Thanksgiving Update and Appeal

Dear Friend of Kairos West Michigan, I'm filled with "Thanksgiving" for the way KWM is growing into a more viable Community! Let me list some ways: 1) Thanks to Gary Burge who shared, from Luke 4:14-30, that we are thrown under the bus for the same reason that Jesus was almost thrown off a cliff: for arguing that Gentiles should be extended the same respect that Jews receive (First Presbyterian Church, Holland, MI November 18, 2019 on "Christian Zionism"). 2) Thanks to new KWM Board members, Bart DenBoer, Pat Vorpagel, and Nikki Rakestraw, who join Nate Schipper, George Hunsberger, and Sharon Kleinheksel and me in charting new directions as your Board. The most notable is we will be adding a (paid!) Executive Administrator, to take us to another level of effectiveness and efficiency. 3) Thanks that KWM will be offering Immersion trips to Israel/Palestine, so W. MI folks can experience for themselves what Israelis and Palestinians are up against these days. A major effort in the new year will be advocating that children not be wrenched away unfairly from their families--there, or here! 4) Thanks for YOUR gift this season as you help us take the next steps in our advocacy and action for a "just peace" in our region. Please go to our Website: and make a secure (Pay Pal) donation! Have a great holiday season, everyone! Faithfully yours, John Kleinheksel

What's the "BDS" Movement? Should we "support" it?

What About the Boycott, Divestment and Sanction Movement (BDS)? Rev. John Kleinheksel, Kairos West Michigan (KWM) blogger Perhaps you too, have had mixed feelings about the BDS movement (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions). What is it? Is it dangerous to the State of Israel? Is it a legitimate nonviolent tactic by civil society to bring human rights to Palestinians in Israel/Palestine? Has it ever “worked” over time and in different places, globally? Should we oppose it? Endorse it? What I want to do in this article is to 1) hear what Palestinian civil society is saying in their call for BDS; 2) understand what the Israeli lobby has done to twist its meaning here in the US; and 3) be completely conversant with the critique of an informed Jewish commentator, (namely, Brant Rosen). I WHAT IS THE BDS MOVEMENT? Here is relevant material from the Palestinian (civil society) organizers of the BDS movement (July 9, 2005): One year after the historic Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) which found Israel's Wall built on occupied Palestinian territory to be illegal. . . .(and) Fifty-seven years after the state of Israel was built mainly on land ethnically cleansed of its Palestinian owners, a majority of Palestinians are refugees, most of whom are stateless. Moreover, Israel's entrenched system of racial discrimination against its own Arab-Palestinian citizens remains intact. . . . In view of the fact that people of conscience in the international community have historically shouldered the moral responsibility to fight injustice, as exemplified in the struggle to abolish apartheid in South Africa through diverse forms of boycott, divestment and sanctions; and Inspired by the struggle of South Africans against apartheid and in the spirit of international solidarity, moral consistency and resistance to injustice and oppression; We, representatives of Palestinian civil society, call upon international civil society organizations and people of conscience all over the world to impose broad boycotts and implement divestment initiatives against Israel similar to those applied to South Africa in the apartheid era. We appeal to you to pressure your respective states to impose embargoes and sanctions against Israel. We also invite conscientious Israelis to support this Call, for the sake of justice and genuine peace. These non-violent punitive measures should be maintained until Israel meets its obligation to recognize the Palestinian people's inalienable right to self-determination and fully complies with the precepts of international law by: 1. Ending its occupation and colonization of all Arab lands and dismantling the Wall 2. Recognizing the fundamental rights of the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality; and 3. Respecting, protecting and promoting the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in UN resolution 194. Even if the BDS movement took root in the US, how effective would it be in bringing the Israeli State to negotiate for Palestinian self-determination with their own State, alongside the Israeli State, adjudicating the “right of return”? II WHAT IS HOUSE RESOLUTION 246 (HR 246)? This matter is especially relevant now because recently, the US House passed HR 246, strongly opposing the BDS movement. The vote was 398 – 17. Boycotts have a long and storied history in the US. The Presbyterians conducted a boycott of a Florida-based tomato processing plant some years ago, bringing that company to the negotiating table resulting in higher pay for the workers. When businesses boycotted the State of South Africa, it had an effect on the Apartheid government there, bringing an end to the institution of Apartheid. (Of course, there is still racial reconciliation work to be done there as well as here in the US). The voices of traditional Israeli State sympathizers convinced the US Congress that the BDS movement was devised by Israel’s “enemies” to delegitimatize the Israeli State (eliminating Israel’s right to self-determination). [Here is the full text of HR 246] As the newspaper Haaretz makes clear, House Democrats have been eager to show the US its total support for Israel to counter GOP accusation that “The Squad” (Muslim freshwomen Representatives) defines the Democrat’s luke-warm support for Israel. Not so, the vast majority of the House has declared in passing this Bill! [Read the Haaretz report here, but you may need to subscribe to get the full article!] III AN ANTI-ZIONIST CRITIQUE OF HR 246 Friend, what we really need is a Pro-Israel, anti-Zionist Jew to educate us about the real meaning of the House vote. Fortunately, we have such a person. His name is Rabbi Brant Rosen, the Midwest Regional Director for the American Friends Service committee (AFSC), formerly the rabbi of Tzedek synagogue in Chicago (a Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation). He rightly points out that the real goal of the BDS movement is NOT to exclude the Israeli State “from the economic, cultural an academic life of the rest of the world” (HR 246). Rather, the BDS movement has three goals: 1) to end the occupation; 2) to insist on equal rights for Palestinians; and 3) to recognize the legitimacy of the “right of return” for Palestinian refugees. So, you who read this report, make up your own mind about the way forward. KWM is committed to providing time and space for the underlying issues in our region to be openly discussed, with a view to bringing adjudication of grievances experienced by both Israelis and Palestinians. KWM is laser-focused on dealing honorably with the growing calls for “justice” for the downtrodden and disrespected. Here is the cry for help from our Palestinians brothers and sisters and the way they couch their call for BDS: 4.2.6 Palestinian civil organizations, as well as international organizations, NGOs and certain religious institutions call on individuals, companies and states to engage in divestment and in an economic and commercial boycott of everything produced by the occupation. We understand this to integrate the logic of peaceful resistance. These advocacy campaigns must be carried out with courage, openly, sincerely proclaiming that their object is not revenge but rather to put an end to the existing evil, liberating both the perpetrators and the victims of injustice. The aim is to free both peoples from extremist positions of the different Israeli governments, bringing both to justice and reconciliation. In this spirit and with this dedication we will eventually reach the longed-for resolution to our problems, as indeed happened in South Africa and with many other liberation movements in the world. With countless others, Kairos West Michigan will continue to pursue an honest, just and peaceful resolution to the conflict in Israel/Palestine.

Four Views on the Bahrain "Economic Summit" (prelude to "Deal of the Century")

Four Views of the Bahrain Economic Summit (and the “Deal of the Century”) John Kleinheksel, Kairos W. MI (June 20, 2019) In preparation for unveiling “The Deal of the Century” to “end the conflict” in Israel/Palestine, the Trump administration is calling for an Economic Summit for Arabs, Israelis, and Palestinians, June 25, 26 in Bahrain. Palestinian Arabs and most Arab states refuse to come. Israeli leaders have not been invited because of it. There are at least four views on the meaning of this Summit (and the “Deal of the Century”) 1) The Israeli/US view: One – State, with Palestinians subsumed under Israeli control Mr. Trump and his associates are billing it as an opportunity for Arabs and Arab Palestinians to boost the viability and effectiveness of a Palestinian-based economy (but tied to Israeli control mechanisms). As summarized in the Wall Street Journal (May 19, 2019): Palestinian officials have said they are wary of an effort by the Trump administration that would bring economic relief but doesn't acknowledge their political and national aspirations for an independent state. “No matter how compelling a picture they paint of what life could be like in Gaza and the West Bank...the fact is you can’t trade Palestinian views on compromises on Jerusalem, statehood and sovereignty for a chicken in every pot, a computer in every house, aid and trade,” said Aaron David Miller, a distinguished fellow at the Wilson Center who has worked on previous U.S. Middle East peace efforts. The administration is said to be seeking tens of billions of dollars for investment in Gaza and the West Bank as well as neighbors Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon [a Middle East “Marshall Plan”] The economic plan is modeled after efforts to boost economies in Poland, Japan, Singapore and South Korea with an aim to allow the Palestinians and neighboring countries “to get to a place of self-sufficiency and get to a place to raise their standard of living,” the senior administration official said. [Wall Street source:] 2) A Christian Palestinian View: Two – States side by side, each with “autonomy” in their own space The Palestinians have rejected it out of hand as it would mean (from their point of view) that they are accepting Israeli control of the One State reality, “relinquishing their right for full sovereignty over the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the right of return”. In the words of Philip Farah, the Palestinians are still holding out for the Two State solution, with a viable Palestinian State, side by side with Israel, “with all governmental institutions.” In this view, Palestinians can build a Palestinian economy on their own once the barriers of Occupation are removed (Statement by the Palestinian Christian Alliance for Peace – PCAP). Here is the link: Thus, they don’t want to be an economic entity tied to the Israeli economy. 3) A “Liberal Zionist” view: Two – States side by side (e.g., Aaron David Miller) In a June 18, 2019 statement to CNN, Mr. Miller says “The Real Goal of Jared Kushner’s Peace Plan” (and, by extension, the Economic Summit) is three-fold: 1) Boosting Mr. Trump’s stock with US hardliner supporters of Israel 2) Gutting the Two-State solution 3) Entrenching the status quo in I/P (P. M. Netanyahu’s Likud in charge) He sees Mr. Trump as fully supporting the present One State Israeli State under P.M. Netanyahu, and condescending to the Palestinians (who fully realize the US has no intention of pursuing the “Two-State”.) But for all his erudition and knowledge about the Middle East, Mr. Miller has no suggestion as to a way forward, other than Mr. Trump “throw(ing) his support behind a candidate who is serious [about peacemaking]. There is NO such Israeli Prime Minister candidate that wants a Two-State solution. Here is his CNN article: 4) A Kairos view: One State with liberty and justice for all (Mark Braverman, KUSA Executive Director) 1) The Two-State never was a viable option (given the hard-nosed Zionist philosophy of controlling the One State, from the Mediterranean to the Jordan River) 2) The US has never been an honest broker (the US has ALWAYS favored Israelis dominance) In questioning Mr. Miller’s point of view, Mr. Braverman asks: “Is he asking for more effort to negotiate for the Two-State solution? Then we are “wasting our time with him”. Negotiating for a Two-State solution “is always a snare and delusion; it’s a dead end”, (post from Mr. Braverman to John Kleinheksel, June 20, 2019). Strongly implied in this view is the need for BDS (boycotts, divestment and sanctions) to apply “economic and political pressure brought against Israel” [as with S. Africa] (post to John Kleinheksel, June 20, 2019). Thus, the Kairos USA position is to convince the Palestinians to give up the notion of the Two-State and hold Israelis accountable for bringing liberty and justice for all in One pluralistic (secular) Democratic State as here: Americans need to learn first-hand of the oppression experienced by Arab Palestinians, in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem (to say nothing about the second-class citizenship experienced by Arab Israelis, 21% of the population of Israel, who have minimal representation in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament.) Thanks to Mazin Qumsiyeh, we have a graphic look at how Israel has expanded its control over all of historic Palestine, all the while claiming Arab terrorists want to control “all” of it. Click here and explore what B’tselem, an Israeli human rights organization in Israel has now made clear. Posted by John Kleinheksel, Executive Director, KWM John

"On the Ground' Developments. TAKE NOTE!

Dear Friend of Kairos W. MI, On Wednesday, May 15, 2019, y/our Kairos West Michigan community will host Mr. Emil Haloun, a High School instructor (working on his PhD) at the Mar Elias Educational Institutions (MEEI). Remember when we hosted Archbishop Elias Chacour at St. Francis de Sales Roman Catholic Church a few years ago. The (retired) Archbishop is back in the Midwest this week, accompanied by friends and colleagues like Emil Haloun. We will be in conversation with Mr. Haloun about what is happening “on the ground” in Israel/Palestine, especially since our President has come out “full bore” in favor of anything the Israelis wish to do in regards to their Palestinian minority citizens (to say nothing of the West Bank, completely disenfranchised Arab Palestinians). Here is more news from "the ground": On Tuesday, May 7, 2019, there was a joint Memorial Day ceremony in Tel Aviv, sponsored by the Parents Circle and the “Combatants for Peace”. (Do you remember when KWM had Rami Elchana (a Jew) and George and Najwa Sa'adeh (Palestinians) in W. MI, representing The Parents' Circle/ Family Forum?). They gave the same message that was voiced at the May 7 ceremony. At the ceremony, the "Combatants for Peace" the Parents' Circle—Family Forum and many Palestinians (who were finally permitted to attend) urged all parties to join to work for an end to the hostilities between Israelis and Palestinians. Here's how the Times of Israel (TOI) reported what happened: Some 9,000 Israelis and dozens of Palestinians marked Memorial Day at a joint service in Tel Aviv on Tuesday, [May 7, 2019], in an event which was criticized by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this week. Sitting in long, orderly rows of plastic chairs in a grass field in Hayarkon Park, attendees listened to Israelis and Palestinians commemorate loved ones killed on both sides of the conflict and heard activists speak about their hopes for peace in the region. Israeli Arab actress Samira Saraya opened the ceremony, called “Sharing Sorrow, Bringing Hope,” saying that Israelis and Palestinians needed to take action to put an end to the conflict. “All of us, Israelis and Palestinians, are victims of the conflict, pain and loss, but we are also its perpetrators,” Saraya said. “Therefore, it is in our power and it is our duty to bring it to its conclusion and provide hope and a future for ourselves and our kids.” The joint ceremony has been held since 2006 and is organized by the Israeli nonprofits Combatants for Peace and The Parents Circle – Families Forum (PCFF). The event is pitched as a pro-coexistence alternative to the standard Israeli Memorial Day events. Combatants for Peace is a group of Israelis and Palestinians who, according to its website, “have taken an active part in the cycle of violence; Israelis as soldiers in the Israeli army and Palestinians as part of the violent struggle for Palestinian freedom,” but now advocate joint non-violent activism; the Parents Circle is an organization which brings together bereaved families from both sides of the conflict. The event was criticized by some Israelis AND Palestinians for equating the blood of their brothers with the blood of the enemy, when they do NOT an "equivalency". Each side wants the blood shed against them to be more valuable than the blood of the enemy. The "extremes" (who are driving the hostilities) want to keep the grudges alive, resisting the power of forgiveness to admit wrongs and get on with real living. The whole point of the Parents' Circle is that families who have lost loved ones have had ENOUGH of the killing . They claim it is time to get to the roots of the conflict, address the offenses, address and resolve them, which repeatedly get ignored and unaddressed. KWM is committed to providing space and time for the real issues to be aired and addressed. John R. Kleinheksel, acting Executive Director