I cry out for both Israel and innocent Palestinians
As an American Jew, speaking out against Israel is frightening. I fear it will add to what is already a major rise in antisemitism.
Yet my heart aches for the devastation suffered by Gaza civilians at the hands of Israelis. It has shattered me to my moral and physical core. It is difficult to be in solidarity with my people, knowing that central to our Torah is the value of each human life and the protection of the stranger.
At the same time, I am angered and fearful when I hear of the hostile calls for the destruction of Israel, especially when these calls such as “from the river to the sea” are code for the elimination of the Jewish people. I am left believing both that Israel’s actions are indefensible and believing that Israel itself must be defended.
It chills me to think the world sees the actions of the Israeli government as representative of all Jews.
On one side, we Jews know what it is like to be an oppressed minority. Our history as an exiled people has taught us that the world is and always has been hostile toward Jews. Live long enough in a place and we will experience persecution, pogroms and genocide.
Jews fleeing the Nazis, who killed 6 million in the Holocaust, and nearly a million Jews who fled countries in the Middle East to escape persecution looked to Israel as a safe haven and home.
We hold a deep psychic trauma and the belief that if we are not strong, we will not survive: “If I am not for myself, who will be?”
The unprecedented barbaric and sadistic attack by Hamas on Oct 7, killing and mutilating over 1,000 innocent Israelis, has traumatized not just all of Israel but all of world Jewry. Jews who had never stepped into a synagogue feel under attack.
None of this is a justification for the current, unwarranted devastation to the Palestinians in Gaza and ongoing violence in the West Bank. Our Torah tells the story of the Israelites escaping from bondage in Egypt to settle in what is now Palestine, where they were instructed to build a just and righteous society. Israel’s actions there now are undermining this moral ethic and responsibility.
It is hard to hold the tribal and ethical at the same time, especially while in trauma and grief.
There is danger staying in the tribal. Research shows that the deeper our tribal connections, the weaker are our connections to those outside the tribe. We need to strengthen both at the same time. We cannot draw our circle too small to exclude others.
How can we who cry out when Jewish lives are not taken seriously not cry out when Palestinian lives are not taken seriously? How can our own hearts not break when Palestinians that have nothing to do with this conflict are suffering? And to what end?
Israel’s military actions can only lead to more hatred and retribution further jeopardizing both Israel’s security, regional stability and the safety of Jews everywhere.
Both Israelis and Palestinians are suffering at the hands of corrupt and callous leaders who have not sought peace. Israel must do what is necessary to defend herself. A diplomatic solution is the only way to avoid permanent war.
I support a permanent ceasefire with conditions that include all remaining hostages be released immediately and safely; sufficient humanitarian aid be provided to the desperate Gazans; an international coalition begins negotiations toward a two-state solution; steps are taken toward ending the war expeditiously; a detailed plan for Palestinian self-determination and the rebuilding of postwar Gaza that prohibits both a militarized Hamas from remaining in power and Israel’s reoccupation or control of the Gaza Strip; assurances for the human rights and long-term flourishing of Palestinians in Gaza; and the ability of Israelis to safely return to their homes along the southern and northern borders.
Acting from our common humanity is the moral imperative of our time. Let us not permit our tribal need to become so limited that we ignore the need for universal compassion.
Let’s all expand our scope of moral concern to find the humanity in one another again.