Today is Passover. Go Down Moses. Herer's what I got from J Street.
Daniel,
“On Passover, we're supposed to imagine ourselves coming out of Egypt,” Noam Peri, the daughter of 80-year-old hostage Chaim Peri said last week, “Now we must imagine ourselves, or our 80-year-old fathers, as captives in Gaza.”
I’m a secular Israeli kibbutznik, culturally Jewish. But this year, like so many others, I'm finding deeper meaning in the symbolism of Passover.
Almost every day since October 7, I’ve volunteered with the Hostage Family’s Forum headquarters here in Israel. I have friends who were killed or taken hostage, and I am committed to doing everything in my power to return each and every hostage to their family’s arms.
This Passover will be uniquely painful for those I have worked with. Chairs left empty at the seder table for the very first time. The absence of a brother’s laugh, a daughter’s jokes, a parent’s embrace.
At our seders, we not only remember and recall the story of the Israelites held captive in Egypt and the Exodus, but we re-enact it. We celebrate hard-earned freedom and re-learn the values of compassion and empathy, even for our enemies. We are called upon not to forget the pain of oppression and suffering, and our calling to build a better future.
But while over 130 people remain held hostage in Gaza – and with time running out as dozens are reported to have died – many Jews in Israel and around the world feel that we cannot celebrate that freedom. For many of us too, a family feast of celebration strikes a discordant note while so many families in both Israel and Gaza endure unfathomable grief.
As we gather for the holiday, many of us will leave empty seats at our tables, keeping the hostages vividly in our minds. A reminder that the struggle for freedom is not over. Together, we will draw strength from Moses’ persistent, brave demand of the Pharaoh: “Let my people go!”
Today, on behalf of J Street, I reiterate the call we have made for more than six months now: For the immediate, unconditional release of all those held captive.
There can be no excuse for the crime of hostage-taking. For the relentless pain and anguish Hamas has inflicted on so many families. We will never cease to demand loudly and clearly: Let our people go.
J Street continues to urge American and global leaders to exert firm pressure on all parties involved to reach an urgent deal that reunites families with their loved ones and ends the devastation in Gaza. Currently, this means demanding that countries such as Qatar, Egypt and others with influence on Hamas exert all possible leverage to press them toward compromise.
As hostage families repeatedly tell anyone who will listen: Time is running out.
At this stage, only a negotiated ceasefire can bring freedom for the hostages, end the devastation and allow life-saving aid to safely reach families in Gaza. Longer term, we must work to isolate and disempower Hamas, including by charting a peaceful, diplomatic path toward resolving this conflict once and for all, and ensuring the horrors of October 7 and the ensuing war can never be repeated.
Just as I feel deep empathy with the suffering of hostages, I also share in the pain of families in Gaza struggling to survive – a people hoping to one day achieve their own freedom and self-determination. As the Passover story teaches us, no people should be denied that right.
On behalf of all of us at J Street, I wish you a meaningful Passover. May we draw strength from one another. May we share in our collective pursuit of freedom, safety and security for all Israelis and Palestinians.
It took SEVERAL HOURS to come to agreement that discrimination based on religion and ethnicity, murder, kidnapping, and genocide are morally despicable and wrong?
Thank you Professor. As a Jew, I have been ambivalent about the state of Israel since Rabin was assassinated, and Netanyahu took office.
I support Israel; however, not with impunity. For the last three decades we’ve watch as Israel has continued its stranglehold in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and Gaza. Denying rights to Palestinians, and illegally annexing land and creating settlements. The latest just several weeks ago (2000 acres in the West Bank) after Biden announced he would not support further incursions into Gaza.
Hamas on the other hand, has been committed to Israel’s destruction since its inception; as part of its charter. Today we have Israeli’s and Palestinians who are equally committed to the other’s destruction. The religious zealots in both camps: Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the right-wing messianic Jews.
The problem with a two state solution is there isn’t any trust on either side. The fanatics increasingly move each side further to extremes, because they continue to commit extreme violence on both sides, which is counterproductive; and their ultimate goals of the fanatics. It’s been extremely effective.
As for America’s youth, protesting on college campuses? I have to take issue with the violence, threats and their misunderstanding of who exactly Hamas is. It’s one thing to protest the Israeli government and policies, but another to ostracize an entire group of people and call for their destruction.
I was always taught that Israel was created with a higher moral purpose; and the mistreatment of Palestinians is the antithesis of Israel’s creation. And all of us who turn a blind eye to Israel’s atrocities are no better than Hamas and complicit.
Israel cannot act like Hamas if it wants a place in polite society, and earn its reputation back. There’s a reason Hamas has no seat in the UN: it’s illegitimate. The UN recognizes the Palestinian National Authority as the Palestinian’s legitimate government: in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza.
Israel on the other hand, is becoming illegitimate in the eyes of many, including our European Allies, and dragging the US’s reputation through the mud as well.
Bottom line: something’s got to give; the status quo isn’t holding, and the center is imploding….:)
Thank you, Professor Reich. It would be helpful for key people in the Biden administration, and Biden himself, to read your posting. Supporting any government or entity that commits the kinds of moral atrocities acted upon by both Hamas and Israel unconditionally with weapons to carry out such acts is also morally wrong. A fear that crops up often in my mind is that Biden's unconditional arming of Israel could cost him the election, if enough people stay at home and not vote to make a difference. Terrifying...
This is a good article and great approach. May I point out, though, that Netanyahu's messaging and direct wording during this whole affair (as well as his reported part resulting in the Hamas attack) is saying that Israelis don't respect the lives of Palestinians. This has been evident in the segregation, too. So although this calls for a two-state solution, it does so largely because Israel has attempted to be a democracy for all of its citizens and a state that identifies by religious affiliation will always fail others - whether Muslim or Jewish.
And a side note: That is why our nation's Constitution based on the ideal of equal rights and separation of faith from fact-based governing is uniquely an opportunity for our democracy. A democracy without education or a democracy based on religious discrimination eventually fails all.
It is sad that today we find ourselves unable to acknowledge Jews in this nation who see that the policies of Netanyahu fail the nation of Israel and its peoples. It is sad that the protestors in Israel get so little attention at this time, when Netanyahu (supporter of Trump) fails to care what they protest and wants to hold onto power (like Trump).
It is sad that Jewish students against those policies in universities and city streets here are being discriminated against as much as Palestinians are being wrongly identified as Hamas.
It is time to talk about the issues of the nation of Israel instead of just claiming anyone against the Israeli state's actions are anti-Semitic. I realize that is difficult with true anti-Semitism growing with the autocracy of Republicans today in this nation.
However, separation of faith from fact-based governing and an ideal of equality of all citizenry is the only way to a worthwhile democracy.
My personal opinion and i have said it long before this war. The Jews should not have been given this country in the middle of their sworn enemies. It was a program for just what is happening. Religion at its worse. Glad to be a non believer.
Thank you Professor Reich great ideas. Would they work with a larger crowd or do you advise training moderators who in turn would be able to break up the crowd and discuss in smaller groups?
When winning is everything collateral damage does not matter. Republicans consciously and unconsciously are saying loss of democracy for a Trump win is tolerable collateral damage. Tens of thousands of women and children have been killed in Gaza while Palestinians starve to death as Israel “defends” itself with American help. Ethnic cleansing-genocide is desired by some and tolerated by the many as collateral damage. Collateral damage gives license to remove any morality we might have had.
Thank you for this, Professor Reich. Such moral clarity is a challenge when everyone is stressed. Certainly, we are all are now. I am a block away from the Columbia campus with the noise of helicopters overhead. There are drones, but they are silent, hovering above, attached to vehicles either from the police or news outlets; I can't tell. I counted 15 NYPD vehicles around the entrance to my building when I went outside earlier. Today I learned that not everyone arrested in support of Palestine was a Columbia or Barnard student, but that the students who were arrested were also suspended. A rabbi counseled Jewish students to go home for Passover and their personal safety, but Hillel has counseled that they should be safe on campus. At a time like this I wish Columbia's president would talk to its students, much as you did. I see no reason why the presidents of private universities should have to answer to Congress. Rather than prove they are tough enough to quiet this debate should not be the issue. It is a teachable moment, and you were smart enough to recognize that.
It’s pitiful that you did not discuss Israel’s 75+ years of ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from historic Palestine. It’s pitiful that you didn’t discuss the 17-year Israeli blockade & siege of Gaza with more than 5 wars, not counting this genocide. It’s pitiful that you can’t use the words apartheid & genocide, words that the ICJ & human rights organizations use. To talk about Israel and Gaza requires laying bare the history of Israel’s oppression, destruction, and continued ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.
Much appreciate the balanced perspective offered here. One issue that is not touched on however, is the embedding of military forces within civilian populations. It is too often glossed over and my view is a major reason for the level of civilian casualties. It should be part of the discussion on moral principles.
As a casual observer of the conflict between the Israeli and Palestinians conflict and it seems the unprovoked killings in the west bank by so-called Jewish settlers from this country, in order to take Palestinian property was a big cause of Hamas's attack on the Israeli's.
Today is Passover. Go Down Moses. Herer's what I got from J Street.
Daniel,
“On Passover, we're supposed to imagine ourselves coming out of Egypt,” Noam Peri, the daughter of 80-year-old hostage Chaim Peri said last week, “Now we must imagine ourselves, or our 80-year-old fathers, as captives in Gaza.”
I’m a secular Israeli kibbutznik, culturally Jewish. But this year, like so many others, I'm finding deeper meaning in the symbolism of Passover.
Almost every day since October 7, I’ve volunteered with the Hostage Family’s Forum headquarters here in Israel. I have friends who were killed or taken hostage, and I am committed to doing everything in my power to return each and every hostage to their family’s arms.
This Passover will be uniquely painful for those I have worked with. Chairs left empty at the seder table for the very first time. The absence of a brother’s laugh, a daughter’s jokes, a parent’s embrace.
At our seders, we not only remember and recall the story of the Israelites held captive in Egypt and the Exodus, but we re-enact it. We celebrate hard-earned freedom and re-learn the values of compassion and empathy, even for our enemies. We are called upon not to forget the pain of oppression and suffering, and our calling to build a better future.
But while over 130 people remain held hostage in Gaza – and with time running out as dozens are reported to have died – many Jews in Israel and around the world feel that we cannot celebrate that freedom. For many of us too, a family feast of celebration strikes a discordant note while so many families in both Israel and Gaza endure unfathomable grief.
As we gather for the holiday, many of us will leave empty seats at our tables, keeping the hostages vividly in our minds. A reminder that the struggle for freedom is not over. Together, we will draw strength from Moses’ persistent, brave demand of the Pharaoh: “Let my people go!”
Today, on behalf of J Street, I reiterate the call we have made for more than six months now: For the immediate, unconditional release of all those held captive.
There can be no excuse for the crime of hostage-taking. For the relentless pain and anguish Hamas has inflicted on so many families. We will never cease to demand loudly and clearly: Let our people go.
J Street continues to urge American and global leaders to exert firm pressure on all parties involved to reach an urgent deal that reunites families with their loved ones and ends the devastation in Gaza. Currently, this means demanding that countries such as Qatar, Egypt and others with influence on Hamas exert all possible leverage to press them toward compromise.
As hostage families repeatedly tell anyone who will listen: Time is running out.
At this stage, only a negotiated ceasefire can bring freedom for the hostages, end the devastation and allow life-saving aid to safely reach families in Gaza. Longer term, we must work to isolate and disempower Hamas, including by charting a peaceful, diplomatic path toward resolving this conflict once and for all, and ensuring the horrors of October 7 and the ensuing war can never be repeated.
Just as I feel deep empathy with the suffering of hostages, I also share in the pain of families in Gaza struggling to survive – a people hoping to one day achieve their own freedom and self-determination. As the Passover story teaches us, no people should be denied that right.
On behalf of all of us at J Street, I wish you a meaningful Passover. May we draw strength from one another. May we share in our collective pursuit of freedom, safety and security for all Israelis and Palestinians.
Yours sincerely,
Nadav Tamir
Executive Director, J Street Israel
It took SEVERAL HOURS to come to agreement that discrimination based on religion and ethnicity, murder, kidnapping, and genocide are morally despicable and wrong?
Good grief.
Thank you Professor. As a Jew, I have been ambivalent about the state of Israel since Rabin was assassinated, and Netanyahu took office.
I support Israel; however, not with impunity. For the last three decades we’ve watch as Israel has continued its stranglehold in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and Gaza. Denying rights to Palestinians, and illegally annexing land and creating settlements. The latest just several weeks ago (2000 acres in the West Bank) after Biden announced he would not support further incursions into Gaza.
Hamas on the other hand, has been committed to Israel’s destruction since its inception; as part of its charter. Today we have Israeli’s and Palestinians who are equally committed to the other’s destruction. The religious zealots in both camps: Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the right-wing messianic Jews.
The problem with a two state solution is there isn’t any trust on either side. The fanatics increasingly move each side further to extremes, because they continue to commit extreme violence on both sides, which is counterproductive; and their ultimate goals of the fanatics. It’s been extremely effective.
As for America’s youth, protesting on college campuses? I have to take issue with the violence, threats and their misunderstanding of who exactly Hamas is. It’s one thing to protest the Israeli government and policies, but another to ostracize an entire group of people and call for their destruction.
I was always taught that Israel was created with a higher moral purpose; and the mistreatment of Palestinians is the antithesis of Israel’s creation. And all of us who turn a blind eye to Israel’s atrocities are no better than Hamas and complicit.
Israel cannot act like Hamas if it wants a place in polite society, and earn its reputation back. There’s a reason Hamas has no seat in the UN: it’s illegitimate. The UN recognizes the Palestinian National Authority as the Palestinian’s legitimate government: in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza.
Israel on the other hand, is becoming illegitimate in the eyes of many, including our European Allies, and dragging the US’s reputation through the mud as well.
Bottom line: something’s got to give; the status quo isn’t holding, and the center is imploding….:)
Thank you, Professor Reich. It would be helpful for key people in the Biden administration, and Biden himself, to read your posting. Supporting any government or entity that commits the kinds of moral atrocities acted upon by both Hamas and Israel unconditionally with weapons to carry out such acts is also morally wrong. A fear that crops up often in my mind is that Biden's unconditional arming of Israel could cost him the election, if enough people stay at home and not vote to make a difference. Terrifying...
This is a good article and great approach. May I point out, though, that Netanyahu's messaging and direct wording during this whole affair (as well as his reported part resulting in the Hamas attack) is saying that Israelis don't respect the lives of Palestinians. This has been evident in the segregation, too. So although this calls for a two-state solution, it does so largely because Israel has attempted to be a democracy for all of its citizens and a state that identifies by religious affiliation will always fail others - whether Muslim or Jewish.
And a side note: That is why our nation's Constitution based on the ideal of equal rights and separation of faith from fact-based governing is uniquely an opportunity for our democracy. A democracy without education or a democracy based on religious discrimination eventually fails all.
It is sad that today we find ourselves unable to acknowledge Jews in this nation who see that the policies of Netanyahu fail the nation of Israel and its peoples. It is sad that the protestors in Israel get so little attention at this time, when Netanyahu (supporter of Trump) fails to care what they protest and wants to hold onto power (like Trump).
It is sad that Jewish students against those policies in universities and city streets here are being discriminated against as much as Palestinians are being wrongly identified as Hamas.
It is time to talk about the issues of the nation of Israel instead of just claiming anyone against the Israeli state's actions are anti-Semitic. I realize that is difficult with true anti-Semitism growing with the autocracy of Republicans today in this nation.
However, separation of faith from fact-based governing and an ideal of equality of all citizenry is the only way to a worthwhile democracy.
Israel: "I want peace with you."
Hamas: "I want peace without you."
Israel: "Not even negotiation?"
Hamas: "Never!"
Israel: "You aren't really in a position to..."
Hamas: "No peace; a fight to the death!"
Israel: "Fine, have it your way!"
Hamas: "Nooooo! Ceasefire now!"
Israel: "Ok, but you have to ceasefire too."
Hamas: "No."
Israel: .....
You cannot negotiate with an enemy whose end position is your non-existence.
My personal opinion and i have said it long before this war. The Jews should not have been given this country in the middle of their sworn enemies. It was a program for just what is happening. Religion at its worse. Glad to be a non believer.
Thank you Professor Reich great ideas. Would they work with a larger crowd or do you advise training moderators who in turn would be able to break up the crowd and discuss in smaller groups?
- The Israeli armed settler movement (and related infrastructure) in the occupied territories is morally wrong
It shows, as in most cases, that both sides are at fault and no one side is perfect. One sideism is a faulty premise.
When winning is everything collateral damage does not matter. Republicans consciously and unconsciously are saying loss of democracy for a Trump win is tolerable collateral damage. Tens of thousands of women and children have been killed in Gaza while Palestinians starve to death as Israel “defends” itself with American help. Ethnic cleansing-genocide is desired by some and tolerated by the many as collateral damage. Collateral damage gives license to remove any morality we might have had.
Thank you for this, Professor Reich. Such moral clarity is a challenge when everyone is stressed. Certainly, we are all are now. I am a block away from the Columbia campus with the noise of helicopters overhead. There are drones, but they are silent, hovering above, attached to vehicles either from the police or news outlets; I can't tell. I counted 15 NYPD vehicles around the entrance to my building when I went outside earlier. Today I learned that not everyone arrested in support of Palestine was a Columbia or Barnard student, but that the students who were arrested were also suspended. A rabbi counseled Jewish students to go home for Passover and their personal safety, but Hillel has counseled that they should be safe on campus. At a time like this I wish Columbia's president would talk to its students, much as you did. I see no reason why the presidents of private universities should have to answer to Congress. Rather than prove they are tough enough to quiet this debate should not be the issue. It is a teachable moment, and you were smart enough to recognize that.
It’s pitiful that you did not discuss Israel’s 75+ years of ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from historic Palestine. It’s pitiful that you didn’t discuss the 17-year Israeli blockade & siege of Gaza with more than 5 wars, not counting this genocide. It’s pitiful that you can’t use the words apartheid & genocide, words that the ICJ & human rights organizations use. To talk about Israel and Gaza requires laying bare the history of Israel’s oppression, destruction, and continued ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.
I see people arguing in these comments trying to insist that it's the other side's fault. That's not how peace is made.
Much appreciate the balanced perspective offered here. One issue that is not touched on however, is the embedding of military forces within civilian populations. It is too often glossed over and my view is a major reason for the level of civilian casualties. It should be part of the discussion on moral principles.
As a casual observer of the conflict between the Israeli and Palestinians conflict and it seems the unprovoked killings in the west bank by so-called Jewish settlers from this country, in order to take Palestinian property was a big cause of Hamas's attack on the Israeli's.