Re-examine peace walkers' motives

Letters

Editor: In the same issue in which a reader from New Jersey discussed the one-sided, anti-Israel bias of some of the Jewish media, your paper featured a group called "Peace Walker Society," whose alleged goal is walking for peace in Israel and other places. They have also been given the opportunity to use the facilities at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver to promote their agenda.

Since my youth, when I experienced the hijacking of the word "peace" by a plethora of groups, unmasked later as fronts for the KGB and other communist organizations, I am quite suspicious about such "peace pilgrims."

It takes only one look at their Web site to discover, on the top of its first page, a call to attend a rally supporting the butcher of Baghdad, alongside such obviously impartial and unbiased organizations as the Communist Party of Canada, the Canadian Communist/Marxist Leninist party, several pro-Arab and pro-Palestinian outfits, the Workers Communist Party of Iraq/Iran and, of course, our own "Jews for a Just Peace."

Furthermore, the front picture on the site introduces the journey through Israel of Mr. Walker Young, who is allegedly concerned about suicide attacks in Israel. But the photo does not show the site of the bombings at the Dolphinarium or Sbarro Pizza or the Netanya Passover massacre, but we see our "peace traveller" in front of Yasser Arafat's Headquarters.

One gets the message very fast.

Even more telling is a very recent article in the left-wing Israeli paper Ha'aretz, describing the real aims of such organizations. Under the title "Side stepping the issues," it tells the story of a group of peace walkers in which the participants from different countries, after declaring their alleged desire to achieve peace by walking through Israel, slowly unveiled their hidden goals and feelings.

In the lengthy feature, the journalists express their frustration about the leaders or "facilitators" who, "just as the discussion touched on the more acute, painful aspects ... made sure to chart an immediate withdrawal to more amorphous concepts, such as introspection, leaving the discussion shallow and sterile." As for their political agenda, to quote the journalists, "[The peace walkers] are having a hard time leaving the world of foggy concepts, in which they avoided taking any stand, even on the most burning issues on the agenda or even identify those to blame for the situation."

Finally, their true colors became apparent when, according to the article, "One of the participants even explains the phenomenon of the suicide bombers as 'every person has their role.' "

A similar story in the Israeli press of this week describes the action of another group of foreign "peace walkers" who tried to prevent the construction of a security fence meant to protect Jews inside Israel from terrorists attacks, such as the recent massacre at kibbutz Metzer, by provoking fights with the workers, destroying materials and throwing rocks at the IDF soldiers.

It would have been, therefore, preferable if the Bulletin and the JCC, before opening their pages and our facilities, which are financially supported by all of us, to some unknown, alleged "peace activists," would have had a deeper look at such organizations and decided whether they truly deserve our promotion and sponsorship.

And the JCC might be wise to re-examine their decision to allow the Nov. 28 event.

Jack Chivo
West Vancouver

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