The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Spiritually courageous leadership needed to bring peace to Gaza
What the community has seen in the past months in the center of New Haven is a microcosm of what has been seen throughout the United States. The demonstrators against the Israel-Hamas war should not be written off as “troublemakers” or Palestinian terrorists or antisemites or self-hating Jews. Yes, many ideologies appear in these demonstrations, but there are believing Jews, there have been Passover sedarim, there are Jewish groups that have long represented left-wing Jewish and Israeli perspectives on what Israel should be or needs to do in these awful times.
The actions of Hamas on Oct. 7 were savage in the worst imaginable way of humans whether they be African tribal warfare or EuroAmerican attacks on Native Americans, to consider only a few instances.
But what now? Israel wants revenge on Hamas, and they want its citizens back. But even finding Hamas may not be doable. So, Israel is taking its rage out on all Palestinians, whatever those Palestinians may think of Hamas. Israel’s revenge as well is motivated by the fact that Israel supported Hamas as a way to control the PLO. Nothing makes one more angry than to be outsmarted by one’s inferiors.
But what if all this horrendous killing does not save the remaining Israeli captives? What then? Will Israel say, “Enough” and return to its borders? Not likely. They will most likely keep bombing and starving the Palestinians in a search for people who might support Hamas. What does this mean? All 2 million Gazans must die to be sure there are no more Hamas supporters around?
That would certainly meet one objective of some Israelis. Gaza could then become open for total Jewish settlement with the West Bank not far behind.
I saw a sign the other week in a Jewish market “Never Again Means Now.” “Never Again” is a Jewish slogan referencing the Nazi holocaust. Is the indifference to Palestinian life meant to be a kind of revenge for the Nazi holocaust? Germans and others killed Jews. Now, Israel does what it wishes Jews could have done during World War II, a revenge fantasy.
In 1948, Israel fought and won a war primarily with Palestinian Arabs. As most countries do, the end of a war means “To the victors go the spoils.” That was Israel’s attitude, nothing unique there. Maybe if they had tried to integrate the millions of Palestinians, granted not an easy task, matters would be better today. American Jews, from childhood on, were taught only about the rightness of Israel’s positions. American Jews are now torn and many feel betrayed; others continue to see the absolute rightness of Israel’s position. It is not clear that the preached polemical unity of American Jews can ever be restored.
We are waiting to get rid of an Israeli leader who seems broadly despised for numerous reasons. Some Jews are waiting for an Israeli leader who can make a peace with Palestinians that respects them and brings Israelis along. On Passover, a large synagogue in Manhattan said its customary prayer for the welfare of Israel, then it added a parallel prayer for the welfare of Gazans. Maybe those are only messianic wishes. I certainly hope not.