For Open Borders
Peter Eisenstadt

One of the biggest domestic stories of the past few weeks has been the presence of some 60,000 Central American refugees and immigrants on the US border with Mexico. And no doubt the biggest stories in the world these past few weeks has been the latest Israel-Gaza War, and the shooting down of the Malaysian airliner over rebel-held territory in Eastern Ukraine. What all of these stories have in common is that they are all, in one way or another, about borders, and the right of people to cross them. read more

On the Gaza Border
Uri Schechter
A NAHAL Brigade Commander (Reserve)

To all my friends and to all those who don’t know me: Please share this posting in every way possible.

Since I am a commander right here on the Gaza border people are asking me what they could do for those who are fighting here right now.

All in all the IDF supports us in the most amazing way. So the best support that you all can offer is to give the bereaved families a big hug filled with love. Visit them. Visit the wounded in hospitals in your area, or in hospitals that are far away. read more

The Right to Self-Defense

Peter Eisenstadt

Israel has a right to defend itself. I have no problem with this statement. Every country, ever person, has the right to defend itself, herself, himself. Hamas, I would argue, was goaded into this war by Israel, but it was foolish enough to take the bait. But a provocation is not a justification. Hamas still had to take the step of starting to fire rockets, knowing what the probable impact would be on Israel and on Gaza. And once Hamas started to use its tunnels for raids into Israel, once again, they knew what the response would be. read more

On Gaza, Twitter, and Despair

Kathleen Kern

I manage the Twitter account for my human rights organization, and lately, I find I have to take a deep breath every time I check it.  Since we have a project in Palestine, our Twitter feed follows other accounts concerned with peace and human rights in Palestine/Israel and now, it’s all about the bombing in Gaza.  We also have projects in Iraqi Kurdistan—the team there is dealing with land confiscation by oil corporations and Syrian refugees.  (Remember them?) In Colombia, corrupt authorities have used riot police to evict a community we accompany.  The Supreme Court of Canada has just said that Ontario could open the land of our Anishinaabe partners to industrial logging.  But right now, Gaza trumps all on Twitter. read more

Thoughts on Gaza
Peter Eisenstadt

The best-known story in Tanach about Gaza is of course the story of Samson. One can read the story of Samson, alternatively, either as an allegory of the futility of strength and power, or of the futility of weakness and powerlessness. (I think of that line from the Peter, Paul, and Mary song from the 1960s, “if I had my way in this wicked world, I would tear this building down.”) And not much has changed.

Of all the insoluble problems of the Israel-Palestine conflict, Gaza is perhaps the most intractable. The problem with the West Bank is that everyone wants to live there. The problem with Gaza is that no one wants to live there, least of all most of its residents, most of whom are descended from Palestinian refugees from 1948, and who have been trapped in Gaza for many years. I don’t know how, precisely, the occupation of the West Bank will be resolved, but it will no doubt be some sort of partition and shared sovereignty. I have no idea how the problem of Gaza will be resolved. read more

Praying for Peace Under Exploding Missiles
Ayala Emmett

Two Lemons and an Orange
On Thursday July 10, I skype with my brother in Israel and he tells me about his day. In the morning he went to the produce store where he has been buying fruit and vegetables. The owner was not there but his son, a young man in his late teens, was in charge. The radio was blaring the latest news, “President Barak Obama is calling on both sides, Israelis and Palestinians, to show restraint.”

From thousands of miles away, in Kiryat Motzkin a town 15 kilometers from Haifa, the young man was raising a fist at the American president. Ignoring the customers, he started yelling and blasting President Obama. read more

David Ben-Gurion on Herzl, Zionism and Zion

Matia Kam

“News swept through the town: Messiah has arrived”

David Ben-Gurion (1886-1973) did not meet, nor did he get to see Benjamin Ze’ev Theodore Herzl (1860-1904). But that image of Herzl as the messiah, was etched in Ben-Gurion’s memory. It was Herzl who brought to the town of Plonsk, where Ben Gurion grew up, the Zionist message. Eight years later, Herzl died unexpectedly and Ben-Gurion wrote of the shock at his untimely death, which dashed so many Jewish hopes. “In the summer of 1904 our town was stunned by the news: Herzl was dead. It is hard to describe what a blow it was for all of us, young and old. I was profoundly depressed—darkness filled my world, the light was gone from my life.” read more

The Futility of Revenge: Thoughts on the Crisis in Israel
Peter Eisenstadt

A few words on the horrible events in Israel this week. The discovery of the bodies of the three murdered yeshiva students, followed by the immolation of a Muslim teenager as a revenge murder; and the cynical manipulation of the frenzy by the Netanyahu government, which tried to use to its own political advantage, breaking up the Fatah-Hamas alliance by rousing the rabble, and many other horrible events.

The big word of the week was “revenge,” which many in Israel called for in the most terrible fashion until it spiraled out of control and led to the murder of the Palestinian climate, and with Palestinians seething in the West Bank, Gaza, and Israel proper, the region seemed on the brink of a new intifada. This is probably not wanted by anyone, or by very few–Palestinians have too many nightmares about the 2nd intifada to want a repeat of any sort, and Netanyahu, despite considerable opposition from his own cabinet, doesn’t want the headache of another war. read more

Reb Zalmen and Howard Thurman
Peter Eisenstadt

My dear friend, the late Aaron Braveman, who spent over half a century in Jewish education, used to complain to me, “nowadays, the only thing people want from Judaism is spirituality, spirituality, and spirituality.” Aaron was a fervent believer in Judaism, but like so many in his generation, it did not involve personal encounters with God. If Judaism has changed in this regard, it is due in large measure to the influence of Zalmen Schachter-Shalomi, or Reb Zalmen, who combined Hasidic piety with an exuberant counter-cultural sensibility that knew few bounds. After a long, remarkable, and sometimes messy life, Reb Zalmen passed away this week at age 89. read more