IN ISRAEL, “MORAL REBUILDING MUST BEGIN NOW”
Allan C. Brownfeld, Editor
Special Interest Report
December 2023
In the wake of developments in Gaza, Peter Beinart, a professor of journalism and
political science at the City University of New York and an editor for Jewish
Currents, wrote an article in the New York Times (Oct.15, 2023), “The Work of
Moral Rebuilding Must Begin Now.”
He writes: “Hamas…has committed an unspeakable horror that may damage the
Palestinian cause for decades to come. Yet when Palestinians resist their
oppression in ethical ways—-by calling for boycotts, sanctions, and the
application of international law—the U.S. and its allies work to ensure that
those efforts fail, which convinces many Palestinians that ethical resistance
doesn’t work, which empowers Hamas.”
In Beinart’s view, “The savagery Hamas committed…has made reversing this
monstrous cycle much harder…It will require a shared commitment to ending
Palestinian oppression in ways that respect the infinite value of every human
life…It will require new forms of political community…built around a democratic
vision powerful enough to transcend tribal divides…The effort may fail. It has
failed before. The alternative is to descend, flags waving, into hell.”
Over the years, notes Beinart, “Israel, with America’s help…has repeatedly
undermined Palestinians who sought to end Israel’s occupation through
negotiations or nonviolent pressure…As part of the 1993 Oslo Accords, the PLO
renounced violence and began working with Israel…because they thought it would
deliver them a state…The 1996 election of Mr. Netanyahu and the failure of Israel
and its American patron to stop settlement growth, however, curdled Palestinian
sentiment…Like many others who care about the lives of both Palestinians and
Jews, I have felt in recent days the greatest despair I have ever known…A
Palestinian friend sent me a note of consolation. She ended it with the words
‘only together.’ Maybe that can be our motto.” *
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