Palestinians’ plight is not like Black Americans’. And there’s just one path to peace | Opinion

I just need to say this. I write with tears in my eyes. Many will disagree.

Nothing justifies murdering innocent people. Nothing. The pogrom on Oct. 7 in Israel brought back to every Jew our worst Holocaust fears, our learning about not only the Holocaust, but Babi Yar, Kishinev and even the Crusades. Hamas targeted noncombatants — people who were not their enemies, some campaigners for Palestinian rights — just because the terrorists thought them to be Jews.

Hamas is not a freedom fighter organization. It is a terror group dedicated to killing Israelis in Israel and Jews worldwide. Read online its charter of 2017. It does not and will not accept Israel, and grudgingly inserted the cease-fire lines that were created before June 6, 1967, as acceptable. But the same document claims Hamas will never accept Israel.

The Star recently published a guest commentary by a well-meaning local minister claiming parallels between African Americans and Palestinians. It’s a popular but false analogy. The pastor sees both groups as persecuted. That’s where the comparison ends. African Americans have been victimized, as Jews have historically been victimized. However, Black people in the U.S. have never been in a war with the white population, as the Palestinians have sometimes been at war with Israelis. Israel is not the result of European colonialism. Jews escaped to Israel. They were not sent by some European power to colonize and exploit Palestine. They escaped to Palestine to avoid being murdered, and were murdered anyway.

But: The Religious Zionists in this Israeli government, and some of the settlers for decades, have attempted to steal the lands of Palestinians and even resorted recently to murder. That is unconscionable. It’s contrary to the Jewish state and Jewish ethics. And while many have fought against the subjugation of Arabs in Israel, it has not sufficed to give them equal status and in many cases to save their lives.

Yes, there were two intifadas. Yes, there are groups who have refused to live in peace and waged a constant struggle against Israel. It’s very complicated. There is no just solution after 56 years of occupation. The Palestinians could have had their own country, and refused it in favor of a war against Jews. Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat turned down a Palestinian state in negotiations under President Bill Clinton. Mistakes have occurred on both sides, particularly after the Oslo Accords.

There will never be justice. But there could be peace.

There could be peace if both sides would pursue peace instead of domination, if both sides could silence their internal antagonists and say, “Enough with war and dying; we must have peace.”

Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin tried it and was assassinated. Egyptian President Anwar Sadat tried it and was assassinated. I believe Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was on the verge of it when he suffered his stroke. It’s possible, if very remote.

Israel’s government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been a disaster, catering to those who want to expel Arabs from the West Bank and seek to deny Palestinians rights, heading toward an apartheid state. But it’s not too late for Israel to become the dream of Jewish independence its founders envisioned.

I yearn for peace. My Israeli friends yearn for peace. The world must acknowledge: Israel is not going away. Those who seek to destroy Israel, or to delegitimize Israel, or simply to murder Jews will not succeed. But they will perpetuate the murder. They will succeed in spilling the blood of children. They will claim the loyalty of the ignorant and antisemites and extremists on all sides.

The only solution I can see: Work for peace. Support those in dialogue to get to know one another until killing becomes impossible. Murder is a solution only when the enemy is anonymous. Two peoples living in a land together must share their lives. It’s the only path to peace. It’s the only path to ending this sorrow, this hole in our hearts that grows with every drop of spilt blood.

Work for peace in Israel, and then you will have brought the messiah — or at least the messiah will smile and say, “Well done, my children. Well done.”

This story was originally published October 25, 2023 at 7:31 AM with the headline "Palestinians’ plight is not like Black Americans’. And there’s just one path to peace | Opinion."