Reform Rabbi Eric H. Yoffie, president of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, admitted last week that the Reform movement had been \"wrong about some very important things\" in the context of the Oslo process.
\"First and foremost,\" he told a UAHC national board meeting last week, \"we have been wrong about Palestinian intentions. We have believed, along with our allies in the peace camp, that if an Israeli prime minister would be brave enough to say that Israel must choose peace over territories, the Palestinian Authority would also choose peace... Ehud Barak bravely offered a Palestinian state on 96 percent of the West Bank, with its capital in East Jerusalem... But the offer was not accepted. The voices of reason and moderation on which we had counted did not appear. And the PLO showed itself, once again, to be one of the most stupid, murderous, and bloodthirsty national liberation movements in all of human history… And we were wrong about something else as well. We did not pay nearly enough attention to the culture of hatred created and nourished by Palestinian leaders... Our Movement has said little about such things. We assumed, wrongly, that if a political settlement were reached, then conciliation would inevitably follow. But we, along with most of the Jewish world, now realize that conciliation, at least in some measure, must come first. The Palestinians must demonstrate, even before an agreement is reached, that they have a true desire for peace… We were inclined to focus overly much on the hard choices we had to make, and not enough on the hard choices that our Palestinian neighbors had to make.\"
Yoffie was quick to balance out his confession and advise Israel to freeze Yesha construction: \"Our errors of judgment, of course, do not mean that Israel\'s hands are totally clean,\" he said, condemning Israel\'s occupation as \"involv[ing] acts of degradation and cruelty\" and its settlement policy as \"fanatic,\" and saying that \"her response to terror has raised questions…\" Not only that, but \"Israel has also been guilty from time to time of demonizing her enemies.\"
But, Yoffie said, \"while we have been wrong, we have also been right. In fact, on most things we have been right. The intifada… has given us no reason to revise our long-term view of what is necessary for peace. We believe that in order for there to be peace, Israel must end her occupation and her rule over the Palestinian people. … The primary burden here falls on Mr. Arafat’s shoulders. He says that he wants to talk, but he cannot expect to come to the table when he is covered in blood. He says that he wants peace, but this means that he must talk the language of peace to his own people... He must find a way to say to the citizens of Israel: \"You are here in this land by right, as are we. Welcome home.\" As for the Israelis, I believe that they would be wise to freeze temporarily all settlement construction. They should do this not because the Mitchell Commission wants it, or because the American government wants it, but because it is politically wise and morally right...\"
In a related item, the Jewish Reform Movement leadership has decided to suspend its youth trips to Israel this summer. The aforementioned Yoffie explained, in light of the uncertain security situation, \"Our religious and Zionist commitments run deep and are known to all, but this movement never uses other people\'s children to make a political or ideological point.\" Last year, 1,500 high school students traveled to Israel under the auspices of a UAHC group; this year\'s registration was dramatically lower, but there were still more than 300 families who were prepared to send their children to visit Israel. National Council of Synagogue Youth, the youth movement of the Orthodox Union, will be running its annual Israel summer program this year, albeit on a smaller scale.
\"First and foremost,\" he told a UAHC national board meeting last week, \"we have been wrong about Palestinian intentions. We have believed, along with our allies in the peace camp, that if an Israeli prime minister would be brave enough to say that Israel must choose peace over territories, the Palestinian Authority would also choose peace... Ehud Barak bravely offered a Palestinian state on 96 percent of the West Bank, with its capital in East Jerusalem... But the offer was not accepted. The voices of reason and moderation on which we had counted did not appear. And the PLO showed itself, once again, to be one of the most stupid, murderous, and bloodthirsty national liberation movements in all of human history… And we were wrong about something else as well. We did not pay nearly enough attention to the culture of hatred created and nourished by Palestinian leaders... Our Movement has said little about such things. We assumed, wrongly, that if a political settlement were reached, then conciliation would inevitably follow. But we, along with most of the Jewish world, now realize that conciliation, at least in some measure, must come first. The Palestinians must demonstrate, even before an agreement is reached, that they have a true desire for peace… We were inclined to focus overly much on the hard choices we had to make, and not enough on the hard choices that our Palestinian neighbors had to make.\"
Yoffie was quick to balance out his confession and advise Israel to freeze Yesha construction: \"Our errors of judgment, of course, do not mean that Israel\'s hands are totally clean,\" he said, condemning Israel\'s occupation as \"involv[ing] acts of degradation and cruelty\" and its settlement policy as \"fanatic,\" and saying that \"her response to terror has raised questions…\" Not only that, but \"Israel has also been guilty from time to time of demonizing her enemies.\"
But, Yoffie said, \"while we have been wrong, we have also been right. In fact, on most things we have been right. The intifada… has given us no reason to revise our long-term view of what is necessary for peace. We believe that in order for there to be peace, Israel must end her occupation and her rule over the Palestinian people. … The primary burden here falls on Mr. Arafat’s shoulders. He says that he wants to talk, but he cannot expect to come to the table when he is covered in blood. He says that he wants peace, but this means that he must talk the language of peace to his own people... He must find a way to say to the citizens of Israel: \"You are here in this land by right, as are we. Welcome home.\" As for the Israelis, I believe that they would be wise to freeze temporarily all settlement construction. They should do this not because the Mitchell Commission wants it, or because the American government wants it, but because it is politically wise and morally right...\"
In a related item, the Jewish Reform Movement leadership has decided to suspend its youth trips to Israel this summer. The aforementioned Yoffie explained, in light of the uncertain security situation, \"Our religious and Zionist commitments run deep and are known to all, but this movement never uses other people\'s children to make a political or ideological point.\" Last year, 1,500 high school students traveled to Israel under the auspices of a UAHC group; this year\'s registration was dramatically lower, but there were still more than 300 families who were prepared to send their children to visit Israel. National Council of Synagogue Youth, the youth movement of the Orthodox Union, will be running its annual Israel summer program this year, albeit on a smaller scale.