We have just celebrated the holiday of Sukkot. It is traditional to invite Jewish heroes into the sukka. Each night of the weeklong festival, a different guest, or Ushpiza, is welcomed. The first night is Abraham's followed by Isaac, Jacob etc. My wife and I acquired our first sukka this year (on Freecycle!) and we considered who our Ushpizin guests would be.
We were dealing with a couple of challenges. One: It is customary to affix pictures of the guests to the walls of the sukka. Problem: we don't have pictures of the forfathers. We solved that problem by including two of my wife's forbears. They have same name as two Israelite ancestors in the Bible.
The other problem - which my wife picked up on right away - was the complete absence of women in the traditional list. So, we included the great German-Jewish philosopher, Hanna Arendt. Since we were in mid-20th century German Jewry, we included Martin Buber as well (he also happens to be distant family on my side). Google images provided their pictures for us. My grandfather, who was a Cantor in the East End of London was another. He looked pretty good in his full cantorial regalia: big hat, and an impressive tallit prayer shawl that could cover a king-size bed.
However, we were still a few guests short for our roster of Ushpizin.
Then, on the last day of Sukkot we got a windfall. A group of courageous Jews: Israelis and Europeans braved the might of the Israeli Navy to run the blockade of Gaza. Yesterday, they were intercepted, brutalized and humiliated. This small group of men and women - mostly senior citizens - were calm, determined and principled throughout.
One of the Israelis, Yonatan Shapira had already shown heroic courage. He had been set in a career as one of Israel's elite pilots. A select cohort of young Israeli men, of college-age are entrusted, individually, with multi-million dollar machines. Any mistake can have disastrous consequences to national security. Israel is a small country and airforce pilots are adulated as national heroes.
Mr. Shapira gave all that away, rather than continue to participate in the Israeli campaign of violence against West Bank civilians. Aboard the "Irene", he and his shipmates accepted physical violence, incarceration and verbal abuse in order to provide a Jewish alternative to Israel's violent blockade of Gaza's civilian population.
All the Jewish passengers aboard the Jewish Boat to Gaza are welcome in my sukka and my home!
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Saturday, September 25, 2010
On Double Standards
The great Israeli novelist Amos Oz gave an interview to Eleanor Wachtel on CBC's Writers and Company. Amos Oz spoke eloquently about his powerful 2004 memoir, "A Tale of Love and Darkness". He displays tender compassion toward his parents and explains why it took him so long to write this memoir of his childhood (Amos Oz is 71).
Towards the end of the interview, Oz turns to his other passion: Israeli politics. Amos Oz is a leading exponent of the Zionist Left. In his 1986 novel "Black Box", he lays out his political credo.
1. The Jews needed a sovereign state.
2. Harm was done to the Arabs in the process.
3. Now that we have the state, there is no justification for expanding it, and inflicting more suffering on the Palestinians of the Occupied Territories.
To his credit, Amos Oz has been attacking the Israeli Occupation of the West Bank since the 1960s. He publicly identified the problem as it was emerging, long before Israel committed to its three decade national infrastructure that de fact annexed the West Bank to Israel.
Today, Amos Oz is still a passionate believer in the 2-state solution. He is a leading proponent of isolating Hamas in Gaza and cultivating the West Bank Palestinians. He believes that Israelis will back a Palestinian state and dismantling the Israeli cities and villages on the West Bank in return for true peace. He cites popular Israeli support for the withdrawal from Gaza as proof but warns of the disillusionment that followed when Hamas launched missiles into Israel. Amos Oz doesn't explain who is going to pay for this and how these guarantees can be achieved.
What I found most interesting about this interview was his answer to the question why Israel is "turning into a pariah state"
He gave three answers:
1. the third world is always right, "right or wrong".
2. the world hates America and therefore hates Israel too.
3. Israel has failed its own initial promise to be an exemplary state.
Oz essentially dovetails with one of Israeli apologists' favorite accusations: the world is guilty of a double standard. This defense of Israeli policies acknowledges that Israel needs to change but points the finger at worse crimes being perpetrated elsewhere, and particularly, by Israel's Arab neighbors.
This argument has been answered by others before:
1. For the American public (the one that Israel cares most about): Israel is the recipient of the largest amount of US foreign aid worldwide - by far. Israel deserves special scrutiny.
2. Israel claims to be a Western democracy. It seeks to be associated with Europe and America. It is fair to ask how its ideology measures against Western standards.
3. For Jews: Israel claims to speak for all Jews. We therefore have a right to demand Israel's compliance with our values.
4. Finally, and what if others are just as guilty, or worse. That is no defense.
Towards the end of the interview, Oz turns to his other passion: Israeli politics. Amos Oz is a leading exponent of the Zionist Left. In his 1986 novel "Black Box", he lays out his political credo.
1. The Jews needed a sovereign state.
2. Harm was done to the Arabs in the process.
3. Now that we have the state, there is no justification for expanding it, and inflicting more suffering on the Palestinians of the Occupied Territories.
To his credit, Amos Oz has been attacking the Israeli Occupation of the West Bank since the 1960s. He publicly identified the problem as it was emerging, long before Israel committed to its three decade national infrastructure that de fact annexed the West Bank to Israel.
Today, Amos Oz is still a passionate believer in the 2-state solution. He is a leading proponent of isolating Hamas in Gaza and cultivating the West Bank Palestinians. He believes that Israelis will back a Palestinian state and dismantling the Israeli cities and villages on the West Bank in return for true peace. He cites popular Israeli support for the withdrawal from Gaza as proof but warns of the disillusionment that followed when Hamas launched missiles into Israel. Amos Oz doesn't explain who is going to pay for this and how these guarantees can be achieved.
What I found most interesting about this interview was his answer to the question why Israel is "turning into a pariah state"
He gave three answers:
1. the third world is always right, "right or wrong".
2. the world hates America and therefore hates Israel too.
3. Israel has failed its own initial promise to be an exemplary state.
Oz essentially dovetails with one of Israeli apologists' favorite accusations: the world is guilty of a double standard. This defense of Israeli policies acknowledges that Israel needs to change but points the finger at worse crimes being perpetrated elsewhere, and particularly, by Israel's Arab neighbors.
This argument has been answered by others before:
1. For the American public (the one that Israel cares most about): Israel is the recipient of the largest amount of US foreign aid worldwide - by far. Israel deserves special scrutiny.
2. Israel claims to be a Western democracy. It seeks to be associated with Europe and America. It is fair to ask how its ideology measures against Western standards.
3. For Jews: Israel claims to speak for all Jews. We therefore have a right to demand Israel's compliance with our values.
4. Finally, and what if others are just as guilty, or worse. That is no defense.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Women of the Wall
I grew up Orthodox. The synagogue we attended in my childhood maintained a strict separation of the sexes. All the liturgy was conducted in the mens' section. The women watched from a curtained gallery. The women were invisible to the men, hidden behind the screen above the clock at the back of the synagogue. As a young boy, I was allowed occasional access to the women's section. My job on the fast day of Yom Kippur was to ferry the small, brown bottle of smelling salts back-and-forth between my mother up in he gallery and my father with whom I sat for services.
Yet, the first time I attended an egalitarian service it immediately felt right. I was already in my 20s and had left the Orthodox world. I visited a non-Orthodox synagogue in Jerusalem and was directed to sit next to a family. "Family seating" was in sync with every other aspect of life where the sexes are not separated.
The emanicipation of women in Judaism is a fault line between Israeli and American Jews. The overwhelming majority of Israeli Jews don't get what all the fuss is about. 20% of them attend an Orthodox synagogue. Almost everybody else, while not attending services themselves, do not recognize non-Orthodox Judaism as authentic. In the Israeli mind, Jewish ritual = invisible women.
Over here on the other side of the Atlantic and the Mediteranean, American Jews - even Orthodox - find the question of the role of women to be urgent and relevant.
Yet, the recent, successful mobilization of liberal American Jewish organizations on behalf of Anat Hoffman and Women of the Wall is making an impact in Israel. The Israeli political establishment gets that American Jews care passionately about the equality of women in Judaism.
The campaign demonstrates to Orthodox Jews (and disaffected Israeli Jews) that American Jews stand for something. This could be the beginning of a respectful conversation about competing views of Judaism.
This campaign brings to light the influence that American Jews can have on Israeli policy. It opens the door to a discussion on equal rights for Arabs.
Now, if the mainstream American Jewish organizations took on the shooting of non-violent Palestinian demonstrators by Israeli forces and the campaign of violence against innocent Arab farmers, and the formalized, legal discrimination against non-Jews - that would be something to celebrate!
The success of the Women of the Wall campaign is showing that we have the power.
What are we going to with it?
Yet, the first time I attended an egalitarian service it immediately felt right. I was already in my 20s and had left the Orthodox world. I visited a non-Orthodox synagogue in Jerusalem and was directed to sit next to a family. "Family seating" was in sync with every other aspect of life where the sexes are not separated.
The emanicipation of women in Judaism is a fault line between Israeli and American Jews. The overwhelming majority of Israeli Jews don't get what all the fuss is about. 20% of them attend an Orthodox synagogue. Almost everybody else, while not attending services themselves, do not recognize non-Orthodox Judaism as authentic. In the Israeli mind, Jewish ritual = invisible women.
Over here on the other side of the Atlantic and the Mediteranean, American Jews - even Orthodox - find the question of the role of women to be urgent and relevant.
Yet, the recent, successful mobilization of liberal American Jewish organizations on behalf of Anat Hoffman and Women of the Wall is making an impact in Israel. The Israeli political establishment gets that American Jews care passionately about the equality of women in Judaism.
The campaign demonstrates to Orthodox Jews (and disaffected Israeli Jews) that American Jews stand for something. This could be the beginning of a respectful conversation about competing views of Judaism.
This campaign brings to light the influence that American Jews can have on Israeli policy. It opens the door to a discussion on equal rights for Arabs.
Now, if the mainstream American Jewish organizations took on the shooting of non-violent Palestinian demonstrators by Israeli forces and the campaign of violence against innocent Arab farmers, and the formalized, legal discrimination against non-Jews - that would be something to celebrate!
The success of the Women of the Wall campaign is showing that we have the power.
What are we going to with it?
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Israel, A View from America
This was printed in my temple's last newsletter.
In the wake of another cycle of violence in Gaza, a friend asked me: “why is it that the one issue that should unite us, divides us? Why is it that the subject of Israel can be so divisive in the Jewish community?” I did not have a ready answer for him at the time but, after some reflection, this is what I’d say.
Let me start with my story:
Twelve years ago this summer, I moved to Chicago. This began the path that led to citizenship, marriage and family life. The arrival of the miracle that is my daughter, gave me pause to think about my time in this country. I have had the privilege of witnessing historic advances in the status of Jews in America: When, in 2000, Joe Lieberman ran as Vice-President, many Jews told me they were concerned. “It’s not good for a Jew to be so prominent,” they said. More recently, when Senator Lieberman ran again as a presidential candidate against Barak Obama, the same people were not nearly as worried. Today, three out of the nine of the Supreme Court seats are filled by Jews; the President’s closest advisors are Jewish.
While I am thankful to be living at this unprecedented time for Jews in this country, I pray that this is the fulfillment of the American dream and the Jewish vision where all people have equal access to the halls of power. The prominence of the Jewish community should be the harbinger for a new multicultural and multireligious America, Would that we were just the first of many peoples and religions to attain such prominence in public life.
As you may know, I moved from my native England to Israel as a child. My youth was spent in Jerusalem, where I went to college after completing my three years compulsory service in the Israeli armed forces. I moved to the States to settle in Chicago in 1998. Even though I had received an earlier offer to leave Israel and settle in the U.S., I declined. My life was in Israel and I saw my future there. Of course, there were many things that were irksome about life in Israel – the annual month of reserve duty in the army, the ever-present threat of war, the periodic outbreaks of violence in the country, not to mention the crazy driving, but, having moved already from one country to another I knew enough to understand that the grass only looks greener when viewed from a distance. Every place has its issues.
The early 1990s were a wonderful time of hope for Israelis and Palestinians. Israel elected Yizhak Rabin Prime Minister, empowering the former military commander to make concessions to the Palestinians and strike a peace treaty. Our horizon of expectations expanded beyond anything we had previously dreamed. On the world stage, Israel became a symbol of hope. Proof that peace can overcome longstanding conflict.
And then came the killing of Yizhak Rabin. In November, 1995 an anti-peace Jew shot him. I was present at the scene of his death, a peace rally in Tel Aviv. When we heard the gunman’s shots we ran for cover. This killing was the sad conclusion to a hate-filled year. It had a chilling effect on all of us who had supported Rabin in his drive for peace.
This also began my reluctant farewell to lsrael. I was drawn to the United States’ because of its clearly enunciated belief in the rights of all people. We would not have a Black president today without this Constitution. Israel has a collection of so-called Basic Laws that functions as a constitution. These Basic Laws that enshrine Jews’ rights – unfortunately, at the expense of non-Jews. It has no Constitution that guarantees the rights of all people.
As a cultural Zionist, I treasure the contributions that Israel has brought to the Jewish people and the world: the renaissance of Hebrew, the social experiments, the rich diversity of Israel’s 80+ distinct Jewish cultures, its music. As an Israeli, I feel privileged to have had so many formative, rich experiences in that country. The Jewish community in Israel continues to be a powerful case of cultural diversity that works. And this could be the start of a truly multi-cultural society – one that could teach the rest of the world how to bring a staggering array of world cultures together in one society.
But only if Israeli multiculturalism transcends the boundaries of Jewish Israel and reaches the other 50% of its residents – the Palestinians. Because, in practice, Israel has not lived up to the high hopes invested in it. The underlying ethos that provides preferential treatment to Jews and legal system that enforces systemic injustice against the non-Jews of Israel/Palestine routinely produces terrible outcomes. Recently, this has resulted in violent suppression of non-violent protests, in discrimination, and in the ongoing denial of basic human rights for millions of Palestinians.
How can there be lasting peace without justice? The State of Israel was built on the British promise of “a Jewish homeland in Palestine”. The Zionist project came into its own with the promise of coexistence, not, of Jewish hegemony over all of Palestine. The great Jewish scholar and Zionist leader, Martin Buber wrote at the time of Israel’s inception, in the spring of 1948: “We need time and freedom for our enterprise, and not in order to gain the upper hand…Not in order to become stronger than others, but solely that we should be able to shape our lives….There is need for a treaty [with the Arabs] based on faith.”
Some 60 years later, my beloved Israel, is strong. Yet, its strength need not come at the expense of the other half, the non-Jews of the Holy Land. The building of a Jewish homeland in the Land of Israel is the fulfillment of the prayers of generations of Jews: the unending discrimination against those who are not Jewish is nowhere to be found in the prayerbook.
Israel looks to us for support. How do we give Israel what we enjoy here? For me this is the hope that all people of the Land of Israel have the same rights as us: be it freedom of movement, the right to an education, the right to live out one’s culture and religion in freedom. Whether it is in Gaza, the West Bank or within Israel’s own borders, these rights are universally granted Jews and denied non-Jews.
Over the summer, during Shabbat services in the garden – I have invited you to discuss our feelings about Israel’s actions, to share knowledge about Israel. To meet as Jews in the common ground we all share. I invite you to continue the conversation, if you like, with me, or in your homes, around the family table.
And so, the thought that occurs to me in response to the question of why Israel can be a divisive subject in the Jewish community is: it is precisely because Israel is the common ground we all share, that this will necessarily be the arena where we will either agree, or disagree. The challenge - that I welcome - is how to create a safe place, a big enough place where all Jews can express their thoughts, their hopes and their commitments on this vital issue. How can I learn to listen respectfully to someone who has a different understanding, How can I learn from that encounter and deepen my relationship with that Jew. Perhaps our communal challenge is: how can we learn to live with diversity while strengthening the bonds of friendship.
May the coming year bring the peoples of Israel/Palestine peace and justice and may we, as Americans, discover ways to help them.
With best wishes for a good New Year –Shana Tova!
In the wake of another cycle of violence in Gaza, a friend asked me: “why is it that the one issue that should unite us, divides us? Why is it that the subject of Israel can be so divisive in the Jewish community?” I did not have a ready answer for him at the time but, after some reflection, this is what I’d say.
Let me start with my story:
Twelve years ago this summer, I moved to Chicago. This began the path that led to citizenship, marriage and family life. The arrival of the miracle that is my daughter, gave me pause to think about my time in this country. I have had the privilege of witnessing historic advances in the status of Jews in America: When, in 2000, Joe Lieberman ran as Vice-President, many Jews told me they were concerned. “It’s not good for a Jew to be so prominent,” they said. More recently, when Senator Lieberman ran again as a presidential candidate against Barak Obama, the same people were not nearly as worried. Today, three out of the nine of the Supreme Court seats are filled by Jews; the President’s closest advisors are Jewish.
While I am thankful to be living at this unprecedented time for Jews in this country, I pray that this is the fulfillment of the American dream and the Jewish vision where all people have equal access to the halls of power. The prominence of the Jewish community should be the harbinger for a new multicultural and multireligious America, Would that we were just the first of many peoples and religions to attain such prominence in public life.
As you may know, I moved from my native England to Israel as a child. My youth was spent in Jerusalem, where I went to college after completing my three years compulsory service in the Israeli armed forces. I moved to the States to settle in Chicago in 1998. Even though I had received an earlier offer to leave Israel and settle in the U.S., I declined. My life was in Israel and I saw my future there. Of course, there were many things that were irksome about life in Israel – the annual month of reserve duty in the army, the ever-present threat of war, the periodic outbreaks of violence in the country, not to mention the crazy driving, but, having moved already from one country to another I knew enough to understand that the grass only looks greener when viewed from a distance. Every place has its issues.
The early 1990s were a wonderful time of hope for Israelis and Palestinians. Israel elected Yizhak Rabin Prime Minister, empowering the former military commander to make concessions to the Palestinians and strike a peace treaty. Our horizon of expectations expanded beyond anything we had previously dreamed. On the world stage, Israel became a symbol of hope. Proof that peace can overcome longstanding conflict.
And then came the killing of Yizhak Rabin. In November, 1995 an anti-peace Jew shot him. I was present at the scene of his death, a peace rally in Tel Aviv. When we heard the gunman’s shots we ran for cover. This killing was the sad conclusion to a hate-filled year. It had a chilling effect on all of us who had supported Rabin in his drive for peace.
This also began my reluctant farewell to lsrael. I was drawn to the United States’ because of its clearly enunciated belief in the rights of all people. We would not have a Black president today without this Constitution. Israel has a collection of so-called Basic Laws that functions as a constitution. These Basic Laws that enshrine Jews’ rights – unfortunately, at the expense of non-Jews. It has no Constitution that guarantees the rights of all people.
As a cultural Zionist, I treasure the contributions that Israel has brought to the Jewish people and the world: the renaissance of Hebrew, the social experiments, the rich diversity of Israel’s 80+ distinct Jewish cultures, its music. As an Israeli, I feel privileged to have had so many formative, rich experiences in that country. The Jewish community in Israel continues to be a powerful case of cultural diversity that works. And this could be the start of a truly multi-cultural society – one that could teach the rest of the world how to bring a staggering array of world cultures together in one society.
But only if Israeli multiculturalism transcends the boundaries of Jewish Israel and reaches the other 50% of its residents – the Palestinians. Because, in practice, Israel has not lived up to the high hopes invested in it. The underlying ethos that provides preferential treatment to Jews and legal system that enforces systemic injustice against the non-Jews of Israel/Palestine routinely produces terrible outcomes. Recently, this has resulted in violent suppression of non-violent protests, in discrimination, and in the ongoing denial of basic human rights for millions of Palestinians.
How can there be lasting peace without justice? The State of Israel was built on the British promise of “a Jewish homeland in Palestine”. The Zionist project came into its own with the promise of coexistence, not, of Jewish hegemony over all of Palestine. The great Jewish scholar and Zionist leader, Martin Buber wrote at the time of Israel’s inception, in the spring of 1948: “We need time and freedom for our enterprise, and not in order to gain the upper hand…Not in order to become stronger than others, but solely that we should be able to shape our lives….There is need for a treaty [with the Arabs] based on faith.”
Some 60 years later, my beloved Israel, is strong. Yet, its strength need not come at the expense of the other half, the non-Jews of the Holy Land. The building of a Jewish homeland in the Land of Israel is the fulfillment of the prayers of generations of Jews: the unending discrimination against those who are not Jewish is nowhere to be found in the prayerbook.
Israel looks to us for support. How do we give Israel what we enjoy here? For me this is the hope that all people of the Land of Israel have the same rights as us: be it freedom of movement, the right to an education, the right to live out one’s culture and religion in freedom. Whether it is in Gaza, the West Bank or within Israel’s own borders, these rights are universally granted Jews and denied non-Jews.
Over the summer, during Shabbat services in the garden – I have invited you to discuss our feelings about Israel’s actions, to share knowledge about Israel. To meet as Jews in the common ground we all share. I invite you to continue the conversation, if you like, with me, or in your homes, around the family table.
And so, the thought that occurs to me in response to the question of why Israel can be a divisive subject in the Jewish community is: it is precisely because Israel is the common ground we all share, that this will necessarily be the arena where we will either agree, or disagree. The challenge - that I welcome - is how to create a safe place, a big enough place where all Jews can express their thoughts, their hopes and their commitments on this vital issue. How can I learn to listen respectfully to someone who has a different understanding, How can I learn from that encounter and deepen my relationship with that Jew. Perhaps our communal challenge is: how can we learn to live with diversity while strengthening the bonds of friendship.
May the coming year bring the peoples of Israel/Palestine peace and justice and may we, as Americans, discover ways to help them.
With best wishes for a good New Year –Shana Tova!
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Chicago Mock Hearing on U.S. Policy in Israel/Palestine
This week, the American Friends Service Committee in Chicago released its final 28 page report from the Chicago Hearing of April 18, 2010.
I had the privilege in participating the the Hearing as a clergy panelist along with Father Cotton Fite. The academic panelists included Israeli professor Yali Amit and University of Chicago Professor John Mearshheimer, author of the groundbreaking work, The Israel Lobby (2006).
The Chicago Hearing brought together an impressive panel of expert witnesses to consider the question: "does U.S. policy in the Middle East reflect our values?"
American-Israeli activist Jeff Halper unleashed a tour-de-force. With his booming voice he marshalled his detailed knowledge of life in Israel/Palestine and showed his passionate indignation at the ongoing injustices that the Palestinians are suffering.
Jeff Ruebner of the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation showed convincingly how misplaced is the US funding of the Israeli occupation.
Cindy Corrie and Amer Shurrab were compelling moral voices. They spoke with great humanity from the deep grief they share for the loss of their loved ones at the hands of Israeli military violence. Cindy Corrie's daughter Rachel was killed by an Israeli military bulldozer as she protested Israeli violence against Gazans. I was inspired by Cindy Corrie's courage in continuing to speak up in the face of indifference and hostile reactions.
You can see all the testimonies through these links . If you have time just for one, I recommend Cindy Corrie's moving testimony.
I saw my job as a panelist mostly in representing a Jewish voice. We need to bring these conversations into the Jewish community. What does it mean to be a Jew and to know that Israel is guilty of this ongoing violence?
As an Israeli and former IDF soldier I found the testimonies to be completely credible. This information is readily available in the mainstream Israeli media through writers such Gideon Levy and Amira Hass. It is time for American Jews to become aware of the reality of the Israeli military's violent campaign against the Palestinians.
I had the privilege in participating the the Hearing as a clergy panelist along with Father Cotton Fite. The academic panelists included Israeli professor Yali Amit and University of Chicago Professor John Mearshheimer, author of the groundbreaking work, The Israel Lobby (2006).
The Chicago Hearing brought together an impressive panel of expert witnesses to consider the question: "does U.S. policy in the Middle East reflect our values?"
American-Israeli activist Jeff Halper unleashed a tour-de-force. With his booming voice he marshalled his detailed knowledge of life in Israel/Palestine and showed his passionate indignation at the ongoing injustices that the Palestinians are suffering.
Jeff Ruebner of the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation showed convincingly how misplaced is the US funding of the Israeli occupation.
Cindy Corrie and Amer Shurrab were compelling moral voices. They spoke with great humanity from the deep grief they share for the loss of their loved ones at the hands of Israeli military violence. Cindy Corrie's daughter Rachel was killed by an Israeli military bulldozer as she protested Israeli violence against Gazans. I was inspired by Cindy Corrie's courage in continuing to speak up in the face of indifference and hostile reactions.
You can see all the testimonies through these links . If you have time just for one, I recommend Cindy Corrie's moving testimony.
I saw my job as a panelist mostly in representing a Jewish voice. We need to bring these conversations into the Jewish community. What does it mean to be a Jew and to know that Israel is guilty of this ongoing violence?
As an Israeli and former IDF soldier I found the testimonies to be completely credible. This information is readily available in the mainstream Israeli media through writers such Gideon Levy and Amira Hass. It is time for American Jews to become aware of the reality of the Israeli military's violent campaign against the Palestinians.
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