[CC] FW: Re : Jewish Manifesto (fwd)

[Alan Sondheim]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 11 Apr 2002 11:14:23 +0400
From: Salwa Ghaly <sghaly@sharjah.ac.ae>
To: "'CYBERMIND@LISTSERV.AOL.COM'" <CYBERMIND@LISTSERV.AOL.COM>
Subject: FW: Re : Jewish Manifesto

-----Original Message-----
From: Cramerjazz@aol.com
To: sghaly@sharjah.ac.ae
Sent: 4/11/02 10:50 AM
Subject: Re : Jewish Manifesto

Important to check the website:
www.jipf.nu
scroll down to Jewish Manifesto in English
and pass it on to anyone who is Jewish.
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
Text follows:

Jewish Manifesto:
Sharon is Israel's Worst Enemy


                 Many of us who have initiated and signed this manifesto
                 lost family members during the Second World War. They
                 died in concentration camps or perished in the mass
                 graves of Eastern Europe. Often they had to dig their
                 own graves before being catapulted into them. Others of
                 us are survivors of Nazi persecution.

                 We totally repudiate Ariel Sharon's claim to speak in the
                 name of world Jewry. He certainly does not speak in
                 ours.
                 Israel's declaration of war on the Palestinians could
                 easily escalate into a major regional conflict. Israel
has
                 nuclear weapons, and there is little doubt that Sharon is
                 fully prepared to use them. In our view, he and his
                 policies have almost single-handedly brought the Middle
                 East to the point where disaster could strike at any
                 moment. Sharon is the biggest threat to the Israeli
                 people and to Jews around the world.

                 The Saudi proposal adopted by the Arab League handed
                 Sharon a unique historic opportunity to make peace. His
                 only response was ruthless violence.
                 Sharon is incapable of concluding agreements or forging
                 compromises. A peaceful solution is impossible as long
                 as he remains in power. He has never in his career done
                 anything but resort to the toughest conceivable military
                 measures. The Israeli resistance and peace movements
                 deserve all the support we can give them.

                 As far back as 1952, Sharon commanded the infamous
                 special operation Unit 101, whose task was to carry out
                 reprisals on the Palestinian and Arab side of the
                 armistice lines. During the next couple of years, he was
                 responsible for two attacks on Palestinian villages that
                 left almost 100 civilians dead. Israeli Prime Minister
                 Moshe Sharett condemned the atrocities.

                 In 1982, Defense Minister Ariel Sharon fashioned
                 "Operation Peace in Galilee" - otherwise known as
                 Israel's invasion of Lebanon. This time the toll was
                 20,000 killed and more than 100,000 homeless. Better
                 than 80% of the victims were civilians, and at least
                 6,000 children were orphaned.

                 An International Commission of Inquiry set up by Nobel
                 Peace Prizewinner Se=E1n MacBride determined that the
                 Israelis had been in violation of international law
during
                 the Lebanese war. An Israeli government commission
                 headed by Supreme Court President Yitzhak Kahan
                 concluded that Sharon had not done enough to stop the
                 massacre of 800 unarmed civilians at the Sabra and
                 Shatila refugee camps.

                 In less than two years, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has
                 managed to torpedo the agreements that took Israel
                 and the Palestinians many years of patient
                 accommodation to achieve.

                 Sharon contends that Israel is above the Geneva
                 Conventions and international law. That puts him in the
                 company of the world's cruelest and most despicable
                 dictators. On Sharon's orders, ambulances and hospitals
                 are ambushed, doctors are shot, and pregnant women
                 are left to die or give birth at Israeli checkpoints.

                 Our alternative to Sharon is the Jewish tradition of
                 humanism and faith in the future. When challenged by a
                 stranger to sum up the Jewish religion while he hopped
                 on one foot, the great Rabbi Hillel replied simply, "That
                 which you find hateful to yourself, do not do unto
                 others. That is all of the law. The rest is merely
                 commentary."

                 We demand that Israel immediately and unconditionally
                 withdraw from the Occupied Territories, that an
                 international peacekeeping force be sent to the region,
                 that Israel comply with international law, and that
Israel
                 declare at once its willingness to negotiate peace on the
                 basis of all U.N. resolutions.

                 (If you like to sign this manifesto send an email to
                 yael@chello.se.)