Jewish Peaceniks Convene
Penny Schwartz
Special to the Jewish Times
NOVEMBER 10, 2003
Boston
An unexpected promise of peace between Israel and the Palestinians blended with an enthusiastic appetite for political action at a national conference sponsored by the Chicago-based Brit Tzedek V'Shalom, the Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace, held Oct. 31 -- Nov. 2 at Boston's Park Plaza Hotel.
The gathering, which attracted hundreds from around the country -- as well as a small counter demonstration from the New England Committee to Defend Palestine -- coincided with the recent release of the Geneva Initiative, also called the Geneva Accord, a tentative pact reached several weeks ago between influential Israeli and Palestinian leaders, who met over a period of two years outside of formal diplomatic circles -- and without official approval by the Israeli government or Palestinian Authority.
"Two weeks ago, I presumed I was going to deliver a depressing talk," said Naomi Chazan, a professor of political science at Hebrew University in Jerusalem and known as one of the country's outspoken champions of women's rights, in her opening remarks Friday night. Standing against a backdrop with Brit Tzedek's slogan "Bring the settlers home," Chazan, a former deputy speaker of the Knesset, declared: "Israel was on a path of destruction. I could not see any light -- until the announcement of the Geneva Initiative."
The proposed accord has been harshly denounced by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and by his predecessor, Ehud Barak. But Paul Wolfowitz, the U.S. deputy secretary of defense who is a close adviser to President Bush, recently voiced support for the plan formulated by former Israeli Shin Bet security chief Ami Ayalon and Palestinian intellectual Sari Nusseibeh. "There is a significant grassroots movement that has already gotten some 90,000 Israeli signatures and some 60,000 Palestinian signatures in support of principles that look very much like the road map favoring a two-state solution," he told a Georgetown University audience, according to JTA. In addition, face-to-face meetings between Israeli and Palestinian officials have been reported in the last few days.
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