"Violence is identified always as evil - never as good," said the Rev. J. Philip Wogaman of Israeli treatment of the Palestinian community in the Middle East on Monday's Interfaith Symposium.
Wogaman, along with several other Jewish, Muslim and Christian panelists met in Kay Spiritual Life Center to discuss human rights and religious issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict Sunday.
In order to achieve peace among two nations of people, a "broad distribution of power in a community" and "mutual respect," ideals "deeply grounded in all religions," must be obtained, Wogaman said.
Stav Adivi, a board member of the Israeli Committee Against Home Demolition and a "Refusenik" (an Israeli who refuses to serve in the occupied territories), discussed in detail the battle against Palestinian home demolition. Israelis have destroyed the land and homes of Palestinian families by means of "collective punishment" and "administrative demolition" according to Adivi.
"[Israelis] make life hard so [Palestinians] will leave," said fellow panelist Rafi Dajani, the executive director of the American Task Force on Palestine. According to Dajani, it can cost a Palestinian up to $25,000 to go through a seven-year application process to obtain land, a seemingly meaningless task which most often ends in a "denial of the application."
Dajani claims this process is "discriminatory" against Palestinians because the same process does not apply to Israeli citizens. Aside from denying land to Palestinians, thousands of Palestinian homes have been destroyed by the Israeli government, according to Dajani.
"Peace is not possible, not desirable by war," said Rabbi Gerry Serotta, co-chair of the Steering Committee of Rabbis for Human Rights. "This occupation of people against their will is a violation of human rights," an act Serotta says is an embarrassment to "all religions ... Non-violent practitioners need to work together" in order for peace to be obtained.
"Justice is central in this land," agreed panelist Iman Shaker Elsayed, secretary general of the Muslim American Society. "[There is] no justice if there is bloodshed."
Home demolition is a "horrible phenomenon ... that should be ended," Adivi said. "[We must] keep the flame of hope that one day Israelis and Palestinians will be able to live together in peace, making the Holy Land into Heaven."
According to the Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs, 955 Israelis have been in killed by "Palestinian violence and terrorism" since September 2000." The house demolition policy has been the response to violence against Israelis.
