Israel
Hamas
As people throughout the world called themselves Americans after 9/11, today I call myself Israeli.
As a WASP liberal raised in the old South, I was aware of only one Jew in elementary school. I knew he was Jewish because he told me about his upcoming Bar Mitzvah and recited some Hebrew. I was impressed. I was being readied for Christian confirmation and we weren’t learning anything that interesting.
It wasn’t until college that I was aware of observant Jews. Penn may have had the highest percentage of Jews of any Ivy League school. I was briefly a member of a fraternity that not only excluded Jews, but the brothers loved anti-semitic jokes. Though at the time I wasn’t especially aware of the ancient animosity toward Jews, the prejudice stuck in my craw and I left the fraternity.
Over the next 60 years, as an Episcopal priest, I came to know many Jews. In my last post the Rabbi of the reform congregation became my closest colleague among the local clergy.
Since Jesus was a Rabbi, I understood we had more in common than the world recognized.
Maybe the chief difference between us was that the surrounding culture approved and supported my identity, while Martin told me of daily incidents that reminded him that the same wasn’t true for him.
The founding of Israel in their historical homeland in 1948 seemed to me a just solution to the horror of the holocaust.
I only gradually became aware of the incredibly fraught situation created by Israel being carved out of land Palestinians had occupied for generations. When I expressed my discomfort with what I saw as Israel’s often harsh treatment of Palestinians, one Jewish friend reminded me of Never Again and said whether I liked it or not, Israel would do what it must to survive.
As with the invasion of Ukraine, when the horror of Hamas’ attack unfolded, and the casualty numbers rose (on both sides), my ambivalence about the political morass gave way to stomach churning. No doubt there will be some ceasing to the slaughter, that will give way to yet another attempt to untangle their Gordian knot.
Today, as the Israeli casualty numbers climb to what would be equivalent to tens of thousands of Americans, I count myself a numbed Israeli.
We all know this has been brewing for a long time. What’s surprising is how the Palestinians penetrate Israel’s intelligence and make such a horrific assault. Who stands to gain what now?
Well said. I agree with all. But I also support human rights for Palestinians and I fear Israel will overreact (like the US after 9/11). We can only hope the killing stops and by some miracle there is stability and peace without more senseless death.