You'd expect most people to be home in front of their TV's on a midweek winter night in Brooklyn. But 150 Brooklynites filled the pews at the Prospect Park Methodist Church tonight.
They turned out to hear Phyllis Bennis speak at at a Brooklyn Parents For Peace meeting that was called to discuss the dual occupations of Iraq by the United States and Palestine by Israel. Ms. Bennis is a fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies and a writer, analyst and activist on Middle East and U.N. issues.
After an informative introduction by Bennis, other panelists - members of Brooklyn Parents For Peace - posed questions to the speaker. Some wanted to examine the challenges posed to raising the question of Israel's occupation in the broader community. Could and should the issue of that occupation be linked to the fight against the war in Iraq? Bennis felt that it wasn't a question any longer of whether it should be raised but how. By linking the two questions, it's true, she said, that we might alienate some people and we should try to avoid that through calm and thorough discussion with sections of the population that don't see or understand the nature of Israeli policy in Palestine. But, on the other hand she pointed out that by not raising the question we would be abandoning other sections of the population: Arabs, Muslims and immigrants - those who are the most vulnerable now, suffering from the domestic side of the Bush's war: deportations, renditions to foreign lands, detention without trial, etc.
The audience joined in the discussion with questions and statements. Some agreed and others didn't. An appearance and statement by anti-war City Councilmember David Yassky was appreciated and while he didn't agree with some points, his questions and statements indicated a desire to discuss, debate and listen to opposing points of view. And that should be the lesson learned - we must not shrink from addressing the issue of the Israeli policy and its occupation of Palestinian land because it is intricately related to the U.S. policy in Iraq and the entire mideast. The time is ripe to raise these questions as increasing numbers of people are willng to listen, learn and, perhaps, take action.
Phyllis Bennis addresses a large crowd of Brooklnites at the Park Slope Methodist Church.
Wide ranging questions from the audience.
Questions afterwards.
1 comment:
Hey Matt,
I came last night with an open mind and wanting to be informed. I did learn some things but did not find her "links" convincing of anything. In my opinion, they are not links but similarities. Maybe I'm missing something but when one uses a word like "link" when discussing two occupations, it makes one think that one is the cause of the other. The U.S. occupation of Iraq was not caused by the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory. So I'm not sure what "conclusions" Ms. Bennis wanted us to draw. Is the U.S. propping up Israel in the Middle East? Yes, absolutely. Has the U.S. picked up "torture" techniques from the Israeli military? Perhaps. But is the U.S. in Iraq because of Israel being in Palestinian territory? I did not see any "link" to that conclusion.
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