Checking in...
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For a long time I’ve been trying and failing to write about what’s currently going on in Israel and Palestine.
There are the horrors—the ongoing violence against Palestinians and murder of Palestinians by settlers in the West Bank, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, the despicable behavior of the Israeli government and its extremist ministers, the brutal abuse of Palestinians in Israeli prisons.
And then there are the reactions to the horrors in some corners of the Jewish community, which are horrifying in their own right: the whataboutism, the nitpicking on minor details to deflect from the central phenomena, the at times legitimate concerns about anti-Semitism used to throw up blinders to any other people’s suffering.
The scale of violence and the violation of Jewish values and of human values have been daunting. I have felt like I don’t have words strong enough or powerful enough to pierce this thick nightmarish fog. But maybe the only thing worse than saying something inadequate is saying nothing at all.
Recently an eight year old child in the West Bank was beaten by Israelis with a piece of wood and hospitalized with head injuries. His mother had both her arms broken when she tried to protect her four-month-old baby.
What if this eight year old child was your child?
What if these were your people?
Are they not our children?
Are they not our people?
Halo Av echad le’chulanu?
Halo El echad bera’anu?
Do we not all have one Father?
Do we not all have one Maker who created us? (Malachi 2:10)
Is not every human being created in the image of God?
Yes, anti-Semitism is on the rise and it’s terrifying and we must address it.
Yes, the horrors Hamas inflicted on October 7th still reverberate in the lives of survivors and the body of the Jewish people as a whole and demand honor and care.
Yes, the active war with Iran and ongoing conflicts with Lebanon and other neighbors have left many Israelis in an ongoing state of real and awful fear.
All of this is true.
But the truest truth is this: our suffering cannot erase our humanity.
Do not allow that, too, to be taken from you.
Not in our name.
Not in the name of our people.
Not in the name of God.
If the obvious must be said, let us say it:
There is no way to peace, peace is the way.
Every Palestinian is as precious to the One as every Jew.
Every child has a right to life and to safety.
Every child is our child.
As we reckon with this nightmarish situation, we can find some refuge in the scores of people who are working together right now, for peace. Get involved by supporting the work of Combatants for Peace and Standing Together and other peace-building organizations.
Remember: Humans created these tragedies and humans can prevent them. We can bring healing to these wounds and we can build a better, safer, more sacred and more just world.
Ken teheye ritzona
May it be the will of the One
A screenshot from Standing Together’s Instagram grid