Finding the Light of Hope on our Israel Journey
“Our goal is to create a crack in the wall of hatred and cruelty, to let the light come in.”
Bassan and Rami, a Palestinian from the West Bank and an Israeli Jew from Jerusalem, representatives of the Parents’ Circle, were unlikely emissaries of hope during our recent trip to Israel and Palestine. Rami and Bassan belong to a group that no one wants to join—a large community of Jewish and Palestinian parents who have all lost children to terror and conflict in Israel and Palestine and are tired of the endless cycle of loss of life. Their remarkable relationship across borders and bereavement inspired us to see their path to peace as a beacon in the darkness.
At the end of December five HBT families traveled up and down Israel and into the West Bank for ten days, accompanied by a Jewish Israeli guide who lives with her young family on Kibbutz and a Palestinian guide who lives with his young family in East Jerusalem. From age 15 to 80, we were an eclectic group. Most were in Israel for the first time; others were returning to relive our past and see the present with new eyes.
It was an intense trip, with every day filled non-stop from breakfast until dinner, meeting people, hiking, eating fabulous meals, visiting holy and historic sites, celebrating Hanukkah and Shabbat along with Israeli Jews, and taking in difficult realities..
In the background of our stay in Israel was the swearing in of the new government (without, I might add, the chaos of trying to elect a new speaker). This government, by all accounts, is the most right-wing of any in Israel’s history. Already, outspoken extremist members of the Knesset who represent slim minorities of the Israeli populace, have proposed radical changes to Israel’s culture, values, and democratic foundations.
One might come away from Israel today thinking “enough!” This is not MY Jewish state. These extremists represent the opposite of my Jewish values. Yet, as we learned in our travels, there is so much more to Israel than its government. We met Jews who taught us to be joyous and Palestinians who demonstrated resilience and many who shared a desire to live together in this land of surprisingly diverse languages, cultures, and traditions.
For those who want to raise voices in protest against the extremist policies of this ultra-right government—as Jews throughout the world must-- we have been urged by the equally powerful masses of Israeli citizens to join their struggle. My email is filled with messages from activists on the ground in Israel, among them Omdim Beyachad (Standing Together), a grassroots community of Jewish and Palestinian Israelis who will hold a massive March for Hope this Saturday night in Tel Aviv. (see graphic below).
A basic tenet of Judaism is kol Yisrael arevim ze laze—all Jews are responsible for one another. The people who live in Israel, Jews and all others, are bound to us, and we to them, in building a home for all to share. They need us and we need them. On our trip we witnessed many cracks that let the light in, reminding us that none of us has the luxury to give up hope.
