Language and dialogue
No one who has visited Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories can disagree with Tim Robertson (18 October) that ‘outside interventions that bring the two communities into dialogue’ are immensely helpful.
In addition to the organisations he mentions, there is also the wonderful Tent of Nations and the village Oasis of Peace/Wahat Al-Salam, both working for decades on bases of cooperation, equal rights, mutual respect, and understanding.
EAPPI [Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel] members are carefully selected and trained, entering into their responsibilities with similar values in mind. They do not set out with bias. However, they cannot ignore what they witness on a daily basis, such as a twelve-year-old shepherd boy being edged off his grazing land with menaces and threats from settlers; a toddler playing in the streets having his tricycle casually picked up by a passing soldier who strides away without returning it – the bafflement on the child’s face is eloquent. Families taunted in such ways are afraid to go to the police for fear of reprisals at worst, indifference at best.
At the Tent of Nations the encroachment of settlers has become so destructive that the future of this peaceable organisation is seriously threatened. Recourse to the law frequently is ignored by settlers.
Children aged twelve are removed from their families in the middle of the night and interrogated without an adult present, then held without trial for months on end.
These are a few examples of reports from trusted sources, and are facts on the ground, on which ecumenical accompaniers report back. Facts are facts and the reporting is important to help us all understand the nature of the Israeli occupation, and if these call out criticism of the occupying country this is an essential part of reportage. Ecumenical accompaniers report back in a spirit of ‘principled impartiality’ and use language appropriate to this spirit. But it is impossible to hide behind language that obfuscates what is really happening.
The language might make us uncomfortable, but if facts demonstrate that an occupying country is in the wrong these issues must ultimately be honestly addressed. There is a growing body of research from trusted sources demonstrating the justification of terms ‘apartheid’ and ‘genocide’ (for example the Israeli academic Jeff Halper, An Israeli in Palestine).
Dialogue must continue, but we cannot fall into the morass that was called ‘Appeasement’ in 1939.
Anne M Jones
Reviewing structures
I have read the Meeting for Sufferings report on ‘Reviewing central structures’ (11 October) with interest. Margaret Bryan said: ‘Right now was a period of testing and consultation with the wider community of Friends’ and then asked: ‘Have we missed anything?’
I would answer that with a resounding ‘Yes’. We in Chippenham Meeting only learned of the PDF asking for comments six days before the final date for replies, giving us no time for discussion and understanding of the proposals. Several of us have contacts with other Meetings and they hadn’t heard of it either.
So, I have to ask why there has been so little communication with the wider community of Friends? I don’t recall seeing any reference to it in Quake, and no discussion in the Friend.
Margaret Sadler
Chippenham Meeting
