The 23rd Niwano Peace Prize Awarded to Rabbis for Human Rights

The 23rd Niwano Peace Prize Awarded to Rabbis for Human Rights

The Niwano Peace Foundation presented the 23rd Niwano Peace Prize to an Israeli group of ordained rabbis and rabbinical students working for the defense of human rights for both Jews and Palestinians. The presentation ceremony took place on May 11 at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo. Some 200 people, including Israeli ambassador to Japan, H.E. Eli Cohen, and representatives of Japan's political and religious circles, attended the ceremony.

The prize is awarded annually to a living individual or an organization that is making a significant contribution to world peace through promoting interreligious cooperation. A screening committee made up of religious leaders of international stature selects the recipient from among candidates nominated by religious leaders and other persons of intellectual stature around the world.

At the presentation, H.E. Bishop Gunnar Stalset, head of the Diocese of Oslo of the Church of Norway and a former member of the screening committee for the Nobel Peace Prize, described the screening process for the prize, and Rev. Nichiko Niwano, the foundation's president, presented a citation, a medal, and an award of 20 million Japanese yen to the rabbis who attended the ceremony on behalf of the organization.

Following the congratulatory addresses by special guests, Rabbi Ma'ayan Turner, chairperson of Rabbis for Human Rights, delivered an acceptance address on behalf of the organization.

The tragic situation in the Middle East is in the hearts of everyone concerned with peace and justice. At the core of the conflict stands the Israeli-Palestinian issue. Among the many religiously based organizations committed to promoting the ideals of human rights, justice, and compassion for all the people in the region, Rabbis for Human Rights holds a unique position. It brings together more than 130 Reformed, Orthodox, Conservative, and Reconstructionist rabbis and rabbinical students in a committed fellowship for justice and reconciliation.

The organization, Rabbis for Human Rights, is built on, and promotes, concepts and values that are central to Jewish tradition and law. These ideals are often marginalized in a search for legitimate "security" and "safety," which, in many cases, does not honor the equally legitimate rights of "others." The organization was founded as a not-for-profit organization in 1988 in response to serious abuses of the human rights of Palestinians by Israel's military authorities in their attempt to suppress the first Intifada. It represented a reaction to the indifference of many of the country's religious leaders and citizens to the suffering of innocent people who were seen as "the enemy."

As a rabbinic voice of conscience in Israel, Rabbis for Human Rights is not affiliated with any political party or political ideology. It has many volunteers and its members are Israeli citizens. Basing itself on a central pillar of Judaism--the dignity of every human being--it decries the denial of Palestinian rights to land, freedom of movement, and the lack of adequate access to livelihood, health care, and education. Although focusing specifically on Palestinian human rights as a measure of Jewish ethical behavior, it also concerns itself with the rights and dignity of other groups, such as foreign workers and Ethiopian Jews. It is devoted to championing the equal status of women. Among many issues on its agenda, it is engaged in improving Israel's health system for those who lack adequate access to it. It also advocates an Israeli bill of rights as a guarantee for all citizens regardless of ethnic or religious identity or national provenance.

The premise of its actions is that by following Jewish teachings that call for love of one's neighbor, justice, and compassion, greater security and safety for all the inhabitants of the region will be achieved rather than the reverse. It demonstrates, to both the religious and non-religious sectors of the Israeli public, a face of Judaism that sees the divine image in all human beings. It is convinced that human rights abuses are not compatible with the age-old Jewish tradition of moral responsibility for the Biblical care for "the stranger in your midst."

Rabbis for Human Rights has received the "Speaker of the Knesset Award" for Quality of Life in the field of "Enhancing the Rule of Law and Democratic values, Protecting Human Rights, and Encouraging Tolerance and Mutual Respect."

The activities of Rabbis for Human Rights are concentrated in four main fields: education, non-violent fieldwork, legal campaigns, and interfaith activities. The organization serves as an important information outlet on human rights and publishes books and articles for the education of the public at large.

Through its various programs the organization takes a practical approach to the challenges facing individuals, groups, and the whole state of Israel.

The Niwano Peace Foundation awarded the 23rd peace prize to Rabbis for Human Rights in order to honor the organization as a unique voice of the compassion, care for others, love, and justice that is at the heart of Judaism and indeed of all other religions, at a time when religious fundamentalism and extremism receives so much publicity in the Middle East.

This article was originally published in the July-September 2006 issue of Dharma World.


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