The following letter by Gush Shalom representative and publicist Uri
Avnery to the foreign representatives accredited to Israel was sent on July 8 --
a week before the U.N. General Assembly Har Homa debate.
It is extracted from the
July-August 1997 issue of
THE OTHER ISRAEL
Out of Simple Distaste
Dear Sir or Madam,
The continuing expansion of settlements in the Palestinian
territories, with its concomitant confiscation of Palestinian land and
confrontations with the Palestinian population, are perceived by the
international community -- as well as by a growing part of Israel's own
population -- to be the single most serious factor blocking the road to peace in
our region.
This is exemplified by the present crisis in the Middle East peace process --
precipitated by the Netanyahu Government's decision to start settlement
construction on Jebl Abu-Ghneim ("Har Homa") and exacerbated by intensive land
confiscation and settlement extension elsewhere in the Territories.
I personally, as well as many other Israelis whom I know, take care in daily
life not to purchase goods produced at Israeli settlements in occupied territory
-- out of a simple distaste, as well as a reasoned unwillingness to support an
institution which we consider insidious, immoral and endangering our future and
our hopes for peace. More than once did Israeli peace groups, such as the one I
represent -- Gush Shalom, the Israeli Peace Bloc -- call upon the general public
to refrain from purchasing such goods.
During my tenure as Member of Knesset, I have made the same call from the
podium of our Parliament.
In the media there was recently some mention that the idea of international
boycott over goods produced in the settlements or companies investing in them is
due to come up in the United Nations General Assembly and other international
forums. It was also reported that the Netanyahu Government has started a
diplomatic campaign to present such measures as "anti-Israeli" and call upon
friends of Israel to oppose them.
In our view, it is the settlement extension drive which is anti-Israeli, an
irresponsible adventure risking our most basic interests. Any action taken by
the international community to halt this drive -- making a clear distinction
between Israel's own internationally recognised territory and the settlements
established illegally in occupied territory -- would be in the best interests of
us Israelis as well as of all the other Middle Eastern peoples.
We would be grateful to you for communicating this letter to your government,
so that it may be taken into consideration.
Uri Avnery
for the Gush Shalom Movement
Member of
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