Rabbi Arik Ascherman listens to Farid Suleiman Daoud while standing in the West Bank village of Haris.

Louisville—Rabbi Arik Ascherman was in Israel on Saturday, Feb. 11. But that didn’t stop him from connecting with more than 200 Presbyterians gathered here to hear firsthand what it’s like to advocate for human rights in a land marred by unrest.

Ascherman, executive director of Jerusalem-based Rabbis for Human Rights, was linked live from Israel by telephone and web camera to the participants gathered at the “Steps Toward Peace in Israel and Palestine” conference held Feb. 10–12.

The event brought together representatives from Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) synods and presbyteries to understand the actions the 216th General Assembly took last summer related to Israel and Palestine.

The presentation by Ascherman, whose group includes among its goals addressing human rights violations of West Bank Palestinians and Israeli Arabs, was one of several components of the conference, which also included panel discussions, workshops and roundtable interactions among participants.

It was Ascherman’s voice, however, that brought the closest thing to a Jewish perspective to the conference, billed by the organizers as largely a Presbyterian conversation.

It’s important for Palestinians to know that “not every Israeli comes to demolish their homes,” he said.

In fact, Ascherman and Rabbis for Human Rights actively work to counter the demolition of Palestinian homes by the Israeli government, even by civil disobedience if necessary.

“I go through a lot of risks in what I try to do,” including acting as a human shield, he said.

Ascherman and his group also work through their Olive Tree Campaign to gain access for Palestinians to their olive trees and to assist in planting and harvesting. “The Palestinians have a right to get to their land all the time,” he said.

Along with access issues, Rabbis for Human Rights also conducts seminars and forums, provides food, medicine and other humanitarian aid to Israeli terror victims, and works through lobbying and legal appeals to bring about change.

But Ascherman also talked about the need of Israelis to feel safe. Suicide bombers and other forms of violence have wrought havoc in Israel over the years, and the government has sought to end the devastation by erecting a 425-mile-long “separation barrier” between Palestinian and Israeli communities.

The wall has been a huge source of further conflict because portions of it cut across the pre-1967 border, some sections extending deep into Palestinians and farmlands.

“I want my government to protect me,” said Ascherman, the father of two children. “If that means a barrier, then I’m not opposed to a barrier.”

“Israel has been facing a very serious security issue,” he told the conference participants. And it should be noted that “both sides have been shot at.”

Clearly on both sides “people have just reached levels of exhaustion,” Ascherman said. Sometimes “it seems what we are doing is beating our heads against the wall.”

Nevertheless, he said, “we do have to say very clearly that the occupation must end.” And “we should always have the wisdom and the courage to tip the scales in the right direction.”