Loading ...Non-Arab Support of Palestine Illustrates the Many Faces of Human Rights
By Colby Cyrus/Contributing Writer
The world has moved to a point of constant polarization. In the United States, government action is often at a standstill due to disparities between parties. Abroad, the Gulf Cooperation Council has all but abandoned one of their members.
Disagreement, quarrelling and constant finger-pointing seem to dominate the focus of public attention. This often overshadows flagrant violation of international ethical standards.
The divisions are no less strong between cultural and religious groups. Enter the role of certain activist and reverent organizations who are seeking to bridge the gap, combat discrimination, and promote understanding through finding solutions.
These are groups who transcend boundaries drawn by faith and different ways of living. Jewish Voice for Peace, for example, “believes that the people of Gaza should have electricity, clean drinking water, functioning hospitals, and opportunities to rebuild,” and above all, human rights.
They followed by saying, “this means that Israel has to end its brutal blockade, and the world needs to pressure them to do just that.”
Despite its commitment to the principles of Judaism, Jewish Voice for Peace looks beyond religion and towards morality, proving that human rights is nothing more than an issue of ethics.
The same could be said of the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights, encompassing hundreds of groups nationwide who are united together in support of the Palestinian people. The Campaign invests itself in boycotts and divestments in all fifty states to make sure its goals are met.
The organization’s website states that it “has been a leading player in the movement for Palestinian rights in the United States. The coalition is bound by commonly shared principles on Palestine solidarity as well as our anti-racism principles.”
The support of Arabs, and specifically the Palestinian cause, is a purely intersectional issue, said activist, Philip Farah, cofounder of the Washington Interfaith Alliance for Middle East Peace. It is, of course, a human rights issue while also borrowing from politics, philosophy, and even economics and law.
The Israeli-Palestinian issue is of particular legal significance because as the Palestine Education Network notes, “many Israeli practices towards Palestinians are clearly in opposition to the principles and values of justice, the rule of law, and equality that are the foundation of our country (the United States).”
Farah noted that people in the United States have always been intrinsically interested in overseas human rights issues, citing examples such as the Vietnam War, Cuba, apartheid in South Africa, Syria, and other Arab countries.
There are other groups aside from Jewish Voice for Peace and the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights that are upholding much more than just their name. Rather, their support of Palestine and the greater Arab community goes much deeper.
As with the case of Palestinians, support for those who have been displaced or suffer plight is not a question of political right or wrong, nor does it concern benefits to the one giving the support. It is not a religious issue, but rather a story of an entire group of people struggling to gain, and maintain, their most basic human rights.
It is entirely and wholly an issue of human rights, founded on morality. This is support of one entire group, all of which suffers the same fate: a stateless people who struggle to maintain their own identity.
When the issue concerns a substantial impact on people’s lives, politics must be forgotten. It is groups such as Jewish Voice for Peace, the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights, the Palestine Education Network, and countless others that forgo their own personal values in the interest of overall humanity.