ISRAEL’S INVASION OF LEBANON WAS NOT JUSTIFIED

I came to Buffalo over 30 years ago to study philosophy at UB. My primary teacher was philosophy professor Shia Moser whose specialty was ethics. We became friends. I stayed in touch with him long after he retired. And I was saddened at news of his death a few years ago in Vancouver at the age of 96.

Shia Moser was a gentle man, a vegetarian and an advocate of nonviolence and peace. He was also Jewish and a holocaust survivor, but his sense of justice would not allow him to be a Zionist or a supporter of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian lands.

At the time, I spent many hours volunteering at the Western New York Peace Center. We had our hands full addressing issues like the Vietnam War and the nuclear arms race. These days the Peace Center is tackling the “Middle East issue.” Back then we almost never spoke about it because of concerns about fragmenting the organization and losing some of our Jewish members.

Shia had me read Tolstoy’s short story, “A Spark Neglected Burns the House,” so I would better understand the nature of violence. It’s a tale about Russian peasant families who fight over a chicken egg. One family finds the egg on their property and the other is sure it came from one of their chickens. When the egg is not returned, the families begin a feud and an escalating cycle of violence and revenge, which ends with a fire that burns down their entire town. While the Middle East conflict began with more than a disagreement over a misplaced egg, the cycle of violence and revenge Tolstoy described has played out in that region for many years.

The most recent conflagration—now hopefully ended by the United Nations ceasefire—is said to have been sparked by Hezbollah’s kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers and killing of eight others. That led, with remarkable speed, to a massive Israeli invasion of southern Lebanon while thousands of Hezbollah rockets rained down on northern Israel.

Most of world public opinion and international criticism has been directed at Israel and its chief ally, the United States. While Hezbollah has been criticized for launching indiscriminate rocket attacks, Israel has been accused of mounting a disproportionate response and inflicting collective punishment against a civilian population—all serious violations of international law. Amnesty International has weighed in. And Human Rights Watch, while critical of Hezbollah, has called Israel’s attack on Lebanese civilians and infrastructure a deliberate strategy and not merely unavoidable “collateral damage.”

Years ago, philosopher Jean Paul Sartre argued in a small monogram entitled “On Genocide” that superpowers will have to resort to attacks on civilian populations to beat well organized guerilla forces. Sartre deplored this but could see it playing out in Vietnam. Israel finds itself in the same box and the awful consequences are apparent. Like its enemy Hezbollah, Israel has hit civilian population centers—but with many times the firepower.

While hundreds of thousands of people on both sides had to flee their homes, over 1,300 Lebanese civilians were killed by the Israeli military attack—more than 20 times the number of Israeli civilians killed by Hezbollah rockets—with many more injured. While damage has been done to Israeli towns and cities, those in Lebanon—along with their infrastructure of roads, bridges and power plants—were flattened, leaving behind a serious humanitarian crisis and an oil spill said to potentially rival that of the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska.

Throughout, the American role has been deplorable. While the Lebanese hoped and cried for the US to step in and stop the carnage, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice stood on the sidelines wringing her hands and wiping the crocodile tears from her eyes. By the time she did act, the damage was done and it was clear that the Bush administration fully supported Israel’s attack and may have given it a green light and even encouraged it.

According to some reports, Bush’s neoconservative brain trust—not satisfied with the catastrophic mess they’ve created in Iraq—viewed Israel’s attack on Hezbollah and southern Lebanon as a prerequisite to a US attack on Iran, Hezbollah’s ally. In any event, US weapons, paid for by US taxpayers, were used by the Israeli military, and these apparently included anti-personnel cluster bombs—weapons which should be banned because they are indiscriminate and designed to maximize suffering.

Once again, the US has failed to be a peacemaker. In this volatile part of the world, we now have more enemies, as does Israel.

So what was gained? Polls suggest that a majority of Israelis are ready to toss out their apparently incompetent prime minister, Ehud Olmert, who was elected just four months ago. Many are upset about losing the war and others about launching it in the first place. Meanwhile Hezbollah is claiming victory and rapidly expanding its influence in southern Lebanon. Of course, any claims of victory by either side should be tempered by the death and destruction which this war brought to Lebanon.

Talking about all of this is difficult. The holocaust and its legacy require deep respect and sensitivity. Those who are not Jewish or a member of another group targeted for extermination by the Nazis cannot imagine the holocaust’s traumatic impact and meaning. But the often-delivered charge, “If you criticize Israel, you must be anti-Semitic” is unfair. And unfortunately it has been used as the great silencer. I can criticize my own country’s errors out of concern for justice. And I can criticize another country’s errors, even Israel’s, for the same reason and with the same motive. We do a disservice to the prospects for peace and justice in the Middle East if we silence debate or refrain from engaging in it.

I respect Israel’s right to exist and to defend itself but I don’t believe those rights give it carte blanche to humiliate, oppress and violate other people. I believe the root cause of much of the current conflict is Israel’s occupation of Palestinian lands since the Six Day War in 1967. In the words of Uri Avnery, leader of the Israeli peace group Gush Shalom, “Either the settlements and an endless war, or the return of the occupied territories and peace.”

The occupation of Palestinian lands, so inconsistent with Judaism’s commitment to social justice, has been ongoing for nearly 40 years and has produced an overflowing reservoir of resentment and hatred. Peace will not come easy but the time to work for it is now though acts of justice and an end to the occupation. Fueled by the enforced silence of Americans and the uncritical support of Israel by our government, this fire has been burning for too long.

Walter Simpson

Buffalo

Editor’s Note: Walter Simpson reports that an abridged version of this essay was rejected by WBFO radio as his monthly commentary for August. According to Simpson, he was told by WBFO that the NPR station was no longer going to air commentaries critical of Israel’s conduct in the recent war in Lebanon because callers had complained about a previous commentary critical of Israel. Simpson’s regular monthly WBFO commentary has also been canceled.

DOUBLE YOUR LOSSES

From certain Buffalo officials, we are hearing that unless Buffalo agrees to sell Fulton Street, city layoffs can be expected, because the anticipated $5 million in casino revenues are written into the 2008 budget. Cynics who try to fool us by promoting this kind of equation are willing to sell our city down the river into a new type of welfare-dependency on the casino, which pats us on the back as it picks our pockets.

The Buffalo share of casino revenue, if ever received, would be offset many times over by the economic costs of hosting a casino on sovereign territory in the city center. The City of Detroit, well known to be heavily dependent upon gambling revenue, has laid off more than 5,500 government workers, representing 26 percent of the city’s workforce, since 2002. Unemployment in Detroit is currently twice that of Buffalo. This is evidence that a Rust Belt city cannot gamble its way to prosperity. Yet Detroit has passed the point of no return on this one-way street.

Those who look to a casino to stave off city layoffs are going to get both. The negative economic effect of the parasitic casino enterprise, driving out businesses and area jobs, would further diminish the Buffalo tax base. Meanwhile, the cowardly and regressive taxation of Buffalo’s poorest and most vulnerable residents would funnel monies into the state coffers. It’s a losing game!

The Common Council is talking about having meetings with the Seneca Gambling Corporation. If these are open meetings, Citizens Against Casino Gambling (CACGEC) will be there to advocate for the future of Buffalo. If they are not open meetings, they will be illegal.

Local citizens have never had a say in this matter, and now with the federal lawsuit, they have a chance. I hope that instead of caving to the threats and lobbies of shortsighted developers, Buffalo will adopt a new enlightened idea: a casino-free zone, where corruption, crime, bankruptcy and social decay will be arrested and business development has a chance to succeed without the unfair competition. Rather than trying to advance the agendas of the gambling interests, the mayor and the Common Council should do the right thing and join the federal lawsuit to stop the casino.

John Bartley

Citizens Against Casino Gambling

Buffalo

SELECTIVE SERVICE

One of the worst misuses of presidential power by Mr. Bush is his issuing signing statements to the effect that he will not enforce certain provisions of bills he has signed. The president may claim he’s doing so because a particular provision of the bill is unconstitutional, but it is evident from his other actions and statements that the reason is simply that the bill doesn’t fit in with his personal legislative agenda.

On the anti-torture bill, for example, the president is not trying to defend the Constitution; he just wants to have that pair of thumbscrews in his pocket if he needs them.

Here’s a simple suggestion for President Bush; instead of issuing a signing statement for a provision of a bill that he claims is unconstitutional, he should simply veto the bill and urge Congress to pass it again without the offending provision. That process is called negotiation. There has been far too little of it between Congress and President Bush.

Kenneth J. Rummenie

East Aurora

BUY FRESH, BUY LOCAL

Thank you to Peter Koch and Artvoice for highlighting the struggle that family farmers face(“Old McDonald Had a Farm,” Artvoice v5n34). Super-size farms and distribution systems mean that lettuce from California shows up on tables nationwide year round. And local family farmers are left to wonder why their neighbors don’t care. What will it take for the family farm to survive the next 50 years?

The organic industry was founded 40 years ago by consumers who wanted access to real foods—whole-grain bread, fruits and vegetables with no sprays, and ice cream made with real cream instead of guar gum. Supermarkets refused to carry these products, so consumers started food co-ops and buying clubs to gain access to natural foods. These consumers were the brave pioneers who would not take no for an answer. Now, natural foods are the fastest-growing segment of the grocery industry, showing up even on the shelves of Walmart.

These days, a similar revolution is happening with local foods. Nationwide, consumers are demanding access to foods grown by local farmers—real food that tastes like nature intended, not like the cardboard box it was shipped in. Few big-box retailers are listening, and as a result, many farmers are having a tough time surviving. So these customers are flocking to places like farmers’ markets, CSAs and small retailers like the Guercios and the Lexington Cooperative Market—where they know that every June they can get a chance to taste the amazing flavor of Tony Weiss strawberries.

Customers: The onus is on us to support local farmers in any way we can. Seek out stores and venues that sell local produce. Read labels and make sure a product is grown locally before spending your money. Be willing to pay a little more to support your local farmer. Your taste buds will thank you. And eventually, I promise, those big-box retailers will catch on. It has happened before.

Tim Bartlett

General Manager, Lexington Cooperative Market

Buffalo

What Gets Me…

With regard to Emmanuel John Winner’s letter (Artvoice v5n34), I personally have no qualms about Artvoice’s address of the casino issue. In fact, I think it is good it is being addressed, but what gets me is why, if the staff of Artvoice is so against it, do they regularly put advertisements into Artvoice promoting the casino in Niagara Falls? Although it of course does provide income to print the paper, in one sense advertising something indicates a form of support to that which is being advertised. So go figure…

And, going on to David Slive’s letter (Artvoice v5n34): Have you ever lived in the Middle East in any of the Arab countries? (or in Israel) to be writing your statement with such surety? (I’ve lived in that region.)

Mandated into existence in 1947, the way it was by the United Nations, the creation of the State of Israel has caused so much heartache to so many people; the Palestinians who were forced out of their homes, and thus displaced, and those who migrated to Israel who had and still have to live with the hatred caused by such displacement of these people, as well as the hatred that is a “part” of that region. (Arabs hate one another. Even in the time of the Prophet Mohammed there was such hatred amongst the different Arab tribes.)

In terms of land mass, Israel is a very small country, one of the smallest on this planet. It may not be known by people (including David Slive) that those who settled into Israel after the UN decision transformed that barren (and practically unused) land into something very wonderful, creating farms, cities, communities, etc., even harnessing the Dead Sea, using its waters productively for agriculture, medicine and other uses.

Basically Israel is used by the countries in this region as a (very convenient) scapegoat, be they near in location or far: “Blame it all on Israel,” whatever problem exists in the country. It is the old political tactic—putting blame on some outsider, some other country—used by so many governments to divert people’s attention from the real problems that exist in their own countries. In the Middle East, many of the countries use Israel for the blame game, Israel’s name regularly coming up because there are so many problems in that whole region of the world…If the Arab leaders would give a genuine damn about their people (to do something practical about their problems), not use Israel as their scapegoat/excuse for practically all (if not all) of their problems, and would take help from Israel to better harness their ecosystem, that region could and would be a peaceful and much better place all around. Certainly a big problem was created by the UN decision in terms of Palestinians who became displaced from their homes. But the perception that the decision has caused actual problems in other countries—other than certain Arab countries using Israel as scapegoat for their own internal problems and expounding hatred in this regard—is just not so.

Mahavegavati Dasi

Kenmore