The holiness of the BDS movement

DEAN LUTRIN

Hundreds of Gazan civilians have died in Operation Protective Edge. Predictably, this has led to organisations such as the BDS and “Jews for Justice in Palestine” expressing vocal opposition to current Israeli policies. Many Jews announce proudly that they support the Palestinians and express shame at how Israel is conducting itself. Those who defend Israel claim that its military conduct is beyond reproach and that each civilian death is an unintended tragedy.

The mainstream Zionist and Jewish community believes that Hamas are responsible for Palestinian civilian deaths as a result of the use of human shields.

The Jewish community gives the title of “self-hating Jew” to all those who stand in solidarity with the Palestinians rather than giving unquestioning support to the state of Israel and its defence forces. These people are seen as an embarrassment and danger to the interests of Jews everywhere.
In reply, the Jews who are vocal in support of the Palestinian cause say that Israel is behaving in an ethically unacceptable manner and that the only appropriate response is harsh criticism of Israeli politics and military decisions.

Should Israel aspire to a higher moral standard
 than the mediocre benchmarks of the
United Nations and the Geneva Convention?  

The Israelis have used more restraint in this war than any other army has in modern military history. The Israeli army believes that it upholds each and every principle of the Geneva Convention. Yet, Israel is held to a higher standard than the rest of the world. The condemnation levelled against Israel by the world is completely out of proportion to its supposed crimes.

It is uplifting that there are so many Jews who understand the magnitude of the threat against Israel and remain optimistic in their hope for peace. They are generous in their belief that it is possible to reconcile with people and organisations who have explicitly declared their genocidal intentions.

These “self-hating Jews” represent the best of what Judaism has to teach the world. They are not content with keeping to the Geneva Convention. They believe that Israel should aspire to a higher moral standard than the mediocre benchmarks of the United Nations. We see the visions of morality of the prophets of the bible and we set our bar at that level.

If we are being bombed from a mosque then that place becomes a legitimate military target, yet Jewish ethics demands more of us. We expect Jewish soldiers to be able to destroy the weapons without destroying the minaret. We are hopeful that Jewish technical ingenuity will give us the precision we need so that we can avoid as much collateral damage as possible.

Jews are an optimistic people. Our faith that a better day is around the corner has given us the courage to withstand pogrom after pogrom. That optimism leads us to ceasefire after ceasefire in the hope that there can be a political solution to the current conflict. We are fortunate to be living in a time where Jews are no longer powerless. For the first time in millennia, we are in a position of strength and we as a people are conflicted as to how we should wield our power.

Israel has never intentionally targeted civilians but their presence on the battlefield is an incredibly difficult challenge for us. The accusation that a Jewish army is wilfully killing Palestinian children is a terrible blood libel that should be rejected outright.

I expect that with time the memory of BDS, “Not In Our Name” and “Jews for Justice in Palestine” will be a minor footnote in Jewish history. I expect that their supporters’ hostility to the Jewish people will virtually guarantee that their children or grandchildren will not marry Jewish and tragically they will be lost forever.
But the message that they convey – that the Jewish people have always been and will always be a “kingdom of priests and holy nation” with a responsibility to be a light unto the nations, is one that remains true.

• Dr Dean Lutrin is a prominent Johannesburg surgeon. He is Orthodox, a member of the Mizrachi community, and is on the faculty of the Acadamy Jewish Thought and Learning