An Israeli Gandhi is seized at sea

CommonDreams - by Ira Chernus

New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof complained a while back that he was still “waiting for Gandhi” in Palestine. I complained, in turn, that it was hypocritical for Kristof to bewail, and perpetuate the stereotype of, the “violent” Palestinians. Instead he should stay home and call for a new Gandhi here in the U.S., which perpetuates Middle East violence by so consistently supporting Israel, despite its abuses. Latest example: The feeble statement from the State Department that the U.S. is “disappointed” to see the Israelis resume settlement expansion.

But if Kristof and others need to travel abroad in search of a new Gandhi, it’s worth asking why they go to Palestine and not to Israel. After all, Palestinian violence against Israel has virtually ceased. It’s the Israelis who now inflict nearly all the violence. Shouldn’t we be looking for the Israeli Gandhi?

The search might not take as long as you think. There are plenty of Israeli Jews nonviolently resisting their own government’s policies of occupation and oppression. The latest to find the public spotlight is Rami Elhanan, a former Israeli soldier who joined other Jewish activists from Israel and around the world as sailors for peace and justice on a boat called the Irene. They were headed for Gaza -- bringing medical equipment, fishing nets, textbooks, toys, prosthetic limbs, and other humanitarian supplies, aiming to break the Israeli blockade that deprives the Gazans of such desperately needed materials -- when the Israeli military seized them on the high seas. Read more

Related reading: Calling Bono: Your Palestinian Gandhis Exist ... in Graves and Prisons