As we write we stand at a precipice. In the wake of
the outrageously criminal Hamas attack on innocent civilians in southern
Israel, the Israelis have been making war on Gaza, from the air, for nearly
three weeks. And, we are waiting with apprehension to see if the other shoe will
drop, in the form of an on-the-ground incursion.
While there is some uncertainty to the numbers, we know that approximately 1,400
Israelis have lost their lives and it is likely that more than 7,000
Palestinians have been killed by Israel’s bombs. Many more have been injured
and more than a million people are newly homeless. Hamas is also holding more
than 200 hostages who were kidnapped and are being held in Gaza.
Both sides are guilty of heinous war crimes. Laying siege to Gaza, prohibiting,
and now severely limiting, the Gazans access to food, water, medicine and fuel,
is a severe violation of international law, just as the mass murder of Israelis
by Hamas was earlier this month.
As if this isn’t sufficiently tragic, we also face the prospect of a wider,
regional war. Hezbollah and Israel exchange artillery fire daily. Israel has
been routinely bombing Syria, including attacks on Damascus’ civilian airport.
And the Houthi regime in Yemen has been launching missiles at Israel from
hundreds of miles away. All this speaks to the possibility of a long-feared regional
war, with Iran and its allies facing off against Israel; with the possibility
of U.S. direct intervention.
News reports are heart-wrenching. Each day our radios, TVs and digital devices
bring us new reports of lost loved ones; of bodies buried in the rubble; of those
hospitalized who can’t be treated for lack of drugs or even of electricity to
power the lights and the surgical equipment.
Seeing images of the corpses, and the thousands of wounded, compels action, but
many feel at a loss, not knowing what might help. Right now, if you share our perspective
we would urge you to let the White House and Congress know following:
1) We want the U.S. government to press
all parties, especially Israel, where U.S. influence is greatest, to adopt a
ceasefire.
2) We want our government to press Hamas
to release all Israeli and other hostages, and to urge Israel to, in exchange,
release the hundreds of Palestinian political prisoners it has recently rounded
up on the occupied West Bank.
3) We urge the Biden administration to press
for the rapid distribution of sorely needed humanitarian aid to Gaza. The U.S.
should help fund this effort.
4) Now is the time for an immediate halt
to the U.S. provision of arms to Israel, both the $3.8 billion in military aid
given annually, as well as the $14.3 billion proposed last week as “emergency
military aid.” Israel is an affluent nation with a very powerful military and
it does not need the billions in munitions the Biden administration proposes to
provide. These funds should be redirected instead to investments in sustainable
development provided jointly to the Israelis and the Palestinians to jumpstart the
long process of building trust and learning to work together.
Please find contact info for the President on Congress HERE:
We reiterate that we are pro-peace. We aim to see the Palestinians and Israelis
outgrow nationalism and learn to live together as close branches on the human family
tree. To be pro-Palestinian, one must be pro-Israel, and to be pro-Israel, one
must be pro-Palestinian. Continued conflict leads to the abyss. Cooperation
leads to a peaceful, prosperous future.
This moving message was shared recently by Rabbi Irwin Keller:
Taking Sides
Today I am taking sides.
I am taking the side of Peace.
Peace, which I will not abandon
even when its voice is drowned out
by hurt and hatred,
bitterness of loss,
cries of right and wrong.
I am taking the side of Peace
whose name has barely been spoken
in this winnerless war.
I will hold Peace in my arms,
and share my body’s breath,
lest Peace be added
to the body count.
I will call for de-escalation
even when I want nothing more
than to get even.
I will do it
in the service of Peace.
I will make a clearing
in the overgrown
thicket of cause and effect
so Peace can breathe
for a minute
and reach for the sky.
I will do what I must
to save the life of Peace.
I will breathe through tears.
I will swallow pride.
I will bite my tongue.
I will offer love
without testing for deservingness.
So don’t ask me to wave a flag today
unless it is the flag of Peace.
Don’t ask me to sing an anthem
unless it is a song of Peace.
Don’t ask me to take sides
unless it is the side of Peace.
- Rabbi Irwin Keller, Oct. 17, 2023
