Resolution Adopted by the CCAR
The Peace Process and Terrorism
Adopted at the Convention of
the
Central Conference of American Rabbis
1994 / 5754
Background:
We “rejoice with trembling” as we
mark the 46th year of Israel’s independence and
the progress of the peace process begun last
September 13. Terrorist attacks on Jerusalem,
Hadera and Afula, in apparent retaliation for the
massacre at the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron, have made this a
somber time. We have the sense that Israel is rushing
from the known with its familiar and seemingly
secure features into the unknown filled
with apparently mortal danger. Can the people of the democratic
Jewish state dwell in safety and achieve at last the promise of the
Zionist dream–lihiyot am chofshi be-artzeinu?
The World Union for Progressive Judaism,
MARAM, IMPJ and IRAC reacted immediately
to the Massacre at the Cave of the Patriarchs with this
statement:
We condemn the
despicable murder of innocent human beings at the Cave of the
Patriarchs.
We express our profound
condolences to the families of the
deceased.
Though the deed itself was
perpetrated by one demented person, the poison was brewed
by Jewish extremists during the course of
many years of advocating discrimination
and
violence.
These extremists declare that they
are motivated by Jewish religious values and Jewish
interests. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Their ideology and deeds are
anti-
Jewish, anti-Israeli, and anti-humane. In Judaism the life of every
human being
is sacred. “One who
destroys a single human being is considered as having destroyed
the entire universe.” In Judaism
the wholeness of Am Hakodesh,
the holy people, takes precedence over the wholeness of
Eretz Israel
, the holy
land.
We praise the Government of Israel for its
immediate response. We urge the government
to intensify its initiatives in the sacred Jewish vocation, the
“pursuit of peace,”
and we call
on world Jewry to support their efforts with renewed vigor and
determination.
Similar statements
were made spontaneously in virtually all synagogues of our
movement.
We believe that pursuit
of the peace process will give Israel and its neighbors an
opportunity to create an island of progress
in a world increasingly beset by destabilizing
forces. Even though the peace process has not been
completed, it holds the promise that bitter enemies are not inexorably
fated to beat each other to death. It shows
that neither the Serbian-Bosnian nor the Irish
models, tragic as they are, are inevitable.
It affirms the possibility that complicated
conflicts can be resolved diplomatically. Seen this way, the peace
process is a brilliant flash of the light of hope from
Zion, meriting our full
support.
The terrorist attacks since September 13
have shaken our early optimism, yet we affirm
that the peace initiative is far better than the old
status quo. It is an attempt
to
make the center hold in a world of increasing anarchy. Just as it will
be a long
way from the collapse of
the USSR to the establishment of a stable, democratic Europe,
so too do we here recognize that
the path will be strewn with obstacles. This is
all the more reason for us to counsel patience and
to support the pragmatic efforts
of
the moderates.
Toward that end, as the peace
process progresses, we call for clear cut condemnation
by Arab leaders of terrorist acts committed
in the name of “Palestinian justice.”
Such statements, backed by internal organizational discipline,
would go a long way
in building
confidence among Israelis across the political spectrum.
BE IT RESOLVED, that the CCAR, in keeping
with its long tradition of seeking peace
between Israel and its neighbors,
1) Endorse the peace process, recognizing its success in
turning demonized enemies
into
negotiating partners,
2) Call
upon its members to lead their congregations in marshaling local
support for
the peace process,
explaining its advantages and explicating the dangers that lie
in its alternatives. As we condemn
acts of extremism emerging from within the Jewish
community, so do we condemn the series of terrorist
incidents against Israel that have
for so long dominated the Arab response to Israel, and call for
denunciation by the
PLO leadership
of the use of terrorism against Israel, and
3) Call upon our members to reaffirm our full
support for Israel and demonstrate that
support in intensified person-to-person activities, both for
our youths and adults,
increased
philanthropic and investment programs, as well as placing greater
stress
on the acquisition of Hebrew
language skills, and
4) Reject
the call by some of Israel’s chief rabbis and those within other
streams
of Judaism who call upon
Israeli soldiers to defy orders of the State upon the grounds
that the peace process is an
abandonment of Jewish ideals, values and traditions.
We affirm that the peace process embodies the
highest ideals of Judaism.