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Jewish Fast for
Gaza - 2010-04-21
Global
Research, April 26, 2010
Dear Judge Goldstone,
As rabbis from diverse traditions
and locations, we want to extend our warmest mazel tov to you as an
elder in our community upon the Bar Mitzvah of your grandson. Bar and Bat
Mitzvah is a call to conscience, a call to be responsible for the
welfare of others, a call to fulfill the covenant of peace and
justice articulated in our tradition.
As rabbis, we note the religious
implications of the Report you authored. We are reminded of Shimon
Ben Gamliel’s quote, “The world stands on three things: justice,
truth, and peace as it says ‘Execute the judgment of truth, and
justice and peace will be established in your gates’ (Zaccariah
8:16).” We affirm the truth of the report that bears your name.
We are deeply saddened by the
controversy around the report. We affirm your findings and believe
you set up an impeccable standard that presents strong evidence that
during the war in Gaza Israel engaged in war crimes that revealed a
pattern of continuous and systematic assault against Palestinian
people and land that has very little to do with Israel’s claim of
security. Your report made clear the intentional targeting of
civilian infrastructures such as hospitals, schools, agricultural
properties, water and sewage treatment centers and civilians
themselves with deadly weapons that are illegal when used in
civilian centers.
This is the ugly truth that is so
hard for many Jewish people to face. Anyone who spends a day in
Palestinian territories sees this truth immediately.
Judge Goldstone, we want to offer
you our deepest thanks for upholding the principles of justice,
compassion and truth that are the heart of Jewish religion and
without which our claims to Jewishness are empty of meaning. We
regret that your findings have led to controversy and caused you not
to feel welcome at your own grandson’s Bar Mitzvah. We believe your
report is a clarion call to Israel and the Jewish people to awaken
from the slumber of denial and return to the path of peace.
This letter is endorsed by Taanit
Tzedek- Jewish Fast for Gaza , Shomer Shalom Institute for Jewish
Nonviolence, Tikkun and
the Shalom
Center.
Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb, Shomer Shalom
Network for Jewish Nonviolence
Rabbi Brant Rosen, Taanit Tzedek –Jewish Fast for Gaza
Rabbi Brian Walt, Taanit Tzedek –Jewish Fast for Gaza
Rabbi Haim Beliak
Rabbi Michael Lerner, Tikkun Community
Rabbi Arthur Waskow, The Shalom Center
Rabbi Rebecca Alpert
Rabbi Phyllis Berman
Rabbi Michael Feinberg
Rabbi Zev-Hayyim Feyer
Rabbi Margaret Holub
Rabbi Shai Gluskin
Rabbi Douglas Krantz
Rabbi Eyal Levinson
Rabbi Mordecai Liebling
Rabbi David Mivasair
Rabbi David Shneyer
Rabbi Laurie Zimmerman
Rabbi Gershon Steinberg-Caudill
Rabbi Erin Hirsh
Rabbi Michael Rothbaum
Rabbi Benjamin Barnett
Rabbi Julie Greenberg
Rabbi Linda Holtzman
Rabbi Ayelet S.Cohen
Rabbi Jeffrey Marker
Rabbi Nina H.Mandel
Rabbi Victor Reinstein
Rabbi Everett Gendler
Rabbi Meryl M. Crean
Rabbi Sheila Weinberg
Rabbi Pamela Frydman Baugh
Rabbi Lewis Weiss
Rabbi Shaul Magid
Rabbi Stephen Booth-Nadav
Rabbi Phillip Bentley
Rabbi Anna Boswell-Levy
Rabbi Chava Bahle
This letter is supported by Taanit
Tzedek- Jewish Fast for Gaza , Shomer Shalom Institute for
Jewish Nonviolence, Tikkun and the Shalom Center.
If you are a rabbi and would like
to add your name to this statement, send an e-mail to Rabbi Lynn
Gottlieb (rabbilynn at earthlink dot
net).
http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=18862
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