I joined over 290,000 people at the National Mall in Washington DC on Tuesday for the March for Israel, March to Free Hostages, and March Against Antisemitism. While I did not agree with everyone that was selected to be a speaker at the event, it felt deeply important to be there to contribute to what was an important counterweight to marches across the world that have resulted, intentionally or otherwise, in the stoking of antisemitism.
There can sometimes be the impression when we are following social media or activist circles that the weight of the energy surrounding this war is against Israel, seeking to make Israel a pariah state. But it’s important to remember — and Tuesday’s march served as such a reminder — that deep commitment to the State of Israel exists.
This is not intended to scrub Israel of all faults or to absolve it of all responsibility as it conducts this war or negotiates an ongoing relationship with the Palestinians. The Palestinians, too, have the right to self-determination, and too often Israel has acted inconsistently with those ideals, in much the same way that many corners of the world, including some of Israel’s neighbors, continue to question Israel’s right to exist in ways that are inconsistent with its own right to self-determination.
There were many at the march with whom I probably would have disagreed politically in many respects. At the same time, I once had a teacher say to me that if you agree with everyone in your coalition about everything, you are probably in too small of a coalition to achieve anything worthwhile.
In a moment where Israel is under intense pressure to cut this war short, and really to justify its very existence, to me it was important to stand in solidarity with people who recognize and support Israel’s right to exist. Israel is a country that has existed for 75 years—millions of people have been born there and call it home. It has served as a nation-state for the Jewish people when all other nation-states—including the United States—closed its doors to the Jewish people or persecuted and even murdered them.
It doesn’t mean we need to live in a state of paranoia all of our lives—I live a proudly and publicly Jewish life—but it does recognize that on a historical scale, given the largely unique historical experience of the Jewish people, a formally Jewish state on a shared piece of land, alongside the Palestinians, in the ancestral homeland of the Jewish people, is a reasonable solution to this unique dilemma, and a solution that has now been in effect for over seven decades. It is a bizarre development that not only is Israel’s right to conduct this war being called into question, but it’s very right to exist is. In no other international conflict do we see the very ideological basis of a country come under question, and yet somehow it does for Israel.
Still, one can hold this truth—the truth that the existence of the State of Israel is a fact and is uniquely subjected to questions about its very basis for existence—with the truth that the Palestinian people are suffering a great deal, and that we can have empathy for their sufferings.
As I’ve said many times, while I support this war because I believe Hamas is an obstacle to long-term peace for which it is hard to conjure a solution other than a military one, I also understand that the level of human suffering in this war, and all wars, is immense, and it is not unreasonable to me to determine that the cost is too much to bear to continue the prosecution of this war. I have questions about how a ceasefire now would essentially leave in place the status quo—a status quo exacerbated now by further rounds of violence—but I recognize that the toll of human suffering is high enough that some people might just say, enough is enough, even if my own instinct is that, unfortunately, this is a tragic moment in human history where war is a necessary component—though not a sufficient component; political diplomacy and a just and secure future for both peoples will be necessary, too—to paving the way for a better future.
I have questions about whether, if the media environment in the 1930s and 1940s were the same as it is today, with the din and constancy of social media, and wall-to-wall coverage and imagery of the events of war, the results would have been the same. Would the call for US intervention have happened sooner to combat the Nazis? Would the US have had the stomach to pursue their part in the war effort as thoroughly and to the bitter end? 350,000 to 500,000 German civilians were killed in allied bombing raids alone. Again, this level of death and human suffering is hard to morally fathom. And yet these are the sorts of moral calculations that are foisted upon us in wartime. It is with great trepidation that I even begin to wade into saying military actions are worthwhile, and yet my read of history is that, under the present conditions of humanity, those who govern nations cannot afford to be pacifists. That would be a dereliction of duty to the people they are sworn to protect.
Again, this does not scrub Israel of all responsibility to conduct this war in alignment with the principles of international law, which I believe, on the whole, Israel is striving to do, even if the fallout of war is that we see much pain and suffering.
It does not feel hypocritical to me to pray for innocent Palestinian and Israeli lives during the course of this war even while supporting it. I am open to critiques that it is.
My heart hurts from so much of the fallout from this war. It hurts for Palestinian families, including families who did not wish for Hamas or this war. It hurts for the families of murdered Israelis, the hostages and their families, and the families of fallen soldiers.
It hurts because I watch the level of vitriol directed at Israel, forcing me to consider, above and beyond the facts those doing so are bearing witness to, whether other conscious or unconscious biases are at play. As one observer wrote, many accusing Israel of colonialism (an accusation I reject), are living themselves on land that was, indeed, colonized, on land where there has been a history of racism. Is there a projection of guilt whereby Israel becomes not only an additional offender of these same sins but the greatest offender? Is there no reflection about the extent to which centuries of messaging of antisemitism has worked its way into all of our psyches and worldviews, including those of Israel’s fiercest critics? We all have unconscious biases we have to work to unpack. Why is the presence of antisemitism, one of the world’s oldest conscious and unconscious hatreds, so easily dismissed as a motivating factor in the level of vitriol directed towards Israel?
It’s true that we should not use claims of antisemitism as a cudgel to suppress legitimate critiques of the State of Israel. But legitimate critiques tend to come from those who love us, not from those who want to see our downfall. Legitimate critiques of a country tend to come from those who want to see it prosper, to see it secure a just a peaceful future for itself and its neighbors, not from those who want to see it dismantled, its flag packed away, its national anthem put on ice.
I recognize there are many across the Jewish community, even many within our own congregation, who have vastly different views from one another on this war, vastly different views on the State of Israel. I have received messages in response to my messages from across the political spectrum, some agreeing, some disagreeing—all with a great deal of respect, civility, and thoughtfulness. I so appreciate being part of this community, as we struggle to discern what is best for the Jewish people and for humanity. I pray we’ll find our way, together.
