Activist Profiles

Rebecca Vilkomerson

I have been visiting Israel my whole life. My aunt "made aliyah" as ayoung adult, and my grandparents soon followed her. My parents alsolived in Israel for a year before I was born. I have layer upon layerof memories of being in Israel with my family throughout my life.

My Israeli family are religious kibbutzniks. When Iwas twelve, my favorite cousin?s fianc? died in a car bombing inLebanon during his last two weeks of army service. She had known himsince they were both thirteen, and it took her years to recover. Theripples of grief this one death caused brought home to me, in somesmall way, the impact of Israel?s wars.

My connection to Israel was reinforced when Nasser,the Jordanian manager of my neighborhood caf? 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 myknowledge of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I had enough vague ideasabout the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza to debate with my fatherabout Israeli policies, but I realized I needed to know more.

In my professional life, I am an organizer andadvocate, specifically around welfare, homelessness, and other issuesthat affect low-income people in the United States. In my work I haveseen enough of the negative impact of American capitalism and racism toquestion the prevailing myths of American opportunity and Americanhistory. The history and politics we are taught in school often do notreflect reality--whether in the United States or around the world.

Like many people, because of my emotional attachmentto Israel, I had been reluctant to examine the "story" of Israel-makingthe desert bloom, the heroic wars Israel fought as the underdog, theduplicitousness of the "Arabs" (never Palestinians). But then I beganto 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 ofthe Electronic Intifada and JewishPeace News. As my own position became clearer to me, I knew I needed to becomeactive in the movement for justice for Palestinian people.

The more I learned, the more I had to question notjust the occupation, but the premise of a state for one religiousgroup. I had to look at my own politics and ask myself if giving rightsto some people and not others is consistent with my values. Forexample, do I believe that immigration laws should be based on ethnicidentity? Would I define a country as democratic if only Christians hadfull rights? The answer, of course, is no. But in Israel, this is thereality.

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.