Peace activists ponder aftermath of Lebanon fighting

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September 2006

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Peace activists ponder aftermath of Lebanon fighting
‘Respect Life’ 2006-07 program packet available

Moment of opportunity or just a lull in the fighting?
Peace activists ponder aftermath of Lebanon fighting
Although Israel and Lebanon agreed to a ceasefire that started on Monday, August 14, the peace movement has a long way to go before declaring victory against war in the region.

During the month-long conflict, activists of all faiths condemned civilian casualties and called for an immediate ceasefire through protests, petitions, and publicity. Now that the ceasefire is in effect, peace organizations are turning to questions of how to proceed with rebuilding, disarmament, and the larger ideological and regional problems.

The recent conflict and the United States government’s response to it have been discouraging for some peace activists. “I wish we knew what the next steps were,” says Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb, who is on the national council of the Fellowship of Reconciliation. “So far we haven’t really been able to stop the rise of militarism of this [Bush] administration.”

“As an American Muslim, it really scared me,” says Mas’ood Cajee, a board member of the Muslim Peace Fellowship. “I just feel entirely more unsafe by what just happened.

“The bombing of Lebanon is something I think is going to haunt us for many years to come.”

Cajee describes the conflict as having a “Katrina moment,” in which many people realized “just how radical the policy decisions being made in Washington are.” He added that the crisis, like the hurricane, was another man-made disaster. Much of this conflict could have been prevented with judicious policies, diplomacy, and intervention, he explained.

“We haven’t learned lessons of, certainly, Katrina and also 9/11. We are sort of at square one and moving backward,” he says.

Despite the sad realities, some peace organizations see this as the perfect time to act. “This is a moment of opportunity in the Middle East. The attention of the entire world is now focused on the region,” says the website for the Ceasefire Campaign, which is using its current momentum push leaders at September’s UN Summit to start a new peace effort in Israel and Palestine.

Brit Tzedek v'Shalom, the Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace, is also using this opportunity to promote the two-state resolution and to reaffirm that fighting is not in the best interest of Israel.

“The simple truth is that from the beginning this war was not winnable,” wrote Diane Balser, Executive Director, in a statement. “We could have known this from the Israeli experience in the occupied territories. Forty years of militarism against the Palestinians hasn't worked there either. Neither has unilateralism. The only option left is diplomacy.”

While many Jewish peace organizations would agree, Rabbi Gottlieb says that this voice is still on the fringe in the Jewish community. “We haven’t figured out how to make it into the mainstream Jewish community,” she says. “We are rather outside of influence.”

In order to increase its influence, the peace movement needs to consider its methods and partnerships, she says. It is particularly important for the movement to understand all sides and unite with others across communal and religious lines.

“Is the interfaith peace community connected enough? How are we working together? Are we working to common goals? That’s a question we need to be asking because so often in this conflict, we isolate. We’re working in our own places, but we don’t create enough opportunities to create common coalitions,” says Gottlieb, who is a co-founder of the Muslim-Jewish Peace Walk and the director of the Interfaith Inventions Wilderness Peace Camp.

While the current situation may scare him, Cajee looks to developing coalitions as a reason for hope. He calls himself “a very stubborn optimist.”

“When you take the long view, who in the 1979 would think that by 1989 that the Soviet machine would be on its last legs, or for that matter that apartheid would crumble in South Africa,” he says. “I think the important thing is to know who you are, to know where you are going, and know that history is in good hands.”—Megan Sweas

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