Israel

My daily petitions include language seeking peace among and within all beings in the world, especially in the middle east.  They also include entreaty that I might find connection to the safety and peace existent within my own organism.

Yet, I stand with Israel's right to exist and to respond to the radical terrorism that caused the murder of 1,200 innocents and the capture of more than 250 civilians. 

I truly do not understand what people mean when they say Free Palestine?

Free Palestine as in a two state solution? I’m aligned.

Free Palestine from Hamas? Absolutely.

Free Palestine from Israeli brutality and occupation? Ideal.

Free Palestine from a religious authority that allows women to be subjugated and bans their ability to obtain an education? Imperative.

Free Palestine from leaders that would sooner throw protestors wearing rainbow keffiyehs and carrying "Gays for Gaza" signs off the roof than they would allow them to live out, proud, and openly among them? Yes, please.

But right now? A free Palestine equates to Hamas and that doesn't hold much appeal for me.

I want to ask, where were the protests blocking traffic, the university camp outs, the graduation interruptions when American armed forces invaded Iraq and murdered over 300,000 civilians throughout their effort to find non-existent weapons of mass destruction? Where was this outrage when Bashar al-Assad murdered 500,000 Muslims in Syria? By 2022, over 400,000 Muslims died as a result of the Houthi-instigated civil war in Yemen. Where were the protests on behalf of the innocents then? Where are the protests now for the 1.2 million Muslims currently held in Chinese interment camps? What really drives this selectivism that singles out Israel, the singular Jewish state, for defending itself against radical terrorism?

As of July 2024, there were 17 cease fire deals on the table that Hamas has rejected. There were two requirements: release the hostages and Hamas disarms. At day 291, there are still eight Americans among the hostages held in captivity by Hamas.

Yes, war kills. But no, Israel did not start this war.

Yes, I desperately wish Israel would show greater humanity. Yes, I find Netanyahu and the IDF's actions can only be described as appalling. The response to October 7th has engendered hatred not only toward Israelis and Israeli Jews but to Jewish people living everywhere, including Colorado. The killing of one innocent is too much, more than 30,000 unfathomable. Yet, what do I know from military strategies to root out terrorists who are harbouring hostages embedded within and under a civilian population? Seriously, as much as it dismays me, I don’t really believe I am equipped or have the right to judge Israel’s response.

Was there some other more appropriate response to the terrorism that murdered 1,200 innocents attending a music festival or going about their daily life in a kibbutz? What should the response have been to rescue those imprisoned amid a civilian population? I don't have these answers, nor do I have absolutes. What I do believe, with a high degree of certainty, based on my own personal experience, is that terrorism cannot be tolerated. I learned this 23 years prior to 10/7, on 9/11/01 as I stood in my office in the World Financial Center and watched planes fly into the World Trade Center and witnessed people choosing to exercise control over their own fate, emerging through the curtains of broken glass only to descend to the ground.

And on 9/11? There were no hostages. Can we at least agree hostages change EVERYTHING? 

“To this day many Americans are completely unaware that eight Americans are still being held hostage…Omer is my best friend and he’s always someone I can talk to and often times I find myself overwhelmed by the pressure of this situation and the bizarre reality and my first reflex is to pick up the phone and talk to Omer but, of course, his WhatsApp still says, Last seen 10 months ago… Last night, we met with Prime Minister Netanyahu again, I have to say the urgency of the matter did not seem to resonate with him. He did not answer when we asked him why he is only sending his negotiators to keep the process going on Thursday instead of days ago. We must continue to put pressure on all parties involved, including Hamas, to accept this deal now before more people die in captivity. I don’t know when was the last time Omer ate, when he saw the sun, or if he smiled in the past ten months or if he has enough air to breath in those tunnels. I don’t know if he hears me and if he knows we are fighting for him for 291 days. 7,000 hours, each hour feeling like a year. We can’t, and he can’t, wait forever.” - Daniel Neutra, brother of Omer Neutra who has been held in captivity since October 7th testifying to the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee on July 23, 2024.”

Before sides are chosen, before one can say with conviction what they believe, and certainly before I engage in dialogue about whether Israel has a right to exist; whether Palestinians should have a right to self-determination in Gaza; whether a two-state solution is possible, before we continue engaging in polarizing binary discussion, I want conversation about these hostages.  Who are they? What are their names? What age are they? Where were they when they were taken?  What are their dreams and passions? What is happening to their families and friends as they remain captive? What were the dreams and ideals of the hostages we know to have been murdered? Who did they leave behind?

Bring them home now. In this moment, I don’t believe there is much else worth talking about.