Gush Shalom

Gush Shalom (Hebrew: גוש שלום, lit. The Peace Bloc [Coalition]) is an Israeli peace activism group founded and led by former Irgun and Knesset member and journalist Uri Avnery in 1993. The left-wing organization has been involved in several Israeli controversies, such as sending a "Relief Convoy to Gaza" while it is under Hamas administration, and the mainstream Israeli media has described it, on occasion, as "radical" and "extreme".[1][2] The American Friends Service Committee has described the group as "one of Israel's most influential peace organizations".[3]

Organisation

The movement was established in 1993 by Uri Avnery. Avnery stated that he started Gush Shalom because other Israeli peace groups did not take a strong stance against what he considered "the repressive measures" of the government of Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin.[4]

Gush Shalom is an extra-parliamentary organization, independent of any party or other political grouping although it has members who are associated with various political parties.

Stance

Gush Shalom objects to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, and argues that the occupation is illegal and that Israel is committing war crimes on a daily basis. It opposes Israel's policies of blockade and non-recognition of the Gaza Strip. It supports a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine question, with the Green Line as the border between Israel and Palestine (with minor exchanges of territories), and with Jerusalem as the capital of both states.[5]

The movement supports soldiers' refusal to serve in the West Bank or Gaza strip, recognition in principle of Palestinian right of return, and an Israeli withdrawal to the Green Line.[5] Gush Shalom activists regularly confront Israeli security forces at construction sites in settlements in the West Bank and Gaza, and along the Separation Barrier. Gush Shalom said that Israel's offer to Yasser Arafat in the Camp David negotiations of 2000 was not a "generous offer" but "a humiliating demand for surrender", publishing the maps from the proposal (seldom published in the US), and an animation[6] from the maps showing how little would be left for a Palestinian state under the proposal[7][8] Avnery was among the first to meet and negotiate with PLO leader Yasser Arafat. In 2001 the organisation made a peace proposal on the basis of a two-state solution with the 1967 boundaries.[9]

During the 2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict, Gush Shalom was a vigorous critic of the Israeli attack on Gaza. Avnery described it as "the Election War" since he believed it was intended to increase the election chances of Defence Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni in the planned February elections.[10]

Gush Shalom in one of numerous Israeli organizations pertaining to the radical left.[11] It has been described as left-wing in the Israeli and US media.[12][13][14][15]

Avnery wrote:

Every left-wing body fears with terror the one who is on its left. The right-wing of the Avoda party is afraid of its left-wing. The left wing is afraid of Meretz. Meretz is afraid of Yossi Beilin, who was pushed out of the Avoda by Amram Mitzna and his leftist friends and that Meretz also didn't give him a realist position on its list. Meretz is afraid of "Shalom Achshav". "Shalom Achshav" is afraid of "Gush Shalom" and the Arab parties.[16]

Praise and criticism
Uri Avnery at a Hadash rally against the 2006 Lebanon War

Praise

International human rights groups, including Amnesty International,[17] American Friends Service Committee,[3] and others, have lauded Gush Shalom for promoting peace and understanding between Israelis and Palestinians. The AFSC awarded Avnery the "Profiles of Peace" honor for his work for peace. The Haaretz newspaper publishes a weekly editorial statement by Gush Shalom in its weekend edition.

In 2001, Gush Shalom received the Right Livelihood Award "for their unwavering conviction, in the midst of violence, that peace can only be achieved through justice and reconciliation".[18]

Criticism

Israeli journalist Uri Dan, a close friend and confidant of Ariel Sharon, described Gush Shalom in The Jerusalem Post as "lunatic fringe" due to the group's statement that they are monitoring Israeli soldiers activities and will consider submitting collected evidence to international courts. Dan described the announcement as "preparing to inform on their brother soldiers - who are defending them too".[19]

Isi Leibler, an influential Jewish leader and commentator, criticized the group for techniques that mirror images of the Soviet models, "exploit[ing] emotions" by creating bodies associated with 'mothers' and 'children', such as "Women in Black" and "Mothers against War". He stated this was done in order to further their interests under the guise of promoting peace, and noted that, in a similar manner, communists also encouraged draft evasion in democratic countries as Gush Shalom are doing. Leibler criticized the group members for "[believing] they and they alone represent the true apostles of peace and those opposing them are fascists, racists, and warmongers", further describing the group as "[part of] the radical wings of Israel's contemporary peace movement".[20]

References
  1. Lili Galili (23 July 2006). "להפסיק המלחמה המטופשת", דרשו 2,500 מפגינים בתל אביב ["Stop the stupid war," demanded 2500 demonstrators in Tel Aviv]. Haaretz (in Hebrew). Retrieved 31 August 2014. Translation: Large organized bodies of Arabs in Israel - among them Hadash and Balad - arrive in masses from the Galilee to the protest in Tal-Aviv in the middle of a war, also that the occasion was joined by the left wing of the Zionist left - such as pastime Meretz chairman Shulamit Aloni and Galia Golan. This, alongside the radical left of Gush Shalom, the refusal movement Yesh Gvul, the anarchists, women's coalition for peace, Ta'ayosh and more. - Original: גופים מאורגנים גדולים של הערבים בישראל - בהם חד"ש ובל"ד - מגיעים בהמוניהם מן הגליל להפגנה בתל אביב בעיצומה של מלחמה, אלא שלמעמד חבר האגף השמאלי של השמאל הציוני - כמו יו"ר מרצ בעבר, שולמית אלוני וגליה גולן. זאת, לצד השמאל הרדיקלי של גוש שלום, תנועת הסרבנות "יש גבול", האנרכיסטים, קואליציית נשים לשלום, תעאיוש ועוד.
  2. Tani Goldstein (21 November 2009). חרמות נגד ישראל: האם הם מצליחים להזיק? [Boycotts against Israel: Did they manage to damage?] (in Hebrew). Ynet. Retrieved 31 August 2014. Translation: The extreme left wing movement Gush Shalom - Original: תנועת השמאל הקיצוני גוש שלום
  3. "Profiles of Peace: Uri Avnery". American Friends Service Committee. Archived from the original on 8 April 2010.
  4. "About Gush Shalom". Gush Shalom. Retrieved 12 December 2008.
  5. "Aims of Gush Shalom". Gush Shalom. Retrieved 12 December 2008.
  6. "Barak's 'Generous' Offer". Gush Shalom. Archived from the original (Flash Animation) on 5 February 2009.
  7. "Barak's Generous Offer". Gush Shalom. Archived from the original on 20 May 2011.
  8. "Gush Shalom: Israel not without blame for Hamas takeover". The Jerusalem Post. 17 June 2007. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
  9. "Proposition d'un accord de paix par Gush Shalom" [Proposal for a Peace Agreement by Gush Shalom]. Le Monde diplomatique (in French). 29 August 2001. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
  10. "Uri Avnery: Molten Lead". Scoop. 6 January 2009. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
  11. Svirsky, Marcelo (2013). Arab-Jewish Activism in Israel-Palestine. Ashgate Publishing. p. 5. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  12. Nathaniel Rosen (17 July 2006). "Left-wing conflicted on war with Hizbullah". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
  13. Ilene R. Prusher (14 June 2008). "US policy and the pro-Israel lobby: A university in Jerusalem takes on the debate". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
  14. Meirav Crystal (9 October 2008). "High Court to rule on settler's radio station". Ynetnews. Retrieved 12 December 2008.
  15. Haas, Danielle (19 August 2002). "Israel agrees to partial pullback". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
  16. Avneri, Uri (8 November 2003). "דרוש: שרון שמאלני" [Wanted: Sharon Leftist] (in Hebrew). Gush Shalom. Retrieved 14 December 2008. Original: כל גוף שמאלי פוחד פחד-מוות מפני מי שנמצא משמאלו. האגף הימני של מפלגת-העבודה פוחד מפני האגף השמאלי שלה. האגף השמאלי פוחד ממרצ. מרצ פוחדת מיוסי ביילין, שנדחק אל מחוץ למפלגת-העבודה על-ידי עמרם מיצנע וחבריו השמאלנים, ושגם מרצ לא נתנה לו מקום ריאלי ברשימתה. מרצ פוחדת מ"שלום עכשיו". "שלום עכשיו" פוחדת מ"גוש שלום" ומהסיעות הערביות.‎
  17. Broken Lives - a Year of Intifada. Amnesty International. 2001. ISBN 086210310X.
  18. "Right Livelihood Award: 2001 - Gush Shalom / Uri & Rachel Avnery". The Right Livelihood Award. Archived from the original on 17 November 2008. Retrieved 14 December 2008.
  19. Uri Dan (8 August 2002). "Gush Shalom's Jewish informers". The Jerusalem Post. Archived from the original on 21 October 2012.
  20. Isi Leibler (8 December 2002). "The decline and fall of Labor Zionism". The Jerusalem Post. Archived from the original on 14 June 2006.
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