Hope in a future for Palestinians and Israelis.
What gives you hope?
For many Israelis and Palestinians, the losses, trauma, and displacement are profound. So much has been lost in this generation.
But I do find some sources of hope for the future.
What gives me hope?
Torah’s story of Ishmael and Isaac. These brothers remained close friends throughout their lives. If they are the ancestors of Muslims and Jews, then they planted love within us.
Knowledge that this is not an ancient conflict. In fact, it is less than 200 years old. For centuries, Palestinians and Jews lived together under various political arrangements. They were cousins—metaphorically and sometimes literally.
Jewish and Palestinian citizens of Israel who gather to call for peace. And who refuse to be deterred by government censorship.
People in the land who continue to offer mutual aid to one another, as best they can under the circumstances.
And the number of people in North America who refuse to let the conflict tear apart our civil society. I see them reaching out through music, prayer, listening and learning.
May we grow in our hope together.
I acknowledge that I take a view from outside the land, as a Jew, a pacifist, and an interfaith activist. Here are links to other statements I’ve been part of: (1) Short video by the Interfaith Amigos “On the Crisis in Israel and Palestine.” (2) Early reflections on recognizing complexity.
Image: BC Forestry Outreach Centre
In 1984-85 I lived and taught in Lac La Biche, Alberta. Lac La Biche was a town of 2500 in northeast of Edmonton. It was a multicultural community, stratified by ethnicity and race. I knew one other Jew there. I knew many Palestinians. The Palestinian community ran the various small businesses on which I depended.
Early in my tenure there I found myself in conversation with a Palestinian gentleman who inquired about my background. I told him I was Jewish. He smiled, opened his arms and said, warmly, “Welome cousin!”