And ain't I a woman: Women peace campaigners intimidated
On September 24, Kate Raphael, a left-wing Jewish activist who lives in Berkeley, California, was approached by Federal Bureau of Investigation agents, who attempted to question her about the September 11 attacks.
Raphael is involved in Women in Black, an international peace network which was first formed in Israel to protest against the Israeli government's occupation of Palestine. The group's aim is to promote peace in the Middle East. Supporters believe that without justice for the Palestinian people, there will be no peace for Israel.
Some of its demands are:
- an end to the occupation and a just and viable settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in accordance with international law;
- an immediate end to all human rights abuses in occupied territories and international protection for the Palestinian people;
- suspension of all arms shipments and military aid to Israel until the achievement of a just and lasting peace; and
- the evacuation of Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land.
"If they think a small group of Jewish lesbians is going to have information about Islamic fundamentalists, then they're not doing their job", Raphael told the October 5 Jewish Bulletin of Northern California.
She thinks she may have been singled out simply because she gave an inspirational speech at a peace vigil which encouraged alliances between Jews, Arabs and other dissenting groups. Raphael told the November 7 San Francisco Bay Guardian she is concerned that "this is the beginning of an attempt to intimidate and harass the growing peace movement here in the hopes of squelching dissent in the coming war."
Raphael was unwilling to cooperate with the FBI. Knowing she had no information that would be relevant to their investigation, she also suspected she would be pressured to give information about other people. When she and her lawyer refused to talk, she was threatened with a subpoena to appear before a grand jury.
It turned out that they didn't want to talk about the September 11 attacks, but were more interested in Women in Black's international connections and what they were up to.
Ronnie Gilbert, also active with Women in Black in Berkeley, California, wrote an outraged letter in response to the investigation: "The FBI is threatening my group with a grand jury investigation. Of what? That we publicly call Israel's military occupation of Palestine illegal? So does the World Court and the United Nations. That the Israeli policy of destroying hundreds of thousands of Palestinians' olive and fruit trees, blocking roads, and demolishing homes promotes hatred and terrorism in the Middle East? Even President Bush and Colin Powell have gotten around to saying that. So what is there to investigate? That some of us are in contact with activist Palestinian peace groups? This is bad?"
"The Jewish Women in Black of Jerusalem have stood Vigil every Friday for thirteen years in protest against the occupation", Gilbert explained. "Muslim women from Palestinian peace groups stand with them at every opportunity. We praise an honour them, these Jewish and Arab women who endure hatred and frequent abuse...
"We are told that certain civil liberties may have to be curtailed for our own security. Which ones? I'm curious to know. The first amendment guarantee of freedom of speech or of the press? The right of people to peaceably assemble?
"Hysterical neo-McCarthyism does not equal security, never will. The bitter lessons that September 11's horrific tragedy should have taught us and our government is that only an honest reevaluation of our foreign policies can hope to combat operations like the one that robbed all of us and the lives of more than 5000 decent working people. We owe the dead that, at least."
After the Women in Black vigils started in Israel in 1988, Italian women supporters took the idea back to Italy. Contact between Italian women and Yugoslav women resulted in the formation of a group there in 1991. Women in Black campaigned against ethnic nationalism.
Women in Black groups have spread to all parts of the globe. On June 8, there was an internationally coordinated action to commemorate 34 years of Israel's occupation of Palestine. In 142 cities around the world, vigils took place. Men were invited to participate for the first time. Most vigils brought together a diverse range of supporters, including Muslims and Jews, Israelis and Palestinians.
Women in Black, along with many anti-war and peace organisations blossoming across the United States, are part of a growing list of organisations the US government will keep a close watch on in its desperation to convince people of the morality of its 'war on terrorism'.
BY SARAH STEPHEN
[The author is a member of the Democratic Socialist Party].
From Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly, November 14, 2001.
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