NJ Jewish News | Saying Mideast rhetoric clouds message, activist urges outreach to fellow Jews

Saying Mideast rhetoric clouds message,
activist urges outreach to fellow Jews

South Mountain Peace Action chair Paul Surovell says
the peace movement “has too long ceded ownership of
the flag to pro-war advocates.”
Photo by Robert Wiener

A leader of New Jersey’s peace movement called on fellow activists to moderate their language on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in order to draw more public support — most notably from his fellow Jews — for ending the war in Iraq.

Speaking at the Feb. 26 Sunday morning service at the Ethical Culture Society in Maplewood, Paul Surovell, chair of South Mountain Peace Action, urged his listeners to be vocal about “supporting the peacemakers in Israel and Palestine who are working for a two-state solution.”

Surovell suggested that support for the antiwar movement can be broadened greatly by having activists distance themselves from the ANSWER Coalition, a national organization that, he said, “actually opposes the peace process” and “regards the state of Israel as illegitimate.”

Surovell described ANSWER’s stance as “a call for war, not a call for peace.”

He also chided peace movement leaders who avoid taking a position on the issue for fear of being attacked as anti-Palestinian or anti-Israel.

Instead, Surovell said, his organization follows “the leadership of Jewish-American and Israeli Zionists and Palestinian nationalists in our support for a peaceful, nonviolent, and just solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

A 2005 survey by the American Jewish Committee found that 70 percent of Jews polled disapproved of the war in Iraq, while 28 approved. Leading Jewish groups have been critical of some of the key organizers of antiwar activity, including ANSWER and United for Peace and Justice, which have organized rallies that include speakers who condemn Israel and do not condemn Palestinian terrorism.

Following his half-hour address, Surovell told NJ Jewish News he was “very upset with the movement for not getting behind the peace process” and suggested that people who “may find some groups reprehensible” should “express their feelings about the war in other ways” beyond joining antiwar organizations.

“Polls show that about 60 percent of the U.S. population thinks U.S. troops should be withdrawn from Iraq, but only about 15 percent believes they should be withdrawn immediately,” said Surovell, a math teacher from Maplewood.

He suggested that people “chop off the word ‘now’ from the slogan ‘Out of Iraq Now’ and many more people will respond to us and more members of Congress will be voting to associate with us.”

Brandishing an American flag as he stood behind the podium, Surovell suggested it be carried at rallies by antiwar activists.

“The peace movement has too long ceded ownership of the flag to pro-war advocates. Our country is supposed to be based on principles of freedom, equality, and, yes, peace. The fact that those in power are pursuing the opposite goals doesn’t detract from what our country is supposed to stand for and what the flag is supposed to stand for,” he said.

Surovell urged other peace groups to follow the SMPA’s lead and take part in Memorial Day parades without politicizing the commemoration. His group marched under a banner that included only its name, in honor of the servicemen and women killed in war. “I assure you most peace groups would have objected, claiming that Memorial Day is about war, and war is about politics.”