My Pain

Everywhere I turn people argue these days: “My view is the correct one and you have no idea who I am.” In the U.S. Democrats argue with Trump supporters and young Jews fight the Jewish establishment. Hateful acts against Jews and Muslims are increasing. The Israelis and Palestinians defend their position and cannot hear the other.

I sit here in Minneapolis looking at Israel from afar and my heart fills with pain. What has happened to the country that my parents and grandparents built and that I grew up in and so love? I lament about the evils of the occupation and what a nightmare the settlers have created. Many of my Israeli friends cannot hear or see clearly how the Palestinians are being oppressed.Yes, Hammas does its share of atrocities. When Palestinians terrorize us, which is why the wall was built, there is little empathy these days
for the Israelis

However, I think it is time we Israelis take responsibility for what the occupation is creating daily in the West Bank. We cannot go on caging and demeaning the Palestinians as a defense. We need to get out and seek a path to peace. I have heard several of the IDF generals declare with utmost confidence that we don’t need the West Bank for security. We need to take the higher moral stand as good Jews would do. All of us Israelis have a part in what the settlers, the soldiers and the Israeli authorities do in the West Bank.By getting out we are not assuming full responsibility for the conflict, only are refusing to participate in this occupation. Then we need the Palestinians and the world to hear us about our need for self-actualization and our very valid fears as a minority in the world and particularly in the Middle East.