Tikkun Magazine, January/February 2010
Justice in Jerusalem: No More Spinning Our Wheels
by Josh Healey
I'm gonna be real with you-I was excited that J Street organizers invited me to the group's founding conference. Excited to be part of the conversation of progressive, peace-seeking Jewish Americans that had found a new, stronger voice in Washington. Excited to push conference attendees toward language and policies of real justice and human rights for Palestinians, not just a "peace process" that perpetuates Israeli supremacy. And excited to be pushed back; to challenge others; to debate how best to change American foreign policy, how to build multi-ethnic coalitions, and how the hell we can resolve this conflict before we've all lost what humanity we have left.
So when J Street capitulated to a right-wing smear campaign and disinvited a fellow poet and me because we had poems questioning the moral purity of Israel, I was disappointed. But not surprised. The more I learned about J Street, the more I realized that their leaders were more conservative than their own energized members, who had been wooed with promises of "hope" and "change." Sound familiar?
Now, I voted for Obama, but I also didn't expect him to usher in any transformative era unless independent social movements maintained strong, vocal pressure. So when J Street kicked us out, Kevin Coval (the other poet, who has a long, illustrious record of being censored for his solidarity with Palestine) and I wrote a public response and decided to continue our event as planned, and to open it to the community. The event was organized in three days, and the place was packed: artists, activists, youth, elders, Jews, Palestinians, and a number of J Street conference attendees who left the official gathering to join the planned-then-banned dialogue.
The event itself was brilliant. Laila Al-Arian, the amazing Palestinian journalist and organizer whose father became a political prisoner after September 11, moderated and brought a much-needed perspective to the space. I did my set, followed by Kevin Coval. During the Q&A, an Israeli army veteran offered his support and encouraged solidarity with the refuseniks who won't serve in the occupation. A Palestinian woman urged us to write more about Palestinians as diverse, complex individuals rather than a uniform "Palestine." Medea Benjamin of Code Pink made a call to action for the Gaza Freedom March this December. For all these calls, there was response. There was respectful, lively debate. "Culture as a Tool for Social Change" was the title of the original event. Yes! This is what we do!
The most prescient moment for me was with a young Jewish student in town for J Street. He'd been in sessions all day, talking about the Middle East in a very policy-wonkish way. Hearing our poems, he told us, was the first time he'd ever cried in a conversation about Israel/Palestine. "I'm not sure what that means," he said. "But I think it's a good thing."
Since our voices had been removed from the conference, he asked us what message we wanted him to take back to those activists gathered down the block. Now that was a great question. I told him what my own plan is: To support J Street when they're right and criticize them when they're wrong. To build ties with other critical supporters, because we are stronger as a bloc, and leaders will always try to marginalize dissent. And to build coalitions with other organizations and communities whom we need if we are going to move toward peace and reconciliation.
As for the actual J Street conference, I followed some of it online, and it was interesting to see their next public controversy unfold. Apparently the student caucus, dubbed J Street U, decided to take the "pro-Israel" out of its official slogan, so it was just "pro-Peace." I totally understand the students' reasoning: for any progressive organizer to call a campaign "pro-Israel" (especially if you don't add "pro-Palestine") on a college campus these days is political and ethical suicide. And this is the challenge: how to build the movement on the campuses and streets of Wisconsin and New York, of Ramallah and Tel Aviv, and not just in a fancy hotel in Washington.
Roberto Rivera, a hip-hop educator and friend of mine, likes to tell progressive activists, "We don't need to reinvent the wheel ... we just need to put some spinners on it." Translation: rather than acting in a vacuum and constantly starting organizations that end up repeating the same mistakes, let's recognize that there is good work already going on, and that we should improve on (and yes, critique) that work in new, creative ways. This is where I'm at when it comes to the Middle East. I'm down for fresh dialogues and tactics: free speech debates inside Hillels nationwide; Israelis and Palestinians fasting outside checkpoints on Yom Kippur; and yes, a strategic campaign targeting the occupation with boycotts, divestment, and sanctions.
If that work is being done in J Street, or Jewish Voice for Peace, or the International Solidarity Movement, or all of the above, then let's roll. If not, then how can we make it happen? I am honored to join Tikkun as a contributing editor in pursuing a progressive middle path that seeks resolution and reconciliation for both sides. Organizations often come and go all too quickly, yet Tikkun has been a consistent, cutting-edge voice for equal justice in the Middle East.
Even within the American Jewish left, however, there is a generational divide that is as much about style as it is about content. One of my goals with Tikkun is to provide space for more young writers, artists, and activists to be heard. If we can't have dialogue between the Bob Dylan generation and the Invincible generation (an Israeli-born political emcee-look her up!), how can we expect dialogue between IDF soldiers and Palestinian stone-throwers?
Discourse is fundamental, but we-and more importantly the people of Palestine and Israel-cannot afford to spin our wheels aimlessly any longer. The status quo is displacement and disenfranchisement for millions of women, men, and children. Let us stand for justice for all the people of Jerusalem. Let us put some spinners on our wheels and get moving.
Josh Healey is a writer, an organizer, and the author of Hammertime: Poems and Possibilities. Featured by the New York Times, NPR, and Al-Jazeera, he lives in Oakland, California, and works with Youth Speaks to empower young artists and activists.
Source Citation
Healey, Josh. 2010. Justice in Jerusalem: No More Spinning Our Wheels. Tikkun 25(1): 27.
