Tragic Circumstances

As the tragic events in Jerusalem play out Biden’s stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has come into question.  It is understandable why Biden might reach the point of just not wanting to address the Israeli-Palestinian question.  A solution to this problem has evaded generations of American and world leaders.  But there is a moral imperative.  For one, the terrible loss of life; but it is also wrong for a place with so much significance to so many to not be a place of peace.  The seat of the three Abrahamic faiths should not be a place of violence and bloodshed, but a place where all can worship in peace.  

       There is room for condemnation on both sides.  It is never permissible, under any circumstance, to target innocent civilians in rocket attacks.  However, what is needed is clear heads and a willingness to do what is needed to end the conflict, rather than the constant back and forth blame laying.  The rightness or wrongness of Hamas is not what is at stake.  

Israel is allowing a powerful but exceedingly small minority to control the fate of the conflict.  Of course, Ultra-Orthodox Jews have a real and very deep connection to a sacred land.  But, the global community cannot automatically place their attachment to this land above that of their neighbors.  The issue at stake is how to remove from the conflict a group of people who are unwilling or incapable of reaching peace.  If the Ultra-Orthodox were to be forced to back down, the power of Hamas might be very much diminished, bringing a solution to a seemingly impossible conflict.

This is where the US and the world community could step in.  Biden faces a terrible problem, but he also has a tremendous opportunity.  It is an excellent moment to turn to the Haredi minority who are provocative and violating the human rights of Palestinians and make it clear that if they do not change the way they approach the conflict, they cannot remain part of the process.   This is the right moment to confront the Netanyahu administration.  The world community cannot afford to allow his administration to gain political advantage by empowering people who are too radical in their religious beliefs to accept a world where everyone has equal rights.

       Jews can maintain a connection to the land that does not disregard the shared humanity of their Palestinian neighbors.  The legal arguments being used to evict Palestinians from their homes are not only discriminatory, they are senseless.  There is an imperative in Judaism for respecting the right of people to remain in their homes.  There is no place in any faith for simply disregarding the faith of another.  There is no just cause to cater to one small minority who cannot put peace above a connection to a sacred land.