[statecom] Proposal to Convention Tomorrow: A Proposal to Revise,
Expand, and Improve the Green-Rainbow Party Statement on Palestine
Ron Francis
ronwf777 at yahoo.com
Sat Sep 16 00:20:14 EDT 2006
Dear All,
I appreciate the effort to clarify statements of course, but Item 4 is unacceptable and racist.
Item 4 is:
4. The Green-Rainbow Party also recognizes the historical
significance of the region of Palestine and Israel for many different
people, and supports initiatives for Jews, as well as other cultures
originating in the region, to return to the region provided that
these initiatives do not infringe nor supersede in any way on the
rights of others.
Acknowledgement of the zionist project called "Israel" is accepting zionism - that which we so clearly oppose in part 5 of the statement.
What we need to understand is that the creating of modern "Israel" (which is how the term is used) represents and is equivalent to the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.
What we need to do is state that we support democracy and equality for all people in the region and explicitly reject the legalized discrimination found only in Israel. Remember that is is not the presence of Jewish peolple in the region that concerns Palestinians, it is the imposition of Jewish privilege in the region and the denial of basic human rights for Palestinians. (Also note that historically there were good relations between Jews and Arabs and today there still are in many places in the region)
In many ways the situation has parallels to Native American struggle. What native object to is not "European white", they objected to colonization and domination of thier people and culture.
(By the way, what make "Israel" different from many other countries with racism, is that the racism in "Israel" is legalized. You cannot go to an Israeli court and hope to get justice if you are a Palestinian because the laws themselves are racist.)
We might as well say that we recognized the historical significance of the Africaner interests and presence in the region and support the rights of the Africaners to settle in South Africa. We don't need to do this and is way too close, if not in fact, supporting colonial settlerism especially when the influx of many Jewish people is used to occupy more and more land that is strictly reserved for Jews only. It is virtually impossible to support the influx of any people (of any bacground) in Palestine without trampling on the return rights of 5 million Palestinians in the world.
If someone came to your house, forcibly ethnically cleansed it of you as a Non-Jew, and declared it a Jewish home, with legalized racism, persecuted you in the ghetto that you now are forced to live in as a refugee, then would you object if they started bringing in more Jewish people to settle in other parts of your house or other parts of the land that your house is on ?
Once there is democracy in the region then the people living there can decide on governmental policies. It is sufficient, in item 5 to call for democracy for ALL people in the region with equal rights for all, and leave it at that. Sanctions Until Democracy is the policy that we need to have.
item 1 re-write is also problematic in that it also discusses "Israel" as if it is a legitimate project. "Israel" can never be mentioned without reference to the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians - since that is what Israel represents. (see proper nonracist reference to "Israel" in point 5)
Israel either needs to be in quotes or referred to as in section 5 of the statement.
I also question the "recorded loss" in membership due to zionism. The only thing I am aware of is the increase in GRP membership in Somerville due to the Parties stance on the position. Please clarify this "recorded loss". Here we should also note that sections of the social justice in movement have historically been zionist and these racist elements are slowly being forced to take the racist politics elsewhere such as teh Democratic Party which is explicitly racist. At the national level I haven't read about any losses of any significance.
My general feeling is that these re-writes are responding to zionists whose presence in social justice circles is decreasing and who do not represent a consituency that will likely ever be supportive of justice in palestine. It is only zionists who raise the concerns that you refer to and we should not overreact to these usually racist concerns. Better to educate people about the history of "Israel". Once people understand "Israel" as a colonial settler enterprise, then they cease to have the concerns that you raise.
ron francis
"Colby E. Peterson" <saphron at verizon.net> wrote:
I intend to introduce this proposal to the Convention tomorrow.
This proposal is based on my experience as Communications Director of
this party when regularly dealing with members of our party, the
general public, and the news media.
Despite the fact that we are a state-level party, this issue ties
directly to our local lives, and eventually to our wallets. Our
stance on this issue is very important to our members. There have
been a recorded loss in membership due to our stance on this issue.
There is also a theoretical gain in membership, although I personally
have not observed any. The problem is not our stance, which is just
and correct, but what we leave up for interpretation. Our "enemies"
in the media will create false interpretations of our stance and turn
it into a viral publicity smear to demonize us and our position. This
vulnerability is unacceptable and is due to the exclusion of certain
key principles in our statement. These principles add balance to the
statement, clarify the statement, make it less debatable, and bring
it up to a higher standard.
Correct statement? Absolutely.
Flawless statement? Hardly. The statement could not even get passed
by consensus.
With the changes I propose below, I think it can be. I ask for your
co-sponsorship.
See you at the Convention.
- Colby Peterson,
Communications Director (Incumbent and running for re-election!)
A Proposal to Revise, Expand, and Improve the Green-Rainbow Party
Statement on Palestine
Background:
At the Green-Rainbow Party State Convention of 2005, the party
adopted by majority vote the Green-Rainbow Party Statement on
Palestine. Since its adoption, the statement has been controversial
within and outside the party for several reasons:
1. The statement lacks a reason why the party has chosen Israel as a
subject of focus, attacking it for having a Jewish-privilege system
while many of the other countries in the world, and particularly in
the Middle East, that have other ethnic or religious privilege for
some of their residents, go without criticism or even mention.
2. The statement does not contain a clause condemning or even
regretting the violence in the region. Section 5 is often
misinterpreted as an endorsement of violence against non-combatants,
and demands clarification.
3. The statement does not acknowledge or recognize the history behind
Jewish presence in the region, one of the key selling-points for Israel.
4. The statement does not address the generations of Israeli
nationals now living in the region. Their fate is left ambiguous and
this is offensive and frightening to many people.
Because of these loose ends, the Green-Rainbow Party has been under
constant fire from Zionist and non-Zionist media outlets and has been
labeled by one outlet as "the most anti-Semetic mainstream political
entity in Massachusetts."
The written and actual conduct of some high-profile GRP members has
exacerbated this perception, a perception which we all know is
completely false. As a political party that believes in human rights,
certainly we cannot, by definition, be "anti-Semetic" nor "anti-
Jewish." This proposal will also contain guidelines which party
officials must adhere to when dealing with this highly sensitive issue.
If we are to tie these loose ends, we will no longer be open to such
criticism and we would be able to better stand on our statement. The
party must be united and just on this issue.
Definitions:
Party official: Any member of the Administrative or State Committees
for the purpose of this proposal shall be considered, "party officials."
Zionist: Any person that defends or advocates for the apartheid
system currently in effect in Israel and the occupied territories.
Any person that believes that Jews have a greater claim to the land
in the region than any other group.
Proposal:
The Green-Rainbow Party will change the Green-Rainbow Party Statement
on Palestine in to reflect the following text:
"Green-Rainbow Party Statement on Palestine
The Green-Rainbow Party of Massachusetts, in consonance with its
adherence to its Ten Key Values, has the following position on the
issue of Palestine and Israel. This revised statement will be
submitted to the national party through the International Committee:
1. The Green-Rainbow Party is opposed to all forms of government that
favor or give privileges to one or some groups of residents over
other groups. We take special issue with the government of Israel
because it receives the highest amount of foreign aid per year from
the United States. We see this aid as funding an illegal occupation
and as supporting oppression against non-Jews in Israel. The Green-
Rainbow Party calls for the end of all American military and economic
aid to Israel. Additionally, the Green-Rainbow Party of Massachusetts
supports the following means to bring pressure to bear on Israel:
Divestment initiatives that seek to withdraw institutional
investments from Israel state bonds and corporations that do business
with Israel; academic boycotts of Israeli academics and academic
institutions.
2. The Green-Rainbow Party calls for an ecologically sound commitment
to equitably sharing and conserving all water and other natural
resources among all peoples of the region.
3. The Green-Rainbow Party supports full implementation of the Right
of Return for each Palestinian refugee, which means each Palestinian
has the right to choose to return to his or her home and lands. This
right is a fundamental human right and is enshrined in international
law for all peoples of the world.
4. The Green-Rainbow Party also recognizes the historical
significance of the region of Palestine and Israel for many different
people, and supports initiatives for Jews, as well as other cultures
originating in the region, to return to the region provided that
these initiatives do not infringe nor supersede in any way on the
rights of others.
5. The Green-Rainbow Party of Massachusetts calls for a secular,
democratic governing entity for all people in the geographic region
of historic Palestine, today referred to as Israel, the West Bank and
Gaza. We support a democratic system with equal rights for all in
which the peoples of the region democratically decide their future.
We support a system that will unite all people to live together in
peace, and support reconciliation between the generations of national
Israelis and the oppressed in the occupied lands.
6. The Green-Rainbow Party recognizes the right of Palestinians to
self-defense as well as nonviolent resistance to Israeli occupation
and the Israeli project of forced displacement of the indigenous
Palestinian population which has been ongoing since 1948. The right
to resist occupation is guaranteed to all peoples of the world by
international law. We do not support the targeting or killing of non-
combatants in the region by any party."
Additionally, this State Convention brings forth the following code
of conduct for party officials when describing or dealing with this
issue. Party officials are representatives of the party, and must
maintain a high level of respect and decency when dealing with the
public and the media, especially when public opinion has never been
higher in support of the status-quo in Israel, a status-quo that we
aim to change.
1. Party officials will not refer to Israel as merely a fictitious
place, or otherwise arbitrary location. Referring to the region
simply as Palestine is both acceptable and historically accurate.
However, Israel is a UN-recognized body and has people, and possible
allies, who identify as Israeli. This means that in written
communications, party officials will not refer to Israel in quotation
marks. To do so is disrespectful, arrogant, and possibly racist to
people who identify as Israeli. It is also seen as possible allies
and members of the media as immature and unprofessional.
2. Party members will recognize that the crimes we are opposed to are
those of the government of Israel and the Zionist occupiers in
Israel, and not of all of the Israeli people themselves.
3. Party officials will show tact and respect when appearing at pro-
Palestinian or anti-Zionist events. If an event organizer expresses a
request to a party official in respect to sign-age, message, or
behavior at an event, the party official should immediately comply.
Evidence of failing to comply with the requests of event organizers
will be interpreted as conduct unbecoming of a party official and
will result in recall proceedings for the violating party official.
Budget Impact: None
Implementation:
1. The GRP Secretary or their appointee will record and modify the
existing statement to reflect all amendments and changes for the record.
2. The Green-Rainbow Party Communications Director or chair of the
Technology Committee or their appointee will update the GRP web site
to reflect the changes.
3. The Green-Rainbow Party Communications Committee will prepare and
disseminate information to the public, membership, and the media
relating to the modified language, why the language was modified, and
the changes themselves.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Colby E. Peterson
Communications Director
Green-Rainbow Party
www.green-rainbow.org
communications.director at green-rainbow.org
cell: 978.895.0650
---------------------------------------------------------------
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