Rendition, Israeli Style

Dirar Abusisi might be a brilliant Hamas rocket developer, or just an engineer in Gaza’s power plant. It does not matter.

What does matter is that Israel found another way to break away from any reasonable, moral behavior by abducting Abusisi while he was with his family in Ukraine, on his way to settle his immigration process away from Palestine. 

After he was taken away from his wife and kids during a train ride to Kiev on Feb 19th, Abusisi disappeared for several days, just to reappear with handcuffs on, in an Israeli courthouse, this time as an accused person.

Needless to say there was no arrest warrant on his name and no extradition request by Israel was brought in front of the Ukrainian authorities. Abusisi was presumed guilty even before appearing in Israeli court and his so called legal procedure is an embarrassing farce.

At first Israel tried to claim that Abusisi is a high ranking officer in the Hamas operation, and that he is someone with intimate knowledge about the kidnapping of Gilad Shalit – the IDF soldier who was taken by Hamas after a cross-border raid more than 5 years ago.

The attempt to recover information regarding Gilad Shalit as a reason for Abusisi abduction was fast discredited. Even IDF correspondents and military-political analysts – usually a mouthpiece for the IDF - did not buy this argument.

The next (and current) version by Israeli prosecution was to claims that Abusisi is a prominent engineer who had helped Hamas with their rocket technology. A desperate attempt was made to connect Abusisi to the ‘who’s who’ of Hamas’ leadership in Gaza, and to picture him as the mastermind behind Hamas’ capabilities regarding rocket technology.

Given that even the Israeli security forces do not claim Abusisi was ever involved in direct-armed operations against Israel, and his involvement with Hamas comes down to  (at best) technical support, new questions have been raised. Mainly: Is this all it takes to abduct a man these days?

Again, the military correspondents came out, this time insinuating that there is much more that is hidden from the eye regarding Abusisi, saying: “you do not just kidnap someone over the stuff that Abusisi is accused of”; they refused, of course, to say anything more than that, as a gag order was placed over further details.

In effect, Israel is saying: “he was abducted because he is guilty” (of what is unclear). What is the best way to know he is guilty? “He was abducted, and you don’t abduct someone unless you have something BIG on him!”

There is, of course, a hidden assumption to Israel’s actions and responses in this affair. Israel (and its blind supporters among US-Jewry) believes that it is a moral entity, and thus all of its actions serve a moral purpose. Israel and Israelis see a categorical difference between Hamas’ abduction of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit and Israel’s abduction of (presumably) Hamas member Dirar Abusisi. While Hamas is seen as an immoral and ruthless aggressor in Shalit’s abduction, Israel’s abduction is ‘self-defense’.

So now it is in Israel’s interest to put Abusisi away for a long time; against any notion of fair and unbiased legal system. In the likely case of a major conviction with substantial punishment, Israel’s propaganda army could explain how “Abusisi was convicted as a terrorist in a court of law!’ In this case, his illigal abduction will be put into a ‘legal’ context and quickly overlooked.

The sad part is that Israeli decision makers do not even realize how, with every Abusisi-like case, Israel’s presumed moral standing is tarnished. The picture of Abusisi’s daughter holding his photo in his absence cannot be easily forgotten.

In addition, Israel, with its own hands, legitimizes future actions against Israelis outside of Israel. If Israel abducts a Palestinian rocket engineer, how can it complain when Hamas, Hezbollah or any other group does the same to an Israeli abroad?  Every other Israeli has served in the IDF, and many Israelis have direct or indirect links to the army, weapons industry or security services, thus making them legitimate targets according to the Israeli logic and actions.

Again, it is our duty as American-Jews to raise our voices and to object to this immoral, illegal and politically dangerous move by Israel’s decision-makers and those who carry out their orders. This is done in our name by our fellow Jews.  If we keep silent, we’re just as responsible for this.

I Love Public Transportation

I love public transportation. The idea of a system that transports large numbers of people around town in a clean, safe, reliable and cheap way cannot be overestimated. I am a true supporter of public transportation. I really am.

Lately, however, I’ve noticed that the buses in my town are consistently late. It also occurred to me that the bus routes run far from the populations who really need them, making public transportation almost irrelevant as an alternative to the private car. To make things even worse, I discovered that there have been numerous cases of corruption and mismanagement in the city’s latest bus purchase deal.

You might ask, if I believe in public transportation, how can I criticize it?

While sitting on the bus on a particularly long ride home one day, I found my thoughts drifting from public transportation to my feelings about Israel. I really love the idea of Israel – a safe homeland for the Jewish people, a center of culture and religious autonomy. As a Jew, I feel an almost primordial connection to the idea of Israel. And I’m always proud when Israel or an Israeli is applauded for some outstanding achievement, even if I had nothing to do with it. 

However, it seems that Israel is drifting away from the very idea I so strongly believe in. A week doesn’t go by when I don’t hear disturbing news about religious intolerance, high-level corruption or state-sponsored racism. This is without even getting into the minefield that is “The Conflict” and Israel’s role in it.

Yet, criticizing Israel seems always to be the wrong thing to do as a Jew. How can you love Israel and the idea behind the state and still criticize it? Any open attempt to start a discussion about Israel provokes questions about whether I’m really committed to it. I cannot mention, for instance, Israel’s state-sponsored bias against Reform and Conservative Jews or the widespread corruption of its elected officials. Trying to mention the racist, state-employed rabbis who just recently called upon Israeli Jews not to rent or sell property to (Israeli!) Arabs is hard without getting suspicious looks from fellow Jewish community members, or far worse.

When the Knesset (the Israeli Parliament) moved to pass a ‘Loyalty Oath’ law requiring non-Jewish immigrants to swear loyalty and obedience to the ‘Jewish State’ even the most pro-Israeli advocates here shifted uncomfortably. The reaction among American Jewry was not one of open criticism and disgust but came in the form of washed-down press releases urging Knesset members to ‘reconsider’ the motion. There was little public discussion or exchange of ideas, even within the Jewish sphere. It seemed like our communities were satisfied to tow the party line and hope the whole uncomfortable incident would quickly blow over.

And then we have Israel’s actions in “The Conflict.” Here is where consistency becomes almost impossible. It amazes me how some of the most liberal people in the U.S can make a 180 degree turn as soon as it comes to Israel: liberal Jews oppose torture in the “War against Terror,” but consider Israel’s torture practices right and justified. End of discussion. The same double standard applies when comparing American and Israeli policy on other issues of human rights and international law, from the indefinite detention and arrest of ‘Terror Suspects’ (without due process) to the disregard for international laws, the displacement of native people in an occupied land, executions without a trial, disproportionate use of force, two-tiered legal systems based on ethnicity – the list goes on.

Any mention of Israel’s many wrongdoings in its conflict with the Palestinians earns me the title “Self-Hating Jew.” I know of Jewish individuals who were effectively ousted from their communities after daring to state that Israel’s actions were wrong and reflected neither Jewish values nor intelligent foreign policy. But I do love being a Jew and I do love and care about Israel. So why can’t I talk about how far it has strayed from its founding ideals?

It seems to me that as American Jews we need to separate our connection and support to the idea behind the state of Israel from our actual opinion of Israel’s actions on the ground. If we really care about the idea, then it’s not only our right but our duty to place a mirror in front of the state that is so painfully deviating from it.