabs’ and apocryphal stories about Palestinian children with rifles can’t hide the fact that the Israeli state, armed with helicopter gunships, advanced aircraft, cluster bombs, and all the terrible panoply of modern armaments—including nuclear weapons—has consistently used its military might to oppress another race and pursue an aggressive policy of expansion. Israeli attacks on civilian populations, not just Palestinians but Lebanese people, continue, unfortunately, to be commonplace. Against this, the desperate youths who throw stones are demonized by Israeli propagandists.

Another writer suggests that Satya is ‘anti-Jewish, anti-Israel’ (falsely equating the two) for publishing a moderate Palestinian voice. No, it isn’t anti-Jewish to criticize the racist policies of the Israeli state, which is constructing an apartheid-style Bantustan system in the occupied territories, and has imposed one of the longest military occupations in history, against the condemnation of the entire world—excepting the U.S which is using Israel as a military surrogate in its endeavors to control the region. That path will continue to do more long-term harm to Israeli society, and to the Jews, than would a policy of true peace and non-violence.

Laurie Kirby
Woodstock, NY

Challenging Your Religion

In a recent book review (“Tinkering Around the Edges,” Satya Nov/Dec 2000), I took issue with author Joseph Singer’s claim that human beings are entitled to “dignity and security” because we are created in the image of God, and said that, “An ethical system that excludes the majority of sentient beings from its protection is fatally flawed.” In a letter published in Satya (“Failing Vision?” Jan 2001), Richard Schwartz takes that sentence to mean that animal rights activists should reject the teachings of the Bible.

Nothing could have been farther from my mind, and I apologize for not expressing myself clearly. The notion that only humans have rights because only we are created in the image of God has become a common theological defense for animal exploitation. But it is nowhere to be found in the Bible, and it does violence to the Bible’s highest teachings, which are universal love and compassion. When examined with openness and integrity, these teachings lead us to the recognition that animals are to be protected and nurtured, not imprisoned, tortured, and killed. I agree with Professor Schwartz that “Rather than rejecting religious teachings…we should challenge people who profess to be religious to live up to their religion’s highest ideals.” My comment was intended to be just such a challenge to author Joseph Singer.

Norm Phelps
Spiritual Outreach Director
The Fund for Animals

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