Time for peace. What now, Israel? And by Israel, I don’t mean the vast majority of the beautiful human beings who call themselves Israelis.
I’m talking about the Israeli government: All those in Israel responsible for making policy decisions.
What now? Right now, you are actively committing war crimes. And the world must denounce those war crimes.
There is no justification for murdering Palestinian civilians, all under the name of taking out a single member of Hamas.
We don’t question the fact that Hamas is a terrorist organization. We understand that.
But your next move, in actually trying to come up with a “solution” that’s going to make it beneficial for both Palestinians and Israelis, doesn’t seem to be part of the equation for the Israeli government.
In 1947, shortly after the country of Israel was created, the Israeli government forcibly removed over 700,000 Palestinians from their ancestral homelands.
The Argument Will Never End
We can argue until the end of time who is legitimately entitled to live in what is today present-day Israel. But we know that argument will never end.
What has to happen is for leaders with the courage, integrity, and decency to start talking about peace. To begin talking about a peaceful solution that will always respect Israelis and Palestinians as fellow human beings.
None of that is on the table right now for the Israeli government.
We also know that since 1967, Gaza has essentially been run as a ghetto—a ghetto where 2.3 million human beings live.
We don’t have all the answers to this conflict. But one thing we know is if you commit war crimes to justify defending yourself against terrorists, you’re only going to perpetuate that terror. You’re only going to perpetuate the situation that has plagued people for centuries.
It is time for peace. And that means we start openly and honestly talking about it.
Time For Peace: This Will Give You Hope
“At a time of a lot of horrific videos out of Israel and Gaza, I want to show you a short video that’s going to give you hope.
This is at the mosque of the Amadiyah Muslim community in Haifa, Israel.
And what you’re seeing is a mosque filled beyond capacity with Arabs and Jews, Israelis and Palestinians working together to demand justice and call for a ceasefire.
It’s critical that we elevate these positive stories and show that even in the darkest of times, there are Jewish people and Arabs united on the cause of justice and demanding a ceasefire.
We cannot let anti-Semitism or Islamophobia drive the narrative.
We need to continue to elevate these voices for peace because that is how we ensure justice and that is how we ensure that international human rights law reigns supreme to protect all people.”