Walking the Red Line: Israelis in Search of Justice for Palestine

Edited by Deena Hurwitz, preface by Rabbi Marshall T. Meyer. New Society Publishers, 1992. 208 pp. List: $14.95; AET: $11.95 for one.

Reviewed by Lewis K Elbinger

''The danger of complacency in the face of injustice is that injustice becomes routine. It loses its sharp edges as it begins to be accommodated by society. "

This quotation by Deena Hurwitz from the introduction to her book Walking the Red Line: Israelis in Search of Justice for Palestine expresses the ethical impetus for her effort in collecting and publishing interviews with 19 Israeli peace activists. Ms. Hurwitz's book is an important contribution to the growing body of literature that documents efforts to resolve one of the world's most enduring and dangerous headaches: the intractable problems and injustices that arose when the state of Israel was created from the former British Palestine Mandate.

Those who are familiar with the details of this problem know that the "Green Line," the armistice line that separates opposing armies, tends to become a de facto border when efforts at conflict resolution fail. Ms. Hurwitz tells us that the "Green Line" that separated Israel from Jordan in 1949, and today demarcates the West Bank and Gaza Strip, currently constitutes a "red line" for some Israelis.

It is a line they refuse to cross because it represents occupation, oppression and injustice. According to Hurwitz, "a red line marks the personal, moral, or psychological limit beyond which one is unwilling to transgress; or, conversely, by which one is impelled to action, perhaps consciously, to incur risk."

By introducing the heroic Israelis who "walk the red line" to a wide, English speaking audience, Ms. Hurwitz advances the cause of Mideast peace and expands debate on that subject. As she says, "By exposing the range of debate in Israel, these essays chip away at the argument that criticism of Israel, or even debating. . .Zionism, is inherently anti-Semitic."

The book is timely in the sense that it captures the voices, moods and thoughts of its subjects after the Gulf war. A thread of gloom runs through these interviews, however, as essentially decent people contemplate the daunting task of reconciling hostile forces and providing an antidote to the poisonous hatred that infects their land.

Their viewpoints were formed during the highly polarized Shamir regime when Jewish settlements were being erected on Palestinian land and extremist ideologues incited racist violence. Although the recent election of Yitzhak Rabin is no guarantee that either the settlements or violence will cease, there is now hope where before there was only obstruction. The new possibilities will surely buoy these laborers in the field of Arab-Israeli cooperation.

The voices expressed in this book are diverse, but certain themes are common: the connection between the suffering of the Jewish people and the suffering of the Palestinians, the struggle to express quiet truth in the face of loud lies, the longing for and love of justice, acceptance of the "two state" solution, the need for outside help to achieve the goal of political reconciliation and the recognition that, ultimately, peace is a change of heart. Deena Hurwitz, a woman who has made peace in her own heart, shares with us the inner dialogue of those who seek to replace seething strife with heartfelt harmony.

The book provides a calm place from which the reader can hear thoughtful conversations about Middle East peace. It also provides a 12-page appendix listing 54 Israeli organizations in 11 categories working for peace and justice.

While this directory may not be comprehensive, it is a useful compilation and supplements similar efforts such as the New Israel Fund's Guide to Arab-Jewish Peacemaking Organizations in Israel and the National Peace Foundation's National Directory of Organizations concerned with Peaceful Resolution of Arab-Israeli-Palestinian Conflicts. Such directories illustrate the broad spectrum of groups and individuals who are concerned about and actively working toward Middle East peace. They facilitate communication, promote sharing of resources and comfort those who feel lost and lonely as they campaign for an end to senseless violence.

In spite of the frustration and despair that the activists quoted in Hurwitz's book must face on a daily basis, belief in the triumph of justice and goodness gives them energy and strength. Hence, the words of Canon Riah Abu El-Assal, a Palestinian Christian clergyman: "Whereas David cut off the head of the old Goliath, listen to what a Palestinian boy says. He says, 'Once I hit the Israeli Goliath, I will not allow myself to cut off his head. I will wake him up and tell him, "With these stones, let us build a home for both of us.""'

Lewis K Elbinger is a foreign service officer currently assigned to the U. S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya. The views and opinions expressed in this review are not necessarily those of the U. S. government or the Department of State.