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July 9, 2004/Tamuz 20 5764, Vol. 56, No.42
In pursuit of justice
VICKI CABOT
Contributing Editor
We are standing atop the prophet Samuel's Tomb, on the outskirts of Jerusalem. The holy site is still used for daily minyan, while the inner reaches of the ancient building have been consigned for Muslim prayer.
A welcome sign of ecumenicism in a city infused with religiosity, shared and otherwise? Hardly. Just another peek at the political reality of Israel, where two peoples struggle to live in one land and jostle for a place for daily prayer.
From the top of the tomb there are expansive views of the surrounding countryside. Ramallah, where Yasser Arafat resides, is in the distance; so is Beit El, a West Bank settlement of religious Jews. "Look out," says our guide, gesturing widely. "Like slices of salami."
And so it is, the land carefully, or not so carefully, sliced into paper-thin rounds or lopped off into sizeable chunks, without even a slice of waxed paper in between.
The view from Samuel's Tomb affords a look at the reality on the ground, as a baby-faced Israeli Defense soldier patrols overhead. Palestinian villages interspersed with Jewish settlements, haphazard looping roadways; the effect is not so much a salami as a hunk of Swiss cheese.
And so it is.
And while the debate about the settlements rages, especially since the move for disengagement in Gaza and the possible displacement of significant numbers of Israelis, and while the terrorist threat remains, even as the security fence goes up and the number of attacks goes down, last week's Israeli Supreme Court decision is cause for quiet pride. By unanimous decision, a three-judge panel ordered the army to remove a portion of the West Bank barrier and reroute other sections to reduce harm imposed on residents of eight Palestinian villages.
The court ruled that the section of the fence in dispute caused undue suffering, separating Palestinian landowners from tens of thousands of dunams of terraced land on which they grow figs, grapes and olives. It jeopardized their livelihood, said the court.
While the decision clearly asserted the necessity for the barrier, it also defined a balance between security and humanitarian needs. "There is no security without law," wrote Chief Justice Aharon Barak for the court. Such simple words, yet they embody the quintessential Jewish pursuit of justice and underlying Israeli commitment to democratic law.
From a country that has suffered the loss of more than 900 citizens in the past three years, that lives with the constant threat of terrorist attacks, that has been devastated by the economic impact of the barrage of violence, the decision is a heartening confirmation that its soul remains intact, its spirit undeterred.
The ancient imperative again comes alive: Justice, justice shall ye pursue.
Contact the writer at vicki_cabot@jewishaz.com.
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