How can I convince the Jewish community to take action against Israels human rights abuses?

Question

As a Jew myself, I feel that it is my responsibility to inform the rest of the Jewish community about the Human rights abuses being commited by our own nation of Israel. I fear that continuation of Israels human rights abuses in Gaza will forever tarnish the image of world Jewry and increase worldwide Anti-semitism. I want to know what I can do to convince other Jews to put pressure on Israel to stop the abuse of human rights abuses in occupied territories. Because the Jewish religion strongly believes that all humans are equal and the 10 commandments say to love thy neighbor. Can you give me advice on how I can lead and make a difference?

I believe that we should still crack down on Hamas terror, but I also want to improve the lifestyles of civilians in Gaza, since they are not entirely in control of what of the foolish descisions that Hamas makes.

I plan on taking a college course on the Israeli Palestinian conflict.

Here are some links to support, ill get more later.

http://hrw.org/doc/?t=mideast&c=isrlpa
http://www.ohchr.org/english/countries/ps/index.htm

I don't care weather or not Israel's abuses are worse then the Palestinians, I think the Jews should demonstrate ourselves as better people by not having any human rights abuses whatsoever and only target terrorists not civilians.

The human rights abuses that the Arab nations commit will only destroy themselves if Israel holds itself to a high standerd by being role models to other middle eastern nations to democracize.

Every civilian casualty is a loss for Israel and a victory for terror.

Lebbenon is a perfect example of why we need to minimize civilian casualities. Due to the unacceptable civilian casualties in Lebenonon, Hezzbolah was able to use them the dead civilians as excuses to continue terrorizing and got the UN to force Israel from continuing its fight to defend itself. If we minimized civilian casualities in war, terrorists will not be able to pull the strings of the media and international organizations will not interfere with our ability to defend ourselves.

Also its important to keep the palestinian children alive and enculturate them to become non-hateful and non-violent adults.

Teaching people those Palestinians to love and speak out, rather then hate and become violent follows the Jewish principle of Tiket Olum. Hebrew for "repair our world". Therefore we must get rid of terrorists and teach the future generations of Palestinians to not hate.

"The expression tikkun olam is used in the Mishnah in the phrase mip'nei tikkun olam ("for the sake of tikkun olam") to indicate that a practice should be followed not because it is required by Biblical law, but because it helps avoid negative social consequences."(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tikkun_olam)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tikkun_olam

Answer 1

educate yourself and them about the history of Luciferian Zionism- its role in supporting Nazism and killing fellow Jews.

Zionism is a huge deception to both non-jews and jews alike

Answer 2

" I fear that continuation of Israels human rights abuses in Gaza will forever tarnish the image of world Jewry and increase worldwide Anti-semitism."

And I fear that some Jews agreements with the charges of anti Semites, even if they are done with "good intentions", will also increase worldwide anti semitism.
Am I being unfair? Perhaps. But it is you who is implying that those of us who would defend Israel against spurious charges are causing anti semitism.

"the 10 commandments say to love thy neighbor."
Unfortunately, this statement indicates that you are ignorant about Judaism since the 10 commandments does not say this.

"I believe that we should still crack down on Hamas terror, but I also want to improve the lifestyles of civilians in Gaza, since they are not entirely in control of what of the foolish descisions that Hamas makes."

Hmm... not entirely in control? Well, maybe they shouldn't have voted for them.
Then, if you agree that Israel should "crack down on Hamas terror" then how do you propose they should do that? Another way of putting it: Do you believe that Israel should use deadly force against Hamas and other terrorist groups? If the answer is "yes", then be prepared to accept civilian casualties. If the answer is "no" then whatever you propose will be ineffective and will eventually lead to Jews being killed.

"I plan on taking a college course on the Israeli Palestinian conflict."

Then prepare to be misguided. That is just about the worst thing you can do to further your knowledge on the issue.

"Due to the unacceptable civilian casualties in Lebenonon, Hezzbolah was able to use them the dead civilians as excuses to continue terrorizing and got the UN to force Israel from continuing its fight to defend itself. "

And how were they unacceptable? How do you make the determination what level is acceptable or not. Though I agree with you that yes, civilian casualties should be minimized, how do you know that Israel was not doing that already?

"Also its important to keep the palestinian children alive and enculturate them to become non-hateful and non-violent adults."

Unfortunately, that is out of Israel's hands and in the Palestinian's hands. What do propose to do to make them stop indoctrinating their children?

"Therefore we must get rid of terrorists and teach the future generations of Palestinians to not hate."

Get rid of them, how? Exactly how?

Answer 3

Speaking as a fellow Jew myself, sadly I think that the events in Israel have now fallen into a certain dynamic. A continuous cycle of tit for tat attacks. I believe that highlighting the abuses is a good step, but you have to remember how strongly some of our kin feel about Israel. Its not up for debate, Israel's right to exist is a matter of faith.

Personally I dont understand, why Gaza and the West bank are not incorporated into Israel proper. The Knesset should be opened up to Palestinian politicians, with either group chosing to call the land Palestine or Israel depending upon their religious/political perspective. In one swoop, the Palestinians get their state back and the Israelis keep Israel : )

Answer 4

Why not try educating yourself throughly on the Arab-Israeli Conflict first before making judgments. It's a complex subject that takes time to learn about.

For instance, how much do you know about the experience of Jews under Arab-Muslim rule?
http://www.dhimmitude.org/d_history_dhimmitude.html

Do you know all of this background on the Arab-Israeli Conflict?
http://www.palestinefacts.org

How about the Nazi heritage of "the Palestinians"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arG6N46CbmY

Answer 5

When modern day Israel was formed one group of people were never considered nor gave there consent, The Palestinians, the people who were living in a country called Palestine.
I believe until that issue is totally resolved Israel will never begin to see peace.

Answer 6

First you must learn about the conflict yourself and I don't mean by watching fox or cnn do some reading - read Chomsky (who is Jewish himself) and watch his vids on utube, read John Pilger Freedom next time and get a fully informed opinion on the conflict.

Then when you talk to people you will find you can state facts and explain things that will get through to them even though they have been the victims of so much propoganda. There are several organisations jewish and israeli who are speaking out against the occupation why not get in touch with them too?

Answer 7

Sigh, Not really getting good answers are you?

while I disagree with your stance, and I think your Naive to think that anti-semtism will change based on the actions of the Israeli government I will help you out because your heart is in the right place.

Get in touch with some of these groups and see how you can help out
http://www.peacenow.org/

http://www.pjalliance.org/

Answer 8

Why hold Israel up to a higher standard - a standard impossible to meet?

Do you really think that Israel's "human rights abuses" are worse than the Arab world? Russia? China? Cuba? The US?

Get real.

Answer 9

Go to Israel and use the power of your vote in the next election.

What human rights abuses are you referring to, targeting terrorists? Please provide a link to support your generalized contention.

Terrorists continue to plague the State of Israel with suicide bombers in crowded market places, killing innocent citizens, including children.

Israel must fight back, or suffer the consequences of even more of those attacks.

Go Team Israel!

Answer 10

get hamas and palestine to put down their rockets and guns. peace will follow promptly.