Moti Fogel to Speak With Bereaved Palestinian on Yom HaZikaron

May 3rd, 2011/Tikun Olam תקון עולם http://www.richardsilverstein.com/tikun_olam

Moti Fogel, whose older brother Udi was murdered in Itamar with his wife and children a few weeks ago, plans to speak at an alternative commemoration of Israel’s Yom Ha-Zikaron alongside a bereaved Palestinian woman, Siyam Abu Awad. Abu Awad’s brother, Yousef, was killed by IDF fire in 2000 in a village near Hebron.

The event is sponsored by the Israeli NGO Combatants for Peace, whose members are veterans who’ve fought on both sides of the conflict. They will be joined in the ceremony by Israeli and Palestinian families who’ve lost loved ones to the fighting, along with artists from both sides. Fogel hopes that he can move forward the goals of dialogue, reconciliation and non-violence for both Israelis and those living under the PA.

Combatants for Peace leader Asher Wishnitzer says that the purpose of its commemoration is to transform the suffering and loss experienced by those living with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict so that we can struggle with it together. Usually the bereavement builds walls, close off and distance people from one another. But we want to deal with this together. War is not something fated, but rather a human choice.

Abu Awad denounced the killings in Itamar and called them a “crime.” She called for non-violence in pursuing the claims on both sides, and added that while the IDF soldier who killed her brother is not welcome in her home, she would invite him to meet her brother’s orphaned children and the rest of his family to determine whether the shots that killed him were appropriate or not.

I’m overcome by emotion and gratitude that Moti Fogel is able to overcome his grief and reach out in such a constructive way to both Israelis and Palestinians alike. It cannot be an easy thing he is doing.

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Responses to “Moti Fogel to Speak With Bereaved Palestinian on Yom HaZikaron”

herenot says: May 3, 2011 at 8:45 AM Agreed.

Vicky says: May 3, 2011 at 9:13 AM
Motti Fogel was involved in peace work for a long time before his brother’s killing (he is part of Sheikh Jarrah Solidarity, and he prays in a synagogue that places a special emphasis on the promotion of equality) so I’m not sure that what he is doing now is a struggle for him. Painful and personal, yes, but not a struggle. I think he’s doing what comes naturally to him. I get this impression from an interview he gave not long after his brother’s murder, in which he said, “My natural inclination is to go on as usual.” Asked if the murder had changed his political stance, he replied that it hadn’t, but added, “The need to reduce the enmity comes closer to me personally, you can’t ignore it as much.”
The whole interview is worth reading: http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/week-s-end/the-private-side-of-a-public-tragedy-1.351740
He’s a remarkable man. I wish I knew Hebrew; I would go to hear him speak.

Leonid Levin says: May 4, 2011 at 12:16 AM
Wow, a brave and deeply humane thing to do, while so many people around you are eager to use your brother’s family’s terrible death to justify vengeance and even more violence and injustice.
Hats off, deep respect and heartfelt condolences to Motti Fogel.

Steffen says: May 4, 2011 at 12:12 PM I sign up to that statement.

free man says: May 4, 2011 at 10:36 PM me too, Indeed brave and nobel people.