Rabbi Joseph Berman

Partial Transcript: "My name is Rabbi Joseph Berman. I work with Jewish Voice for Peace"

Segment Synopsis: Introduction, including the Rabbi's name, organization, and job title within Jewish Voice for Peace.

Keywords: Introduction; Jewish Voice for Peace; Joesph Berman; Rabbi

Subjects: Israel/Palestine; Palestine

Partial Transcript: Who were some of your biggest mentors, influences, or inspirations for getting into work devoted to Israel/Palestine?

Segment Synopsis: Rabbi Berman speaks of his Jewish family's impact on being led to work on peace in Israel/Palestine. He talks of lessons learned from his Grandmother's stories as a Holocaust survivor. Reminiscent of the cultural responsibility to justice instilled in many Jewish families due to the memory those experiences, he speaks of the need to speak truth to injustice and protect one's neighbor. He invokes the phrase "Tzelem Elohim", translated to "in the image of God", referring to the inherent value in all human life.

Keywords: Community; Family; Holocaust; Judaism; Neighbor; Survivor; Tzelem Elohim

Subjects: Israel/Palestine

Partial Transcript: "What is happening in Palestine?"

Segment Synopsis: Speaking of his original awakening from a passive acceptance of Israeli action, Rabbi Berman talks about learning about the Nakba in 1948, the occupation since '67, and displacement/ continued oppression of Palestinian's in the modern day. He goes on to talk of the hope he has in the continued resistance that exists today.

Keywords: 1948; 1967; Compassion; Dignity; Displacement; Dispossession; Freedom; Hope; Humanity; Inequality; Injustice; Nakba; Occupation; Personhood; Resistance; Statehood; Youth

Subjects: Israel/Palestine

Partial Transcript: "So what role do you think race plays in all of this?"

Segment Synopsis: Beginning with a question of whether or not race is the proper metric by which to analyze Israel/Palestine, Rabbi Berman goes on to detail Israeli hegemony throughout the entire region. The State, as controlled by the Israeli government, administers multiple legal systems along ethno-religious lines, creating a hierarchy of rights with Jews at the top. He goes on to describe the multiplicity of Palestinian groups that are discriminated against through varying identifications and access to rights (or lack thereof).

Keywords: Autonomy; Differential Treatment; Ethno-Religious Categories; Hamas; Hierarchy; Identity; Identity Cards; Israeli Government; Jewish State; Land; Legality; Palestinian Authority; Race; Statehood

Subjects: Israel/Palestine

Partial Transcript: "Have you been to Israel/Palestine and what have you seen?"

Segment Synopsis: Talking of the journey from propaganda trips in his youth to aiding nonviolent protest in Ramallah in college, Rabbi Berman describes briefly his encounters with violence, house demolition, and decade long demonstrations in Israel/Palestine. He recounts his most recent interaction seeing organizations providing planning for Palestinian towns and connection spaces between spaces intentionally isolated via the tools of occupation (i.e. the wall, checkpoints).

Keywords: Activism: Planning; Checkpoints; Community Control; Demonstrations; East Jerusalem; Holocaust Memorial Day; House Demolition; Injustice; Israeli Independence; Killing; Mechanisms of Control; Nonviolent Resistance; Occupation; Police Violence; Propaganda; Ramallah; Travel; Violence; West Bank Wall

Partial Transcript: How has your ability to move freely in the face of such oppressive restriction on Palestinian made you feel? Have you seen persons of color treated differently?

Segment Synopsis: Rabbi Berman reflects on moving with the privilege of whiteness and a Jewish identity throughout Israel/Palestine. He talks about being counted by the state as another Jewish body to justify violence as protection and describes his personal decisions to wear or not wear his Kippah depending on the space he is moving through. He goes on to speak of the different ways people of color are treated in Israel/Palestine and the historic ties between Jews of color and Palestinian resistance.

Keywords: Access; Border; Colonizer; Harassment; Home; Jewish Bodies; Jews of Color; Judaism; Movement; Occupation; People of Color; Privilege; Protection; Race; Representation; Role of State; Security; Settlers; Sovereignty; Suffering; Travel; U.S. Citizenship; Violence; Whiteness

Subjects: Israel/Palestine

Partial Transcript: What does the wall represent and what is meant to do?

Segment Synopsis: Rabbi Berman reflects on the contradiction of the wall as a symbol of division that can never actually serve the function of dividing Israelis and Palestinians. Talking of the strategic importance of the wall as a piece of a larger system of control, he describes it as a tool to steal resources and represent a facade of Israeli intention towards a two state solution, cloaking continued colonization. Finally, he talks of its effect of dehumanization and its possible relevance to willed ignorance in the face of the occupation.

Keywords: Annexation; Apartheid; Army Bases; Bantustans; Barrier; Checkpoint; Citizenship; Colonization; Connection; Control; Displacement; Division; Facade; Green Line; Humanity; Identity; Illusion; Israeli; Jerusalem; Land; Mechanism of Control; Military Service; Occupation; Oslo; Palestinian; Police Stations; Separation; Settlement Roads; Settlements; Suffering; Theft; Two State Solution; Water; Willed Ignorance

Subjects: Israel/Palestine

Partial Transcript: What movement towards ending occupation do you see? What would it mean if the wall came down tomorrow? What would it take to make that a reality?

Segment Synopsis: Rabbi Berman describes what he thinks is necessary to create change and move towards peace in Israel/Palestine, citing the need for increased international pressure, a continued change in US public opinion, and a reversal of US aid/support for the occupation. He finishes with some thoughts on the way the Israeli racial system plays out in the army and the way the occupation is run, citing that as an emerging space for resistance, solidarity, and continued research.

Keywords: Best Interest; Campaigns; Democracy; Economic Inequality; Ethiopian Jews; Freedom; International Pressure; Media; Military Aid; Mizrahi; Nonviolence; Organizing; Palestine Solidarity; Polarizing; Public Opinion; Race; Racial System; Right of Return; Siege on Gaza; Sustainable Status Quo; U.N.; U.S. Support

Subjects: Israel/Palestine