Israel and Palestine: The Neverending Conflict

Hello, friends.

A topic that I avoid most days: Israel and Palestine. But not lately.

It's the epitome of a situation that could use some more interfaith relations, and yet I often find myself avoiding it as much as possible for a variety of reasons.

One of these is that I cannot pretend to offer any advanced opinion on the political situation in the Middle East. I would describe myself as an educated lay person, at best. I have heard the Israeli/Jewish side my entire life, via my synagogue, Hebrew School, Jewish sources, etc., it's true. I traveled to Israel in January-February of this year on an interfaith (but also, to a large extent, Jewish-focused) trip. I took a course on the situation of Jerusalem earlier this year, which, was taught by an American Jewish man, though offered a fairly balanced view of the situation. I have also spoken about the conflict with some close friends and family, including a good friend of mine, a very religious Christian who sympathizes more with the Palestinian side.

Regardless of my own personal opinions, I want to express my frustration. My frustration that these peoples cannot live peacefully in the land that should be the exemplar of peace. Frustration that we can never really know if the media is telling us the truth--I have seen news reports alleging almost opposite accounts of various events over there (Did Israel fire first, or Hamas?). Frustration that people think it's okay to then blame all Jews, around the world, for Israel's actions, and so offer an excuse for their blatant antisemitism (I'm mainly looking at you, Europe). Frustration that we cannot reach a resolution. And frustration that people on both sides too often refuse to even attempt to understand the other perspective.

I was once asked in a job interview what really makes me mad. For those who know me, I am a fairly even-keeled person--I keep my head in a crisis, do not often get too overwhelmed or unhappy, but manage to maintain a level of calm, even in a debate. But there is one thing that really angers me: intolerance as a result of intentional ignorance. I hate hearing people say ignorant things without having the humility to accept that maybe they do not know everything. This comes up when talking about antisemitism, or certain religions, or, yes, the Middle East.

My aforementioned Christian friend and I disagree, it's true. She reads the reports that favor Palestine--she largely believes them. I read the reports that favor Israel--I largely believe them. But we can talk about these issues reasonably, learn from one another, and admit that both sides have done things with which we personally disagree. It's a fruitful discussion.

But too often, those who might have one view about the conflict are not willing to even entertain my opinions. How do we progress if we do not listen to the other side? As I mentioned above, I acknowledge that I have had a biased source of information about the conflict for most of my life, I offer that upfront in any discussion--but I also want to learn, and I seek to understand many viewpoints about the situation. I fear that many do not afford me the same consideration in these discussions, which is another reason I shy away from these discussions. I think some people would discount my opinion about the situation because of my religion. "Oh, well you're Jewish, of course you support Israel," without even offering me the consideration of listening, really listening, to some of my arguments. This is not only an issue regarding the Middle East, of course--plenty of people hold their opinions, and do not actually care what other people have to say. But it seems particularly bad with this issue.

I am not sure how aware non-Jews are of the dialogue in the American Jewish community, but most Jewish discussions I hear want a peaceful, two-state solution, even while most Jews would probably say they support Israel. The facts show that every time over the past century these peoples have been offered a two-state solution, Jews have accepted it and the Palestinians have rejected it. That's a fact. Hamas, the ones sending the rockets into Israel, is notably antisemitic--not just anti-Israel, but anti-Jews in general, with some saying they want to destroy all Jews everywhere: http://www.adl.org/anti-semitism/muslim-arab-world/c/hamas-in-their-own-words.html.

Meanwhile, most of what I see coming from my Jewish sources are prayers for peace. On Shabbat, our weekly day of rest, at the end of Shabbat, throughout the week, everything says, "Shabbat Shalom, may there be peace" or "Shavua tov, may there be peace this week." There are of course extremists who favor Israeli action that would end this war, once and for all--because I don't think anyone doubts that Israel has the ability to at any moment bomb and destroy the Palestinian territories and people, and so end this once and for all. But most reasonable people--Jews--cry out for peace. I know there are Palestinians who want it, too--but where are those voices? Why do I not hear them? I frequently say to my pro-Palestine friends: Please, send me these articles, show me that Palestinians want peace. And so I say this to all of you reading this: add your comments to this blog, add your articles showing this; I want to learn. I want to believe there are people on all sides longing for peace.

This blog post comes about as a result of a homily I heard recently. I attended a fairly young, vibrant congregation called Romemu on the Upper West Side last week for Shabbat. The rabbi, David Ingber, had just returned from several weeks in Israel (what a turbulent time to be there). You all surely know that this conflict began when three Israeli teenage boys were kidnapped and killed, apparently by Palestinians. The Palestinian Authority president condemned this, but, as this article explains, his condemnation somewhat focused on criticizing Israel's reaction to the kidnapping rather than simply the heinous crime that prompted their reaction. The second article also explains how hateful cartoons started appearing from leading Palestinian political party Fatah, basically celebrating the kidnapping. For example, this one is a spoof on the World Cup logo, with the three boys captured in the hands:

There were others as well, including one depicting the three boys as mice caught on hooks of a fishing rod. As I sit here writing this, I try not to cry once again, since I cannot imagine how anyone could celebrate the sick kidnapping of these young men. And for what? I find it hard myself to figure out how we can negotiate across both sides, when the people in the Palestinian leadership are either supporting celebratory cartoons like these, or are at least complicit in them. I will try to take heart from the courage of those with perhaps more strength than I have right now.

So the rabbi at Romemu last week told a story about how his beloved teacher-rabbi had died close to the same time that Jewish extremists killed that young Palestinian man (which Israeli leaders, and even Jewish relatives of one of the slain Israeli boys, condemned strongly) in retaliation for the murder of the three Israeli boys. This rabbi, in Israel and mourning with other students of his recently-deceased rabbi, heard about the murder of this young Palestinian. And what did this group of Jews do, while sitting Shiva in the middle of Jerusalem, with riots building in East Jerusalem amongst the Palestinians? They decided to sneak illegally over to East Jerusalem, risking their lives to do so...in order to mourn with the family of the Palestinian who was killed.

Now that's interfaith.

I started to cry as Rabbi Ingber told his story, and it still moves me, even now.* This is the kind of thing that could lead to an end to this conflict. Not the cartoons glorifying the murder of children. Not the people who refuse to listen to my opinions, or your opinions, or anyone's opinions. Not the extremists--on both sides--who think that just wiping out "all Jews" or "all Palestinians" is okay. Because it's not.

So, as the truce is extended for another five days, and leaders try so hard to find a peaceful solution to this conflict, let us take heart. Let us, in our own lives, practice a little more active listening when we discuss the conflict, and really try to understand those we speak with. Let us all pray, or meditate, or just send out good vibes, that those in positions of power will have just a little more humility themselves, and a little more acceptance, and listen to the other side. And hopefully let it move them towards a lasting, true, peace.

Now go out and love one another.

<3,
Allyson

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*If you are interested in listening to the 24-minute homily that Rabbi Ingber gave, it is available online: https://romemu.org/sermons/vaetchanan/g-d-said-no