[WCUSP] Fwd: Desperately Seeking Security

Thu May 24 10:12:23 CDT 2007

--- yvonne simmons <roweenayvonne at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Date: Thu, 24 May 2007 08:07:53 -0700 (PDT)
> From: yvonne simmons <roweenayvonne at yahoo.com>
> Subject:  Desperately Seeking Security
> To: roweenayvonne at yahoo.com
> 
> This article for me is one of the answers why the
> Universal declaration of human rights is paramount
> to
> security, peace, freedom and justice. There is no
> culture of peace if people's human rights are not
> addressed. If I have no home, no food and no
> schooling
> how can I understand what peace looks like. It is a
> privelege to work for peace and freedom with no
> bombs
> going off around you, and your daily needs always
> met.
> in peace Yvonne.
> --- Gila Svirsky <gsvirsky at netvision.net.il> wrote:
> 
> > Date: Thu, 24 May 2007 09:05:07 +0200
> > From: Gila Svirsky <gsvirsky at netvision.net.il>
> > Subject: Desperately Seeking Security
> > To: Gila Svirsky <gsvirsky at netvision.net.il>
> > 
> > Hi all,
> > 
> > This piece just appeared in newspapers in Beirut
> and
> > Cairo, but not in any
> > Israeli papers.  It was commissioned by Common
> > Ground News Service.
> > 
> > The good personal news is that my older daughter
> is
> > expecting twins (my
> > first grandchildren!).  Nice timing for my
> > sabbatical!
> > 
> > Gila
> > 
> >  
> > 
> > Desperately Seeking Security
> > 
> > Gila Svirsky
> > 
> >  
> > 
> > In Israel, the concept of "security" is a powerful
> > one.  It is used to
> > justify all military activity, including the
> > occupation of Palestinian
> > territories and the vast budgets applied to it. 
> > Indeed, a mystique has
> > developed around security - "national security" is
> a
> > phrase invoked not just
> > to increase military budgets, but also to silence
> > criticism and prevent
> > transparency.  Recent efforts to prevent the
> > publication of testimony about
> > the Second Lebanon War were pursued on the grounds
> > of "security".  "Security
> > risks" can be used as a rationale to prevent
> > defendants from seeing the
> > evidence against them in court.  Only the highest
> > officials are privy to
> > full information about security related matters,
> and
> > they prevent this
> > information from seeing the light of public
> scrutiny
> > and debate.  And
> > because of the role of men in the security
> > establishment - making all the
> > major military and political decisions - men and
> > their views are valued and
> > privileged over women and their views, deepening
> > inequality.  Much more
> > could (and should) be said about all this.
> > 
> >  
> > 
> > Security, however, once meant something much
> broader
> > than its military
> > definition.  Sometimes it's hard to remember that
> > older use of "security",
> > but efforts to revive it have been made in recent
> > years.  It is called
> > "human security" and includes areas of activity
> such
> > as: 
> > 
> >  
> > 
> > * economic security (having a job, a roof over
> one's
> > head, access to health
> > care);
> > 
> > * personal security (safety from gender-related
> > violence, protection from
> > crime, having one's children safe from drugs); and
> > 
> > * environmental security (knowing that one's tap
> > water is clean and pure,
> > having access to clean beaches, having clean air
> to
> > breathe).
> > 
> >  
> > 
> > For several generations, however, neither the
> > Palestinians nor the Israelis
> > have had security, not in its narrow nor in its
> > broader sense.  Both
> > societies have lived in an ongoing state of fear
> and
> > insecurity for many
> > years.  And although Palestinians have paid a
> higher
> > price than Israelis for
> > this conflict, it is quite clear that Israelis
> also
> > live in a perpetual
> > state of fear and insecurity.
> > 
> >  
> > 
> > Yet if you talk to Israelis about the occupation,
> > many will tell you that
> > Israel cannot leave the occupied territories
> because
> > of "security".
> > Security, they will say, is best served by
> remaining
> > in the West Bank and
> > the Golan Heights, constructing a huge "security
> > fence", and laying siege to
> > the Gaza Strip.  Oddly, few Israelis stop to think
> > if these military
> > measures are providing the long-sought security.or
> > in fact have been
> > counterproductive, only deepening the fear and
> > insecurity.
> > 
> >  
> > 
> > The women's peace movement in Israel has begun to
> > work on this problem.  We
> > call it a campaign to "reframe security" - to
> > broaden our conception of it.
> > We seek to demonstrate to Israelis that security
> is
> > not the end-result of
> > having a strong, aggressive army, but rather the
> > product of a broad range of
> > activity, which includes living in a society that
> > cares for its poor,
> > reduces violence, protects its natural resources,
> > and co-exists in peace
> > with its neighbors.  Indeed, this campaign seeks
> to
> > instill the
> > understanding that "peace is the best way to
> promote
> > security".
> > 
> >  
> > 
> > As part of this campaign, we take Israelis on
> > "reality tours" to show them
> > the Separation Wall.  We bring them into the homes
> > of Palestinians who are
> > cut off from their land, jobs, and schools by the
> > Wall, and we give
> > Palestinians an opportunity to tell about their
> > lives and how the Wall has
> > changed them.  For most Israelis, this is the very
> > first time they have ever
> > spoken to a Palestinian.  We bring the Israelis to
> > checkpoints, and have
> > them observe the soldiers' treatment of
> Palestinians
> > trying to cross.  We
> > also take them to see parts of Israel that have
> been
> > neglected by the
> > political leaders - the slums, the shelters for
> > battered women, the
> > untreated garbage, the trafficking in women, the
> > inadequate health care
> > centers, the poorly equipped schools.  Each
> > participant goes on a number of
> > tours to see several aspects of the problem.  We
> > help Israelis draw the
> > connection between a society that is pouring its
> > resources into occupation
> > and settlements, and failing to address the social
> > problems that exist
> > within it.
> > 
> >  
> > 
> > These tours are powerful experiences.  They reach
> > beyond what Israelis see
> > in the media, showing them a slice of reality they
> > have never seen before.
> > And then we ask:  Do you think that the policies
> of
> > our government have
> > enhanced your security?  Or have they actually
> > compromised it?
> > 
> >  
> > 
> > We are hoping that the old conceptions will
> > gradually give way to a new
> > understanding:  that Israel will never be able to
> > address the needs of our
> > population until a just agreement has been reached
> > with our neighbors.  That
> > security - whether in the narrow or broader sense
> -
> > is compromised by
> > failing to achieve a political accommodation with
> > the Palestinians.
> > 
> >  
> > 
> > For years, women have focused on human security
> > issues - better schools,
> > health services, poverty programs, violence
> issues,
> > etc. - but not named it
> > "security".  Now, instead of fighting the concept,
> > we are working to reframe
> > it so that it will promote the kind of society
> that
> > we want to live in.
> > 
> >  
> > 
> > This campaign is more than a strategy.  It is a
> > fundamental belief that all
> > these forms of security are critical - and that it
> > will never be possible to
> > realize a common zone of peace, prosperity and
> > progress - not for Israel and
> > not for Palestine - until a just and lasting
> > settlement of the conflict is
> > in place.
> > 
> >  
> > 
> >  
> > 
> > * Gila Svirsky is a veteran peace and human rights
> > activist, and currently
> > chair of B'Tselem: The Israeli Information Center
> > for Human Rights in the
> > Occupied Territories. She was co-founder of the
> > Coalition of Women for Peace
> > and is an ongoing member of Women in Black. This
> > article is distributed by
> > the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) and can be
> > accessed at
> > <http://www.commongroundnews.org>
> > www.commongroundnews.org.
> > 
> > Source: Common Ground News Service (CGNews), 17
> May
> > 2007
> > Copyright permission is granted for publication.
> > 
> >  
> > 
> > ___________________
> > 
> > Gila Svirsky
> > 
> > http://www.GilaSvirsky.com
> > 
> >  
> > 
> >  
> > 
> >  
> > 
> > 
> 
> 
> 
>        
>
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