Chicago Hearing
The Chicago Hearing
On Sunday, April 18, 2010, the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) initiated an event titled "The Chicago Hearing: Does U.S. Policy on Israel and Palestine Uphold Our Values?" The event was hosted by the University of Chicago and was held on their Hyde Park campus in Ida Noyes Hall.
The event was modeled after a meeting of a United States Congressional Committee. The AFSC stated that the hearing "highlighted voices of those on the other end of the pipeline of U.S. aid to Israel."[1] Discussion was moderated by Helena Cobban, a journalist and owner of the "Just World News" website as well as "Just World Books" publishing.
Resources exist on the Chicago Hearing's website for those interested in holding their own Mock Congressional Hearings.
Context
The American Friends Service Committee describes itself as a "Quaker organization that includes people of various faiths who are committed to social justice, peace and humanitarian service."[2]
The AFSC began working in the Middle East in 1949. The organization, along with the International Committee of the Red Cross and the League of Red Cross Societies, was asked by the United Nations to organize relief work for Palestinian refugees in the Gaza Strip.[3]
Witnesses
The hearing heard testimony from four "witnesses" to U.S. Policy in Israel and Palestine.
- Jeff Halper is an anthropologist and Coordinator of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD), a "non-violent, direct-action organization"[4] which he helped to establish in 1997. The ICAHD's stated goal is to resist Israeli demolition of Palestinian homes in the Occupied Territories.
- Jad Isaac is an environmental expert and Director General of the Applied Research Institute–Jerusalem in the West Bank. He was formerly Dean of Science at Bethlehem University.
- Cindy Corrie is the mother of Rachel Corrie, an American activist who was crushed by a bulldozer attempting to demolish a house in the Gaza Strip in 2003. She is president of the Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace & Justice.
- Amer Shurrab is an Arab Palestinian from Gaza whose two brothers were killed by Israeli Defense Forces during Israel's "Operation: Cast Lead" in the winter of 2008-2009. He is a member of Seeds of Peace, a peace-building youth organization in New York City.
Listener Panel
A panel of academics and religious leaders heard the testimony of the witnesses, and afterward asked questions.
- Yali Amit is a professor in the Department of Computer Science and Statistics at the University of Chicago.
- Cantor Michael Davis is congregational cantor at the Lakeside Congregation for Reform Judaism in Highland Park, Illinois. He is also a member of the Jewish Fast for Gaza, a group of "rabbis, Jews, and people of conscience"[5] who undertake a monthly daytime fast in support of goals which foster peace in Israel-Palestine.
- Cotton Fite is an associate priest at St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Evanston, Illinois.
- John J. Mearsheimer is the R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago.
- Barbara Ransby is an associate professor of Gender and Women's Studies, African American Studies, and History at the University of Illinois-Chicago.
- Dr. Zaher Sahloul is a physician at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, Illinois and chairman of the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago.
- Ghada Talhami is the D.K. Pearsons Professor Emeritus of Politics at Lake Forest College in Illinois.
Testimony
The testimonies of the witnesses and the subsequent questions fell into three categories: Property Rights; Freedom of Movement, Association and Speech; and Military Aid and Armaments.
Property Rights
Jeff Halper of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions spoke extensively about the property right issues which came into being following the creation of the state of Israel in 1948.
"In 1948, 94 percent of the country that was called Palestine...was owned by Palestinians. By the end of 1949...94 percent of the land that became Israel was now in Israeli Jewish hands."[6]
Freedom of Movement, Association and Speech
Jad Isaac spoke on this topic, stating that Palestinians had far more restricted movement in Israel-Palestine than Israelis.
He used as a case example the time it takes to travel between the cities of Jenin and Hebron in Israel-Palestine, a distance of about 80 miles. For an Israeli, Isaac said the trip would take about an hour. For a Palestinian, who must travel on separate roads and go through many more security checkpoints, the trip would take about four hours, said Isaac.
Military Aid and Armaments
Cindy Corrie and Amer Shurrab gave their personal testimonies on this issue.
Shurrab told the panel that IDF soldiers had fired, unprovoked, on a vehicle containing his father and two brothers, leading to the death of the brothers. He also described how the IDF would not allow an ambulance to enter the area for 11 hours after the shooting, leading to one of his brothers dying from blood loss due to a non-fatal leg wound.
Corrie related the story of her daughter's activism in Gaza. Rachel Corrie stood in front of a Caterpillar bulldozer in order to prevent it from demolishing a Palestinian home. The bulldozer continued on its path, crushing Rachel to death.
Findings and Conclusions
The Chicago Hearing's Organizing Committee published a 28-page Final Report that includes summaries of the testimony, information on U.S. policy, maps, and statistics regarding the impact of closure policies and military aid in Israel.