May his memory be a blessing
I never met Hersh Goldberg-Polin. But I have cried many tears over his death. I never met Awdah Hathaleen either. But today, I cried over his death. In both cases I wept over the brutal killing of a young man with so much life ahead of him at the hands of religious fundamentalist terrorists.
It’s true that one of the reasons each of these murders hit me so hard is that, while I did not know the victims, I do know many people who do. Seeing the posts of friends and family who are in shock over the killing of Awdah brings back the memories of talking to family members of Hersh as they mourned for him.
Hersh’s funeral was watched by hundreds of thousands if not millions around the globe, including almost every American Jew I know. We all, quite rightly, condemned his murder in the strongest possible language and demanded action to bring his killers to justice.
Awdah was killed by a well-known violent settler, Yinon Levy. Levy is so well known for his history of violence that he was amongst the first settlers sanctioned by the Biden administration. But the Trump administration, upon taking office, rescinded the sanctions targeting violent settlers, including Levy.
So where are the cries for justice from those who tout Israel as “the only Democracy in the Middle East”? Where are the denouncements of violence and terrorism that appear without fail from Americans Jewish organizations and elected officials on the tragic occasions when an Israeli Jew is killed in an act of violence?
We are living in dark days. The people of Gaza are starving. You can argue about the reasons why and you can cast blame in whatever directions you want, but the simple truth is that they are starving because not enough food (and water, and medicine) is being allowed in, and it is the government of Israel that controls that.
The people of Israel are still traumatized by the attacks of October 7th and now feel besieged by what they perceive as a world that is against them. They’re not entirely wrong, world opinion has shifted, and not in their favor. The question is, when will they admit that it’s not because of fake videos, social media, or even antisemitism. It’s because of the policies and actions of the government of Israel.
I, and many others, have offered policy proposals that could help move things in a better direction. Multi-national forces to keep the peace, international aid organizations surging food, and elections to bring desperately needed new leadership to Israelis and Palestinians alike. And while security, humanitarian aid, and leadership are urgently needed and absolutely necessary, they are not sufficient.
For us to get to those things, to move past the paralyzing hatred, fear, and trauma that afflicts both peoples, we must first acknowledge our shared humanity. Israelis and American Jews must stop seeing Palestinians as terrorists. Palestinians and those who support them must stop seeing Israelis as murderous colonizers.
If Jews cannot mourn the murder of an innocent Palestinian at the hands of a Jewish terrorist, if Palestinians cannot see themselves in the faces of those murdered on October 7th and since then as hostages in Gaza, then we cannot move forward.
There are miles to go and many obstacles to overcome before we can truly begin to build a better future for all people who live between the river and the sea. But the first step on that path is empathy and shared humanity, even when it is built on a foundation of shared pain.
Today, I feel the pain of the Hathaleen family and all who loved Awdah. May his memory be a blessing.