MONROE - Anna Baltzer brought a unique perspective to her discussion about Israeli-Palestinian relations when she spoke Thursday to the Kiwanis Club at Ludlow Bar.
Baltzer, a Jewish-American, doesn't hesitate to criticize the Israeli government and its treatment toward the Palestinians and the occupied West Bank of Israel, an area that includes Bethlehem and Jerusalem.
"Just because someone criticizes the Israeli government doesn't make them anti-Semitic," she said.
Baltzer is a graduate of Columbia University and a former Fulbright scholar. She also is the granddaughter of Holocaust refugees.
While teaching English in Turkey, she often traveled into other countries and talked to Palestinian refugees. They told her stories about the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the difficulties they faced.
Baltzer was skeptical.
"I thought they were nice people," she said, "but I thought they had been brainwashed."
It wasn't until she toured the occupied area for herself that she came to believe the stories she heard from her Palestinian friends.
She made it her mission to tell others about life in the occupied area and to let people know there is something they can do about it.
Palestinians in the West Bank are subject to hundreds of check points every day, she said. A 15-mile trip could take as long as four hours, Baltzer said, because the Israeli police continually check Palestinian papers and identification.
Ambulances even are held up for hours, she added.
"I've talked to women who have given birth in the ambulance because it was held up at a check point," she said. "I've talked to people whose children have died because they couldn't get to the hospital fast enough."
What makes the check points ironic is that they aren't set up between Israel and the occupied territory. They're set up between villages and cities in the occupied areas. Security concerns would dictate a border between the two areas, not check points within the occupied area, she said.
Concerns about security also would dissuade Israeli citizens from moving into the occupied area, but the Israeli government has promoted settlements in the region.
"The Israeli government pays its citizens to build in the West Bank," she said.
Most of the settlers are good people who simply want to take advantage of the opportunity for new homes and financial assistance from their government. About 20 percent of the settlers build for political reasons - they believe Israel has a right to the West Bank.
It makes for a volatile situation. According to Baltzer, for every one Israeli killed this year, 100 Palestinians have been killed.
"I mourn the loss of all 101 people," she said.
Baltzer thinks things will change in the future.
Israelis and Palestinians have been working together to change the system. Israelis and Palestinians are working through non-violent means to change their country.
"More than 50 percent of the Israeli population opposes what their government is doing," she said.
She also encouraged people to speak to their representatives in Washington D.C.
The United States spends $10 million a day in aid to Israel, she said. The U.S. government needs to know that Americans don't support what Israel is doing and let their opposition be heard.
"Do your research, go see the situation for yourself, support a productive U.S. policy," she said.
Baltzer, a Jewish-American, doesn't hesitate to criticize the Israeli government and its treatment toward the Palestinians and the occupied West Bank of Israel, an area that includes Bethlehem and Jerusalem.
"Just because someone criticizes the Israeli government doesn't make them anti-Semitic," she said.
Baltzer is a graduate of Columbia University and a former Fulbright scholar. She also is the granddaughter of Holocaust refugees.
While teaching English in Turkey, she often traveled into other countries and talked to Palestinian refugees. They told her stories about the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the difficulties they faced.
Baltzer was skeptical.
"I thought they were nice people," she said, "but I thought they had been brainwashed."
It wasn't until she toured the occupied area for herself that she came to believe the stories she heard from her Palestinian friends.
She made it her mission to tell others about life in the occupied area and to let people know there is something they can do about it.
Palestinians in the West Bank are subject to hundreds of check points every day, she said. A 15-mile trip could take as long as four hours, Baltzer said, because the Israeli police continually check Palestinian papers and identification.
Ambulances even are held up for hours, she added.
"I've talked to women who have given birth in the ambulance because it was held up at a check point," she said. "I've talked to people whose children have died because they couldn't get to the hospital fast enough."
What makes the check points ironic is that they aren't set up between Israel and the occupied territory. They're set up between villages and cities in the occupied areas. Security concerns would dictate a border between the two areas, not check points within the occupied area, she said.
Concerns about security also would dissuade Israeli citizens from moving into the occupied area, but the Israeli government has promoted settlements in the region.
"The Israeli government pays its citizens to build in the West Bank," she said.
Most of the settlers are good people who simply want to take advantage of the opportunity for new homes and financial assistance from their government. About 20 percent of the settlers build for political reasons - they believe Israel has a right to the West Bank.
It makes for a volatile situation. According to Baltzer, for every one Israeli killed this year, 100 Palestinians have been killed.
"I mourn the loss of all 101 people," she said.
Baltzer thinks things will change in the future.
Israelis and Palestinians have been working together to change the system. Israelis and Palestinians are working through non-violent means to change their country.
"More than 50 percent of the Israeli population opposes what their government is doing," she said.
She also encouraged people to speak to their representatives in Washington D.C.
The United States spends $10 million a day in aid to Israel, she said. The U.S. government needs to know that Americans don't support what Israel is doing and let their opposition be heard.
"Do your research, go see the situation for yourself, support a productive U.S. policy," she said.