Wed 8 Apr 2020, 04:13 AM | Posted by editor
LETTER from Mark Langabeer, Newton Abbot Labour Party
Leah Tsemel is an Israeli human rights lawyer. She has defined her career as one involving “everything [that occurs] between the Palestinians and the authorities”. Her five decades of representing Palestinian defendants in the Israeli court system is the subject of the documentary film Advocate, which came out in 2019 and a 90 minute BBC4 Storyville programme.
The production follows her life during which she has defended tens of thousands of Palestinians, although she herself is Jewish and lives in Israel. She has been described by her opponents in Israel as the Devil’s Advocate, a ‘leftist’ and a ‘traitor’. Her son recalled one occasion when, during a stroll in the park, a man threatened her with a gun. He asked her why she did her job, to which her reply was, “it’s what I believe in”.
1967 war and occupation of West Bank
The programme describes how her political evolution began during and after the 1967 war between Israel and its neighbouring Arab states. As a student, she was asked to volunteer for army service, like many young Israelis. She was among the first women to enter the old part of Jerusalem to visit the Wailing Wall. She recalled that Israeli troops were greeted with chants of Moshe Dayan. He was the Army Chief of Staff at the time, and well known as the general with the eye patch.
Naively, Leah thought that the war would bring peace, but she later recalled a long line of exiles that to her were reminiscent of refugees during from the Second World War. During that war, Israel captured the whole of Jerusalem, including its predominantly Arab-occupied eastern parts, as well as the whole of the ‘West Bank’ of the Jordan River. That entire area is still occupied by Israel today. The Arab neighbourhood nearest to the Wailing Wall was demolished within a year of the capture of the whole city.
Demolition of Palestinian villages
On returning to study, Tsemel joined Matzpen, a Zionist-Socialist party, which at the time was opposed to the occupation. She thought at the time that they were the only people who appeared to have answers to her questions. Her husband met her during a scuffle between Matzpen supporters and right-wing Zionists. He was struck by how feisty this girl was. She soon became an advocate for a couple of Matzpen leaders who were tried for treason.
From this moment onwards, she has opposed the illegal occupation of Palestinian land and the demolition of Palestinian villages to make way for Jewish settlements. She has fought the discrimination faced by Palestinians within Israel. For 50 years, she has stood up for Palestinian rights and the rights of political prisoners within Israel. This film was a tribute to her work.
I thought the programme also revealed the dead-end of the so-called acts of ‘martyrdom’ or individual attacks on Israelis, which unfortunately is a policy followed by some Palestinians. Leah suggested commented they are regarded as terrorists in Israel but ‘freedom fighters’ by some people internationally. I don’t think so. These are acts of desperation and an expression of a lack of an alternative and unfortunately, they have driven many in Israeli society into the hands of reactionary elements. There’s a strong analogy here with the IRA bombing campaign during the 70s and 80s.
The only solution to the conflict is a Socialist Federation of the Middle-East on a voluntary basis. This must include the right of both an Israeli and Palestinian State on an equitable basis. Working people, Arab or Jew, have a common interest in a life free from poverty and injustice.
The programme can be seen on BBC i-player, here
