The following article is extracted
from the April 1997 issue of THE OTHER ISRAEL. The publisher encourages
unrestricted distribu- tion with acknowledgment of source.
THE "LAST MOMENT" PETITION
The idea for a manifesto arose when Gush Shalom
activists took part in several joint Israeli-Palestinian demonstrations at
the protest encampment opposite Jebl Abu Gn'eim ('Har Homa') on the eve of
Netanyahu's fateful decision. The purpose was to ring the alarm and try
at the last moment to prevent the bloodshed -- and the breakdown of the
peace talks -- which we knew would inevitably follow the start of
construction work. In order to dramatize the appeal, it was decided to
have the shortest possible text: "At the last moment: STOP THE
BULLDOZERS!" It was also decided not to identify the appeal officially
with Gush Shalom, so as to enable members of all organizations or parties
and personalities of different views to join the effort and sign. (And
indeed, the petition got the support of prominent members in Peace Now and
in the Meretz, Communist and Arab Democratic parties, as well as in the
dovish wing of Labor.)
The work of gathering signatures, mostly
by phone, was done by volunteers under hectic conditions, between
demonstrations -- and would have become hopelessly mired in chaos but
for the enormous efforts of Rachel Avnery who coordinated the
work.
The response was generally positive, refusal to sign very rare,
and many of those approached made an effort themselves to get additional
names -- in marked and puzzling contrast to the disappointing low
turnout in demonstrations held in the same period.
The three lists of signatures, published in the respected Ha'aretz, on
March 17, 19 and 26, included altogether 788 signatures. At the time of
writing, a fourth ad including a thousand signatures is being prepared,
which is due to appear on April 9. |
Eva Ehrlich, Uri und Rachel Avnery
|
+++ Nearly half of the signatories are members
of the academic community: 91 professors, 105 doctors and many lecturers and
researchers.
+++ The list includes 15 laureates of the
Israel Prize, the highest civil distinction in Israel: writers (S.
Yizhar, A.B.Yehoshua, Amos Oz, Yehoshua Sobol); poets (Nathan Sach,
Yehuda Amichai); sculptors (Danny Karavan, Menashe Kadishman);
actress (Hannah Meron, herself severely wounded in a terrorist
attack); composer (Arik Shapira); stage director (Ram Levi)
and professors (Hava Lazarus-Yafeh, Yehoshua Arieli, Yehudit Shuval, Dan
Meron).
+++ Among the signatories are three former
ministers (Shulamit Aloni, Victor Shem-Tov and Ya'ir Tzaban), four
former Knesset Members (Uri Avnery, Charlie Biton, Mordechai Bar-on,
Me'ir Pa'il) and eighteen present KMs (former Speaker
Shevach Weiss, Ya'el Dayan, Ran Cohen, Haim Oron, Taleb A-Sana, Naomi
Hazan, Azmi Bishara, Abd-el-Malek Dahamshe, Tamar Gozanski, Abd-el-Wahab
Darawshe, Walid Tzadek, Anat Ma'or, Taufik Hatib, Hashem Mahamid, Nawaf
Masalha, Dedi Zucker, Salah Salim and Ahmed Saad).
+++ Other well-known Israelis: veteran
peace-activist Ruth Dayan, former wife of Moshe Dayan; the religious
feminist Alice Shalvi; Rabbis David Foreman, Arik Asherman, Jeremy
Milgrom, Binyamin Hollander; the peace hero
Abie Nathan, joining the action despite frail health; Professors
Ze'ev Sternhell, Moshe Zimmermann, Benny Moris, Michael Harsegor, Elihu
Katz, Menachem Brinker, Moshe Zuckerman, Ariel Hirshfeld, Moshe Maoz,
Avishai Margalit, Gershon Shaked, Avraham Oz; musicoligist Michal
Smora; the heart surgeon Daniel Gur; writers David Grossman,
Yoram Kaniuk, Sammy Michael, Amos Kenan, Yehoshua Knaz, Nathan Shacham,
Yitzchak Ben-Ner, Amos Aricha, Orli Kastel-Blum; poets Dalia
Ravikovich, Siham Daoud, Dan Almagor, Yitzhak Llaor, Maya Bajerano;
painters and sculptors Dan Kedar, Ig'al Tumarkin, Zion Shimshi, David
Rib, Ruth Schloss; stage directors Sinai Peter, Shmuel Bunim, Benny
Horowitz, Benny Barabash, Vardit Shalfi; Dr.Ruchama Marton, founder of
Physicians for Human Rights; Israel's no. 1 television personality, Yaron
London; lawyers Amnon Zichroni and Leah Tzemel; sea captain
Nimrod Eshel; Jerusalem town planner and former city councillor Sarah
Kaminker; veteran social worker Thea Nathan, a long-time 'Honor
Citizen of Jerusalem'; Beduin activist Nuri al-Ukbi; the widely
respected Oriental Jewish scholar, Prof. Shlomo Elbaz; historical
researcher Ya'akov Sharett, son of the late prime minister; actors
and singers Oded Te'omi, Gila Almagor, Yossi Banai, Asher Tzarfati,
Elisheva Michaeli, Israel Gurion, Hannah Roth; journalists Haim
Baram, Haim Hanegbi, Silvie Keshet, Meir Shnitzer, Boaz Evron, Avi Katzman,
Ziva Yariv and Yoram Sadeh (son of the famous 1948 general Yitzhak Sadeh
and himself a peace activist since 1967); kibbutz movement general
secretaries Amiram Efrati and Avshalom ('Abu') Vilan.
(The above listing does not do justice to
the hundreds of other signatories of equal importance.)
Because of a severe lack of funds, the lists
were published only in Ha'aretz. There were no funds to publish in an
English-languague paper, nor for placing ads in the (far more expensive)
mass-circulation papers Yediot Aharonot and Ma'ariv, which would have
brought the message to hundreds of thousands exposed almost exclusively to
the official propaganda. As it were, the Ha'aretz ads were more or less
covered by contributions from the signatories, but there was no surplus left
for further actions -- while the reason for them remains as urgent.
Contributions to: Gush Shalom, POB 3322, Tel Aviv 61033 -- fax:
972-3-5271108
THE OTHER ISRAEL is the newsletter of the Israeli Council for
Israeli-Palestinian Peace, P.O.Box 2542, 58125 Holon, Israel. |
