The letter below is from a friend, a peace activist who for many years headed MASHAV, the Israeli development agency, and was involved many UN agencies in the international arena dealing with human rights and specifically human rights. She feels betrayed and ignored by former "friends".
This is an abridged version and i can send the full letter on request.
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For
more than 25 years, I was a true militant of peace, creating dialogue between
Israeli and Palestinian women, believing strongly in peace-education and in
building bridges between communities! What a terrible wake-up I had!!! How
could I be so naïve? Peace??? With whom??? With Hamas ??? - A terrorist group that doesn’t value the lives
of its own brothers, maintaining them as refugees for more than 75 years for
political purposes; taking the billions of dollars provided by the EU, US and
other generous donors, to buy weapons and to build underground tunnels, instead
of investing in education, health and economy, and using civilians as human
shields, and then accusing Israel of the killing of innocent people in Gaza.
For
the information then of those who prefer to ignore the truth: Israel is apparently
the only country in the world to have liberated territories, gained during a
defensive war, for the purposes of achieving peace. And
what has it received in return? Years of
more and more terrorist attacks against innocent civilians!...
Wake
up,
dear world! Can’t you see the reality?
How dare you judge us when you ignore true facts and rely on lies and false
information? Why don’t you take the time to check the information you get before
sharing fake news, and before rushing to join demonstrations against
Israel, adding your voice to all those antisemites who were just waiting
for the “right” moment to express their hate against the Jews and against
Israel, with slogans such as “Free Palestine from the river to the sea”.
I
furthermore wonder how the UN which is responsible for the “Child Rights
Manifesto”, signed by most of its Member countries in 1989, does not take a
minimal initiative with the International Red Cross organization to protect the
rights of dozens of children who were so taken as hostages; and who are being
held in despicable conditions? How can the UN not act for their immediate release? And where is the Red Cross??
The
world must realize the magnitude of the tragedy we are facing, and must understand
that this war is a matter of good vs evil, civilization vs.
barbarism… For us, the Jews, this is
a second Holocaust, and it must be recognized as such.
Where
are my own rights, and the rights of my children and grandchildren, to live a
normal life? I realize though and with
much sadness that I am asking a stupid question!! Who really cares??
This
is a question of moral compass, and choosing not to unequivocally condemn the
inhumane crimes committed by Hamas on that tragic day of 7 October is not OK.
Today,
I have decided to stop trying to explain to some of my colleagues from women’s
organizations, regionally and internationally, from the human rights’
associations around the globe, and from colleagues from UN WOMEN and UN
specialized agencies with whom I have cooperated for decades, contributing to
the empowerment and well-being of women in the developing world, that silence
on their part cannot be an option.
I had expected them to stand-up in full solidarity with the women in
Israel. I had expected them to take a
very clear stance against terror… I had expected them to call for the immediate
release of the hostages… I know, all of
them consider rape in a war zone as a crime, but that seemingly is only as long
as the victims are not Jews!
I
had expected the UNWOMEN to comprehend the enormity of the tragedy, to
recognize the fact that what happened on the 7 of October was a mass
feminicide, since women were violently raped, tortured, humiliated before being
savagely murdered.
UNWOMEN
your silence regarding the war crimes committed by Hamas against Israeli women is
UNFORGIVABLE! Your organization will go
down in the history books sitting idly by…
Furthermore,
I just heard that the UN has appointed Iran’s Ambassador to chair the Human
Rights Council! To laugh or to cry??
We have no choice but to defend ourselves from
a murderous terror organization, and its allies, that seek the annihilation of
the Jewish people and the destruction of Israel. Nobody
can convincingly deny that this is their final objective. So,
what do you expect us to do? To let them
exterminate us? However, we will win! We will win because we have no other
alternative if we want to survive as a nation. As Golda Meir once said, “we will win because
we have no other place to go”.
We
need to make sure that the civilized world will prevail in the war against evil
and terror. For our struggle is also the
struggle of democratic and civilized societies.
Yesterday,
I heard with horror and immense pain that my friend and colleague, Vivian
Silver, was declared dead after her remains were found at her home in Kibbutz
Be’eri, among the tortured innocent victims of October 7 massacre. Vivian, a lifelong feminist, a fearless
leader who has devoted her entire life to the cause of peace and to Arab-Jewish
partnership, who was one of the founders of the Israeli movement Women Wage
Peace!
Another
friend and colleague of mine who had been kidnapped from her house by Hamas,
together with her grandchildren, is Dr. Shoshan Haran, a woman who, through her
humanitarian organization “Fair Planet” has dedicated her career to the
wellbeing of the poorest of the poor in Africa, ensuring food security and
helping local women farmers to overcome their hardships. Shoshan’s husband, her
brother and sister-in law, have been found murdered in kibbutz Be’eri.
My
soul and my heart are broken…
However,
despite my hard “wake-up” from many years of naivety and blindness, during
which I did not want to believe that there exists an incredible hypocrisy, a
lack of integrity and a double standard when the issue involved is about Israel
and the Jews, I refuse to lose my humanity - even in the grip of the trauma
caused by the Hamas horrendous carnage… And
so, I will continue my own battle for women’s rights and social justice,
whenever and wherever it is necessary.
This engagement is due to the support and sympathy I personally received
during this dark period from true friends, whom I salute for their
courage and humanity. Their solidarity is particularly appreciated in this time
of adversity, where the global waves of antisemitism that we are watching play
out on social media can make Jews feel alone.
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