Speech by Ruprecht Polenz on the award of the Hermann Maas Medal to the Israeli organisation Machsom Watch | Machsomwatch
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Speech by Ruprecht Polenz on the award of the Hermann Maas Medal to the Israeli organisation Machsom Watch

Speech by Ruprecht Polenz on the award of the Hermann Maas Medal to the Israeli organisation Machsom Watch

source: 
Protestant Church of Gengenbach
author: 
Ruprecht Polenz

 Ladies and gentlemen, Honoured church and political representatives, Relatives of Hermann Maas,  Ms Perlman, I am delighted that so many of you are here today for the award of the Hermann Maas Medal to the Israeli organisation Machsom Watch. It is a particular personal honour and pleasure for me to be given the opportunity to hold this speech – because I honour and value the work both of Hermann Maas and of Machsom Watch, but also because for decades I have had a special connection with Israel and the Middle East region. The establishment and the work of Machsom Watch The Machsom Watch organisation was established almost exactly nine years ago, a few months after the start of the second intifada. Concerned by mounting reports of violence by the Israeli military towards Palestinian citizens at the checkpoints, a handful of Israeli women decided to take action. On an icy February morning in 2001, three of them approached Checkpoint 300 between Bethlehem and Jerusalem. Nervous and uncertain, as they themselves later admitted, they approached an Israeli soldier holding an M16. When he asked what they were doing there, there was a moment of confusion and silence. To salvage the situation, one of the women finally answered that they had come to see the sunrise! The soldier muttered his agreement, and they stayed – and thus, for the first time in their lives, spent the day observing what happened at a checkpoint. What they saw bewildered them, agitated them, made it impossible for them to look away. By the end of the day, they knew that this would be their new mission. But at the time, none of them even dared to dream that this "Machsom Watch" – or Checkpoint Watch, in English – would soon develop into an organisation commanding international recognition. While there may initially have been doubts and uncertainty about what form its work should take, Machsom Watch has now grown into an organisation with which more than five hundred Israeli women volunteer. Many of them can already look back on a long professional career and have grown-up children who are performing military service or have already done so. In groups of three or four, the women act as observers at the Israeli army’s checkpoints in the West Bank and along the border with Israel. They seek to help people – the Palestinians who want to pass the checkpoints, but also the often very young soldiers whose duties are in some cases too much for them. The women have set themselves the aim of contributing, by their presence, to ensuring that the civic and human rights of the Palestinians are respected. Their work consists primarily of observing, recording and writing reports about what happens at the checkpoints; the reports are published on their website. I do not know how many of you, ladies and gentlemen, have had occasion to travel in Israel and the Palestinian territories. For anyone who has not experienced them personally, it is difficult to imagine what precisely these checkpoints involve, so I would like to offer a brief overview of the system. The system of checkpoints and the consequences The State of Israel was established in 1948. Following the Six-Day War between Israel and neighbouring Egypt, Jordan and Syria in June 1967, Israel occupied territories including the West Bank and East Jerusalem. These territories have since been under varying degrees of Israeli military rule. At the start of the occupation, general permission was explicitly granted to all Palestinians to enter Israel; exceptions applied only in individual cases where there were security implications. This freedom of movement was intended to encourage the growth of links between the economy in the occupied territories and that of Israel. Since the beginning of the 1990s, this situation has been turned on its head, however. Following the outbreak of the first Gulf War and a complete closureinfo-icon of the territories, the Palestinians needed a personal permit to enter Israel. The network of checkpoints was steadily expanded. Permits were also made necessary for the journey from the West Bank to the Gaza Strip or to East Jerusalem, or from the north to the south of the West Bank. With the outbreak of the second intifada in 2001, this system of blockades and checkpoints was significantly reinforced once again. Israel is taking these measures in an attempt to protect itself from terrorist attacks. Schools, queues at bus stops, discos and family celebrations were, and are, as we have witnessed again and again, the target of bomb or suicide attacks. The West Bank is only a little more than half the size of the district of Freiburg. In addition to the 39 checkpoints at the crossings to Israel, there are 60 permanent army checkpoints within this territory, and an equal number of flying checkpoints. There are also around 500 unmanned street barricades in the form of fences and barriers, and 700 kilometres of road which Palestinians are not permitted to use.[1]  I do not know how much you travel within your district for personal or business reasons, but looking at these figures it is possible to begin to imagine what impact these barricades have on the lives of the Palestinians. They drastically restrict freedom of movement and have a paralysing effect on the personal and professional lives of every individual. Medical care and the economy both suffer as a result of these restrictions. Trade between various areas of the West Bank, for example, became significantly more expensive, insecure and inefficient, both as regards the acquisition of raw materials and the sale of the end products. In my view, however, the psychological dimension has even further-reaching implications. The constant insecurity caused by the unpredictable closing and opening of the checkpoints takes away the ability of the people in the Palestinian territories to control their own lives – for farmers and businessmen as well as professors or politicians. The worry about whether the authorities will issue the required permit and the fear of being turned away at a checkpoint despite having a permit conveys the feeling – and I believe this is the decisive issue – of being dependent on someone else's arbitrary decisions. Of no longer being able to live a self-determined life, and instead being dependent on the goodwill of another. I believe that this experience, which induces emotions like anger, helplessness and resignation, influences and indeed has a lasting impact on people. In the case of some who are forced to endure the procedures at the checkpoints daily, this may breed hatred of Israel – and the desire for revenge and retaliation. The everyday work of the women of Machsom Watch and their vision of their role And this is exactly what the work of the women of Machsom Watch addresses. By being present at the checkpoints and monitoring respect for Palestinians’ rights, they attempt to ensure that each individual has some degree of certainty in their lives. The powerful position of the Israeli military administration means that this is often only possible to a very limited degree. Nonetheless, the women’s efforts have resulted in them being missed by many if a few days go by without them appearing at the usual checkpoints. Their work now goes beyond that of being passive observers. They are frequently spoken to by Palestinians who are at their wits’ end: by people suffering from chronic illnesses who have been prevented from travelling to see a doctor in Bethlehem for months, by those who cannot obtain a permit to travel from their home to their place of employment, or by those who simply want to visit their family in another part of the Palestinian territories. Of course, in an organisation with several hundred members, there are different interpretations of their role. While some women see themselves primarily as observers and only intervene if someone is denied permission to cross a checkpoint despite having valid papers, other women also seek to provide assistance in the kinds of cases I have just mentioned, when asked to do so. They accompany people to meet with the authorities, try to find out why requests have been denied, and put pressure on the responsible agencies to carry out an objective assessment. Often they have to be satisfied with being informed that the decision was taken for "security reasons" or due to the "risk of terrorism". The soldiers' attitude towards the observers generally fluctuates between indifference and obstructive hostility. Harassment and words of welcome are equally rare. On the whole, however, the military has had to recognise Machsom Watch as an actor on the ground, not least because of the media attention its work draws. Given the large number of cases they are confronted with every day, the women of Machsom Watch sometimes feel that they achieve little. For example, one volunteer states in a report that she "only" managed to reduce the waiting time for several pensioners by a few hours, and that another day’s work "only" led to a permit for one month. And yet the Palestinians are incredibly grateful for this hard work and these small successes – because a permit which allows them to travel to work for a month is of great significance to them. The women who are active in Machsom Watch in their free time come from a diverse range of backgrounds. Some come from the women’s movement, others from the peace and protest movements. Yet what unites them all is the desire for justice – justice in the sense of an internal attitude. Justice in the sense of a duty to oneself and a responsibility towards those who are suffering injustice. A drive for justice combined with the expectation of oneself to do something, to take action oneself to end the unjust situation. Hermann Maas and Machsom Watch This inner drive not to look on passively or look away, but instead to play a part in resisting injustice, is a quality the women of Machsom Watch share with Hermann Maas. Just as every member of Machsom Watch demonstrates moral courage and takes a personal stand against injustice, Hermann Maas also did so throughout his life. As pastor at the Heiliggeist-Kirche (Church of the Holy Spirit) in Heidelberg, he helped and rescued countless persecuted Jews in National Socialist Germany between 1933 and 1944. He worked tirelessly to make arrangements allowing many Jews and Christians of Jewish descent, including several hundred children, to flee Germany. But not only did he work with great skill in the shadows to save as many as possible, he also spoke out publicly and declared his solidarity with his Jewish fellow citizens. He was forced to accept many personal restrictions because of his dedication. For example, his advocacy for the persecuted Jews of the Third Reich led to his work as pastor being obstructed in many ways, such as public speaking and publication bans. In 1943, in response to pressure from the regime, he was even forced into retirement by the High Consistory of the Protestant church, and in 1944 he was deported to France to carry out forced labour. The circumstances in which the women of Machsom Watch work are of course not comparable with those of Hermann Maas. Their work is demanding, exhausting and frustrating; they operate in a brutal environment where guns are routinely used. But they need not fear that their work to help others might cost them their own lives, as Maas did. Unlike Hermann Maas, who was himself exposed to the arbitrary decisions of a dictatorial system, the rights of the members of Machsom Watch are secure. The right to express their opinion, even if the majority of people in their country do not like it; the right to demonstrate and the right to be present at the checkpoints. All of this also testifies to Israel’s maturity as a democracy. Shoulder to shoulder with other internationally recognised organisations such as B'tselem, Ir Amim and Peace Now, which are likewise harsh critics of Israeli policies towards the Palestinians, they enjoy the security of being able to act within the framework of the rule of law. The influence with the military at the checkpoints which they have achieved through their work is primarily due to two factors: firstly, the fact that they are Israeli women, and come from within Israeli society, often from highly respected families. For example, the daughter of former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Dana Olmert, was active with Machsom Watch. The second factor is the age of the activists. In many cases, the young soldiers could be their children or grandchildren, which often leads to them being labelled the 'mothers' or 'grandmothers of the checkpoints' in the media. This gives their efforts to secure human rights an even greater moral weight in face-to-face encounters. Machsom Watch's work met with a great deal of recognition in the international media very soon after its establishment in 2001. In Israel itself, too, it has attracted media interest. There have been several sympathetic articles which have always brought the organisation new members. Many reports, however, have had a tone ranging from the highly critical to the clearly negative. "A betrayal of Zionism", "ignorance of Israel's security interests" and "traitors" are just a few of the accusations which have been repeatedly voiced. Machsom Watch members have also received death threats after television interviews. I would like to thank you very warmly, Ms Perlman, on behalf of all present, for the fact that you and your fellow activists have continued, in spite of this hostility, to work tirelessly for respect for human rights and peaceful coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians. January 27 – Day of Remembrance for the Victims of National Socialism It is undoubtedly no coincidence that the date chosen to award this prize, in memory of the life and work of Hermann Maas, is 27 January – the Day of Remembrance for the Victims of National Socialism.  It was exactly 65 years ago today that Soviet troops liberated the Auschwitz concentration camp. The soldiers were confronted with shocking scenes: they found survivors who were no more than skin and bones; they were told of atrocities beyond imagination. More than one million people were murdered in Auschwitz: they were forced to work until they dropped; they were tortured and tormented to death. They were the victims of medical experiments, or they were asphyxiated in the gas chambers directly after their arrival.  The name of this concentration camp became synonymous with the mass murder carried out by the Nazis and their monstrous machinery of extermination; it became synonymous with the Holocaust. Accounts of Auschwitz take us to the very limits of what we can understand and endure.  That is why we commemorate the liberation of Auschwitz with an annual day of remembrance for the victims of the Nazi rule of terror. Germany introduced this day of remembrance in 1995 and, in 2005, the United Nations designated 27 January International Holocaust Remembrance Day. This morning, the German Bundestag held its annual ceremony of remembrance for the victims, at which Israeli President Shimon Peres gave a speech.   It was mainly Jews – Jewish Germans and Jews from across Europe – who fell victim to the crimes of the National Socialists. But Sinti and Roma were also persecuted and murdered; along with people with disabilities and political opponents, Jehovah's Witnesses and homosexuals, forced labourers and prisoners of war. Today's day of remembrance is dedicated to them all. Countless people were robbed of their rights and dignity, of their livelihoods, were driven into exile, tortured and murdered. The high figures are disturbing and shocking. Yet it is often only when we examine the individual fates of some of the millions of victims that we truly grasp the suffering caused.  Hermann Maas demonstrated an incredible personal commitment to the persecuted and he thus encountered many of these individual fates. Towards the end of his life, he described his feelings in the following way: "I shall never forget the dreadful experiences of those years, the frequent visits from persecuted and tormented people, the spiritual and physical hardship experienced by those who were hounded by the Nuremberg Laws, the constant danger endured by so many, day and night - sensations I too shared, as though this were my own fate. In full awareness of what I was doing, I allowed my own life and fate to become intertwined with the terrible fate of the Jewish people...". Just as Hermann Maas intertwined his life with the Jewish people, Germany is linked to Israel by a special relationship, rooted in its history; this relationship brings with it a strong sense of responsibility. That is why all German governments, from Adenauer to Kohl and Schröder to Angela Merkel, have always been particularly committed to Israel's right of existence as a Jewish and democratic state, and the security of its citizens. Rightly, this is one of the pillars on which the German state rests.  You make peace with enemies My strong personal ties to the state of Israel date back to my school days. The very first political event which I attended in my life took place during the eleventh year of school, and it concerned the foundation of the state of Israel. Since then, the fate of the Jewish people and the associated political impacts have always been a matter of particular interest to me and have accompanied me through my political life. For over thirty years, I have been travelling to Israel, have visited kibbuzim; have had many discussions and made many new friends. My last trip took place last June and, in four days time, I shall be setting off there again for a week.   As a friend of Israel, with a great interest in the long-term wellbeing of the state of Israel and its citizens, I also frequently work in my political function on finding a peaceful solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. For only if a permanent political solution is found, giving both sides the same political rights and responsibilities, will Israelis and Palestinians be able to live alongside each other and coexist in peace and security and come together at an emotional level, which is so important.  "You don't make peace with friends. You make it with [..]enemies". In this deceptively simple statement, Yitzhak Rabin also gives an indication of the entire complexity of making peace.   In her book "Checkpoint Watch", which was published in Germany in 2009, Yehudit Keshet, one of the founders of Machsom Watch, captures the very essence of what it means at a personal level to seek reconciliation with one's enemy. Referring to her own past as the child of Holocaust survivors, yet also with regard to the relationship between Israelis and Palestinians, she talks about the "difficult attempt to see the enemy's human face."[2] Thus, making peace with one's enemies always also entails a readiness to reach out to one another again and again, overcoming prejudices, bridging gaps.  The pastor Hermann Maas was a builder of bridges in two ways. On the one hand, he sought throughout his life to bring Jews and Christians closer together. At the same time, he was a builder of bridges between Germany and the state of Israel after the end of the Nazi era; he was someone who worked untiringly for reconciliation in the aftermath of these terrible events. And, in 1950, he became the first German to receive an official invitation to visit the state of Israel. In Germany, he was rewarded for his services in 1954 when he received the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. In Israel, he was awarded the "36 Righteous Among the Nations" medal in 1967 by the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem: ever since, a tree in the "Avenue of the Righteous" has reminded people of the courageous efforts of this pastor from Baden to defend humanity.  Although Israel's right of existence was beyond doubt for Maas, he viewed the "deadly serious problem" of "peace with the Arabs", as he put it, as very important. He believed that the problems could only be resolved peacefully.  Maas was aware of the attacks being carried out by both sides. He expressed the concern he felt when he wrote that "Each act of violence, in either direction, can become the gale that fans the smouldering sparks into flames that can in turn become a global conflagration".   If I was able to look into the future, I would have no greater wish than to see peace made between the Israelis and the Palestinians; and the women of Machsom Watch as agents of reconciliation and understanding between the two nations and religions, in the spirit of Hermann Maas. The political situation and the demand for a two-state solution Yet, I cannot deny that the current situation worries me greatly. Over the course of the conflict, which has been ongoing for decades, it has often been complained that rounds of negotiations failed again and again, like Camp David; that processes came to nothing, like Annapolis. Currently, though, there is an absence even of talks or negotiations. Apart from war, this is the worst case scenario. Since not speaking to each other means, at best, deadlock – this applies not only amongst individuals, but also to states and peoples.  The election of US President Barack Obama had awakened great hopes in the Middle East and beyond that the conflict might soon be brought to an end. Yet, over the past year, these hopes have given way to a certain disillusionment and to the recognition that one new man in the arena is not enough to change the fundamentals of a conflict which has already been ongoing for decades. Only if all parties concerned show a lasting desire to seek peaceful resolution and are willing to engage with other in new initiatives, is an end to the conflict possible.  I believe that a lasting solution to the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians can only come in the form of a two-state solution. Only if both peoples are able to live freely in their own independent states, with mutual recognition of the borders, will peace, followed by reconciliation, be possible. Because it is only if both Israelis and Palestinians are able to live within established and secure borders that the lack of security will be overcome – one of the factors which has frequently triggered violence and led policymakers to be largely guided by security concerns.    A two-state solution of this kind should be based on the key points laid down in the Clinton Parameters (2000), the negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians in Taba/Egypt (2001) and the unofficial negotiating outcome of the "Geneva Initiative" (2003).  In this scenario, the state of Israel would lie mainly within the 1967 borders; the Palestinian state would encompass the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Jerusalem, divided into East and West, would serve as the capital of both states, and special provisions would have to be found for religious sites.  One of the main factors acting as an obstacle to peace between the two parties, and taking us ever further away from a two-state solution is the Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank and in East Jerusalem. That is why I support the demand made by the Middle East quartet, involving the UN, the EU, the USA and Russia, for an immediate and comprehensive freeze on settlement activity.  There is no alternative to Israel evacuating these settlements. In those instances where Jewish settlements close to the border and around Jerusalem are to be retained, the Palestinian state must be compensated with appropriate parcels of land in other places, in a package accepted by both sides.  Finally, the return of Palestinian refugees must be to the Palestinian state, and only in exceptional cases, with Israel's agreement, to the state of Israel. On the basis of the initiative launched by Crown Prince Abdullah in February 2002, the members of the Arab League recognised at their summit in March 2002 the principle of a two-state solution. This is an important milestone for a negotiated solution, which is integrated and recognised in the region and guarantees Israel's security. The developments of the past few years show that the parties concerned are unable to resolve the conflict peacefully by themselves. This reinforces the duty and responsibility which we as the international community have to overcome political deadlocks like the current one and, despite all disappointments, continuously engage in new initiatives to resolve the conflict.  Conclusion The women of Machsom Watch have now been doing their work for nine years, irrespective of shifts in the wider political climate. As a force for peace, a civilian force, firmly anchored in society, working towards justice and human rights. And, in my function as a politician, I would like to point out once again how vital, how indispensable, their work is.  Only a few weeks ago, we in Germany celebrated the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. The anniversary of these unbelievable events in autumn 1989, which brought to a close the Cold War and thus changed the world, reminded all of us of the power of civil resistance. In the end, the events may have been triggered by a combination of factors at different levels, in which politics also played a decisive role. Ultimately, however, it was the power of the people, in their untiring civil protests for freedom and justice, which led to the peaceful end of the East-West conflict previously believed impossible.   I should like to thank the jury for its selection of this year's prize-winner, the Machsom Watch organisation – an organisation striving for peace and understanding amongst nations in the same way that Hermann Maas did. I would like to express my warmest congratulations to you, Ms Perlman, on the award of the Hermann Maas medal to your organisation. And I would like to express thanks on a very personal level to you and every one of those involved with Machsom Watch for your moral courage and your untiring efforts in the interests of peace, justice and humanity. I myself am travelling once again to Israel and the Palestinian territories on Sunday for political discussions and very much look forward to meeting your colleagues there and being able to gain a first-hand insight into the work that you do.   I would like to conclude simply with an appeal to you, to myself and to all of us: let us not give up in our search for a peaceful solution to the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians. For there is no alternative. As Gandhi said: There is no way to peace, peace is the way.  Thank you very much.



[1] Statistics from B'tselem, www.btselem.org.
[2] Unofficial translation of a quote from the foreword to the German edition