UAVJ

An alternative jewish voice

09-06-05
     
      Our Position:

Because we cannot support the daily horrors in the Middle-East; 
because a few organisations and a few spokesmen exert an exclusive monopoly on the expression of French Jews; 
because we all share common views on mankind; because, in the face of the consequences of the Middle-East conflict in France, as well as the resurgence of the extreme right wing, and the increase of anti-Semitic incidents, we are led to acknowledge publicly the Jewish part of our personal identity, 
we have decided to express our views in a collective manner.

We all are citizens of the French Republic, but our philosophical choices, our political beliefs, our cultural references, our connections to religious beliefs display a wide variety of attitudes. Descendants of many generations of men and women who have been chased, despised, banned and persecuted through the centuries, we fight against all forms of persecution or oppression, as many of our ancestors have done before us.

We are sons and daughters of that French Republic which, from the start, gave citizenship to our ancestors. We share its values.

The attitudes we have about our jewish heritage may vary, but our memory of the genocide, our belief that it belongs to no one in particular, and that it cannot justify any nationalistic attitude, requires us to state our views as follows.

Some of us do have a special feeling for Israel; others do not. Some question the very nature of the zionist project. However we all consider that the israeli people, born under the historical conditions created by the ruins of Hitler’s fascism, have a right to live in a State with secure and guaranteed borders, within the framework of United Nations resolutions. But we dispute the right of the State of Israel, or of the French organisations which claim to represent Jews, to speak on their behalf. We are outraged by the colonial oppression which the Israeli government inflicts on Palestine and the Palestinian people. We do not believe that anti-semitism can be fought while letting the israeli people become a people of oppressors. A peaceful future for Israel can only be achieved through a peaceful and sincere coexistence with the Palestinian people. We support all those, in Israel, Palestine and elsewhere, who fight courageously for peace, for justice, for equal rights, against Mr. Sharon’s murderous policies.

We observe the rise of the Israeli extreme right wing influence among French political forces. Many democrats (among whom there are many jewish citizens) are victims to intimidation: they are branded as anti-semites, merely because they criticise israeli government policy, or because they demand that United Nations resolutions and the international treaties of Camp David or Oslo be respected by Israel.

What is the hidden objective behind such monstrous accusations? What is the hidden objective behind the verbal abuse and physical threats against those, be they Jewish or not, who exercise their citizenship by publicly condemning current Israeli policy? What is being pursued by hijacking Judaism and giving it such a repulsive face? We accuse the present israeli government which, under the guise of expanding Israel, seeks to increase immigration to Israel, and is willing to live with the consequent renaissance of anti-semitism. Anti-semitism in our times has reached a new low by labelling nazi atrocities as merely a ”historical detail.” But it is a symmetrical misconception, and one that feeds the very sources of negationism, that the extermination of Jews by the Nazis is the only pure “crime against humanity.” We demand no privilege for Jews as victims: we fight all oppressions. While the present israeli policy cannot be described as seeking the physical annihilation of the palestinian people, a number of us believe that, overall, it qualifies for criminal prosecution in the International Criminal Court.

Suicide bombings aimed at killing Israeli civilians as organised by Palestinian terrorist groups are not only monstrous crimes: those who plan and organise them, playing on the feelings of despair among youthful candidates, in our view, as well as in that of many Palestinian leaders, are actually enemies—not equivocated allies—of Palestinian fundamental rights. We condemn Palestinian forces who oppose the existence of the state of Israel.

Similarly, we shall never allow, under the guise of our solidarity with the Palestinian people, the slightest collaboration with those whose support for Palestine is in reality based on their hatred for Jews.


Our position is that:

- The Palestinian people have an inalienable right to the land which is currently occupied by the armed forces of the most over-armed State in the Middle-East.
- The Palestinian people have an inalienable right to build their own State on that land, within the conditions guaranteed by the Charter of the United Nations.
- The Palestinian people have an inalienable rights to share Jerusalem as a capital.
- The Palestinian exiles and refugees have a right to return home or to just compensation, under conditions to be negotiated.
All those who oppose these rights feed endless violence, war, atrocities and hatred.

Because, during the last century, violently oppressive systems have crumbled and fallen, we believe it is possible and necessary to establish a just and lasting peace in the Middle-East.

In the face of the rising threats of religious extremism, chauvinism, “communityism,” racism and anti-semitism; in the face of the potentially murderous interference of the israeli right wing forces in french society, we are determined that the voice of french jewish citizens, or citizens of jewish origin, supporting the ideals of democracy, freedom, the universality of human rights and of peoples’ rights shall be heard. And so we speak;

Pour signer : uneautrevoixjuive@gmail.com