Rebecca Vilkomerson
I have been visiting Israel my whole life. My aunt "made aliyah" as
a young adult, and my grandparents soon followed her. My parents
also lived in Israel for a year before I was born. I have layer upon
layer of memories of being in Israel with my family throughout my life.
My Israeli family are religious kibbutzniks. When I was twelve, my
favorite cousin's fiance died in a car bombing in Lebanon during his
last two weeks of army service. She had known him since they were both
thirteen, and it took her years to recover. The ripples of grief this
one death caused brought home to me, in some small way, the impact of
Israel?s wars.
My connection to Israel was reinforced when
Nasser,the Jordanian manager of my neighborhood cafe here in San
Francisco,decided to introduce me to one of his best customers--Yoni,
an Israeli.When we married, I gained a whole other Israeli family.
Shortly
after I met Yoni, the second intifada brokeout. The combination of
these two events forced me to sharpen my knowledge of the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I had enough vague ideasa bout the
occupation of the West Bank and Gaza to debate with my fathera bout
Israeli policies, but I realized I needed to know more.
In my
professional life, I am an organizer and advocate, specifically around
welfare, homelessness, and other issues that affect low-income people in
the United States. In my work I have seen enough of the negative impact
of American capitalism and racism to question the prevailing myths of
American opportunity and American history. The history and politics we
are taught in school often do not reflect reality--whether in the United
States or around the world.
Like many people, because of my
emotional attachment to Israel, I had been reluctant to examine the
"story" of Israel-making the desert bloom, the heroic wars Israel fought
as the underdog, the duplicitousness of the "Arabs" (never
Palestinians). But then I began to educate myself. I read books like
"The Iron Wall" by Avi Shlaim and"Drinking the Sea at Gaza" by Amira
Haas. I became a regular reader of the Electronic Intifada and JewishPeace News. As my own position became clearer to me, I knew I needed to become active in the movement for justice for Palestinian people.
The
more I learned, the more I had to question not just the occupation, but
the premise of a state for one religious group. I had to look at my own
politics and ask myself if giving rights to some people and not others
is consistent with my values. For example, do I believe that immigration
laws should be based on ethnic identity? Would I define a country as
democratic if only Christians had full rights? The answer, of course, is
no. But in Israel, this is the reality.
I don't currently belong
to a synagogue, so JVPhas become my Jewish community. It is a pleasure
to struggle with otherJews to live the ethics that I associate with
Judaism in the fight forjustice in Israel and Palestine.
