Ilana, Thank you for giving voice to the thoughts that I suspect many of us have been feeling. I've found my views shifting--from the early days post 10/7 to where we find ourselves now...
Israel certainly needed to secure its borders and defend its citizens, but the human toll and suffering--on both sides-- is simply too great and too horrible. There has to be another way to move forward to a peaceful solution.
Also, like you, I'm so unnerved and angry about the rhetoric we are hearing in the US. There is neither nuance or an understanding of the history for why we are where we are. There needs to be a way to have civil and productive discourse around solutions, and I love that you shared info about organizations that are doing just that.
Am Yisrael Chai. Chag Sameach. Thank you for being the light!
Ilana, Thank you for your most thoughtful and intelligent essay. Everyone can learn something from your important lessons here, especially taking the time to be silent with your thoughts and digesting all sides and the history of an issue at hand before reacting. I hope this post goes far and wide and influences many. Imagine a world at peace. Just imagine. 🙏
This is so clear and articulately stated, Ilana. And just about exactly how I feel. No wonder we're friends. I wish I did feel comfortable going to a pro-Palestinian rally. As a Jew I think its important to step up and show my support for the "other side" but I don't mainly for the reasons you stated.
I must dissent from the consensus I see here. I strongly oppose a ceasefire until Hamas is removed. It is crystal clear that the goal of both Hamas and the PA (yes, the PA) is the elimination of Israel. Both teach that the presence of Jews in "their" land is an abomination. (See, for example, the directive from the PA right after October 7 that all imams should preach that very thing.)
Does anyone have an idea of how to help the Palestinians create leadership that truly wants peace? I don't. The groups Ilana mentions may be wonderful, but they have little if any real power in either Gaza or the West Bank.
On the issue of the huge loss of life: Would any of us be happier if, instead of (supposedly) 18000 dead Palestinians and 1300 dead Israelis (roughly 1200 from the initial attack and another 100+ in battle in Gaza), there were 10000 dead on each side? I certainly would not, and I doubt that any of the writers here have sufficient military expertise to know what the numbers would have been if Israel had not begun with massive bombing. But I believe that the Israeli military leadership was certain that the Israeli losses would have been far greater had they taken a different approach. No nation, ever, would make the decision to vastly increase its own losses to prevent losses on the other side. To do so would be terribly irresponsible.
I don't have answers other than to wait to see what emerges when (not, in my mind, a question of "if") Hamas is removed from meaningful power in Gaza.
Ilana's piece is among the most clear, thoughtful, and open-minded of articles that I have seen so far on the Israel -Gaza tragedy. Apart from the loud and unceasing sloganeering on both sides, much of the serious discussion I have heard on the issue is theoretical, abstract, and without positive proposals. The Israel - Palestinian conflict is a long, a complex and intractable one. IF any lasting resolution is possible to this deeply rooted conflict, then it would seem to lie in the direction that Ilana suggests: an open-minded and open-hearted approach on all sides. Both Israelis and Palestinians -- together with their powerful allies including the U.S. -- must recognize the sovereign rights of both Israel and the Palestinians peoples to exist. No one is going away. May cooler minds prevail going forward.
Ilana , thank you for your thoughtful essay. Your words spoke to my heart and my mind. I have not said much over the past months. My daughter’s family is Jewish. I have worked with many wonderful peace loving Muslims from across the world. During this horrible time I have felt a myriad of emotions, but have felt inadequate when it came to expressing my thoughts. Your words expressed so much of what I felt. Thank you.
This is a terrific piece -- wise and open-hearted and brave! You speak to my own powerful sadness and confusion and anger -- and also (somehow) hope. As someone who had his bar mitzvah at 52, I join you in the spirit of radical empathy for Jews and Palestinians alike. Thank you for writing this! P.S.: It would be very cool if you were Queen.
Thank you Ilana. Your words echo the thoughts I’ve been having, daily, but so much more clearly and articulately stated than I’m able to do. I think Dan too raises salient points regarding the strategic necessity to eradicate HAMAS as well as the absence of effective Palestinian leadership over the many years of conflict. it seems to me that the lack of engagement from most of the Arab world reflects its unconcern, or perhaps a strategic decision to keep their people riled up over "the Palestinian problem" to further their own political ends. I too, like many who responded here, am conflicted, and don’t have enough knowledge, to do more than hold Israel in my heart, and hope its leadership (military and political) will order an immediate cease fire. Will Israel even be able to work toward a lasting solution with the current administration? But the west must support both peoples in this effort, even if it means that right now the U.S. ratchet up pressure, such that cannot be ignored, on Israel to cease bombing. (perhaps that’s happening behind closed doors). I shudder to consider the world turning against Israel.
Thank you for giving voice to my thoughts. I haven’t been able to talk with people about this because of the conflicting feelings and thoughts, and you have nailed them, every one.
See how your reps stand on a ceasefire: https://workingfamilies.org/ceasefire-tracker/
call them if they haven't yet publicly called for a ceasefire!
With great disappointment, this is why I'm quitting J Street
Ilana, Thank you for giving voice to the thoughts that I suspect many of us have been feeling. I've found my views shifting--from the early days post 10/7 to where we find ourselves now...
Israel certainly needed to secure its borders and defend its citizens, but the human toll and suffering--on both sides-- is simply too great and too horrible. There has to be another way to move forward to a peaceful solution.
Also, like you, I'm so unnerved and angry about the rhetoric we are hearing in the US. There is neither nuance or an understanding of the history for why we are where we are. There needs to be a way to have civil and productive discourse around solutions, and I love that you shared info about organizations that are doing just that.
Am Yisrael Chai. Chag Sameach. Thank you for being the light!
Ilana, Thank you for your most thoughtful and intelligent essay. Everyone can learn something from your important lessons here, especially taking the time to be silent with your thoughts and digesting all sides and the history of an issue at hand before reacting. I hope this post goes far and wide and influences many. Imagine a world at peace. Just imagine. 🙏
This is so clear and articulately stated, Ilana. And just about exactly how I feel. No wonder we're friends. I wish I did feel comfortable going to a pro-Palestinian rally. As a Jew I think its important to step up and show my support for the "other side" but I don't mainly for the reasons you stated.
I must dissent from the consensus I see here. I strongly oppose a ceasefire until Hamas is removed. It is crystal clear that the goal of both Hamas and the PA (yes, the PA) is the elimination of Israel. Both teach that the presence of Jews in "their" land is an abomination. (See, for example, the directive from the PA right after October 7 that all imams should preach that very thing.)
Does anyone have an idea of how to help the Palestinians create leadership that truly wants peace? I don't. The groups Ilana mentions may be wonderful, but they have little if any real power in either Gaza or the West Bank.
On the issue of the huge loss of life: Would any of us be happier if, instead of (supposedly) 18000 dead Palestinians and 1300 dead Israelis (roughly 1200 from the initial attack and another 100+ in battle in Gaza), there were 10000 dead on each side? I certainly would not, and I doubt that any of the writers here have sufficient military expertise to know what the numbers would have been if Israel had not begun with massive bombing. But I believe that the Israeli military leadership was certain that the Israeli losses would have been far greater had they taken a different approach. No nation, ever, would make the decision to vastly increase its own losses to prevent losses on the other side. To do so would be terribly irresponsible.
I don't have answers other than to wait to see what emerges when (not, in my mind, a question of "if") Hamas is removed from meaningful power in Gaza.
Ilana's piece is among the most clear, thoughtful, and open-minded of articles that I have seen so far on the Israel -Gaza tragedy. Apart from the loud and unceasing sloganeering on both sides, much of the serious discussion I have heard on the issue is theoretical, abstract, and without positive proposals. The Israel - Palestinian conflict is a long, a complex and intractable one. IF any lasting resolution is possible to this deeply rooted conflict, then it would seem to lie in the direction that Ilana suggests: an open-minded and open-hearted approach on all sides. Both Israelis and Palestinians -- together with their powerful allies including the U.S. -- must recognize the sovereign rights of both Israel and the Palestinians peoples to exist. No one is going away. May cooler minds prevail going forward.
Ilana , thank you for your thoughtful essay. Your words spoke to my heart and my mind. I have not said much over the past months. My daughter’s family is Jewish. I have worked with many wonderful peace loving Muslims from across the world. During this horrible time I have felt a myriad of emotions, but have felt inadequate when it came to expressing my thoughts. Your words expressed so much of what I felt. Thank you.
This is a terrific piece -- wise and open-hearted and brave! You speak to my own powerful sadness and confusion and anger -- and also (somehow) hope. As someone who had his bar mitzvah at 52, I join you in the spirit of radical empathy for Jews and Palestinians alike. Thank you for writing this! P.S.: It would be very cool if you were Queen.
Thank you Ilana. Your words echo the thoughts I’ve been having, daily, but so much more clearly and articulately stated than I’m able to do. I think Dan too raises salient points regarding the strategic necessity to eradicate HAMAS as well as the absence of effective Palestinian leadership over the many years of conflict. it seems to me that the lack of engagement from most of the Arab world reflects its unconcern, or perhaps a strategic decision to keep their people riled up over "the Palestinian problem" to further their own political ends. I too, like many who responded here, am conflicted, and don’t have enough knowledge, to do more than hold Israel in my heart, and hope its leadership (military and political) will order an immediate cease fire. Will Israel even be able to work toward a lasting solution with the current administration? But the west must support both peoples in this effort, even if it means that right now the U.S. ratchet up pressure, such that cannot be ignored, on Israel to cease bombing. (perhaps that’s happening behind closed doors). I shudder to consider the world turning against Israel.
Thank you for giving voice to my thoughts. I haven’t been able to talk with people about this because of the conflicting feelings and thoughts, and you have nailed them, every one.