A debate that has been raging in my family for 53 years, is now being argued across the American-Jewish community. Peter Beinart, an influential Jewish-American journalist and intellectual, recently claimed that Jewish dehumanization of Palestinians is the greatest threat to a peaceful resolution.
In 1967, a Palestinian family from East Jerusalem offered me sanctuary during a war that changed the face of the Middle East. When we first met, I had no idea they were the feared enemy I’d been warned about all my life—they hate us; they want to drive Israel into the sea; they prohibit us from visiting our holy places. This proved to be nonsense. The Palestinians (generically referred to as Arabs) encouraged me to pray beside the Wailing Wall, got permission for me to enter the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount, the Ibrahimi mosque in Hebron, welcomed me in their village, and suggested an itinerary when I told them I was going to Israel. I felt no rancor from them, just profound sorrow that they could not join me on such a sojourn.
I returned to NYC with a Palestinian husband, a new family, and an important message— Palestinians are not an existential threat to Israel, and in fact could become friends and allies if given the chance. After 53 years of carrying this challenging banner, I am familiar with the justifications, accusations, and fear:
“No one has the right to ask a country to return land that was won in war.”
“Israel is our safeguard against another Holocaust.”
“Israel is the ancestral homeland of the Jewish people.”
“Israel has valid legal and historical claims.”
“To single out and criticize Israel for doing what other countries have done is anti-Semitic.”
“I am a self-hating Jew.”
I respond to these charges by holding the shield of international law. Even the celebrated Balfour Declaration (1917) establishing a homeland for the Jewish people in Palestine, promised that the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities would not be violated. Many UN Resolutions have been passed since then but the one that inspires me is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Adopted in 1948 as a response to Holocaust, this life affirming document promises “freedom and equality for every individual regardless of sex, color, creed, or religion.” International law might be toothless but it is not dead, and might be humankind’s best and possibly last chance to create a lasting peace based on justice.
It also aligns with Jewish Law.
It should come as no surprise that the Palestinian struggle for self-determination has drawn support from Black Lives Matter (BLM) and indigenous people across the world. Equality and freedom are profound human needs. The Hasidic community in Crown Heights found themselves in a self-described moral quandary after the killing of George Floyd. They wanted to support their African-American neighbors but considered BLM to be anti-Zionist, even anti-Semitic. BLM described Israel as a settler-colonialist state. In spite of this on June 7th, the Hasidic Jews marched in solidarity with their neighbors.
The signs they carried: “Love thy neighbor!” “If an agent of the justice system murders in cold blood it is a human issue, an American issue, and an issue of Jewish law.” From Deuteronomy, “Justice, Justice, shall you pursue.” From the Babylonian Talmud, “Whoever can protest and does not is accountable for their sins.” From Hillel, “That which is hateful to you, do not do to another.” Supporting racial justice for Black Lives is only a moral quandary if Palestinians are exempt.
A few hundred Crown Heights Jews joined a march in solidarity with the Black community, June, 2020, on Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn.
This Content Was Published at https://collive.com/crown-heights-jews-stand-with-our-black-neighbors/
On June 6, 2020, Aymen Odeh, Palestinian member of the Knesset spoke at an anti-annexation rally in Tel Aviv alongside US Senator Bernie Sanders. Over 6,000 Israelis—Jewish and Palestinian cheered their messages.
Odeh: “We are at a crossroads. One path leads to a society with a real democracy, civil and national equality for Arab citizens. The second path leads to hatred, violence, annexation and apartheid. We’re here to pick the first path. Without justice there can be no peace.”
Sanders: “The futures of the Israeli and Palestinian people are entwined. The illegal annexation of any part of the West Bank must be stopped, the occupation must end, and we must work toward a future of equality and dignity for all people.”
I don’t always agree with my mother who just turned 105, especially regarding Israel. But in response to ongoing violence, mayhem, militarism and suffering, she proclaimed— “I don’t understand why we can’t just share the place.” Mom has not become a one-stater. Her Jewish ethics demand that the humanity of all people must be recognized. No exceptions.
Peter Beinhart’s betrayal of Liberal Zionism and Israel, The Jerusalem Post, 7/9/20
Crown Heights Jews “Stand With Our Black Neighbors, COLlive, 6/7/20
Through My Eyes 
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