A letter to Quakers: principled impartiality
Aletia Dundas, New South Wales Regional Meeting
Dear Friends,
I feel like I’m standing up in meeting with my heart racing and a heaviness that I can’t shake. Friends, over the past few months when the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has come up in conversation, I’ve found myself feeling at odds with other Quakers, and I’ve sat with the question of why this might be. It seems to me that the ongoing situation for Palestine is the one justice issue where we are not in unity. Some might interpret our peace testimony as leading us to remain neutral in conflicts and wars and our testimony to equality as seeing a conflict as having two equal sides. I don’t see it that way. I see this situation in the same way that I see many social justice struggles – there is long-lasting violence, oppression and injustice together with significant power imbalance, and then there are some incredibly courageous people desperately trying to speak truth to power.
I was in Palestine as an Ecumenical Accompanier in 2016, sent by the World Council of Churches as part of a decades long endeavour to respond to urgent pleas from the churches in Jerusalem for international support. The model used by the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI) is called “accompaniment”, a theological framework for acting justly in the way of Christ, providing protective presence, monitoring violations of human rights, standing with local peace and human rights groups, using principled impartiality, supporting nonviolent efforts and then engaging in advocacy back home to encourage international action for change.
The reason I participated in this initiative was because, as a Quaker, I believe we should not be passive in our pacifism. If we believe in peace, and we refuse to take up weapons, then we should be willing to stand up unarmed but well trained to support nonviolent resistance to oppression and an enduring solution to a protracted conflict.
I particularly appreciated the focus of EAPPI on principled impartiality. It was emphasised to us during training that this does not mean remaining neutral in the face of injustice, even though EAPPI doesn’t take sides as such. Instead, principled impartiality means being on the side of justice and human rights, standing alongside those who are poor, oppressed and marginalised. Often during my 3 months in the South Hebron Hills we stood alongside both Palestinians and Israelis who were working together non-violently to oppose the unjust military occupation. And indeed, those Israelis who risked their lives and showed up every Saturday without fail to offer solidarity for Palestinians won my deep admiration.
So, Friends, every week there have been protests across Australia against the bombardment of Gaza, against what can only be called genocide. I know that Palestinian civilians are disproportionately represented in the unequal death toll, instructed to flee yet given no avenue to escape, denied basic humanitarian assistance including medicines, food, water, and watching their beloved educational and health institutions come crashing down around them. They are rapidly losing hope. And so, I am there at these protests, continuing my commitment to be on the side of justice and human rights, and to stand with those who are marginalised and oppressed. All my life I’ve been attending similar protests. When I was a child we were protesting nuclear weapons, then it was for justice and recognition for First Peoples in their struggle amidst the colonial and racist legacies of invasion 240 years ago. In the early 2000s we marched in huge numbers for an end to the invasion of Iraq. Several times Quakers joined the Mardi Gras, and more recently we advocated for marriage equality, again standing alongside those who have been marginalised and discriminated against here in Australia. In all these actions there has been a sense of comradery amongst those marching, there are creative and witty banners, and our common humanity is evident.
These weekly protests are exactly the same. I have heard the phrase “miracle of kindness” used to describe Palestinians. It is so apt. I remember visiting Palestinian homes recently destroyed by bulldozers in the West Bank in 2016, and being offered tea and a place to sit, despite the fact that my hosts had just lost their entire home. At the peaceful protests I attend at Hyde Park each Sunday there have been so many small acts of generosity, community and kindness: a Palestinian friend was seen smiling warmly as he drummed away as part of a marching band, banners cleverly and tragically pointed to the horror of a war that has taken the lives of thousands of children, and a Jewish contingent display watermelon signs and kippah in solidarity with their Palestinian fellow humans.
(When Palestinians were denied the right to display their flag, they displayed images of watermelons instead, depicting the same colours as their flag in quiet and creative defiance.)
Quakers before our time have engaged in nonviolent direct action about a range of peace and justice issues, including against the Apartheid regime in South Africa, which the international community now recognises as so racist and wrong. I had the privilege of meeting and working alongside a Quaker woman in New York who was one of the original sit-inners of the civil rights movement in the USA. Quakers, being mostly white, supported this movement and were influential allies (social justice allies, not allied forces!) Quakers assisted Jewish refugees fleeing the holocaust, and indeed some of our members today are from that refugee cohort who were grateful for Quaker support when they feared for their lives. I know that at least one of these people displays the Palestinian flag in her home, and has been a valiant supporter of Palestinian justice for decades. Our history is not one of remaining neutral in the face of injustice, violence, oppression and power imbalance. Indeed, Desmond Tutu said “when we are neutral in situations of injustice, we have taken the side of the oppressor”. Is that how we want history to judge us in this situation?
I want to address claims that these protests are violent or are somehow inciting violence against Jewish people. I’ve never heard anyone at these protests say anything negative about Jewish people. In fact I have noticed and appreciated the Jewish people who regularly attend and speak at these protests to condemn the atrocities being committed by Israel against Palestinians and to say “not in our name”. Since returning to Australia in 2017 and becoming involved in advocacy about the occupation, I have made many Jewish friends. These are people who share a passion for justice, who condemn oppression, and who can be relied upon to show up time and time again in solidarity.
And in my memories of conversations with Palestinians in the West Bank there is definitely frustration bubbling away at the ways that their rights are curtailed and the violence of Israeli settlers and soldiers, but never any wish to kill them. What was expressed repeatedly was a longing for a time when the three religions will live together in peace again in the Holy Land.
I realise that some Quakers might have been influenced by deceptive narratives and formed the view that the war in Israel and Gaza is between two equal sides, both hurting, both partly in the wrong, and that therefore impartiality is about being neutral, or condemning the actions of both in equal measure. But the facts speak for themselves. As I write, the number of Palestinian casualties sits at 27,708 while the Israeli numbers are still 1,200. Just the other day the last university in Gaza was destroyed. And following unsubstantiated claims by Israel, several Governments have withdrawn funding to UNRWA, the key humanitarian institution supporting Palestinians. When one group of people so blatantly bears the brunt of the civilian casualties, when their children, young people and those my age know only the brutality of life under military occupation and as second-class citizens in their own land, how does being neutral sit with our practice of solidarity with nonviolent responses to oppression throughout history? Do we not see Palestinians as being of equal value and worth to us? How does remaining neutral take away the occasion of war? (Which I take to mean addressing the underlying causes of war and working towards a positive peace and a just peace). Would peace be long lasting and meaningful if not accompanied by justice?
So, my request is for Friends to read these words with a spirit of openness. If you are not convinced by the stories I have shared of what I witnessed, I recommend reading the updates from UNOCHA, listening to UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese’s press club speech and accounts from ex-Israeli Defense Force soldiers about the atrocities they committed. Or consider reading about the situation from the perspective of Israeli human rights groups such as B’tselem and Women in Black who have been documenting and speaking out about the injustices of the occupation for decades. I ask that each of us then looks inward for what love calls us to do. Is it to remain neutral in the face of injustice? Or to speak truth to power?
Aletia Dundas,
February 2024
Resources
- UNOCHA Statistics and updates United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs – occupied Palestinian territory | Home Page (ochaopt.org)
- UNRWA UNRWA | United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees
- Francesca Albanese Press club speech Australia and other western governments ‘paralysed’ in response to Gaza conflict, says UN expert | Israel-Hamas war | The Guardian
- Machsom Watch: this is an Israeli group, mostly made up of grandmothers who monitor human rights violations at the checkpoints around the West Bank. https://www.machsomwatch.org/en/
- Jewish Voice for Peace https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/ – they’re active in Australia and elsewhere speaking out against the occupation
- Breaking the Silence – ex Israeli Defence Force soldiers speaking out about the atrocities they committed while serving in the West Bank https://www.breakingthesilence.org.il/ A post they made on Instagram Hamas’s attack and the events unfolding since yesterday are unspeakable. We could talk about their cruel and criminal actions, or focus on… | Instagram
- B’Tselem – an Israeli human rights group https://www.btselem.org/
- Women in Black are an Israeli (and now Palestinian as well) group who have been holding a silent vigil every Friday since the late 1980s with signs that say “End the Occupation”. There are other women’s peace groups in Israel as well https://theconversation.com/how-women-in-israel-and-palestine-are-pushing-for-peace-together-215783
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Thank you, Aletia.
Thanks Aletia,
A great contribution. What can one do when one does not know what to do? There is a Red Cross attitude of helping people in trouble whoever they are.
In the face of tragedy there is waiting, grieving, keeping on if you can, followed by an end to the violence, and then, picking up the pieces and starting again.
Starting again with love of your community accompanied by hope for peace. and faith that you can achieve.
Let’s talk about what we can do.
Not just before our time have Quakers taken nonviolent disruptive action. I am facing jail for blockading an arms factory in Brisbane. I actually went inside and read poems from a Palestinian author murdered in an airstike on her home. Her name is Hiba Abu Nada and she was killed by a western army that is supplied from Australian factories. I don’t mean this to say “poor me”. I mean this to say there are lots of ways we could be responding to this emergency. Many ways honouring our radical roots. I know on the ground working class radical activism is frowned upon in the hallowed middle class halls of Australian Quakerism. We need to get in touch with our hearts and our roots though and work against the racism and inequality. My trial is July 28th in Brisbane. I don’t need people to come to mine, I want to come to yours.
An Open Reply to Aletia’s Open Letter:
Dear Friend,
Thank you for your letter that has caused me to reflect deeply on my own principles and where they fit with Quaker traditions and practices.
I was very strongly pro-Palestinian for more than 15 years, until very recently. However, after hearing you speak, reading your letter, and looking more deeply into the history of Quakers, Palestine and Israel, I’ve found myself leaning toward greater sympathy for Israel, or at least a balanced position that recognises the terrible situation that both Palestinians and Jews were placed in by British actions from 1917 to 1948. I’ll come back to this point later, but the link below from the International War Memorial outlines how British deceptions and manipulations laid the foundations for the current conflict.
https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/why-did-britain-promise-palestine-to-arabs-and-zionists
If we can pause for a moment, though, from political discussion of who may be ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ in the current conflict, I have personally become very confused and disheartened as to why Quakers are now choosing to depart from their historical stance of political neutrality? Why now? Why for this particular situation? Historically, Quakers were able to remain politically neutral with regard to Nazi Germany, as well as slave ownership in the American south, and many other similar situations. Such neutrality enabled them unique access to do some of their greatest work – feeding both German and Jewish children, and working gently with slave owners to convince them to free their slaves. Why can’t we now stay similarly neutral for Israel? Do we consider Israel less worthy of our gentle ways than Nazis were? Less worthy than slave owners?
Why? Why now? Why this particular issue?
Now to get back to the political discussion, though I don’t really wish to…
Can Israel really be considered an ‘oppressor’ when they are battling a terrorist organisation that has been responsible for countless attacks on civilians? Hamas is an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood who have terrorised Egypt for decades and were outlawed in Egypt in 2013. How can Israel allow free movement for Gazan civilians when those civilians are indistinguishable from their real Hamas oppressors? The same oppressors who use their own people as human shields? And who took advantage of limited movement through check points to kill and kidnap Israelis?
How would we propose to deliver aid to Gazans while Hamas controls Gaza? Will aid workers be safe from Hamas? Will the aid even benefit civilians, or will it mostly be funnelled to Hamas to help them prolong the violence?
Does Hamas really deserve ‘underdog’ status? Is Israel responsible for Hamas’ disregard for the lives of its own civilians? Why isn’t Egypt responsible? They also have a border with Gaza and could allow free movement in and out of Gaza, but choose not to, possibly because they also understand how dangerous Hamas is.
Perhaps Israel could even be considered the underdog in this situation, since it is surrounded on all sides by hostile neighbours, all but one of whom have openly attacked them in the past? And one of which is currently governed by an actual terrorist organisation? Israel has never had any allies willing to send troops to help them – not even in 1948 when they were under attack by 4 of their 5 neighbours, as well as Arab Palestinians, all at once. The British just withdrew their troops and left the Jewish population fighting a war on all sides.
If we wish to look for the real cause of this ongoing conflict, perhaps we should look to the role of Britain from 1917 to 1948, who promised the same land to 3 different groups – Palestinians, Zionists and an International Administration? And who encouraged approximately 1.4 million European Jews to settle in Palestine between 1917 and 1950 (a massive increase from the previous Jewish population of approximately 7,000), then abandoned the region?
https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/why-did-britain-promise-palestine-to-arabs-and-zionists
Perhaps Quakers should call on the UN or the International Court of Justice to recommend some consequences for Britain for their historic deceptions and manipulations? Or perhaps we should call on the international community to assist in removing Hamas?
Or perhaps Quakers should return to their historic principle of actual impartiality in political conflicts?
In Peace and disillusionment,
Loren.
Loren, I support what you have written. I would like to add that in 2005 Israel underwent a complete unilateral disengagement from the Gaza Strip. This was implemented by Israel’s Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Hamas responded by firing rockets into Israel and has continued to do so almost daily from then until today.