May 21, 2012

Egypt, Israel, Russia and More: A Recent Conversation with Joshua Rubenstein, of Amnesty International

by Daniel E. Levenson, ALM
February 9, 2011

Since Amnesty International was founded in 1961 it has worked to expose human rights abuses and political oppression around the world. The organization has attracted both supporters and detractors over time as it has grown in size and influence – an evolution which has been fueled by the work of a dedicated cadre of volunteers and professionals. I recently spoke with one such person, author and Amnesty International Northeast Regional Director, Joshua Rubenstein.

 

Mr. Rubenstein told me that he first joined Amnesty international as a volunteer in the spring of 1975, as a volunteer, and when a position opened up six months later, he was hired and has been there ever since. For him, the decision to devote his life to the pursuit of justice and respect for human rights was a natural outgrowth of his involvement in the anti-war movement at Columbia University while he was a student there from1967-71. After a year in Israel from 1971-72, he came back to the US to embark on a career as a writer. Over the years he has written several well-received books, including Tangled Loyalties, The Life and Times of Ilya Ehrenburg as well as an important work on the extent of Nazi atrocities in Russia, entitled The Unknown Black Book: The Holocaust in the German-Occupied Soviet Territories.

 

When asked how things have changed in the human rights landscape since he first became involved with Amnesty International, Mr. Rubenstein commented that, “Amnesty is no longer the only actor in this drama,” noting the proliferation of different human rights groups, many with a specific geographic focus, “I think it has enhanced the work we’re doing.”

 

It seems noteworthy that Mr. Rubenstein’s connections to Soviet Jewry run deep, and during our conversation he recalled attending rallies for Soviet Jews as a member of USY (a Jewish youth group) as a teenager in Connecticut in the 1960’s, before going on to study Russian in college, followed by a trip to Russia in 1970, where he met a Russian artist whose work Mr. Rubenstein helped to smuggle out of Soviet Russia. His encounters with Soviet Jewry clearly had a profound impact on his personal and professional life, and he said that when he returned to the United States he continued to build and maintain connections with Soviet refuseniks who had made it to America.

 

While there was great hope that the countries formerly under Soviet control were entering a new period of political freedom and transparency in this region in the 1990’s, we can now look at the region and see that many of the same tools of oppression are still in place. Mr. Rubenstein said that the world should still be concerned about the presence of authoritarian and repressive regimes in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, remarking “It’s not like human rights concerns of those countries went away because the rule of law came down.”

 

When asked about the recent unrest in the Middle East, Mr. Rubenstein expressed concern about the ways that human rights workers were being treated, adding that one Amnesty International researcher had been taken from his office in Egypt and they don’t know where or by whom. He said he was very concerned about the violence that Mr. Mubarak was causing on the streets. Of this he said “It’s a very cynical ploy by the Mubarak regime.” He said that whatever the outcome of the upheaval in Egypt, that it was Amnesty’s hope that whatever form of government emerged would be respectful of human rights.

 

In response to questions about pro-Israel groups’ criticism of Amnesty, Mr. Rubenstein was quite adamant that there were indisputable facts about the situation in the Middle East which are beyond question – he made it clear he believes that Israel is in violation of international law and has a double standard when it comes to its judicial system – Jewish Israelis are treated one way, Palestinians another. But he was equally passionate in asserting his belief that that no Palestinian group or individual has any right to attack Israeli civilians. He was also very critical of efforts by some in the Knesset to investigate left-wing Israeli groups, an action he described as decidedly un-democratic.

 

When asked about what cases of human rights abuse are being ignored right now he pointed to violence in Africa, specifically in eastern Congo but also Rwanda, Uganda and Angola. “I wish the Congo had gotten more attention over the years,” he said, noting that because there is no oil there (although rare earth metals are present) and because this region has not played a major role in world affairs and is quite remote, that it did not get the attention that it deserved.

 

Although Amnesty International has attracted many critics, Mr. Rubenstein doesn’t seem to mind this aspect of his work – in fact he noted that it was part of the job of the organization to shine a spotlight on governments and actors who would prefer to remain in the shadows. There is no question that the work of those involved in advocating for human rights and political freedom can be difficult, exhausting and even at times quite dangerous. Whether or not those of us in the Jewish community agree with everything that Amnesty International says about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, I think we can all agree that there are many places around the world where people are suffering at the hands of brutal regimes and actors, and we can be grateful that organizations such as Amnesty are willing to take them on.

 

 

Copyright Daniel E. Levenson/The New Vilna Review 2011.