Resolution Adopted by the CCAR
Opposition to the United States Embargo on Cuba
Resolution adopted by the Board of Trustees of the
Central Conference of American Rabbis, May 1999
Background
We are deeply distressed by the escalating suffering of the Cuban people and are goaded by the Rabbinic statement, “Who is the mightiest of heroes? One who makes of an enemy a friend” (Avot de Rabbi Natan). The time has come to be guided by the wisdom in the Book of Ecclesiastes, “There is a time to break down and a time to build up; a time for war and a time for peace.”
For the past 40 years, the United States has imposed a stringent policy of economic and diplomatic sanctions against Cuba, a policy selectively applied to coerce non-democratic governments to conform to a variety of urgent national and international policies breached by such governments.
While the U.S. has achieved some of its major objectives, the trade embargo has had an increasingly devastating effect on the lives of Cuban citizens.
In April, 1997, the Commission on Social Action of Reform Judaism urged the President to lift the ban on direct flights to Cuba in order to facilitate the provision of donated humanitarian supplies. In April, 1998, the Commission resolved to urge Congress to pass the Cuban Humanitarian Trade Act, which provided for an exception to the embargo for the provision of humanitarian relief, and urged the President to allow citizens and permanent residents of the U.S. to fly to Cuba for humanitarian research, journalistic, or religious purposes. In this resolution, we quoted Pope John Paul II’s who, in his January, 1998 visit to Cuba, said: “In our day, no nation can live in isolation. The Cuban people therefore cannot be denied the contacts with other peoples necessary for economic, social and cultural development, especially when the imposed isolation strikes the population indiscriminately, making it ever more difficult for the weakest to enjoy the bare essentials of decent living, things such as food, health and education. All can and should take practical steps to bring about changes in this regard.” We affirm our agreement with this statement.
Times and circumstances have changed. While we disagree with some of the Castro government’s continuing, wrongful, and unacceptable policies, it is now clear that sanctions have not been effective in changing these policies.
THEREFORE, the Central Conference of American Rabbis resolves to:
Call upon the President and Congress to revoke the embargo on Cuba except for military and police equipment.