The New York Mets and the business of terrorism
Mark Graffis
http://uruknet.info/index.php?p=m60271&hd=&size=1&l=e
The New York Mets and the business of terrorism Aaron Levitt
By hosting an event in support of Hebron settlers at Citi Field,
the New York Mets are supporting terrorism. (Mamoun Wazwaz/MaanImages)
November 20, 2009
When I first learned that the New York Mets were hosting a fundraiser
for the nonprofit Hebron Fund at Citi Field in support of the Israeli
settlers in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron, I honestly assumed
it was a joke, albeit a poor one. When I realized this was an actual,
planned event, I still found it almost impossible to believe. This
is because, even aside from the devastating impact of settlement
expansion on the prospects for peace in the region, I have had the
misfortune to see, repeatedly and at first hand, the fruits of the
Hebron Fund's labors.
During the summers of 2005 and 2006, and very briefly in 2008, I
spent several weeks working as a human rights observer in the Tel
Rumeida section of Hebron, home of the Beit Hadassah and Tel Rumeida
settlements that are supported by The Hebron Fund. During that time,
I encountered racist graffiti with such statements as "Gas the
Arabs" and "Fatimah, we will rape all Arab women." I repeatedly
observed settlers throwing stones and clods of earth at young
Palestinian girls on their way to elementary school; yelling racial
epithets at Palestinians walking in the streets; pushing, kicking,
and spitting on Palestinian children and (occasionally) adults who
were quietly minding their own business; and hurling large stones
down on Palestinian homes and residents from settlement balconies.
I have witnessed this behavior by men and women, boys and girls,
from pre-school-aged children to middle-aged adults. I was myself
assaulted, on Shabbat, by a group of six teenage settlers, when I
came between them and their intended victim, an elderly Palestinian
woman who also happened to be the proud mother of a US Navy fighter
pilot (the picture of her son standing by his plane was prominently
displayed on her living room wall). The settler youths then turned
to attack my companion, a young Scandinavian woman who was videotaping
the original assault. I have heard and read numerous, credible
reports of far worse violence than I personally experienced from
other human rights observers, who were in the area for different
and/or longer periods.
The Hebron settlers engage in this violence for the express purpose
of driving out Palestinian families from Tel Rumeida, site of the
Cave of Machpelah, or Cave of the Patriarchs, which is holy to both
Jews and Muslims.
Settler leaders have said as much in at least one published interview,
and a young man from the Beit Hadassah settlement confirmed it to
my face in September 2006. The settlers' efforts have been remarkably
successful: of more than 600 Palestinian families originally living
in the neighborhood, probably less than 100 remained when I was
last there in 2008. If the settlers continue to receive free reign,
and full funding, we may soon add a new chapter of completed ethnic
cleansing to the troubled history of this ancient city.
According to the US Code, Title 22, Chapter 38, S 2656f, our country
defines terrorism as "premeditated, politically motivated violence
perpetrated against noncombatant targets by subnational groups or
clandestine agents." The Hebron settlers' violence is certainly
premeditated. It is, by their own admission, politically motivated.
It is perpetrated solely against noncombatant targets (overwhelmingly
children), and it is obviously the work of a subnational group --
the settlers themselves.
The business of the Hebron settlers is terrorism, pure and simple;
not quasi-terrorism, crypto-terrorism, neo-terrorism, potential
terrorism, or something akin to terrorism, but the very thing itself.
And the business of the Hebron Fund is funding terrorism. This does
not mean that all, or even most, donors knowingly support these
actions; many may be innocent victims misled by the fund's innocuous
marketing materials. Although the fund's staff and Board member
attempt to maintain a cloak of respectability, they are another
matter entirely.
This year's Hebron Fund dinner will "honor" Hebron settler and
spokesman Noam Arnon (whose picture is featured with other "Hebron
Fund and Hebron Community Leaders" on the Hebron Fund website). In
1990, Arnon told Israel Radio that three Jewish militants, convicted
of car-bombings that killed three Palestinians and maimed two
Palestinian mayors, were "heroes" who sacrificed themselves "for
the security of Jews." In 1995, Arnon was further quoted by the
Associated Press when he called Baruch Goldstein, another settler
who slaughtered 29 Palestinians at prayer in Hebron and injured
more than 100 others, an "extraordinary person" denied "historical
justice."
The 2008 Hebron Fund dinner honored Board member Myrna Zisman, who
accepted her award on behalf of Yifat Alkoby, an "extraordinary
woman" who received international attention in 2006 when she was
videotaped repeatedly calling a Palestinian woman and her daughters
whores and telling them to stay in their "cage," as the family
sought refuge in their own home, with bars on the windows to protect
them from recurring settler attacks.
I could say something about how the Mets, as a treasured New York
City institution, shouldn't be lending their facilities, or their
name, to such practices, and that would certainly be true. I could
say something about the extraordinary irony of such an event being
held on top of the Jackie Robinson Rotunda, and that would be true
as well. Yet the larger truth is that no American team, no American
business, and no American individual should be providing material
support for terrorism, or assisting those who provide such support.
Unless and until the Mets reverse their terribly ill-considered
decision to host this event, that is precisely what they have chosen
to do.
Aaron Levitt is a member and past board member of West End Synagogue
in Manhattan, a member of Jews Against the Occupation (JATO), and
is presently Director of Research at a large New York City social
services agency. Levitt has been working in support of a just peace
in Israel/Palestine for the past seven years. He can be contacted
at aaronjlevitt A T gmail D O T com.
:: Article nr. 60271 sent on 20-nov-2009 17:48 ECT
Link: electronicintifada.net/v2/article10903.shtml
:: The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility
of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website.
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